“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.”
Score for string sextet arrangement
for: Violin solo, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass (string quintet)
Score
Item no.: 676694
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 693564
(3 Elizabethan Songs 2)
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 484720
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Buch
Item no.: 586583
Choral Programme Series
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Item no.: 474499
for: Cor anglais, string orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 225909
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score (Hardcover)
Item no.: 769518
Klassik
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 225815
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 949597
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 891015
Paperback
for: String orchestra
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 889526
Klassik
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 901916
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 895000
Windependence
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 905566
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1063968
for: Men's Choir [TB] and Piano
Choir score
Item no.: 959436
for: Organ
Score
Item no.: 1116718
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1060656
Faber Brass Band Series
for: Tuba, brass band
Score
Item no.: 1651343
for: Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 893089
for: Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 891468
Brass Band Series
for: Brass band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1149323
for: Tuba, piano
Single part Tuba
Item no.: 478469
for: 5 woodwinds (quintet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 993636
GIA Evoking Sound
for: SSATBB
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 1151522
for: Brass band
Score
Item no.: 1145136
The New Commonwealth
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1060540
for: Handbells [3]
Single edition
Item no.: 1115355
for: Brass band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1143680
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 1038541
for: Tuba
Music score
Item no.: 866763
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 949557
Paperback
for: Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 888834
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1212299
Music for Viola
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 123668
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
for: 2 solo voices (SBar), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 341326
Second Edition
Book (Hardcover)
Item no.: 769538
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 123434
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
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
Song for Chorus and Orchestra
for: Mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 361144
for: SATB, opt Descant, opt Congr, Organ, opt Oboe or C or B-flat Instr.
Choir score
Item no.: 912354
Ralph Vaughan Williams Transcription Series
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1149331
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