Minor Masterpieces of Organ Music No.1: Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Rhosymedre

So often when eulogising about organ music we tend to think of the warhorses – Bach (of course), Widor, Reger, Messiaen et al. Sometimes the smaller, more intimate pieces that are regularly heard at organ recitals and during church services are taken for granted. Examples may include exquisite works of art such as Louis Vierne’s Berceuse, Percy Whitlock’s Salix, and George Thalben Ball’s Elegy.

Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote comparatively few works for the organ - or piano for that matter. The most important and impressive is the Prelude and Fugue in C minor composed in the early nineteen-twenties. However, his Prelude on ‘Rhosymedre’ is the most popular and best known. It sounds surprisingly easy to play (it is not), but this simplicity belies a subtlety and poise that is near perfect.

It is useful to recall that RVW was only a church organist between 1895 and 1899, at St Barnabas, Lambeth. Although still standing, this church is now redundant and serves as social housing. The organ was built by Messrs Hill and Son of London. Hugh Bentham (RVW Society Journal, October 2012) has suggested that RVW “found the experience unsympathetic, which may help to explain why he…wrote no music for organ in those years.” Despite averring that he “never could play the organ” it must be recalled that he held the diploma of Fellow of the Royal College of Organists (1898).

Vaughan Williams completed the Three Preludes founded on Welsh Hymn Tunes in 1920, the same year as The Lark Ascending (in its violin and piano version) was premiered. Their titles were ‘Bryn Calfaria,’ ‘Rhosymedre,’ and ‘Hyfrydol.’ They were originally meant to be played as a set, but organists often tend to play them individually, most especially the second. The Preludes were dedicated to his former organ teacher, Alan Gray (1855-1935). RVW stated that “our friendship survived his despair at my playing.”

The village of Rhosymedre is situated in the Dee Valley in the borough of Wrexham in Wales. The hymn-tune used by Vaughan Williams as the basis for this present prelude was written by John David Edwards (1805-1885), vicar of the parish from 1843 until his death. It is on occasion known as ‘Lovely’: this refers to its use as an alternative to John Ireland’s ‘Love Unknown’ in the Samuel Crossman hymn ‘My Song is Love Unknown.’ It is not a translation of the word ‘Rhosymedre.’ 

Vaughan Williams has chosen to use a 4/2-time signature here which replicates the original tune. It makes the score easier to read than if he had used Common time. The entire number is signed ‘Andantino’ and is played quietly on soft stops and ends pianissimo: 

The form of ‘Rhosymedre’ is based on that of the chorale prelude, popular with the German baroque organ composers such as Pachelbel and Bach. The texture of the prelude is largely polyphonic. After a brief introduction, which defines the accompanying motive, allusions to the hymn-tune are heard on the left hand. In the first ‘verse,’ the melody is given by the left-hand, in the tenor register, played on a stopped diapason. In the second, it is heard in the soprano with three-part counterpoint below:

Part of the pleasure of ‘Rhosymedre’ is the glorious counter melodies which seem to evolve naturally from the tune or possibly the other way round. The actual harmonic scheme is simple with only a few accidentals. There are subtle diatonic dissonances throughout. In this miniature, RVW’s enduring interest in English folk songs is clearly present.

Peter Hardwick in his British Organ Music of the 20th Century (The Scarecrow Press, 2003) notes “the smooth, undulating counterpoint saturated by chains of sweet thirds, sixths, and, less often triads, which form the backdrop against which the hymn tune heard, [it] is characteristic of Vaughan Williams’s music in general in the interwar more years.” Hardwick further suggests that “the perfect matching of the composer's newly composed accompanimental material with a truly beautiful tune have made this probably the best loved of the [set of three Preludes].”

In 1938, the composer/conductor and pupil of RVW, Arnold Foster (1898-1963) published an edition of the second and third Preludes for small or string orchestra. ‘Rhosymedre’ has often been recorded in this edition.

Percy Young, in his 1953 study of RVW, recalled how an organist had concluded a service at which he was present with ‘Rhosymedre.’ He concluded that “Innocence concluded that this was from the Orgelbüchlein, where it would not, in fact, be inhospitably received.” 

Finally, ‘Rhosymedre’ was played at Vaughan Williams’s funeral at Westminster Abbey on 19 September 1958. It was also heard at Princess Diana’s funeral, at Prince William’s wedding, Prince Harry’s wedding and at the Coronation of King Charles III.

With thanks to the Glasgow Society of Organist where this essay was first published.