Resources :: Ralph Vaughan Williams Society

Ralph Vaughan Williams Resources

The Vaughan Williams Collection
Surrey Performing Arts Library (PAL), Dorking, Surrey

Although born in Gloucester Ralph Vaughan Williams had strong connections with the Dorking area for most of his life. He was the first conductor of the Leith Hill Festival - a post he held from 1905 until 1953. His family home, Leith Hill Place, is a few miles south from the library. The road on which his Dorking home, 'White Gates' stood and where he lived with his first wife, Adeline, is but a short distance away. Among the major pieces he composed in Dorking were:

Five Tudor Portraits (1936)
Donna Nobis Pacem (1936)
Serenade to Music (1938)
Job (1930)
Symphonies 4–7
The Magnificat
String Quartet No 2 (1944)
Pilgrim's Progress (1951)
Five Variants on 'Dives and Lazarus'

The library is located on the scenic Denbies Vineyards Estate and is well worth a visit. There is free parking, a cafeteria and a shop.
Click here to visit their web site.

Denbies is on the A24, close to the M25 and A3 from London.
Trains to and from London throughout the day (15 minutes walk from Dorking station.)

The history of the collection
Because of his local associations, Surrey libraries had accrued much material connected with the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams and the Leith Hill musical festival.

In the late 1970s a start was made to establish a Ralph Vaughan Williams collection of published books, scores and recordings. Since then, the collection has grown with the acquisition of most subsequently published books on the composer, reprints of his own writings, new publications and editions of his scores and some of the now vast quantity of his music issued on compact disc. Additionally, local publications, programmes, cuttings, pictures and other materials have been added to the collection.

Since the move of the library to Denbies in 2000, it has been enhanced by a permanent display on Ralph Vaughan Williams' life and works. It is intended to add audio facilities to this display in the future.

Vaughan Williams 'Places'

Graham Muncy has put together a leaflet illustrating
some of the locations with which VW is associated;
an "in his footsteps" snapshot.

Click here to download as a pdf.

The Ralph Vaughan Williams Society Journal

An acclaimed, illustrated journal, edited by William Hedley is published three times a year (February, June and October), for discussion of the life and works of Ralph Vaughan Williams with reviews of new recordings, concerts and articles by leading experts.
See our Journals page

Vaughan Williams Photographs

The Ralph Vaughan Williams Society does not keep an archive of photographs and is unable to grant permission for use.

The following organisations may be able to help.

National Portrait Gallery
The National Portrait Gallery keeps a small collection of portraits and is sometimes able to advise on the whereabout of photographs.
Click here to visit the web site

The British Library
The composer's wife, Ursula Vaughan Williams bequeathed her personal collection of photographs to The British Library. This collection is still being catalogued.
Click here to visit the web site

Commercial Photolibraries
A few commercial libraries keep a limited number of Vaughan Williams photographs. These are usually available at commercial rates but do try and negotiate especially when for non-commercial use.

Discography

Ralph Vaughan Williams Society member, Jonathan Pearson has produced a discography. This is a work in progress, a labour of love and the culmination of many years work. Jonathan invites interested parties to add to it or comment. It is free to use. The only thing that we ask is that should you use it, please credit Jonathan and the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society and to please let us know by sending an e-mail to: rvwinformation@hotmail.com

The Discography is available in two formats. Click below for preferred format.

Excel Database 807 KB
'Full' Discography 3.2 MB
VW conducts other composers' works. 53 KB

Grants

The Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust
The Trust's primary object is to promote knowledge about Ralph Vaughan Williams and performance of his works and similarly of the works of his widow, Ursula Vaughan Williams. It does this by making grants in support of eligible projects.
Click here to visit the web site

The RVW Trust
The RVW Trust is one of the most significant sources in the UK of funding for contemporary and recent British music. The Trust was established by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1956 and it continues to fulfill the purposes he intended. The trust is not able to make grants towards the performance or promotion of the works of the Founder.
Click here to visit the web site

Links

Albion Music

Dedicated to publishing books on English music and poetry.
Click to visit.

Albion Records

Devoted to recordings of rare Vaughan Williams.
Click to visit.

Oxford University Press

Catalogue of music and printed music. See also: Vaughan Williams on Music. Excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. We have reason to be grateful for their special emphasis on RVW.
Click to visit.

