Bücher von Ralph Vaughan Williams

Vaughan Williams' masterpiece for string orchestra was given its premiere on September 6th, 1910 at the Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester Cathedral with the London Symphony Orchestra under the composer's direction. It was an immediate success, but the composer revised the piece twice (1913 and 1919) before it's first publication in 1921. The Phrygian-mode Tallis melody upon which the work is based originally appeared in Archbishop Parker's Psalter of 1567 with the text "Why fum'th in fight the Gentiles spite." This newly engraved and edited score, based upon the 1921 Curwen score, has a vastly improved layout designed for ease of study and performance. IMSLP page Wikipedia article

Vaughan Williams composed three 'Norfolk Rhapsodies' in 1906. Nos. 2 and 3 - now sadly lost - were actually performed at a concert in London's Queen's Hall on 17 April 1912 under Balfour Gardiner just days after the "Titanic" disaster. The First Rhapsody was given its premiere on 23 August 1906 at the same locale under Henry Wood's baton. The composer made a number of revisions to the work before a second performance took place (21 May 1914) in Bournemouth. This newly engraved edition by Richard W. Sargeant, Jr. is based upon the revised 1914 score. IMSLP page Wikipedia article

Vaughan Williams conducted the first performance of his great choral symphony on his 38th birthday, October 12, 1910, at the Leeds Music Festival. The work was well received and has been in the symphonic repertoire ever since. The text was taken by the composer from Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass". This digitally restored score, the first available at a reasonable price, is reissued from the one first published by Stainer and Bell of London around 1920. As with all PLP scores a percentage of each sale is donated to the amazing online archive of free music scores and recordings, IMSLP - Petrucci Music Library. Wikipedia article IMSLP page