Suite de Ballet

Auteur
Ralph Vaughan Williams, born in Gloucestershire on 12 October 1872, read History at Cambridge and went to the Royal College of Music where his teachers were Parry, Wood, and Stanford. Vaughan Williams believed in the value of music education and wrote practical competition pieces, serviceable church music, and with the 49th Parallel (1940-41) he found a new outlet in writing for film. His profoundly disturbing Symphony No.6 (1948) received international acclaim with more than a hundred performances in a little over two years. His great sensitivity to the 20th-century human condition, his flexibility in writing for all levels of music making, and his unquestionably great imagination combine to make him one of the key figures in 20th century music. Ralph Vaughan Williams had a long association with Oxford University Press; over 200 publications are available in the Oxford catalogue.

Texte du rabat

for flute and string orchestra or flute and pianoThe manuscript of this work was found amongst the composer's papers after his death, and it was probably written in 1913.

Résumé
This four movement work for flute, discovered among Vaughan Williams's manuscripts after his death, seems to have been composed in 1913 for the French flautist Louis Fleury. It shows the composer beginning to experiment with the bitonality that would flavour his later works. The flute part is by turn expressive and virtuosic, making it an excellent showcase for more advanced flautists, especially those looking for British repertoire. Scores and parts for the string orchestra accompaniment are available on hire.