The Cambridge Companion to Vaughan Williams (Cambridge Companions to Music)

by Alain Frogley (Author), Alain Frogley (Author)

New
Paperback
2013
$29.82

An icon of British national identity and one of the most widely performed twentieth-century composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams has been as much misunderstood as revered; his international impact and enduring influence on areas as diverse as church music, film scores and popular music has been insufficiently appreciated. This volume brings together a team of leading scholars, examining all areas of the composer's output from new perspectives, and re-evaluating the cultural politics of his lifelong advocacy for the music-making of ordinary people. Surveys of major genres are complemented by chapters exploring such topics as the composer's relationship with the BBC and his studies with Ravel; uniquely, the book also includes specially commissioned interviews with major living composers Peter Maxwell Davies, Piers Hellawell, Nicola Lefanu and Anthony Payne. The Companion is a vital resource for all those interested in this pivotal figure of modern music.

Synopsis

An icon of British national identity and one of the most widely performed twentieth-century composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams has been as much misunderstood as revered; his international impact and enduring influence on areas as diverse as church music, film scores and popular music has been insufficiently appreciated. This volume brings together a team of leading scholars, examining all areas of the composer's output from new perspectives, and re-evaluating the cultural politics of his lifelong advocacy for the music-making of ordinary people. Surveys of major genres are complemented by chapters exploring such topics as the composer's relationship with the BBC and his studies with Ravel; uniquely, the book also includes specially commissioned interviews with major living composers Peter Maxwell Davies, Piers Hellawell, Nicola Lefanu and Anthony Payne. The Companion is a vital resource for all those interested in this pivotal figure of modern music.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 362
Edition: First Edition
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 14 Nov 2013
ISBN 10: 0521162904
ISBN 13: 9780521162906
Book Overview: A comprehensive reassessment of this towering figure of twentieth-century music, examining works, cultural context and reception in Britain and beyond.

Media Reviews

'The fourteen chapters take a variety of differing approaches to the process of exploring Vaughan William's life, work and broader cultural and social surroundings, so that the total result gives a genuine sense of 'something for everyone' ... A thoughtful and informative companion.' Malcolm Hayes, BBC Music Magazine
'A challenging and a stimulating read.' Gramophone
' All the essays here are valuable and often insightful ... A really fine book about a great composer and a great man.' Classical Music
The fourteen chapters take a variety of differing approaches to the process of exploring Vaughan William's life, work and broader cultural and social surroundings, so that the total result gives a genuine sense of 'something for everyone' ... A thoughtful and informative companion. Malcolm Hayes, BBC Music Magazine
All the essays here are valuable and often insightful ... A really fine book about a great composer and a great man. Classical Music

Author Bio

Alain Frogley has taught at Oxford and Lancaster universities, and since 1994 at the University of Connecticut; in 2008 he was Visiting Professor at Yale University. In 2005-6 he was a Fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies. A specialist in the music of the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries, particularly that of Britain and America, he has also worked extensively on Beethoven. His research has centered on sketch studies, reception history and musical nationalism; his most recent work explores music and the modern city. Frogley is the editor of Vaughan Williams Studies (1996) and the author of Vaughan Williams's Ninth Symphony (2001); he has also contributed to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Aidan J. Thomson taught at the universities of Oxford and Leeds before being appointed Lecturer in Music at Queen's University Belfast in 2003. His main research interests are the music and culture of early twentieth-century Britain and Ireland, particularly the relationship between reception, criticism and analysis. His publications include articles and book chapters on Elgar (in 19th-Century Music, The Cambridge Companion to Elgar, Edward Elgar and His World, Elgar Studies, and Musical Quarterly), Ethel Smyth and Arnold Bax. He has served on the councils of the Royal Musical Association, the North American British Music Studies Association, and the Society for Musicology in Ireland, and is currently the reviews editor of the Journal of the Society for Musicology in Ireland.