My most beloved composer of all time, magnificent music, and such a fine artist in the way he 'paints' such sweet, stirring aural landscapes for us. Wonderful to hear his voice!
Beethoven, Mozart, Wagner, Ravel, Debussy, Sibelius, Elgar and the rest are all well and good but if there is one composer to whom I return to time and again it is RVW. His music is healing to my soul and liberation to my mind.
Stephen Johnson is right: RVW is certainly the greatest British symphonist of the last century. And a much more accomplished musician than we usually give him credit for.
When asked why he, an atheist, wrote music for the church, his rather puckish response was "If they are going to be there they should at least have something good to listen to.". No composer lives closer to my heart than does RVW, not even Beethoven.
For many years Beethoven was my favourite composer. Then, just be accident, I happened to come across one of your orchestral works. The rest is history. In my mind, you have even trumped Beethoven in terms of musical expression and musical artistry. It's true, that I'm certainly no musicologist or expert, but just an amature classical guitarist. However, I truly believe that your music is exceptional and if there really is an afterlife (as I firmly believe there is), then probably even the angels have been moved to tears by the absolute beauty and exceptional depth of your music. God bless you Ralph. In my mind you're the greatest composer of all time🙏🏻❤
The maestro's rueful reference to the Hymn project ultimately costing him 250 pounds ( several thousand dollars today ) is instructive. I remember reading that this "greatest British symphonist of the last century" ( which he doubtless was ) told someone at the end of his life that he made more money on his popular song, LINDEN LEA, than on all of his symphonies combined. Which explains perhaps his sensitivity on pecuniary matters.
Every ten years or so people say "we should have a Vaughan Williams revival". They then discover that apart from 'The Lark Ascending', he wrote music like the Piano Concerto and 'A Vision of Aeroplanes', and they have to stop and think. VW is unclassifiable - his range is too wide.
many great works but the 4th and Sixth symphonies are shattering in every way......NO 20c symphony, not even Prokofiev 5 or any of Sibelius comes close....
