Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony Number Five
Ralph Vaughan Williams, descended from the famous Wedgwood and Darwin families,
was born at Down Ampney, Gloucestershire in 1872. In 1890 he entered the Royal
College of Music, and in 1892 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge. One of the
greatest of the British composers, a prolific writer of music, folksong
collector, and champion of British cultural heritage, he died aged 85 in 1958.
His ashes are interred in Westminster Abbey alongside the nation's greatest
artists and poets. Symphony No. 5 in D
Introduction
The symphony contains a lot of material from RVW's then unfinished opera, The
Pilgrim's Progress. When he began the Fifth Symphony, RVW thought he may never
finish the opera, and didn't want to waste any good ideas. The symphony does not
have a programme, it is absolute music. It is in four movements: a "Preludio"
first movement, a Scherzo, a "Romanza" slow movement, and a "Passacaglia" finale.
First Movement : Preludio......
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