Published for the first time in our Massey University Music Edition series (PME16), Richard II - Incidental music for a radio production of William Shakespeare's play (1944) by Vaughan Williams provides insight into a substantial work at the height of his maturity. Although the composer prepared this extensive score - having written approximately 25 minutes of original music scored for an orchestra with a full complement of brass and percussion - the BBC radio production never materialised. This publication brings a fresh look into this substantive work of Vaughan Williams. While the cancellation of this production during wartime Britain remains a mystery, like the Sixth Symphony, Vaughan Williams's incidental music to Richard II is a testament to a troubled and modern age. The score contains the complete set of musical cues, carefully considered and edited by Nathaniel Lew from the original manuscripts now residing in the British Library.
Ralph Vaughan Williams is recognised as one of the major musical figures of his time. He began his career as a folk song collector, music editor of The English Hymnal (1906) and founding conductor of the Leith Hill Festival—a post he maintained for over fifty years. Vaughan William's vast musical output includes song settings, symphonies, chamber music, opera and choral music. At the heart of his creativity lie a sequence of nine symphonies that move from meditative pastoral music to themes of existential dramas.
