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Article: THE MAN WHO SET ENGLAND TO MUSIC ; His 'The Lark Ascending' has just been voted the most popular classical work by the listeners of Classic FM. Andy McSmith looks at the inf luences that shaped one of Britain's greatest composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams ++ 20th-century music
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- April 11, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2007 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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In the Thirties and Forties, the people of Dorking, Surrey, were
used to the sight of a large, shambling, absent-minded and untidily
dressed figure wandering through town. He was apt to put his
purchases down and forget where he had left them. That did not
matter: shopkeepers would parcel them up, scribble the address "R
Vaughan Williams - White Gates", and have them delivered to the
house on the lower slopes of Ranmore Common.
During his lifetime, Ralph Vaughan Williams shrugged off formal
recognition, preferring to live the life of an ordinary member of
the English rural middle class. True, he accepted an Order of Merit