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Vaughan Williams Foundation

@vwfndn.bsky.social

1.4K followers 320 following 390 posts

A grant-giving charity, with composers at the heart, formed by the merger of the Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust and the RVW Trust. vaughanwilliamsfoundation.org

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · Nov 26

Hullo Bluesky community!

Our website has a wealth of resources related to the life and works of composer Ralph Vaughan Williams - including a treasure trove of beautiful downloadable photographs.

📷 Find them here: vaughanwilliamsfoundation.org/discover/rvw...

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Reposted by Vaughan Williams Foundation

Ulster Orchestra @ulsterorchestra.bsky.social · 18h

Friday night saw the world premiere of Amelia Clarkson's 'The Rain Keeps Coming' (a commission supported by the Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social & Ulster Orchestra Foundation), Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.5 with Vadym Kholodenko & Tchaikovsky's 4th. Andrew Gourlay conducted.

Male presenting pianist playing a grand piano seated wearing formal suit, musicians behind seated in formal clothing play string instruments.

Female presenting individual in grey floral pattern dress with high neckline crosses hands to chest with grateful expression.

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 3h

The VWF funds the performance, commissioning or recording of music by professional British/Irish composers, projects in the UK creating developmental opportunities for composers, or those promoting wider awareness of British/Irish music of the last 100 years.

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 21h

📷 Discover a wonderful archive of photos of Vaughan Williams, available to download via our website

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 1d

Grant applications open today!

💻 Details here: vaughanwilliamsfoundation.org/funding/

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 1d

Today marks the birthday of a true giant of British music - Ralph Vaughan Williams.

The Vaughan Williams Foundation is a grant-giving charity which upholds the values and vision of the celebrated composer and his wife, Ursula.

💻 Find out more via our website 👇

Vaughan Williams Foundation

Welcome to the Vaughan Williams Foundation – one of the foremost sources of funding for recent and contemporary music in the UK.

vaughanwilliamsfoundation.org

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 2d

Born on this day in 1872: Ralph Vaughan Williams - one of Britain's greatest composers. From The Lark Ascending to his majestic symphonies, his music continues to inspire and uplift.

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 3d

We hope you have the chance to enjoy some autumn walks this weekend 🍂

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 4d

🎧 Four days left to listen!

Live at the BBC Proms: the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vasily Petrenko in Respighi's Pines of Rome and Vaughan Williams's 'A London Symphony'.

Live from the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Listen here 👇

BBC Proms - 2025 - BBC Proms: Vaughan Williams’s ‘A London Symphony’ - BBC Sounds

Live at the BBC Proms: the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vasily Petrenko.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 5d

Our next general funding application window opens on October 13.

💻 More information via our website

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 5d

"Has there ever been a more confident and dazzling opening to any first symphony than the blazing brass fanfare and choral outburst on the words “Behold, the sea itself”?" - Chris Garlick writing for @bachtrack.com.

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 6d

New opera!

In Dublin Jack, Conor Mitchell & The Belfast Ensemble delve into the seedy underbelly of Victorian London…

🎶 October 9: Purcell Room, Southbank Centre

🎶 November 14: Outburst Queer Arts Festival, Belfast

VWF supported - we wish them a great run! 👏

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 6d

Vaughan Williams - a man of few words?

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 6d

In September, the Vaughan Williams Foundation welcomed three new trustees.

Find out more here 👇

Welcome to our new Trustees - Vaughan Williams Foundation

We are delighted to announce the appointment of three new Trustees to the Board of the Vaughan Williams Foundation, bringing with them a wealth of experience and a passion for music.

vaughanwilliamsfoundation.org

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 7d

A new recording of the London Symphony Orchestra performing Vaughan Williams: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 9, conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano, is now available!

These symphonies form a portrait of a composer who could embrace both light and shadow with equal mastery 🎼

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 7d

On October 5, 1938, Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music premiered at the Royal Albert Hall. Conducted by Sir Henry Wood, the orchestra included players from the @londonsymphony, @BBCSO and @LPOrchestra.

In the audience was Sergei Rachmaninoff, who was moved to tears...

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 8d

"Despite its serene, idyllic sound, the Third is conceived near the front line while VW is on active service in World War I.

"‘Not really lambkins frisking at all’, wrote the composer many years later".

@MusicMagazine reflect on RVW's 3rd Symphony 👇

A guide to Vaughan Williams's Symphony No. 3 'A Pastoral Symphony' - Classical Music

We delve into the story behind the English composer's 3rd Symphony, A Pastoral Symphony

www.classical-music.com

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 10d

Best RVW works - a udiscovermusic 2024 article entitled Best Vaughan Williams Works: 10 Essential Pieces, has The Lark Ascending in the top spot.

Five Variants of ‘Dives and Lazarus’ is at number 2...

What do you think?

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 11d

In 1930, RVW composed Job: A Masque for Dancing, a one-act ballet score inspired by William Blake's illustrations of the biblical Book of Job.
The score is a significant work featuring his characteristic pastoral melodies alongside passages anticipating his later style.

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 11d

Vaughan Williams Foundation grant applications reopen on October 13. Applications for our postgraduate scholarships reopen in December.

Find full details of the funding we offer, and how to apply, via our website.

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 12d

British conductor and violinist Andrew Manze on Vaughan Williams 👇

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Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 12d

Happy first of the month! 🍂

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 13d

"There [is] a feeling of recognition, as of meeting an old friend, which comes to us all in the face of great artistic experiences" - Vaughan Williams.

RVW's connections to others were an important aspect of the composer's life.

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 14d

From 1903, Vaughan Williams became a dedicated folk song collector, transcribing hundreds of traditional songs that would have otherwise been lost.

These melodies became a fundamental part of his compositional style.

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 14d

🎻 "Music is the expression of the soul of a nation" - Ralph Vaughan Williams

At the Vaughan Williams Foundation we support the future of music by honouring past.

Find out about our work, and the funding we offer, via our website.

Vaughan Williams Foundation @vwfndn.bsky.social · 15d

"It’s a self-portrait and it’s muscular, visionary, brilliantly orchestrated, hugely enigmatic, magisterial and sweeping" - Tony Palmer, director of the Vaughan Williams film O Thou Transcendent, on A Sea Symphony.

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