Canon
Where to start with Vaughan Williams
Essential works to know this composer by — spread across their styles-
OrchestralFantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, for 2 string orchestras
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VocalSerenade to Music — For 16 soloists and orchestra<
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Chamber2 Pieces for Violin and Piano
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Keyboard6 Short Pieces, for piano
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OrchestralThe Lark Ascending: Romance for Violin and Orchestra
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OrchestralFantasia on Greensleeves, for harp, flute and strings
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OrchestralOboe Concerto in A minor
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OrchestralPiano Concerto in C
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OrchestralSymphony no. 1, for soprano, baritone, chorus and orchestra, "A Sea Symphony"
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OrchestralSymphony no. 3, for soprano or tenor and orchestra, "Pastoral"
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OrchestralSymphony no. 5 in D
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OrchestralSymphony no. 6 in E minor
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Vocal'Tis Winter Now, the Fallen Snow, "Danby"
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Vocal10 Blake Songs, for voice and oboe
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Vocal2 English Folksongs, for voice and violin
Listening guide
Hand-curated paths into Vaughan Williams's catalogueMost Popular
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The Lark Ascending
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Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis
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Symphony No. 2 ”A London Symphony”
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Greensleeves Fantasia
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Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus
Most Acclaimed
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Symphony No. 4 in F minorshocking violence from this gentle composer
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Symphony No. 6 in E minor
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A Sea Symphony
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Job (masque for dancing)
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The Pilgrim\’s Progress (opera)
Most Weird
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Symphony No. 6 in E minorthe finale is 12 minutes of barely audible pianissimo — like the world after nuclear war; he denied it was about the bomb but wrote it in 1948
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Symphony No. 7 ”Sinfonia Antartica”uses a wordless soprano, women’s chorus, and a wind machine; each movement has an epigraph from Shelley, Coleridge, and Scott’s final diary
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Flos Campiviola + wordless chorus + small orchestra — text from the Song of Songs never sung, only printed in the score
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Symphony No. 4when they asked him what it meant, he said ”I don’t know, but I don’t think I like it much”
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Riders to the Seaopera — the entire Synge play set to music; 40 minutes; a Galway woman loses all her sons to the sea
Similar composers
Same era, overlapping styles — by genre & period affinityWorks 161
- Orchestral
- ● Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, for 2 string orchestras
- ● The Lark Ascending: Romance for Violin and Orchestra
- ● Fantasia on Greensleeves, for harp, flute and strings
- Oboe Concerto in A minor
- Piano Concerto in C
- Symphony no. 1, for soprano, baritone, chorus and orchestra, "A Sea Symphony"
- Symphony no. 3, for soprano or tenor and orchestra, "Pastoral"
- Symphony no. 5 in D
- Symphony no. 6 in E minor
- 2 Hymn-Tune Preludes, for small orchestra
- 49th Parallel
- 5 Variants of Dives and Lazarus, for string orchestra and harp
- Coastal Command — Film score
- Concerto grosso for Strings in 3 Groups
- Dim Little Island — Film score
- English Folk Song Suite, for military band
- Fantasia, for piano and orchestra
- Flos Campi, suite for viola, small chorus and small orchestra
- Flourish for Glorious John
- Flourish for Wind Band, overture to a pageant for military band
- Henry V, concert overture for brass band
- In the Fen Country
- Norfolk Rhapsody no. 1 in E minor
- Norfolk Rhapsody no. 2 in D minor
- Partita for Double String Orchestra
- Romance in D flat major for Harmonica, Strings, and Piano
- Scott of the Antarctic — Film score
- Sea Songs, march for military or brass band
- Suite for Viola and Small Orchestra
- Symphony no. 2 in G, "A London Symphony"
- Symphony no. 4 in F minor
- Symphony no. 7, "Sinfonia Antartica" — For narrator, soprano, female choir and orchestra
- Symphony no. 8 in D minor
- Symphony no. 9 in E minor
- The Death of Tintagiles — Incidental music
- The England of Elizabeth — Film score
- The Loves of Joanna Godden — Film score
- The Poisoned Kiss
- The Running Set, fantasia on jig-rhythms
- The Story of a Flemish Farm — Suite from the film score
- The Wasps, Aristophanic Suite
- Toccata Marziale, for military band in B flat major
- Tuba Concerto in F minor
- Variations for Brass Band
