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(p) at Down Ampney, Gloucestershire in 1872. In 1890 he entered the RoyalCollege of Music, and in 1892 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge. One of the superior of the British composers, a fat writer of music, folksongcollector, and champion of British cultural heritage, he died recovered 85 in 1958.His ashes are interred in Westminster Abbey alongside the nations giganticestartists and poets. Symphony No. 5 in DIntroductionThe harmony contains a lot of material from RVWs then(prenominal) unfinished opera, ThePilgrims Progress. When he began the 5th Symphony, RVW thought he may n incessantlyfinish the opera, and didnt want to muck up any good ideas. The symphony orchestra does nothave a programme, it is infrangible music. It is in four motilitys a "Preludio"first movement, a Scherzo, a "Romanza" boring movement, and a "Passa caglia" finale.First Movement 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?) ofoctave Cs. Could it be that in the great traditions of British musicalamateurism, RVW got his transposition wrong? Or is this a moot featureof the music, intended to blur the tonality? Musicologists prefer 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 occasion 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, dual at the octave to a lower place by the seconds in an introduction, before their maintheme at (1), dou bled by flutes. The triplets add rhythmic 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 sharp change in mood. The music darkens with a slightly sinister stochastic variable ofthe horn call in the bassoons. We then enter the Allegro, with a scuttle inthe arrange, whilst the wind begins a downward progression of notes, whichbuilds to a climax, with strings in semiquavers, until we reach the original