Resources & Useful Information

 Biographies

URSULA VAUGHAN WILLIAMS R.V.W.: A Biography of Ralph Vaughan Williams Oxford University Press, reprinted 2000

MICHAEL KENNEDY A Catalogue of the Works of Ralph Vaughan Williams Oxford University Press, reprinted 1998

STEPHEN CONNOCK The Edge of Beyond: Ralph Vaughan Williams in The First World War
https://albionmusic.com

HUGH COBBE (editor) The Letters of Ralph Vaughan Williams 1895-1958  Oxford University Press,

2008 JAMES DAY Vaughan Williams Oxford University Press (3rd edition), 1998

SIMON HEFFER Vaughan Williams Weidenfield & Nicholson, 2000

KEITH ALLDRITT Vaughan Williams: Composer, Radical, Patriot – A Biography Hale 2016

 A Catalogue of Vaughan Williams’s music

To see a complete catalogue of Vaughan Williams’s music please visit the website of the Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust.

Home

Published Works

Ralph Vaughan Williams’s compositions are divided between a number of publishing houses.
Visit the Vaughan Williams Foundation website for a list of published works.
https://vaughanwilliamsfoundation.org/discover/published-works/

Vaughan Williams’s Publishers

Visit the Vaughan Williams Foundation website for a list of published works.
https://vaughanwilliamsfoundation.org/discover/published-works/publishers/

The UK publishers for each of Vaughan Williams’s works are shown in Vaughan Williams Foundation website catalogue. Each publisher oversees, for their own titles, the distribution and sale of sheet music and study scores; hire of materials for performance, and licencing of music for recording, copying, stage performance or synchronisation

Down Ampney (‘Birthplace’)

All Saints Church

Ralph Vaughan Williams was born at the Old Vicarage in Down Ampney, Gloucestershire on Sunday, 12th October, 1872. The hymn Come Down, O Love Divine, entitled Down Ampney was composed by him in its honour. Vaughan Williams’s father, the Rev Arthur Vaughan Williams was a teacher and the vicar of All Saints Church until his sudden death at the age of 41 on Feb 9th, 1875. His grave is marked by an inscribed stone cross and is located close to the Church Porch. The Vicarage still exists but is now a private house. There is a small exhibition in the bell tower of the church commemorating the life of the composer which was produced and donated by the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society.

Leith Hill Place

Vaughan Williams’ piano

One of the rooms at Leith Hill Place, RVW’s childhood home, has been converted into a small museum, displaying the composer’s piano, an exhibition of manuscripts and letters and other memorabilia, and a timeline of his life. In an adjoining room, you can watch a beautiful video presentation of his life created by Society member, Colin Lees. Please consult the National Trust’s LHP website for details on opening times and access arrangements. See our page: https://rvwsociety.com/leith-hill-place/

The Vaughan Williams Collection

The Performing Arts Library collection has been moved from Denbies near Dorking and is temporarily at the Ewell Library, Bourne Hall, Spring Street, Ewell, Epsom KT17 1UF. Some time in the second half of 2020, the collection will be transferred to NewSPAL, a charitable trust, at which point it will be housed at a new location in Woking. Please contact the library in Ewell before visiting, as the date of the transfer is not yet known.

https://www.newspal.org.uk/

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 Graham Muncy (g.muncy058@btinternet.com) established 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.

Behind the Lines: the music and composers of the First World War

WW1 Centenary: Websites & Links, Resource Pack: Vaughan Williams

Vaughan Williams & WW1

Excellent resource containing information and links to media about the 2014-2018 war and documenting the year-long project run in partnership by Westminster Music Library and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Vaughan Williams at War

This Philharmonia Orchestra You Tube video examines Vaughan Williams’s experiences as a stretcher bearer during the First World War and which affected the pieces he wrote, for the rest of his life. Stephen Connock MBE, RVW Society Vice-President is featured.

Concert Resources

The role of the Concert Resources Officer is to promote the Society and the performance of Vaughan Williams’ music in the community. JOHN TREADWAY can provide help in the following ways:

• Advising on suitable works to match the resources and expertise of concert organisations.
• Maintaining a list of artists who are interested in performing Vaughan Williams’ music.
• Providing programme notes on RVW works, given due notice and with an acknowledgement of the source.
• Encouraging young artists to perform his works
• Promoting links between the RVW Society and other composer organisations.

For more information please email John at: John Treadway

Useful Links

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Catalogue of music and printed 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.

STAINER & BELL Established in 1907, Stainer & Bell is an independent, family run business, specialising in the publication of quality printed music and books. The website has a range of free catalogue which can be requested for delivery by post free of charge and many of them can also be immediately downloaded directly. A Hire Library is also available. 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

DISCOVERING VAUGHAN WILLIAMS A BBC Resource examining the life and works of Ralph Vaughan Williams. Click here to visit

THE ENGLISH MUSIC FESTIVAL A celebration of Britain’s rich musical heritage showcasing the brilliance, innovation and beauty of English music. Click to visit

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS ‘PLACES’ Information Officer, 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.

Grants

The Vaughan Williams Foundation (VWF) was established in 2022, exactly 150 years after the birth of Ralph Vaughan Williams. It brings together the two charities originally founded by Ralph (RVW Trust) and his wife Ursula (Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust) and is funded by the royalties earned from RVW’s music.

The principal aims of the Foundation are to honour RVW’s desire to support his fellow composers, and to make his own work widely accessible to the general public.

VWF is now open for applications and the first grants will be awarded in 2023.

All enquiries regarding the RVWT and the VWCT, and any outstanding grants, should now be addressed to the Foundation.
https://vaughanwilliamsfoundation.org/contact/

Photographs, Manuscripts, Papers

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 whereabouts 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 and a large number of manuscripts to The British Library. This collection is still being catalogued.
Click here to find out more

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS FOUNDATION
The Foundation has a gallery of downloadable photos which are available for editorial use.
Visit: https://vaughanwilliamsfoundation.org/discover/rvw-in-pictures/

Commercial Photolibraries A few commercial libraries keep a limited number of Vaughan Williams photographs. These are usually available at commercial rates but it is worth trying to negotiate especially when for non-commercial use.

Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Vocal Music: An Exploration

The Hampsong Foundation (set up by the baritone Thomas Hampson in 2003) has added a page exploring Vaughan Williams’s vocal music to their website in this 150th birthday year. This has been put together in partnership with The Ralph Vaughan Williams Society, and a number of the trustees were interviewed for it by presenter Jon Tolansky. Even our President, Sir Andrew Davis, took part, and some of the musical clips were supplied by our recording arm, Albion Records.

>>Click here for more information