This month, Donald Macleod takes a fresh look at one of Britain’s most popular composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams, as part of Radio 3's 'Vaughan Williams Today' season - marking the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Alongside programmes which delve into Vaughan Williams' life story and music in fascinating depth, over the course of four weeks and twenty programmes, Donald will also be talking to some of the leading authorities on Vaughan Williams to share and explore share new perspectives on a variety of overlooked and less well known aspects his life and work, forming a comprehensive and absorbing portrait of a composer whose body of work has had such an enduring imprint on British cultural life. In the third week of this landmark series, Donald focuses on the years 1931-1947, a dramatic period in not just Vaughan Williams’ life, but in the wider world too, encompassing the second World War. Vaughan Williams was 67 when Britain and France declared war on the Reich, so too old for active service, but he threw himself into contributing wherever he could to the war effort. Musically, this was another period when the composer suffered from a crisis of failing inspiration and creative drought as the political turmoil deepened around him, but it would also give rise to some of his finest music, including three of his best regarded Symphonies – numbers 4, 5 and 6. Music Featured: Into the Woods my Master Went Fantasia on Greensleeves Piano Concerto in C major - I. Toccata; II. Romanza Symphony no. 4 in F minor – III. Scherzo; IV. Finale con epilogo fugato The Running Set 5 Tudor Portraits - V. Jolly Rutterkin Two Hymn-Tune Preludes Festival Te Deum in F Riders to the sea – Act I: “…and may he have mercy on my soul” Serenade to Music (Orchestral Version) Epithalamion - The Lover’s Song Epithamalion - Song of the Winged Love Bushes and Briars Symphony no. 5 in D major - IV. Passacaglia Dona Nobis Pacem - I. Agnus Dei, II. Beat! Beat! Drums!, III. Reconciliation Coastal Command Suite - Finale 5 variants of Dives and Lazarus 49th Parallel - The Invaders Partita for Double String Orchestra - IV. Fantasia Concerto for Oboe and Strings in A minor - III. Finale Symphony No 3, 'Pastoral Symphony' (excerpt) Song of Thanksgiving (excerpt) Symphony No.6 in E minor - II. Moderato; III. Scherzo Symphony no. 2 “A London Symphony” – IV. Andante con moto (excerpt) Symphony no. 7 “Sinfonia Antartica” - V. Epilogue (excerpt) Symphony no.1 “A Sea Symphony” - I. A Song for all Sea, all Ships (excerpt) Symphony no 9 in E minor – IV. Andante tranquillo – poco animato (excerpt) Symphony no.5 in D major – III. Romanza (excerpt) Symphony no.5 in D major – I. Preludio Symphony no 6 in E minor – III. Scherzo (excerpt) Symphony no. 4 in F minor – I. Allegro (excerpt) Symphony no.1 ‘A Sea Symphony’ - I. A Song for all Sea, all Ships (excerpt) Symphony no. 6 in E minor- IV. Epilogue Symphony no. 8 in D minor – IV. Toccata Presented by Donald Macleod Producer Sam Phillips For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0016rjd And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z