Symphony No. 5 in D Major

• Vaughan William’s fifth symphony was written between 1938-43 in the throes of WWII. The composer later revised the work in 1951.¹ The serenity and restraint of the piece stand in stark contrast to the composer’s dissonant fourth symphony.
• Symphony No. 5 contains several fragments from Vaughan Williams’s (then unfinished) opera, The Pilgrim’s Progress. The opera was based on John Bunyan’s religious allegory by the same name. While Vaughan Williams had been working on the opera before starting his fifth symphony, he believed he wouldn’t finish it and didn’t want to waste the musical material.
• Although the symphony is not meant to be programmatic, the influence of Bunyan’s story is undeniably there.²
  • Interestingly, Vaughan Williams included the following quotation from Bunyan’s novel at the start of the third movement of the original symphony manuscript (the quote was removed before being published):

Upon this place stood a cross, and a little below a sepulcher. Then he said: ‘He hath given me rest by his sorrow, and life by his death.’³

• Symphony No. 5 was first played publicly in 1943, with the composer conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra.⁴
• Vaughan Williams dedicated his fifth symphony to Jean Sibelius with the following inscription: “Dedicated without permission, with the sincerest flattery, to Jean Sibelius, whose great example is worthy of imitation.”⁵
  • The composer is believed to have been influenced by the Finnish composer when writing Symphony No. 5. In 1937, Vaughan Williams noted in a correspondence that he felt creatively “dried up,” and within the same month, sought out all available recordings of Sibelius’s music. The subsequent musical immersion likely played a role in the creation of Symphony No. 5.⁶
• *One unusual feature about Symphony No. 5:
  • Vaughan Williams organized the “Scherzo” movement second, where it would have been programmed third in a traditional symphony setting. Consequently, the slow movement (“Romanza”) is placed third rather than second.
• Additional fun fact – Symphony No. 5 calls for the smallest orchestra of any of Vaughan William’s symphonies.⁷

1. Hugh Ottaway and Alain Frogley, “Vaughan Williams, Ralph,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed September 9, 2022, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000042507.
2. Steve Schwartz, “Symphony #5 in D Major (1943),” Classical Net, 2000, accessed September 9, 2022, http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/works/v-w/v-w5.php.
3. Michael Kennedy, “Symphony No. 5 in D Major” in accompanying booklet, Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Complete Symphonies performed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Richard Hickox, CHAN 5303, 2022, compact disc.
4. Ibid.
5. Robert Matthew-Walker, Essay in accompanying booklet, Vaughan Williams: Symphony No 5 & Scenes adapted from Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins, Hyperion 68325, 2020, compact disc.
6. Michael Kennedy, “Symphony No.5 in D” in accompanying booklet, Vaughan Williams – The Complete Symphonies performed by the Halle Orchestra conducted by Sir Mark Elder, HLD 7557, 2022, compact disc.
7. Robert Matthew-Walker, Essay in accompanying booklet, Vaughan Williams: Symphony No 5 & Scenes adapted from Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress.