SYMPHONY NO. 5 AS A SUMMARY OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS’S PHILOSOPHY OF THE ENGLISH COMPOSER by DEBORAH BOWDEN LISANO (Under the Direction of Roger Vogel) ABSTRACT Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Symphony No. 5 in D was composed between the years 1938 and 1943. The purpose of this study is to analyze Symphony No. 5 as a summary of Vaughan Williams’s philosophy of the English composer. Symphony No. 5 has been selected as the work for this study as it is, in the opinion of many, the most representative and outstanding of Vaughan Williams’s nine symphonies. Symphony No. 5 is explored in six chapters that deal with musical, social, and political influences on Vaughan Williams during and prior to the writing of Symphony No. 5; the characteristics of Vaughan Williams’s working method; Vaughan Williams’s writings as they relate to the English composer and the symphony; the manuscripts of Symphony No. 5; the dedication of Symphony No. 5 to Jean Sibelius; and an analysis of Symphony No. 5. Included in the appendices are observations regarding the premiere, the reception history, and the recorded history of Symphony No. 5, and charts outlining the major tonal/modal areas of the symphony. INDEX WORDS: Ralph Vaughan Williams, Symphony, British Music, Folk Song, Jean Sibelius, Modality, National Music, World War II, Epilogue SYMPHONY NO. 5 AS A SUMMARY OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS’S PHILOSOPHY OF THE ENGLISH COMPOSER by DEBORAH BOWDEN LISANO B. Mus., The University of Georgia, 1987 M.M., The University of Georgia, 1989 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2004 © 2004 Deborah Bowden Lisano All Rights Reserved SYMPHONY NO. 5 AS A SUMMARY OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS’S PHILOSOPHY OF THE ENGLISH COMPOSER by DEBORAH BOWDEN LISANO Major Professor: Roger Vogel Committee: John Corina David Haas David Starkweather Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia December 2004 iv To Mike Lisano, my husband, who inspired and encouraged me to follow my dream v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My gratitude is expressed to the many individuals who assisted me on the musical pilgrimage that lead to the completion of this document: Dr. Roger Vogel, my major professor, for his invaluable advice, patience, suggestions, support, friendship, and especially for taking me on as his student at this stage of the completion of the degree; and the members of my committee, Dr. John Corina, Dr. David Haas, and Dr. David Starkweather, for their continuous support and assistance. I wish to thank the staff of the Music Department of the British Library; the librarians of the Royal College of Music; Stephen Connock, chair of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society; and the music staff of Oxford University Press for their kind assistance. I would also like to acknowledge the encouragement that I received in my earliest musicological endeavors: Dr. Glenda Goss, Dr. John Corina, and Dr. Donald Lowe, who all helped light the spark that began my musical pilgrimage. I am grateful to the following libraries and publishers for permission to use musical examples and cite title pages: The Royal College of Music - manuscript of Symphony in D (MS 4231); Oxford University Press – Symphony No. 5 in D © Oxford University Press 1946, reproduced by permission; The British Library – Symphony in D and Sketchbook (MS 50372, MS 50371A); and Breitkopf & Haertel - Sibelius Symphony No. 4 © by Breitkopf & Haertel, Wiesbaden – Leipzig, used by permission. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................................v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1 2 LIFE, BACKGROUND, AND WORKING METHOD..............................................12 Musical, Social, and Political Influences ................................................................12 1872-1908: Early Years and Musical Studies as Viewed by Biographers.............14 1872-1908: Vaughan Williams’s “Musical Autobiography...................................21 1909-1937: Years Between the End of Formal Music Study and the Writing of Symphony No. 5................................................................................................40 1938-1943: Life During the Time of the Writing of Symphony No. 5 ..................56 3 VAUGHAN WILLIAMS’S THOUGHTS ON ENGLISH COMPOSERS, SYMPHONIC COMPOSITIONS, AND FOLK SONG.........................................65 Musical Issues that Vaughan Williams Saw as Important ......................................66 The Symphony as Seen by Vaughan Williams .......................................................78 Vaughan Williams’s Views on Non-British Symphonies.......................................79 Vaughan Williams’s Views on Composers of British Symphonies........................93 Vaughan Williams’s Thoughts on the Making of Music ......................................102 Folk Song: Finding Roots in One’s Own Soil......................................................115 vii 4 CONTEXTUAL AND COMPOSITIONAL HISTORY OF SYMPHONY NO. 5...126 Previous Symphonies ............................................................................................126 The Writing of Symphony No. 5...........................................................................131 5 SYMPHONY NO. 5 IN D .........................................................................................151 The Dedication ......................................................................................................151 Overview of Symphony No. 5...............................................................................158 Preludio .................................................................................................................162 Scherzo ..................................................................................................................183 Romanza................................................................................................................205 Passacaglia.............................................................................................................219 6 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................237 BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................................243 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................249 A OBSERVATIONS REGARDING THE PREMIERE, THE RECEPTION HISTORY, AND THE RECORDED HISTORY OF SYMPHONY NO. 5.........249 The Premiere .........................................................................................................249 The Reception History...........................................................................................251 The Recorded History ...........................................................................................255 B MAJOR TONAL/MODAL CENTERS.....................................................................256 Preludio .................................................................................................................256 Scherzo ..................................................................................................................257 Romanza................................................................................................................260 Passacaglia.............................................................................................................262 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Symphony No. 5 in D, composed between 1938 and 1943, is central in Vaughan Williams’s symphonic output. Not only is it the fifth of nine symphonies, but it is viewed by many scholars as being the most outstanding of Vaughan Williams’s symphonies. The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze Symphony No. 5 as a summary of Vaughan Williams’s philosophy of the English composer. Symphony No. 5 has been selected as the work for this study as it is, in the opinion of many, the most representative of Vaughan Williams’s nine symphonies. The high regard in which this symphony is held is evident in critical remarks by scholars in the field of research on Vaughan Williams. Michael Kennedy, principal commentator on the works of Vaughan Williams, offered his view of Symphony No. 5 in his study, The Works of Ralph Vaughan Williams: “[Symphonies 4, 5, and 6] are at once the summit and the kernel of Vaughan Williams’s art; and the greatest of the three—perhaps of all his works—is, in my opinion, this Symphony of the Celestial City.”1 Musicologist Robert Layton wrote that “the Fifth Symphony must be regarded as adding a dimension to [Vaughan Williams’s] symphonic art that is altogether special. For many (including the present author) it remains his greatest and most perfect single achievement; if nothing else survived from his pen, the essence of his 1Michael Kennedy, The Works of Ralph Vaughan Williams (New York: Oxford University Press, 1964), 283. Vaughan Williams wrote a stage work based on John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. Symphony #5 in D and The Pilgrim’s Progress have sections of music in common. The “Celestial City” was the final destination of Christian in The Pilgrim’s Progress. 2 musical personality is distilled in