Symphony No. 8 (Vaughan Williams)
Encyclopedia
Ralph Vaughan Williams
' Symphony No. 8 in D minor was composed between 1953 and 1955. It was the first of his symphonies which Vaugham Williams allowed to be given a number. Sir John Barbirolli
conducted the premiere of the piece on May 2, 1956, with the Halle Orchestra. Eugene Ormandy
gave the work its U.S. Premiere with the Philadelphia Orchestra on October 5, 1956. The following year, on June 30, 1957, Leopold Stokowski
conducted it with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, the composer being present in the Royal Box.
The Eighth Symphony is the shortest of Vaughan Williams' nine symphonies yet is remarkably inventive, especially in the composer's experiments in sonority. Not only does he use a much-expanded percussion section, including "all the 'phones and 'spiels known to the composer" (as well as three tuned gong
s, the same as were used in Puccini
's Turandot
), but the two central movements use only the wind section and string section respectively. Among his symphonies the Fourth symphony
is the only other one to end loudly. (The others all have quiet conclusions, often with the Vaughan Williams "fingerprint" niente.)
The work is in four movements:
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
' Symphony No. 8 in D minor was composed between 1953 and 1955. It was the first of his symphonies which Vaugham Williams allowed to be given a number. Sir John Barbirolli
John Barbirolli
Sir John Barbirolli, CH was an English conductor and cellist. Born in London, of Italian and French parentage, he grew up in a family of professional musicians. His father and grandfather were violinists...
conducted the premiere of the piece on May 2, 1956, with the Halle Orchestra. Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy was a Hungarian-born conductor and violinist.-Early life:Born Jenő Blau in Budapest, Hungary, Ormandy began studying violin at the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music at the age of five...
gave the work its U.S. Premiere with the Philadelphia Orchestra on October 5, 1956. The following year, on June 30, 1957, Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...
conducted it with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, the composer being present in the Royal Box.
The Eighth Symphony is the shortest of Vaughan Williams' nine symphonies yet is remarkably inventive, especially in the composer's experiments in sonority. Not only does he use a much-expanded percussion section, including "all the 'phones and 'spiels known to the composer" (as well as three tuned gong
Gong
A gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
s, the same as were used in Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's Turandot
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
), but the two central movements use only the wind section and string section respectively. Among his symphonies the Fourth symphony
Symphony No. 4 (Vaughan Williams)
The Symphony No. 4 in F minor by Ralph Vaughan Williams was dedicated by the composer to Arnold Bax.Unlike Vaughan Williams's first three symphonies it was not given a title, the composer stating that it was to be understood as pure music, without any incidental or external inspiration.In contrast...
is the only other one to end loudly. (The others all have quiet conclusions, often with the Vaughan Williams "fingerprint" niente.)
The work is in four movements:
- Fantasia (Variazioni senza tema) (variations without a theme) - the composer also referred to this as being "seven variations in search of a theme." Even though the variation structure predominates the acute listener may notice elements of sonata formSonata formSonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...
. - Scherzo alla marcia (for wind instruments only) - this short, quick march (with trio) is somewhat akin to that of a British military band. The trio section revisits Vaughan Williams's "pastoral" style.
- Cavatina (for bowed strings only) - This movement, in a five-part rondoRondoRondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also to a character-type that is distinct from the form...
form, has a meditative character and includes important solo passages for violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
. The main theme bears a clear resemblance, which Vaughan Williams acknowledged, to the "Passion" choraleChoraleA chorale was originally a hymn sung by a Christian congregation. In certain modern usage, this term may also include classical settings of such hymns and works of a similar character....
(O Sacred Head, Now Wounded) that BachJohann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
used several times in the St. Matthew PassionMatthäuspassionThe St Matthew Passion, BWV 244, , is a musical composition from the Passions written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander . It sets chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel of Matthew to music, with interspersed chorales and arias...
and elsewhere. - Toccata - the finale (entitled ToccataToccataToccata is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virtuosic passages or sections, with or without imitative or fugal interludes, generally emphasizing the dexterity of the performer's fingers...
to indicate its virtuosoVirtuosoA virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...
nature) contains much exuberant writing for the percussion section. Harmonically, the movement seems uncertain of whether to be in D Minor or D Major.