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English Composers
Ralph Vaughan Williams or Edward Elgar?
A lot of discussion lately about who is the more ‘English’ - Elgar or Vaughan Williams, one a rather tortured Catholic, one a rather comfortable, Anglican (both of sorts). Vaughan Williams is certainly neglected compared with Elgar and he is probably more English in terms of his continuity and sensitivity to English folk song and traditional tunes. Elgar is only thought of as the epitome of Englishness because of the way his march is belted out at the Proms to words he never wanted. But if course he is the better composer. Discuss.
One Response to “English Composers”
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23/02/2008 at 10:02 pm
This is an interesting one. I think the Ken Russell Elgar film with the horse and the Malvern Hills did a lot to instill a strong sense of Elgar’s ‘Englishness’ for me. And of course the incomparable Jacqueline du Pre helped to bring Elgar to the attention of a whole generation. I don’t know Vaughan Williams at all well, but remember singing some hauntingly beautiful but rather difficult pieces in the distant past - definitely a reminder of the best in traditional English folk music, but not such easy ‘tunes’ to follow. Maybe some of this debate boils down to musical accessibility, but I’m no expert so I’d be delighted if anyone else would like to provide an explanation.