“I suppose it never occurs to people that a man might just want to write a piece of music.” Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Vaughan Williams is famous for his invigorating nautical symphonies, breath-taking songs, dreamy yet visually powerful concertos, as well as his rousing, majestic choral music. Browse our sheet music and scores, take a look at our Vaughan Williams Sheet Music Downloads, and explore the wide world of Vaughan Williams today!
His work is particularly important due to his intense preoccupation with the Renaissance and Baroque periods, as well as the collection and publication of English folk songs, which significantly influenced his work, and played a big role in the revival of English classical music at the turn of the century.
His best known songs are the Songs of Travel based on poems by Robert Louis Stevenson, published in 1907. With A Sea Symphony, Vaughan Williams’ first symphony saw its premier in 1910, which laid the foundations for English symphony in the 20th century.
His most popular works include Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis for two string orchestras (1910) and The Lark Ascending for violin and small orchestra (1914). When asked about “The Lark Ascending” his second wife Ursula said: “He took a literary idea on which he based his musical thoughts... and let the violin become both the song and the flight of the bird, instead of simply illustrating the poem from which the title was taken.”
Vaughan Williams was also a prolific Film Music composer, and his 7th symphony, the Sinfonia Antartica, was inspired by his film score for “Scott of the Antarctic”.
Alongside his musical talents, Vaughan Williams also had a keen sense of humour. The title quote “It never seems to occur to people that a man might just want to write a piece of music” was Williams’ answer to the question of whether his music for the 6th Symphony was meant to be programmatic.
When questioned by a musician in a rehearsal for his Symphony No. 4 in F Minor about a note which seemed relatively dissonant, Vaughan Williams replied: “It looks wrong, and it sounds wrong, but it’s right. I don’t know if I like it, but that’s what I meant.”
Vaughan Williams when discussing Richard Wagner and his operas: “Wagner used to read the libretti of his operas to his friends; I am glad I was not there.”
And of opera and its overtures, Vaughan Williams said: “The audience is requested not to refrain from talking during the overture. Otherwise they will know all the tunes before the opera begins.”
Ralph Vaughan Williams Transcription Series
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1149330
Klassik
for: Mixed choir (SABar), piano
Score
Item no.: 982928
Prüfungsliteratur
for: Voice, piano
Score
Item no.: 982804
Choral Large Works
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 899790
Madrigalian Part–Song
for: Mixed choir (SSATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 619592
Prüfungsliteratur
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 867605
No. 2 of Three Elizabethan Part Songs. Text from Shakespeare’s Othello
for: Mixed choir (SATB); piano ad lib.
Choir score
Item no.: 620425
for: Soloist (baritone), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Choir score
Item no.: 602311
for: Soloist (baritone), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 208718
A
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Piano/Voice/Guitar
Item no.: 1046657
for: Voice (medium), piano
Music score
Item no.: 213012
for: Men's Choir [TTBB] and Piano
Choir score
Item no.: 982869
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 769529
No. 1 of "Five English Folk Songs"
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 930097
Klassik
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 983066
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Score
Item no.: 982679
in C minor
from "Songs of Travel"
for: Voice (low), piano
Music score
Item no.: 907828
A Dorset Song
for: Unison Choir and Piano
Choir score
Item no.: 906266
Music for String Orchestra
for: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 816028
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 123715
Contemporary Choral Series
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Score
Item no.: 697067
Scottish Folk Song
for: Mixed choir (SSATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 930069
From "Five Mystical Songs"
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano [organ]
Score
Item no.: 637585
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 138573
for: Male choir (TTBB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 471307
Prüfungsliteratur
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 377282
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Score
Item no.: 1557227
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1192874
Boosey & Hawkes Winter Music for Developing Choir
for: Women's choir (SA), piano
Score
Item no.: 693925
for: Soloist (baritone), women's choir (SSAA), orchestra
Choir score
Item no.: 930956
Folk aus England
for: Baritone Voice and Mixed Choir [SATB]
Choir score
Item no.: 494594
Prüfungsliteratur
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 479290
Song for Chorus and Orchestra
for: Mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 361144
G
for: Piano, Voice, Alto Voice, Baritone, Medium Voice
Piano/Vocal
Item no.: 1612174
for: 2 solo voices (SBar), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 341326
A cantata for soprano and baritone soli, chorus and orchestra
for: 2 solo voices (SBar), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 334417
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 302237
Second Edition
Book (Hardcover)
Item no.: 769538
Klassik
for: Tenor Voice, Mixed Choir [SATB] and Piano
Choir score
Item no.: 982661
English Folk-Song
mit Klaviersatz zu Probezwecken
Orpheus 536
for: Male choir (TTBB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 488613
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 123434
No. 2 of Three Elizabethan Part Songs. Text from Shakespeare’s Othello
for: Mixed choir (SATB); piano ad lib.
Choir score
Item no.: 1678535
SATB unaccompanied.
for: Mixed choir (SATB); piano ad lib.
Choir score
Item no.: 932282
for: Soloist (soprano), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 1558771
for: Unison Choir and Piano
Choir score
Item no.: 900711
Klassik
for: High Voice, String Ensemble and Piano
Set of parts
Item no.: 982919
A Cycle of Six Songs (1909)
for: Voice (tenor), piano; 2 violins, viola, cello ad lib.
Set of parts (Strings)
Item no.: 635249
From "Five Mystical Songs"
for: Choir (one voice), piano
Score
Item no.: 350596