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Vaughan Williams Foundation

@vwfndn.bsky.social

1.4K followers 320 following 380 posts

A grant-giving charity, with composers at the heart, formed by the merger of the Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust and the RVW Trust. vaughanwilliamsfoundation.org

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · Nov 26

Hullo Bluesky community!

Our website has a wealth of resources related to the life and works of composer Ralph Vaughan Williams - including a treasure trove of beautiful downloadable photographs.

📷 Find them here: vaughanwilliamsfoundation.org/discover/rvw...

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 17h

"Has there ever been a more confident and dazzling opening to any first symphony than the blazing brass fanfare and choral outburst on the words “Behold, the sea itself”?" - Chris Garlick writing for @bachtrack.com.

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 21h

New opera!

In Dublin Jack, Conor Mitchell & The Belfast Ensemble delve into the seedy underbelly of Victorian London…

🎶 October 9: Purcell Room, Southbank Centre

🎶 November 14: Outburst Queer Arts Festival, Belfast

VWF supported - we wish them a great run! 👏

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 23h

Vaughan Williams - a man of few words?

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 1d

In September, the Vaughan Williams Foundation welcomed three new trustees.

Find out more here 👇

Welcome to our new Trustees - Vaughan Williams Foundation

We are delighted to announce the appointment of three new Trustees to the Board of the Vaughan Williams Foundation, bringing with them a wealth of experience and a passion for music.

vaughanwilliamsfoundation.org

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 1d

A new recording of the London Symphony Orchestra performing Vaughan Williams: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 9, conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano, is now available!

These symphonies form a portrait of a composer who could embrace both light and shadow with equal mastery 🎼

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 2d

On October 5, 1938, Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music premiered at the Royal Albert Hall. Conducted by Sir Henry Wood, the orchestra included players from the @londonsymphony, @BBCSO and @LPOrchestra.

In the audience was Sergei Rachmaninoff, who was moved to tears...

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 2d

"Despite its serene, idyllic sound, the Third is conceived near the front line while VW is on active service in World War I.

"‘Not really lambkins frisking at all’, wrote the composer many years later".

@MusicMagazine reflect on RVW's 3rd Symphony 👇

A guide to Vaughan Williams's Symphony No. 3 'A Pastoral Symphony' - Classical Music

We delve into the story behind the English composer's 3rd Symphony, A Pastoral Symphony

www.classical-music.com

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 5d

Best RVW works - a udiscovermusic 2024 article entitled Best Vaughan Williams Works: 10 Essential Pieces, has The Lark Ascending in the top spot.

Five Variants of ‘Dives and Lazarus’ is at number 2...

What do you think?

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 5d

In 1930, RVW composed Job: A Masque for Dancing, a one-act ballet score inspired by William Blake's illustrations of the biblical Book of Job.
The score is a significant work featuring his characteristic pastoral melodies alongside passages anticipating his later style.

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 6d

Vaughan Williams Foundation grant applications reopen on October 13. Applications for our postgraduate scholarships reopen in December.

Find full details of the funding we offer, and how to apply, via our website.

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 6d

British conductor and violinist Andrew Manze on Vaughan Williams 👇

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 7d

Happy first of the month! 🍂

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 7d

"There [is] a feeling of recognition, as of meeting an old friend, which comes to us all in the face of great artistic experiences" - Vaughan Williams.

RVW's connections to others were an important aspect of the composer's life.

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 8d

From 1903, Vaughan Williams became a dedicated folk song collector, transcribing hundreds of traditional songs that would have otherwise been lost.

These melodies became a fundamental part of his compositional style.

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 9d

🎻 "Music is the expression of the soul of a nation" - Ralph Vaughan Williams

At the Vaughan Williams Foundation we support the future of music by honouring past.

Find out about our work, and the funding we offer, via our website.

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 9d

"It’s a self-portrait and it’s muscular, visionary, brilliantly orchestrated, hugely enigmatic, magisterial and sweeping" - Tony Palmer, director of the Vaughan Williams film O Thou Transcendent, on A Sea Symphony.

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 12d

Enjoy whatever performances you are taking part in or attending this weekend! 🎼

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 12d

The Vaughan Williams Foundation offers support for the work of professional composers.

Our next general funding application window opens on October 13 - details here: vaughanwilliamsfoundation.org/funding/

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 13d

A note from Vaughan Williams showing a thoughtful and constructive approach to criticism.

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 13d

In October 2022, Oxford University Press donated a substantial archive of Ralph Vaughan Williams' historic papers and materials to the British Library, marking the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth.

Pictured here 👇 Sir Adrian Boult's marked copy of Pilgrim's Progress.

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 14d

The Vaughan Williams Foundation represents the estates of Ralph and Ursula Vaughan Williams and holds a copyright share in their musical works (with the original publishers) and writings, including the letters ✉️

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 15d

"It’s time to listen afresh to this radical traditionalist" - Hugh Morris, from a Guardian article in 2022, marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of Vaughan Williams.

📰 Read more here 👇

‘A nonconformist with a conservative’s regard for tradition’: Ralph Vaughan Williams at 150

He has long been the nation’s favourite composer, but there’s more to him than The Lark. As he turns 150, it’s time to listen afresh to this radical traditionalist

www.theguardian.com

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 15d

In 1907-1908, Vaughan Williams studied orchestration in Paris with Ravel. It inspired one of his most fruitful periods of composition. 1910 saw the premieres of his A Sea Symphony and the Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis.

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 16d

RVW's 1909 song Cycle, On Wenlock Edge, sets of 6 poems from A. E Housman's A Shropshire Lad.

Here, Ian Bostridge, Antonio Pappano, and members of the LSO perform it, alongside pieces by Britten and Elgar, at the Edinburgh International Festival 2025 👇

Radio 3 in Concert - British classics from the Edinburgh International Festival - BBC Sounds

Ian Bostridge, Antonio Pappano and members of the LSO in concert at the Queen's Hall.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 16d

Vaughan Williams shares his thoughts on the evolution of the arts in England.

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