VAUGHAN WILLIAMS AND HIS FOURTH SYMPHONY by David C. F. Wright:

Classical Music on the Web

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS AND HIS FOURTH SYMPHONY

Dr David C.F. Wright PhD.

© David Wright Ph.D
This article, or any part of it, must not be reproduced in part or in whole in any way whatsoever without prior written consent of the author.

It was after his second visit to America that Ralph Vaughan Williams composed his Fourth Symphony. Perhaps America had been a stimulus to him as London had been for Haydn, for it certainly redirected his development process and changed his attitude to art. His shyness and diffidence had now gone and he was prepared to take the brave step to be a leader rather than, as hitherto, to accommodate traditionalism.

He did, however, retain his modesty. Of this F minor symphony he said, "If this is modern music I’m not sure whether I like it." The noise, bustle and vulgarity of North America lies behind the power of the symphony but it seems as if the deaths of teachers, mentors and friends are lamented in this fine score.

Stanford had died in 1924. He had been a very great influence. Charles Wood died in 1926 and, a year before the Fourth Symphony was completed, both Holst and Elgar had died. Holst had been Vaughan Williams’ constant friend and mentor and was by far the most important musician in his life. Elgar had been a friend of sorts but Vaughan Williams had been a member of the group led by Sir Herbert Parry whose aim had been to dispute the exaggerated praise afforded to Elgar’s music. On Elgar’s death Vaughan Williams came to the defence of Parry.

It has been suggested that the symphony was a prophecy of the 1939-45 war, or of a world dominated by vicious ideologies. To some, it is both as nightmarish and as fateful as Beethoven’s Fifth. It is the outstanding work of Vaughan Williams and has an almost unbearable tension. There is a nervous and unremitting struggle yet the work leads into triumph. So the symphony is not depressing but rather it possesses a noble, exhilarating message despite its dissonant turmoil. Its close formal structure is akin to Beethoven’s Fifth particularly in the first and last movements. In fact, the finalé has a brutal bravura and a rugged sound. The instrumentation is sometimes harsh to the point of rawness yet the ingenuity of colour and texture is exemplary throughout. Yet it is not all like this. The spacing of the strings at the beginning of the slow movement has a sense of unspeakable remoteness. The scherzo, by contrast, has a sardonic humour and high-pressure bursts of steam happen abruptly and maliciously.

The symphony was first performed in London on 10 April 1935. It was the first of his symphonies not to have a descriptive title or any solos for violin or a pianissimo epilogue. It is scored for a normal full orchestra with triple woodwind and four percussionists. There is no harp. The opening movement contains hardly any respite in its volcanic outpouring of vehement music. The slow movement has some bare scoring and is considerably less brusque than the first. Whereas the themes of the first movement are grim those of the second are mournful, yet there is still a fascinating tension. The scherzo explodes again and ere long the finalé, a strident march, is upon us. The second subject is a swaggering, aggressive folk-tune. The movement heads towards what the unsuspecting may believe to be a typical Vaughan Williams ending but this is curtly dismissed. The tension is stepped up and there is an electrifying epilogue.

That this symphony is a work of tremendous power and imagination ranks it as an undisputed masterpiece. One cannot imagine Parry or Elgar writing such an impressive symphony. In fact upon the death of Elgar the stranglehold he had upon English music ceased. Composers now believed that they could be heard. By 1935 not only had Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 4 in F Minor been written, but so had Walton’s incredible First Symphony. Vaughan Williams’ symphony had brought fresh air into a tired claustrophobic English musical establishment that was decidedly decadent and moribund and tried to keep alive the embers of a pompous age. Five years on Britten was to realise his powerful Sinfonia da Requiem which is a deliberate attempt to carry on the new wave reacting against traditional methods, styles and techniques.

It is Vaughan Williams’ superlative Fourth Symphony that took British music out of its dark days of predictability and gave it welcome life, being both original and great again.

July 1998

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