Ralph Vaughan Williams

Abstract In R. V.W.―A Biography of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Ursula Vaughan Williams, the composer ‘s widow, writes about her husband ‘s name: “Ralph ‘s grandfather, Sir Edward Vaughan Williams, seems to have been the first … to use the double-barrelled but unhyphenated name …hough occasionally-at school or in the army-Ralph was called Williams it is not correct. Ralph ‘s name was pronounced Rafe, any other pronunciation used to infuriate him. “ The Eighth was the first symphony that Vaughan Williams numbered himself. His first three symphonies went by their names. The next three he called simply Symphony in F minor, Symphony in D major, and Symphony in E minor, but beginning with the D major his publisher intervened and added numbers to the titles.