The Composer Speaks (and Listens)...

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Ralph Vaughan Williams believed that music should speak for itself and that it should not require lengthy explanations or extensive program notes. “The duty of words,” he explained, “is to say just as much as the music has left unsaid, no more.”

I am not really surprised then that I have been unable to uncover anything that RVW said about his incredible Mass in G Minor. However, in my search, I did discover two fascinating sites that I wanted to share with you as we start our new FCS blog.

Thanks to the internet, we now have easy access to a recording of Vaughan Williams discussing “modern” music, and a video of the composer observing a recording session of “England of Elizabeth” in 1956, only two years before his death.

I hope you enjoy hearing the composer speak and seeing him at work.

- Douglas Mears, Artistic Director