Original version

BBC Four

BBC 4

BBC HD

BBC Two

BBC Two England

England

BBC Two Wales (Analogue)

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

BBC Two Scotland

BBC Two Northern Ireland (Analogue)

BBC Two Northern Ireland

John Bridcut

The Passions of Vaughan Williams

Documentaries

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Music: Classical

23/05/2008

BBC Four - The Passions of Vaughan Williams

Musical and psychological portrait of classical composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Musical and psychological portrait of classical composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, which explores the passions that drove this giant of 20th-century English music.

Fifty years after his death, this musical and psychological portrait of Ralph Vaughan Williams explores the passions that drove a giant of 20th-century English music. It explores the enormous musical range of an energetic, red-blooded composer whose output extends well beyond the delicate pastoralism of his perhaps most famous piece, The Lark Ascending.  

The film tells the story of his long marriage to his increasingly disabled wife Adeline and his long affair with the woman who eventually became his second wife, Ursula. The effect of these complicated relationships on his music is demonstrated in performances of orchestral and choral works, specially filmed at Cadogan Hall, London by the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Richard Hickox and by the singers of Schola Cantorum of Oxford.  

Among the contributors is the late Ursula Vaughan Williams, who was interviewed shortly before she died at the age of 96.

Knowledge, arts, music and culture from the UK and the world.

BBC Four reflects arts, music and culture with an ambitious range of intellectually and culturally enriching programmes, taking an expert and in-depth approach to its subjects.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Passions of Vaughan Williams

Contributors

Genres

Formats

BBC Four

About BBC Four