Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony Number Five :: essays research papers

Ralph Vaughan Williams Symphony Number FiveRalph Vaughan Williams, descended from the famous Wedgwood and Darwin families,was born at Down Ampney, Gloucestershire in 1872. In 1890 he entered the purplishCollege of Music, and in 1892 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge. One of thegreatest of the British composers, a prolific writer of euphony, folksongcollector, and champion of British cultural heritage, he died develop 85 in 1958.His ashes are interred in Westminster Abbey alongside the nations greatestartists and poets. Symphony No. 5 in DIntroductionThe symphony contains a lot of material from RVWs whence unfinished opera, ThePilgrims Progress. When he began the Fifth Symphony, RVW thought he may neverfinish the opera, and didnt want to waste any trusty ideas. The symphony does nothave 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 thrust PreludioFrom the very beginning, RVW puts the key signature of this movement into doubt.The movement opens with a horn call in D, set against a firm base (or bass?) ofmusical octave Cs. Could it be that in the great traditions of British musicalamateurism, RVW got his transposition wrong? Or is this a deliberate featureof the music, intended to blur the tonality? Musicologists privilege the latterexplanation. This is by no means an unusual feature of his music, when he wasasked what the 4th symphony was about, RVW replied "It is about F-minor",alluding to his sometimes hazy tonalities, often augmented by his use of modal,mainly pentatonic melodies, which, with no leading note, often help to fudgethe tonality. Apart from the horn call, the brass is seldom used, and thetexture is light and airy. The first violins then enter, high on the E string,doubled at the octave below by the seconds in an introduction, before their maintheme at (1), doubled by flutes. The triplets add r hythmic variety, as well asproviding a distinctly folkie feel. During the course of the movement, thedistinctive dotted rhythm of the horns hardly ever leaves us. There are somerather abrupt key changes. i.e. Eb to E at (5). We are taken into the Allegro bya sudden change in mood. The music darkens with a slightly sinister version ofthe horn call in the bassoons. We then enter the Allegro, with a scurrying inthe strings, whilst the wind begins a down progression of notes, whichbuilds to a climax, with strings in semiquavers, until we reach the original