- Violin Concerto in D minor, "Concerto accademico"
- Vocal
- Serenade to Music — For 16 soloists and orchestra<
- 'Tis Winter Now, the Fallen Snow, "Danby"
- 10 Blake Songs, for voice and oboe
- 2 English Folksongs, for voice and violin
- 3 Choral Hymns for baritone or tenor, chorus and orchestra
- 3 Poems by Walt Whitman
- 3 Shakespeare Songs
- 3 Vocalises for Soprano and Clarinet
- 4 Hymns, for tenor, viola and strings
- 4 Last Songs
- 4 Poems by Fredegond Shove
- 5 English Folksongs, for chorus
- 5 Mystical Songs, for baritone, chorus ad lib and orchestra
- 5 Tudor Portraits, choral suite for soloists, chorus and orchestra
- 6 English Folksongs, for voice and piano
- 8 Traditional English Carols
- 9 Carols, for baritone and male chorus
- A Choral Flourish, for chorus and organ or 2 trumpets
- A Cradle Song, for voice and piano
- A Song of Thanksgiving for soprano, speaker, chorus and orchestra
- A Vision of Aeroplanes, for chorus and organ
- All Hail The Power, for unison chorus, chorus and organ
- Along the Field, song cycle for voice and violin
- An Oxford Elegy, for narrator, small chorus and small orchestra
- At the Name of Jesus, "King's Weston"
- Behold the Great Creator Makes, "This Endris Nyght"
- Benedicite, for soprano, chorus and orchestra
- Blackmwore by the Stour, folk song for voice and piano
- Bushes and briars, folk song for male chorus
- Ca' the yowes, folk song for tenor and chorus
- Choral Songs to be Sung in Time of War, for chorus and piano or orchestra
- Christ, the Fair Glory
- Come Down, O Love Divine, "Down Ampney"
- Dirge for Fidele, song for 2 mezzo-sopranos and piano
- Dona nobis pacem, cantata for soprano, baritone, chorus and orchestra
- Down in Yon Forest
- Fantasia on Christmas Carols, for baritone, chorus, and orchestra
- Father We Praise Thee
- Festival Te Deum, for chorus and organ
- Folk Songs of the Four Seasons, cantata for female chorus and orchestra
- For All the Saints Who from Their Labours Rest, "Sine nomine"
- Gloucestershire Wassail, "Wassail, wassail, all over the town"
- God Be with You Till We Meet Again, "Randolph"
- God that madest earth and heaven, "Ar Hyd Y Nos"
- Greensleeves, folk song for chorus
- Hail Thee, Festival Day!, "Salve festa dies"
- He Who Would Valiant Be, "Monks Gate"
- Hodie, Christmas cantata for soprano, tenor, baritone, boys' chorus, chorus and orchestra
- I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say, "Kingsfold"
- In the Spring
- It Was a Lover and His Lass, partsong for female chorus
- Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, for chorus and piano
- Linden Lea, for voice and orchestra, "A Dorset Song"
- Loch Lomond, folk song for baritone and male chorus
- Lord god, you now have set your servant free
- Lord, Thou Hast Been Our Refuge
- Love Is a Sickness, song for chorus
- Mass in G minor
- Nocturne, for baritone and orchestra, "Whispers of Heavenly Death"
- Nothing is Here for Tears, song for chorus and piano or organ or orchestra
- O Clap Your Hands, for chorus, brass and organ
- O God of earth and altar, "King's Lynn"
- O How Amiable, anthem for chorus and organ
- O Mistress Mine, partsong for chorus
- O Taste and See, for chorus and organ
- O Vos Omnes, for alto and chorus, "Is it Nothing to You?"
- On Wenlock Edge, for tenor, piano and string quartet — Song cycle
- Orpheus with his Lute
- Prayer to the Father of Heaven, for chorus
- Sancta Civitas — Oratorio
- Silence and Music, song for chorus
- Snow In The Street
- Songs of Travel — Song cycle
- Te Deum for chorus and organ in G
- The Basket of Eggs, for voice and piano
- The Great Forerunner of the Morn
- The House of Life — Song cycle
- The King of Love My Shepherd Is, "St. Columba"
- The Old 100th Psalm: All People That on Earth do Dwell, for chorus, unison chorus, orchestra, and organ
- The Pilgrim Pavement, for soprano, chorus and organ
- The Sons of Light, cantata for chorus and orchestra
- The Souls of the Righteous, motet for soprano, tenor, baritone and chorus
- The Splendour Falls — Song
- The Turtle Dove, folk song for baritone and chorus
- The Unquiet Grave, folk song for female chorus, "How Cold the Wind Doth Blow"
- The Voice out of the Whirlwind, for chorus and organ or orchestra
- The Winter is Gone, for choir
- The Winter's Willow, for voice and piano
- Valiant for Truth, for chorus
- Willow-wood, cantata for baritone or mezzo-soprano, female chorus and orchestra
- Wither's Rocking Hymn
- Wither's Rocking Hymn, "Sweet baby, sleep! What ails my dear?"
- Chamber
- 2 Pieces for Violin and Piano
- 6 Studies in English Folk Song, for cello and piano
- Household Music: Preludes on 3 Welsh Hymn Tunes, for string quartet
- Phantasy Quintet for 2 violins, 2 violas, and cello
- Piano Quintet in C minor
- Quintet in C minor for Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass and Piano
- Quintet in D major, for Clarinet, Horn and Piano Trio
- Romance for Viola and Piano
- String Quartet no. 1 in G minor
- String Quartet no. 2 in A minor, "For Jean on Her Birthday"
- Violin Sonata in A minor
- Keyboard
- 6 Short Pieces, for piano
- 6 Teaching Pieces, for piano
- Hymn tune Prelude on Song 13 by Orlando Gibbons
- Prelude and Fugue, for organ in C minor
- Preludes on 3 Welsh Hymn tunes, for organ
- Stage
- Hugh the Drover, or Love in the Stocks — Opera
- Job, A Masque for Dancing — Ballet
- On Christmas Night — Ballet
- Riders to the Sea — Opera
- Sir John in Love — Opera
- The Pilgrim's Progress — Opera
- The Poisoned Kiss — Opera
- The Wasps, incidental music for tenor, baritone, male chorus and orchestra