Ralph Vaughan Williams was born at the vicarage in Down Ampney, Gloucestershire. In December 1903 he wrote down his first folk song, Bushes and Briars, from a singer at Ingrave in Essex. Over the next ten years he collected more than 800 songs and carols, mostly in East Anglia, Sussex and Herefordshire. Folk tunes shaped his own music for the rest of his life.
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Composer and collector of English folk songs
- Born
- 12 October 1872, Down Ampney, Gloucestershire
- Died
- 26 August 1958, Regent's Park, London
Further reading: Wikipedia · English Folk Dance and Song Society