Philharmonia Podcasts

A superbly produced series of podcasts covering Vaughan Williams experience as a stretcher bearer in the First World War, The Pilgrim's Progress. Paul Edmund-Davies looks at the Sea Symphony and Mark van de Wiel, the Philharmonia Orchestra's Joint Principal clarinettist looks at the London Symphony. Michael Kennedy looks at Dona Nobis Pacem, The Pastoral Symphony No 3.

The British Library

Vaughan Williams' wife Ursula, donated most of the composer's manuscripts to the British Museum. If you want to study the originals, then this is the place!
Click to visit.

Gustav Holst

Gustav Holst was Vaughan Williams' closest and life long friend. They met when they were both students at the Royal College of Music and remained such until Holst's untimely death in 1934.
Click to visit.

Vaughan Williams speaks!

This BBC page has a profile of RVW plus an audio file of him speaking on a world service programme in 1956 on the 'glory of the English Hymn'.
Click to visit.

Naxos

The RVW Society is proud to be working closely with Naxos, particularly on world premiere recordings of rare Vaughan Williams' music. 'Willow Wood' has been a notable success and we are hoping that future projects will enjoy similar acclaim.
Click to visit.

Discovering Music on Radio 3

Excellent analysis of the Tallis Fantasia and the 5th Symphony and illustrated with musical examples.

Songs

Text of Vaughan Williams songs.
Click to visit.

Leopold Stokowski

Leopold Stokowski was a great advocate of RVW's music. They were both students at the Royal College of Music although Stokowski was ten years younger and entered the RCM as RVW was about to leave. According to Stokowski, Vaughan Williams was influential as a teacher (probably more as an older student – RVW did not take up teaching at the college until 1920). "I found him to be a remarkable man – very profound, very warm".
Click to visit.

George Butterworth

Butterworth was a close friend of Vaughan Williams and encouraged him to write A London Symphony.
Click to visit.

Gerald Finzi

Although of different generations, Finzi and Vaughan Williams were good friends until the younger man's death from Hodgkinsons in 1951.
Click to visit.

Ivor Gurney

Gurney was regarded as one of the most promising men of his generation, both in music and poetry. However, in 1922 the Bipolar disorder that had plagued him from early adulthood prompted his family to have him declared insane. Throughout Gurney's years of confinement as well as getting his works published or performed, Vaughan Williams used to visit and send him books and maps which he loved.
Click to visit.

The Bach Choir

Vaughan Williams was one of a succession of outstanding Musical Directors.
Click to visit.

Vaughan Williams Memorial Library

In honour of the eminent composer, song collector and President of the English Folk and Dance Society.
Click to visit.

Hodie

A personal view from 'Flying Inkpot', this time Vaughan Williams Christmas oratorio, Hodie, conducted by Wilcocks.
Click to visit.

The 49th Parallel

Vaughan Williams was 69 when he wrote the music for the film, The 49th Parallel. Society member Rolf Jordan wrote the article.
Click to visit.

Sir Roger Norrington

This is the fan club page of the great conductor and interpreter of historic music as well as of course, Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Click to visit.

The Arthur Bliss Society

Sir Arthur Bliss (1891–1975) was one of the most important figures in British musical life from the early 1920s (when he was regarded as an enfant terrible) through to his later life when he was a revolutionary Master of the Queen's Music.
Click to visit.

Frederick Delius

(1862–1934). Born in England, lived & worked in Florida, Germany, Norway & France.
Click to visit.

Documents on line

If you are curious to see on-line documents from the National Archives such as Vaughan Willams' Acceptance for admission to Officer Cadet School, his next of kin form, medical card, an extract from certificate of recommendation for admission to an Officer Unit, then visit this site.
Click to visit.

The British Music Society

The British Music Society was founded in 1979 by enthusiasts who believed an organisation was needed to stem the indifferent attitude generally displayed towards the music of many British composers.
Click to visit.

Lyrita

Lyrita Recorded Edition is one of the UK's longest-established and highest regarded independent Classical record labels. Lyrita has an unparalleled reputation for recording specifically British repertoire at the highest audio standards.
Click to visit.

Vaughan Williams Sound Archives

The British Library Ethnographic wax cylinders
The English Folk Dance and Song Society collection, held at the British Library on their behalf, is divided into three parts: the Lucy Broadwood collection of Scottish recordings; the Welsh Collection; and the Cecil Sharp and Vaughan Williams collection of English folk songs.
Click here to visit the web site