LVMS
General Music
Ralph Vaughn Williams:
Historical Facts
Facts:
1. From the Romantic Time Period.
2. From England.
3. He played a role in starting the field of Ethnomusicology, which is the study of music from your own or different cultures. He went around England, Wales, and Scotland collecting hundreds of recordings of folk songs with his friend Gustav Holtz.
4. He was knonw for using these collected folk songs in his compostion. As a veteran of both World War I and II, he was incredibly nationalistic and patriotic. He sought to uplift English pride and spirit by using these songs to remind them of their heritage in hard times after the wars.
A fantasia is a piece of music that takes two or more familiar pieces of music and puts them together, sometimes in whole or fragments, in a new arrangement. If you're familiar with it, think of Disney's "Fantasia" or "Fantasia 2000" which pairs well known clips of classical music with animated film.
"Fantasia on Greensleeves" is one of many examples of Vaughn Williams use of these folk songs. It starts out in ternary (ABA) using the familiar tune of Greensleeves (What Child is This), and then transitioning in the B section to a not so familiar folk song "Lovely Joan". Ironically enough, both folk songs talk about girls who end up deserting their boyfriends (in the case of "Lovely Joan" the girl steals the white knight's steed and ring!).