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Mention the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams to most people and it’s probably his superbly atmospheric mini-violin concerto The Lark Ascending<\/em> that springs to mind. That, or his moving, noble Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis<\/em>, which draws so eloquently on English Renaissance music.<\/p> But there is much, much more to Vaughan Williams than these two works, marvellous though they may be. The composer wrote scores of songs, much wonderful choral music, a smattering of chamber music<\/a><\/strong>, some gorgeously scored concertos<\/a><\/strong>… and no fewer than nine symphonies. All of these are compelling, and at least half of them rank among the 20th century’s greatest symphonies. Here is a personal ranking of the nine Vaughan Williams symphonies.\u00a0 <\/p> In ninth position Symphony No. 9 in E minor. <\/strong>This sombre work is the most enigmatic of Vaughan Williams\u2019<\/a><\/strong>s symphonies, written in the final years of his life before his death in 1958, at the age of 85. Its hinterland is found in Thomas Hardy\u2019s tragic novel Tess of the D\u2019Urbervilles<\/em> and the landscape around Stonehenge, a place of ancient mystery; the composer later removed references to these programmatic inspirations, but it\u2019s hard not to attribute something of the music\u2019s serious mood to them.<\/p> ‘There was no denying the coolness of the critics\u2019 reception of the music\u2019, noted Vaughan Williams\u2019s biographer Michael Kennedy of the premiere. Ever since, love for the Ninth Symphony has been a slow burn. <\/p> Next is Sinfonia Antartica. <\/strong>Before the symphony, came the film. Scott of the Antarctic<\/em><\/strong><\/a> (1948) traces the tragic expedition of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, who was pipped to the South Pole by the Norwegians, then froze to death just 11 miles from a food store that would have saved him and his men. Vaughan Williams\u2019s brilliant film score gave him more than enough extra material and enthusiasm to pen the Sinfonia Antartica <\/em><\/a><\/strong>(1952).<\/p> Although the Grove Dictionary of Music writes off the piece as \u2018the least successful of the mature symphonies\u2019 because it\u2019s \u2018neither symphonic nor sufficiently programmatic\u2019, it\u2019s hard to resist its evocations of the terror and grandeur of the remote icy wilderness. That said, the atmospheric music is even better heard alongside the polar visuals.<\/p> In seventh position is his first symphony.<\/strong> Of all Vaughan Williams\u2019s symphonies, it\u2019s A Sea Symphony<\/em><\/a><\/strong>, arguably, that sounds most of its time \u2013 which is both a strength and a weakness. Its maritime subject was popular with British composers at the turn of the twentieth century, and Vaughan Williams launches us onto a great musical voyage with a satisfying splash, as the chorus exhorts us to \u2018behold, the sea itself!\u2019.<\/p>Ranked: the Vaughan Williams symphonies<\/h2>
9. Symphony No. 9 in E minor<\/strong><\/h3>
8. Sinfonia Antartica (Symphony No. 7)<\/strong><\/h3>
7. A Sea Symphony (Symphony No. 1)<\/strong><\/h3>