Vaughan Williams composed the symphony in 1921 as a cathartic response to his experiences during the First World War. In 1914, aged 42, he joined an ambulance brigade and so witnessed the carnage ...

Vaughan Williams served as an ambulance driver during the war and the slow movement of his Symphony No 3, the “Pastoral”, draws on his memories of life in war-torn France.

Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia Antartica (No. 7); Toward the Unknown Region (Soloists, London Symphony Orchestra, Bryden Thomson, cond; Chandos, three separate CDs).A Vaughan Williams renaissance may ...

Inspired by the paradox of beautiful sunsets the composer witnessed over WW I killing fields in northern France, the Symphony #3, the “Pastoral,” by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams is ...

Vaughan Williams splits his strings into two groups, the second and smaller of which plays at a distance from the first. Within the main orchestra, there’s also a string quartet that provides ...

This symphony, written between 1938 and 1943, is Vaughan Williams’ orchestral music at its pastoral, romantic best. The composer used lots of the fine tunes in this symphony that were lying around, ...

The composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, born 150 years ago on Oct. 12, is one of those rare artists who are more often loved than deeply known. A few of his pieces—the lush setting of ...