Almost fifty years since his passing, the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams continues to captivate audiences around the world, evoking the sound and spirit of folksong, and the image of rural landscape. In Vaughan Williams on Music, we read the composer in his own words, as he pursues two related ambitions: to create his own musical language, and to make early twentieth-century England a musical nation. Music lovers, students, and researchers alike will find in this volume a substantial collection of the composer's writings which either went unpublished or have been unavailable since their initial publication. The book contains 102 items written by the composer between 1897 and the year of his death, 1958, including articles for musical magazines, transcripts of broadcasts, obituary notices, and program notes. This wide-ranging material illuminates Vaughan Williams's work as a composer, and highlights his numerous other roles as an active supporter of amateur music-makers, a leader in the folksong revival, educator, performer, campaigner for English music, and polemicist. By addressing a variety of topics, Vaughan Williams reveals the complex and volatile political, musical, and cultural contexts in which he worked over a period of six decades. In these circumstances, Vaughan Williams demonstrates the breadth of his knowledge and the depth of his understanding, and his commitment to communicating with a wide audience. His writings are purposely accessible to reach this audience, permeated with central themes of originality, folksong, a sense of history, and the importance of self-expression. Moreover, the collection reveals the emergence of Vaughan Williams's aesthetics of music during the early 1900s, as he came to terms with the legacy of Brahms and Wagner in order to develop his personal musical idiom. Vaughan Williams on Music is a significant resource for scholars of both British music and the history of British culture, as well as an enjoyable read for all who love Vaughan Williams's music.

Table of Contents:
Section 1: Musical Life and English Music 1: The Romantic Movement and its Results 2: A School of English Music 3: The Soporific Finale 4: Good Taste 5: A Sermon to Vocalists 6: Preface to The English Hymnal 7: Who Wants the English Composer? 8: British Music 9: Gervase Elwes 10: Introduction to English Music 11: Elizabethan Music and the Modern World 12: Sir Donald Tovey 13: A. H. Fox Strangways, AET. LXXX 14: Making Your Own Music 15: Local Musicians 16: The Composer in Wartime 17: Introduction to News Chronicle Musical Competition Festival for HM Forces 18: First Performances 19: Art and Organization 20: Choral Singing 21: Carthusian Music in the Eighties 22: Howland Medal Lecture 23: Preface to London Symphony 24: Introduction to The Art of Singing 25: Some Reminiscences of the English Hymnal 26: Hands off the Third Section 2: Continental Composers 27: Palestrina and Beethoven 28: Bach and Schumann 29: The Words of Wagner's Music Dramas 30: Brahms and Tchaikovsky 31: Ein Heldenleben 32: The Romantic in Music: Some Thoughts on Brahms 33: Verdi: A Symposium 34: Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) 35: Sibelius at 90: Greatness and Popularity Section 3: Folk Song 36: Preface to Journal of the Folk Song Society 37: Introduction to Folk Songs from the Eastern Counties 38: English Folk-Songs 39: Folk-Song in Chamber Music 40: Dance Tunes 41: Sailor Shanties 42: How to Sing a Folk-Song 43: The Late Mr. Frank Kidson 44: Lucy Broadwood: An Appreciation 45: Ella Mary Leather 46: Folk-Song 47: Cecil Sharp's Accompaniments 48: Arthur Somervell: June 5th 1866--May 2nd 1937 49: Cecil James Sharp (1859-1924) 50: Traditional Arts in the Twentieth Century 51: The Justification of Folk Song 52: Let us RememberEarly Days 53: Preface to Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society 54: Lucy Broadwood, 1858-1929 55: Appeal on Behalf of the English Folk Dance and Song Society 56: Preface to Index of English Songs 57: Address to the Fifth Conference of the International Folk Music Council 58: Cecil Sharp: An Appreciation 59: Preface to International Catalogue of Recorded Folk Music 60: Martin Shaw 61: Preface to Folksong-Plainsong 62: The Diamond Jubilee of the Folk Song Society 63: The English Folk Dance and Song Society 64: Introduction to Classic English Folk Songs Section 4: British Composers 65: Sir Hubert Parry 66: Charles Villiers Stanford, by Some of his Pupils 67: Introductory Talk to Holst Memorial Concert 68: A Note on Gustav Holst 69: Gustav Theordore Holst (1874-1934) 70: Foreword to Eight Concerts of Henry Purcell's Music 71: Gustav Holst: A Great Composer 72: The Teaching of Parry and Stanford 73: Gerald Finzi: 1901-1956 74: Mr Gerald Finzi: A Many-Sided Man 75: Elgar Today Section 5: Programme Notes on Vaughan Williams's Music 76: Heroic Elegy and Triumphal Epilogue 77: Pan's Anniversary 78: A Sea Symphony 79: A London Symphony 81: A Pastoral Symphony 82: Flos Campi 83: Piano Concerto 84: Fourth Symphony 85: Five Tudor Portraits 86: Sixth Symphony 87: Folk Songs of the Four Seasons 88: Sinfonia Antartica 89: The Pilgrim's Progress 90: Tuba Concerto 91: Violin Sonata 92: Eighth Symphony 93: Ninth Symphony Section 6: Program Notes on the Music of Other Composers 94: Bach Cantatas 95: British Choral Music and Dvorák, Stabat Mater 96: Bach, St Matthew Passion 97: Dvorák, 'New World' Symphony 98: Elgar, Introduction and Allegro for String Orchestra 99: Gordon Jacob, Passacaglia on a Well-Known Theme 100: Weber, Overture Der Freisch:utz 101: Brahms, Choruses from the Requiem 102: George Dyson, The Canterbury Pilgrims Select Bibliography of Folk Song Collections Index