MUSIC OF VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

Southland Times, Issue 24860, 28 September 1942, Page 2

MUSIC OF VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

STRONG NATIONALISM OF COMPOSER The essentially English character of the music of Dr Ralph Vaughan Williams was emphasized by Miss M. B. Campbell in an address on the composer and national music to the Music Section of the University Association of Southland on Saturday night. Many examples of the music of the composer were played. Vaughan Williams had been described as a “double dyed nationalist” because he was a musician first and a nationalist second, Miss Campbell said. He had shown an interest as a young man in collecting folk songs and his collections had had a profound influence on his work. He had used folk themes to a great extent in his music. His researches in the rural England had inspired several orchestral and choral works of great beauty which had enriched the nation’s musical heritage. He did not think a nation should take its music passively, and he advocated a more active interest in music than English people seemed prepared to give. The symphonies of Vaughan Williams were distinctive works. It had been argued whether the "London” Symphony could be described as programme music, but it could be better described as a symphony by a Londoner. His later songs showed striking originality and individuality. Since the last war his music had gained widespread recognition in Great Britain and had attracted attention in foreign countries. The "Pastoral” Symphony was the most notable work of the post-war period and was a strikingly descriptive work of great beauty. One writer had described Vaughan Williams as a twentieth century mystic with the manner of a medieval' monk. In his church music there was a purity alien to much modern music. Miss Campbell said. He had edited "The English Hymnal" which contained some of his own tunes. Many were as yet little known, but their essential English nature should make them increasingly populuar. One of Vaughan Williams’s latest works was the orchestral and choral piece "Serenade to Music," written for full orchestra and 16 singers as a tribute to Sir Henry Wood for the jubilee of the Promenade Concerts. It was a setting of Act V of "The Merchant of Venice” and was a charming and fitting tribute to a great musician as well as a fine musical composition. Mrs R. Barnsdale sang “Linden Lea” ana “The Sky Above the Roof,’’ Miss Joy Gasparlch “Whither shall I Wander” and "Silent Noon," Mr H. W. Slater “The Vagabond” and “Bright as the Ring of Words, and a group of girls from the Southland Girls’ High School Choir "The Female Highwayman” and "Come down, O Love Divine.” Mrs A. F. Manning played the hymns “For All the Saints” and “I vow to thee my Country” and the accompaniments. Recorded examples played were the “London” Symphony and “Serenade to Music.” A vote of thanks to tho speaker and performers was passed on the motion of Mr A. F. Manning, who announced that the committee had arranged for Mr Ch aries Martin to give a piano recital on Saturday, October 17, assisted by Mr Alexander Wilson.