Symphony No. 6 in E Minor

When Vaughan Williams’ Sixth Symphony was first performed, in London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1948, many listeners felt that its dissonant musical language reflected the troubled mood of the times; the end of the Second World War had seen the start of the nuclear age, with its potential for unimaginable destruction. But Vaughan Williams denied any connection of this kind. Regarding the symphony’s finale, marked to be played pianissimo (very quiet) from start to finish, the composer suggested a parallel with words from Shakespeare’s play The Tempest: “We are such stuff as dreams are made of, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.” The Sixth Symphony has four movements, each flowing into the next without a break. The turbulent mood of the first of these (“Allegro”) never really settles; and the slower second movement (“Moderato”) is dominated by a three-note rhythmic figure, obsessively repeated, and building to a huge climax before collapsing into desolation. Then comes a fast and furiously inventive “Scherzo” movement, where the use of a tenor saxophone (a rarity in the classical symphony orchestra) gives an extra edge to the music’s satirical tone. Total contrast then follows with the pianissimo finale (“Epilogue—Moderato”), conjuring an atmosphere of strange and remote calm. Vaughan Williams denied that this was a portrayal of a post-holocaust nuclear winter; instead he responded positively to a friend’s suggestion that the music depicts “the agnostic’s Paradise”.