Vaughan Williams: Composer, Patriot, Radical - A Biography Hardcover – 31 Oct. 2015

Keith Alldritt is obviously a competent biographer but it's clear that he knew very little about RVW before he began researching the life of the great man. Bearing this in mind, it's pleasing to find that the composer's life is told clearly and sympathetically, in a narrative free of the kind of gossipy prurience to be found in, for example, John Bridcut's 2008 film 'The Passions of Vaughan Williams'. Alldritt avoids speculation and tends to stick to the facts, presented - as another reviewer has already metioned - without much interpretation or analysis of people's words and actions. This said, the book is at its most interesting when he DOES attempt to reflect and comment upon these things. For example, Alldritt's reading of RVW's youthful relationship with his hyper-intellectual friends at Cambridge, and with his cousin Randolph Wedgwood in particular, made me view things in a new way and gave me fresh understanding. I was also impressed by his psychological explanation of why, at the relatively tender age of 27, Ursula Wood seems to have had no problem in taking a lover old enough to be her grandfather. Though I respect Alldritt's reluctance to reflect and speculate about this complex life, and agree with it up to a point, I feel he has been over-cautious; the book is at its best when he sticks his neck out and tries to help us understand. Almost everyone involved in RVW's life is dead now, so perhaps it is time for a biography which addresses difficult issues linked to RVW's life and attempts to account for things that have so far gone unexplained. If this involves some informed speculation and reading-between-the-lines, so be it.I can't help feeling that Alldritt was unwise to get involved in analysis of the music, however. As mentioned earlier, the author is not a music specialist and his attempts to describe VW's works are often unconvincing, sometimes downright misleading. Even less successful are his efforts to relate the music to other art-forms, world events and happenings in the composer's private life. His attempts to link VW's music with that of other composers also sometimes misfire. For example, discussing the 'Norfolk Rhapsody' of 1906, Alldritt writes: "In America that year, Ralph's close contemporary Charles Ives was writing his 'After Dark in Central Park', a work which has affinities with Ralph's rhapsodies." In fact, Ives's piece is called 'Central Park in the Dark' and anyone who knows both pieces will surely wonder what on earth these 'affinities' might be. To my ears they have very little in common.Alldritt's error over the title of Ives's work brings me to my most serious reservation about this book. Some reviewers have mentioned a few mistakes in the text, but in fact there are more than EIGHTY errors in this book, ranging from mis-spelling of names (Aaron Copeland) to serious errors of fact. Here are a few examples: Sir George Grove is confused with Sir Charles Groves (p.41); Sir Charles Villiers Stanford is referred to as George Villiers Stanford (p.187) and the oboe soloist Leon Goosens is twice confused with his brother the conductor Eugene (p.283 and 285). Elsewhere, Alldritt incorrectly calls 'Hodie' a Christmas 'concerto' (it's a cantata), reference is made to RVW's 'Serenade to strings' and The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King's College Cambridge is reduced to just 'Five Lessons and Carols'! If the book goes to a second edition, it's to be hoped that these and all the other mistakes will be corrected. There is also evidence of problems with the Index, but I'll leave that to one side for now.Throughout the book, Alldritt refers to Vaughan Williams as 'Ralph', breaking the convention that (monarchs and saints excluded) the subjects of a biography are identified by their surname, at least after the narrative moves beyond the period of childhood. In life, RVW was slow to get on first-name terms with friends and colleagues, so it's odd that Keith Alldritt felt free to be so familiar with the Great Man!Do buy this book because, for all its shortcomings, it's the best account we have of RVW's life If you want a book that comments perceptively on the music and links it intelligently with world events, get hold of Simon Heffer's brief biography, first published in 2000. For a survey of RVW's music, the late Michael Kennedy's 'The Works of Ralph Vaughan Williams' (1971) is still the standard work, and likely to remain so for a long time. For a very personal account of one woman's response to Vaughan Williams's music, scour the second hand bookshops for Simona Packenham's 'The Music of Ralph Vaughan Williams', published shortly before the composer's death. Hugh Cobbe's book, 'The Letters of Ralph Vaughan Williams' is also essential reading for anyone seriously interested in the composer.

A brave attempt to probe more deeply into the private life of Vaughan Williams which falls short on a number of counts. It is clear that the author has limited musical knowledge as he adds very little to our understanding of the composers music. In addition the editing is appalling, for example the misspelling of Copland as Copeland; there are numerous careless mistakes like this which should have been corrected. I do like the author's effort to place VW's life into the socio-political context of the times but sometimes the link between the two becomes unclear and tenuous. He commendably expands our insights into the mainly negative impact of Adeline's (VW's first wife) family on the marriage, Adeline becoming increasingly distracted by her relatives to the detriment of her husband.Ultimately a frustrating read. The definitive biography of this great man and composer has yet to be written.

Excellent read with a very flowing interesting story of a fascinating life!

This is the most detailed and comprehensive biography of VW yet. As such it will be a welcome source of information about his life. I have to say that, as a lifelong lover of his music, I can't be more enthusiastic about it because, in spite of the author's credentials and his apparently meticulous research, there are errors, omissions and inclusions that betray some loose writing and lack of rigour in editing. His descriptions of the major works hardly do them any favours: his far too frequent use of the word "delicate" for example, is not a term that one would associate with much of VWs music, but he uses it in describing the Sea Symphony, Flos Campi, Five Tudor Portraits and the Ninth Symphony, among others works. He describes the Tallis Fantasia as having "two ancient introductory themes". Where is the second?Edmund Rubbra, a friend of VW and fellow composer, appears briefly only twice, both times referred to as "Edward Rubbra" although his first name is given correctly in the index. T.S.Eliot, on the other hand, gets mentioned eleven times, although there is no evidence that VW ever met him or even read his poetry. The only common factor (as far as I know) was that they both knew Bertrand Russell, a Cambridge friend of Ralph; later Russell was friendly with Eliot and had an affair with his first wife Vivien. I am suspicious that this author included these references to Eliot solely because he has recently written a book about the "Four Quartets."I agree with another reviewer that there is little attempt at in-depth analysis of VW's character, which is a pity, because it would be good to understand better how this wonderful music came to be written by such a "normal" person. There is certainly an attempt to set his life within world events, but I suspect there are currents in his psychology that could be material for another more probing book.I was pleased to see, however, that Adeline was given more sympathetic treatment than some other commentators have manged. She seemed especially kind to Ursula and accepting of the notorious menage a trois.It could be argued that the faults I refer to are minor ones, but they seem to me symptomatic of haste and don't inspire confidence that other inaccuracies are not lurking within these pages. Nevertheless I would still recommend this biography for those who would like to know more of the everyday facts about VW's life.

Very quick delivery and book just as described. Very recommendable.

Still reading through this extremely detailed biography of the of the man who was my much loved God-Father.Congratulations to the Author for his diligence, with a 'warts and all' account of a remarkable life.