Michael Finnissy's bold and ambitious Complete Works album spans almost 60 years of his career. It represents the enormous contribution to the repertoire of the instrument made by one of Britain’s most significant composers. Supported by the VWF, due for release March 13, 2026 👏

“Riders to the Sea is a beautiful and tragic work by Ralph Vaughan Williams, based on the play of the same name by John Millington Synge" - conductor Joanna Drimatis. Sydney-based Gente, gente! Productions is set to launch with a bold double bill. More here 👇

Explore a fabulous range of photographs relating to the life of Ralph Vaughan Williams, via our website 💻

Concerto in F Minor for Bass Tuba and Orchestra - Ralph Vaughan Williams. 🎧 Listen to this 2013 recording with John Fletcher, tuba, and the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andre Previn 👇

We hope you have the opportunity to enjoy some music this weekend! 🎶

"A sound world where we experience real love in its many forms - philosophical, personal, painful, and transcendent" Violinist Esther Yoo on her new album Love Symposium, featuring a selection of works exploring facets of love, including Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending.

To mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Michael Kennedy, former chair of the Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust, the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society is sharing interviews examining Kennedy's life and work. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q42e...

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of music critic and writer Michael Kennedy (1926–2014), an important champion of Ralph Vaughan Williams. Kennedy was a close friend and leading authority on the composer, writing many influential books detailing his life and music.

As a student, RVW would travel into the fens, ice skating to Ely Cathedral and collecting local folk songs. In this BBC Radio 3 programme, poet and nature writer Jade Cuttle retraces his footsteps. 🎧 Listen here:

The Vaughan Williams Foundation funds the work of composers and projects relating to the life and work of Ralph and Ursula Vaughan Williams. We have 3 deadlines annually for general funding - the next is in the spring 🌷 Check our website for more details 💻

The English Music Festival showcases the richness and heritage of English music. This May it comes to Devon, with highlights including the London Mozart Players performing works by Gerald Finzi and Thomas Linley, and chamber and choral music by Elgar, Holst, Britten and Vaughan Williams.

The Vaughan Williams Foundation has various funding opportunities available - find out more via our website 💻

Start your week with RVW's Tallis Fantasia played here by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Bryden Thomson. Tallis Fantasia is based on a tune by the 16th-century English composer Thomas Tallis, which RVW encountered while editing the English Hymnal. 🎧

RVW's The Lark Ascending was inspired by George Meredith's poem, which describes a lark soaring and singing an unbroken melody, reaching the heavens. The composer uses the violin soloist to represent both the song and the flight of the lark. Perfect for #ValentinesDay 💕

Explore our archive of images via the Vaughan Williams Foundation website 📷

"Her high, floating lines seemed to summon the lark itself" - A review of a performance of The Lark Ascending by French violinist Doriane Gable, at Cayman Arts Festival. Wonderful to hear about Vaughan Williams's being shared across the world! 🌍 📷: Christopher Tobutt

In this webinar, produced by the Music Teachers Association, Dr Steven Berryman is joined by academic Dr Jonathan Clinch, Lecturer in Academic Studies at the Royal Academy of Music, to take an analytical look at Vaughan Williams' On Wenlock Edge. Perfect for those doing a Music A Level! 🎓

Discover an extraordinary archive of pictures relating to the life and work of Ralph Vaughan Williams via our website.

One for the diary 🗓️ The grand finale of the National Symphony Orchestra’s 2026 season, a programme on November 6, at London's Cadogan Hall, opens with RVW's Fantasia on Greensleeves. Conducted by Rimma Sushanskaya and featuring violinist Mathilde Milwidsky.

The Vaughan Williams Foundation offers a range of funding opportunities. 💻 Find out more here: vaughanwilliamsfoundation.org/funding/

RVW wrote The Lark Ascending in 1914. Its premiere was delayed to 1921. It's inspired by George Meredith's poem describing a lark soaring and singing an unbroken melody, reaching the heavens. The composer uses the violin soloist to represent both the song and flight of the lark.

The first day of the Leith Hill Festival on April 10 will see Dorking Halls filled with the music of Vaughan Williams 🎶 The Leith Hill Choirs of Capel, Dorking, Epsom, Leatherhead and Oxshott, along with Southern Pro Musica, will perform The Lark Ascending and Five Mystical Songs.

🎧 If you missed this fascinating BBCRadio 3 programme on Sunday, catch it here 👇

Applications for Vaughan Williams Scholarships are open! Grants of up to £8K each for postgraduate composition study will be awarded in 2026. Applicants should demonstrate exceptional talent and be planning a professional career in composition. Details via our website.

