Symphony no. 5 in D
Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote his Symphony No. 5 in D major between 1938 and 1943. In style it represents a shift away from the violent dissonance of his Fourth Symphony, and a return to the gentler style of the earlier Pastoral Symphony. Many of the musical themes in the Fifth Symphony stem from Vaughan Williams's then-unfinished operatic work, The Pilgrim's Progress. This opera, or "morality" as Vaughan Williams preferred to call it, had been in gestation for decades, and the composer had temporarily abandoned it at the time the symphony was conceived.
Movements
- Preludio (Moderato)
- Scherzo (Presto misterioso)
- Romanza (Lento)
- Passacaglia (Moderato)
Recommended recordings
- London Philharmonic Orchestra · Adrian Boult YouTubeSpotify (subscription)
- Philharmonia Orchestra · John Barbirolli YouTubeSpotify (subscription)