Vaughan Williams Essays

This volume presents 11 articles on the work of composer Ralph Vaughan Williams by scholars who have received the Ralph Vaughan Williams Fellowship. The topics include revision of the composer's Sixth Symphony, ideology and aural tradition of his Fifth Symphony, English hymnody, work with Robert Louis Stevenson, and a critical analysis of Four last songs . The contributors teach music, music history, and musicology mainly in the US; one is in Canada and one is a graduate student. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Byron Adams was the first scholar to be awarded the Ralph Vaughan Williams Fellowship when it was instituted in 1985. He has published widely on the subject of twentieth-century English music, including articles and reviews in 19th Century Music, Music and Letters, MLA Notes, Current Musicology, and The Musical Quarterly as well as in Vaughan Williams Studies (CUP, 1996). He is presently Professor of Composition and Musicology at the University of California, Riverside. Robin Wells joined the music department at Charterhouse in 1965 and became Director of Music at the school in 1987. A teacher, organist, conductor, examiner and composer, Wells has a particular interest in the music of Herbert Howells and in 1986 was invited by Novello and Co. to edit the composer's posthumous organ works. In 2000, he organized "RVW 2000", a week-long symposium at Charterhouse on Vaughan Williams's music.