A symphony born in war

[Roundel]

The British composer Ralph (pronounced "Rafe") Vaughan Williams was 42 when the Great War broke out, but that didn't keep him from enlisting in the Royal Army Medical Corps. At dusk, he would often park his ambulance on a particular hillside to view the sunset. On those occasions he would sometimes hear a bugler sounding "The Last Post," the British counterpart of "Taps." That put an idea in his head that developed in the following years.

Vaughan Williams (a two word last name without a hyphen) was later commissioned an officer in the Royal Garrision Artillery and survived the war, living another 40 years. His Third Symphony, A Pastoral Symphony, premiered in 1922. Echoes of "The Last Post" can be heard in its second movement. The work ends with a haunting soprano solo that suggests a soldier's yearning to return home.

For audio clips using Windows Media Player, try:

http://music.barnesandnoble.com/sear...058327&ITM=303

To hear it in MP3, try:

http://www.rvwsociety.com/sounds.html

It's a truly lovely piece, mein Freund... thank you so much for sharing it!

"Prost!"