📻 This Sunday on BBC Radio 3, at 7.45pm - the Sunday Feature: Ralph Vaughan Williams and Fenland Music. Robert Macfarlane, Alyson Tapp and Caroline Davison talk to poet Jade Cuttle about the musical inspiration Ralph Vaughan Williams found in the fens.

Give yourself a musical treat this weekend and enjoy this 2021 recording of The Oslo Philharmonic, conducted by Vasily Petrenko, performing Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 5 in Oslo Concert Hall. 🎧 👇

“Your bow has got to seem like it’s endless. The audience must just be aware of a seamless flow of sound.” Musicians and academics examine the power of Vaughan Williams' 1914 masterpiece, The Lark Ascending, inspired by George Meredith’s poem. 🎧 👇

Fascinating stuff here from @bachtrack.com, using its listings of more than 31K concert, opera and dance events to provide insight into what orchestras, opera houses and dance companies are offering worldwide. Find the article here: bachtrack.com/classical-mu...

An insight from RVW here in a letter to The Times, in response to a critic's comment that a singer had delivered one of his songs "too slowly"

A thought for all the singers out there! 🎶

A programme produced by the Music Teachers’ Association provides free resources for teaching about various aspects of RVW’s work, from Early Years Foundation Stage through to Key Stage 5. 🎓

In the early 19th century, the poet and painter William Blake produced a series of artworks illustrating the biblical book of Job, telling the story of a prosperous man tested. Two movements from Vaughan Williams’s Job – A Masque for Dancing were inspired by his paintings and engravings.

The Vaughan Williams Foundation has three deadlines annually for general funding. The next deadlines are: 🎶 Friday, May 1, 2026, (for work taking place from August 2026 onward) 🎶 Thursday, September 3, 2026 🎶 Tuesday, January 5, 2027

How about some RVW by candlelight? 🕯️ London Concertante will perform The Lark Ascending, paired with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, at cathedrals across Ireland and the UK throughout 2026, starting with Rochester Cathedral on March 27. Details and 🎫 via the London Concertante website

Discover a wealth of resources and information relating to the life and works of Ralph Vaughan Williams, via our website.

We love this picture of RVW and Holst setting off on a trek - makes us think of sunny summer days! ☀️

The Vaughan Williams Foundation offers a number of funding opportunities. Find out more via our website: vaughanwilliamsfoundation.org/funding/

Need contact details for Vaughan Williams' principal publishers? Find everything you need here: vaughanwilliamsfoundation.org/discover/pub...

This Sunday in Cheltenham! English Symphony Orchestra Residency: Elgar, Vaughan Williams & Sawyers, featuring Vaughan Williams: Overture to The Wasps. Conductor: Kenneth Woods Violin: Zoe Byers 3pm, Cheltenham Town Hall. Details here ⬇️

The Vaughan Williams Foundation has a wealth of resources relating to the life and works of the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. 💻 Discover them via our website

Congratulations to all those shortlisted for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award this year 👏 We're delighted that the 2026 list includes VWF trustee Richard Causton. Check out Richard's recently updated website here: richardcauston.com

Vaughan Williams wrote this in a letter to Swaffham Primary School, underlining the importance of children having access to the arts.

We're proud and delighted that all of the work of VWF trustee Raymond Yiu is now available via Schott Music. Described as an "outstanding and distinctive voice in British music", Raymond's works are performed worldwide by leading artists & ensembles. More here: www.schott-music.com/en/blog/raym...

Start the week with this recording of Vaughan Williams' much-loved The Lark Ascending, performed here by Brazilian violinist Nathan Amaral, accompanied by the Philharmonia Orchestra under conductor Ben Palmer. Filmed at the Royal Albert Hall.

Stephen Johnson reveals for BBC Radio 3 how Vaughan Williams transformed the music of his most famous film score to create an Antarctic symphony. 🎧 Listen here 👇

The Vaughan Williams Foundation funds the work of composers and projects relating to the life and work of Ralph and Ursula Vaughan Williams. We have 3 deadlines annually for general funding - the next is in the spring 🌷 Check our website for more details 💻

Ralph Vaughan Williams' second wife, Ursula, published seven collections of poems & contributed words to several of Vaughan Williams’ works. She wrote three novels, a biography of RVW & the libretti for two operas. In 2002, her autobiography, Paradise Remembered, was published.

Applications for 26/27 now open! Vaughan Williams Scholarships of up to £8K each for postgraduate composition study will be awarded in 2026. Applicants should demonstrate exceptional talent and be planning a career in composition. Details here ⬇️

This piece was written in 2019 for the London Central Fellowship Band and Bandmaster David Rudd. It's based on the hymn For all the Saints by Vaughan Williams, and its 2022 release marked the 150th anniversary of RVW's birth. Performed by the Canadian Staff Band.

A thought for composers from RVW! 🎼