1. Vaughan Williams served as a wagon orderly in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the First World War, driving ambulances in France and, later, Greece. 2. The hymn tune ‘Down Ampney’ is named after the village in which he was born. 3. The English folk song tradition was brought back from the brink, largely thanks to his efforts in travelling throughout the countryside, transcribing songs from locals. 4. For three months in 1908, Vaughan Williams went to Paris to study orchestration with Maurice Ravel. They became close friends. 5. Vaughan Williams is the editor of the 1906 edition of the English Hymnal and was inspired to write the Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis on discovering his Third Mode Melody hymn tune. 6. Composers Ivor Gurney and Herbert Howells were at the premiere of the Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis at Gloucester Cathedral. They were so enthralled, they spent the rest of the evening pacing the streets of Gloucester, deep in excited conversation. 7. Fellow composer Peter Warlock commented that the Symphony No. 3 (the ‘Pastoral’) sounded like a ‘cow looking over a gate’, although the work is linked to Vaughan Williams’s memories of serving in the First World War. 8. Another of Vaughan Williams’s famous works, his Fantasia on Greensleeves, was originally written as part of his 1928 opera, Sir John in Love. 9. Vaughan Williams died in August 1958, days before a recording of his Symphony No. 9. The recording, conducted by Adrian Boult, went ahead as a memorial to the composer. 10. Vaughan Williams second wife, Ursula, died only in 2007. She was a noted poet and a biographer of the composer.

1. www.colstonhall.org/classical
10 things you didn’t
know about…
Vaughan
Williams

2. Vaughan Williams served as a wagon
orderly in the Royal Army Medical
Corps during the First World War, driving
ambulances in France and, later, Greece.
www.colstonhall.org/classical

3. www.colstonhall.org/classical
The hymn tune ‘Down Ampney’
is named after the village in
which he was born.

4. The English folk song tradition
was brought back from the brink,
largely thanks to his efforts in
travelling throughout the
countryside, transcribing
songs from locals.www.colstonhall.org/classical

5. www.colstonhall.org/classical
For three months in 1908,
Vaughan Williams went to Paris
to study orchestration with
Maurice Ravel.
They became
close friends.

6. www.colstonhall.org/classical
Vaughan Williams is the editor of the
1906 edition of the English Hymnal and
was inspired to write the Fantasia on a
theme of Thomas Tallis on discovering his
Third Mode Melody hymn tune.

7. www.colstonhall.org/classical
Composers Ivor Gurney & Herbert Howells
were at the premiere of the Fantasia on
a theme of Thomas Tallis at Gloucester
Cathedral. They were so enthralled, they
spent the rest of the evening pacing the
streets of Gloucester, deep in excited
conversation.

8. Fellow composer Peter Warlock
commented that the Symphony No. 3
(the ‘Pastoral’) sounded like a ‘cow
looking over a gate’
www.colstonhall.org/classical
...although the work
is linked to Vaughan
Williams’s memories
of serving in the
First World War.

9. www.colstonhall.org/classical
Another of Vaughan Williams’s
famous works, his Fantasia on
Greensleeves, was originally
written as part of his 1928 opera,
Sir John in Love.

10. Vaughan Williams died in
August 1958, days before a
recording of his Symphony
No. 9. The recording,
conducted by Adrian
Boult, went ahead as
a memorial to the
composer.
www.colstonhall.org/classical

11. www.colstonhall.org/classical
Vaughan
Williams second
wife, Ursula, died
only in 2007. She
was a noted
poet and a
biographer of
the composer.

12. www.colstonhall.org/classical
For more great classical content:
www.colstonhall.org/classical