The Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis is one of the most beautiful works ever for string orchestra. Anyone with an inclination towards Ralph Vaughn Williams or just English music would love this piece. The score is easy to read and the 1st and 2nd orchetras and the solo string quartet are easily distinguished.

Simply wonderful! One of best works written for orchestra. All Vaughn Williams fans needs to check this one out.

A landmark in Vaughan Williams criticism. The book handles questions both of intellectual milieu (Frogley's essay on English musical identity relates it to a wider movement) and of Vaughan Williams's musical art. The essay on VW's use of rhythm is outstanding, thoroughly refuting the picture of him as some musical bumpkin, but essays of this type require some familiarity with the nuts and bolts of music as well as the ability to read it. The book well rewards the effort it requires. This has become a favorite book, one that I reread.

I've known this book for over thirty years. Kennedy approachesVaughan Williams's catalogue both widely and deeply, with plenty ofmusical examples. Since I'm a Vaughan Williams headbanger, a book like this is my equivalent of hagiography. Kennedy assumes (correctly) that Vaughan Williams is one of the major composers of this century, and not just in England, and thus discusses works in a clear-eyed way, without special pleading, emotional ginger-up, or hysterical proselytizing. He gives us the musical "facts" of a work and shows, in purely compositional terms, why it's wonderful -- the most convincing argument of all. I've almost worn out my copy through reading and re-reading. When I listen to a Vaughan Williams work, I usually have the book handy. A classic of music writing.--Steve Schwartz