Ralph Vaughan Williams

Ralph Vaughan Williams was one of the most important composers of the 20th century and the Surrey landscape was a key influence on his music. Tinx Newton looks back at his life, and at the impact he has had on Leith Hill Musical Festival.

- Tinx Newton

RALPH Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) grew up at Leith Hill Place, having moved there with his family after the death of his father when he was just a toddler. Most of his childhood was spent at the imposing house on the slopes of Leith Hill and it was here that his Aunt Sophy (Wedgwood) taught him to play the piano and encouraged him to compose.

A natural musician, he also played the violin and loved traditional folk songs from an early age. At prep school, in Rotting dean, his lifelong love of Bach was kindled and at Charterhouse, in Godalming, he played violin and viola and gave his first public concert.

To his family’s great pride, Ralph went on to study at the Royal College of Music, in London, and was privileged to be a pupil of Sir Hubert Parry, who shared with his student a love of folk songs, hymns, and the glories of Tudor and Elizabethan music. After studying for three years at Trinity College, Cambridge, Ralph returned to the Royal College of Music in 1895, when he became a close friend of Gustav Holst whom he later described as “the greatest influence on my music”.

Not surprisingly Ralph found love and happiness with a fellow musician and he married Adeline Fisher, a talented cellist and pianist, in 1897. Throughout their marriage they shared the view that music should be part of everyone’s life, and not just the preserve of the elite. Music was in the family blood and when the Leith Hill Musical Festival was founded by Ralph’s sister, Margaret Vaughan Williams and her friend, Lady Evangeline Farrar, Ralph was appointed as conductor. From that day a wonderful musical legacy for Surrey was born.

Graham Muncy, former librarian at Surrey Performing Arts Library at Denbies Wine Estate, in Dorking, and Trustee of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society, is the go-to man to learn more about the history and music of Ralph Vaughan Williams.