Opera Scotland

Ralph Vaughan Williams Suggest updates

Born Down Ampney, 12 October 1872.

Died London, 26 August 1958.

English composer.

The operas of Vaughan Williams show his lifelong enthusiasm for English folkmusic. Hugh the Drover remained popular during his lifetime, though it has been performed  rarely in recent years. Sir John in Love has been performed by ENO and Pilgrim's Progress by Covent Garden. The Poisoned Kiss is perhaps the least successful, though it has been staged at Haddo. Sir John in Love has been put on by Edinburgh University as well as the Conservatoire in Glasgow. The most regularly revived opera overall is Riders to the Sea, a short and highly effectrive tragedy which has been staged by student bodies, including the RSAMD in Glasgow.

We also intend to include large-scale choral works such as the (First) Sea Symphony, which has always been popular with choral societies.

Operatic and choral works performed in Scotland are shown in bold:

01   A Sea Symphony (Leeds 1910) (cpsr, from Whitman)

02   Hugh the Drover, or Love in the Stocks (London 1924) (Child)

03   The Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains (London 1922) (cpsr)

04   Sir John in Love (London 1929) (cpsr)

05   The Poisoned Kiss, or The Empress and the Necromancer (Cambridge 1936) (Sharp)                   

06   Riders to the Sea (London 1937) (Synge)

07   The Pilgrim's Progress (London 1951) (cpsr)