Symphony No. 2 ‘A London Symphony’

Ralph Vaughan Williams preferred the subtitle and did not designate it as “Symphony No. 2” himself. The symphony is a vivid orchestral portrait of London, but the composer insisted it should be heard as absolute music, not strictly as a programmatic piece. Composed between 1912 and 1913, the Symphony was dedicated to Vaughan Williams’s friend George Butterworth, who encouraged him to write it and later died in World War I. The original score was lost during World War I but it was reconstructed from orchestral parts. Vaughan Williams revised the work several times, with the final version published in 1936. The earliest version is more meditative and Mahlerian, while later revisions are more concise and structurally focused, reflecting the composer’s evolving style.
 
During a conversation, Butterworth urged Vaughan Williams to attempt a purely orchestral symphony, which prompted him to revisit and develop earlier sketches he had made for a symphonic poem about London. Additionally, Vaughan Williams was inspired by the city of London itself. He described being moved by “a good view of the river and a bridge and three great electric-light chimneys and a sunset,” using these impressions to evoke the atmosphere and character of his adopted city in the music. 
 
The symphony is scored for a large orchestra, including woodwinds with 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon; brass with 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 cornets, 3 trombones, tuba;  percussion with timpani, bass drum, snare drum, triangle, tam-tam, sleigh bells, cymbals, glockenspiel; and harp and strings. The Symphony is in four movements, each evoking different aspects or moods of London life:

Lento – Allegro risoluto
It opens quietly, featuring the Westminster chimes played on the harp. This instantly places the listener in the heart of London, as the chimes are an iconic sound associated with the city’s clock towers. The main section is vigorous and brisk, marked by energetic wind and brass writing, reflect the dynamic, crowded life of Edwardian London, with a contrasting gentle interlude before a lively close. Vaughan Williams described these passages as capturing the city at a crossroads between eras.
 
Lento
It begins with muted strings, creating a somber, misty introspective mood of a London autumn. Vaughan Williams described this as evoking “Bloomsbury Square on a November afternoon,” featuring quiet, lyrical themes and a passionate forte section before returning to calm.
 
Scherzo (Nocturne)
The third movement is meant to conjure the ambience of standing on the Westminster Embankment at night, surrounded by distant city sounds, bustling streets, and flaring lights. The music’s nocturnal character, with lively and fugato themes, paints a vivid aural picture of nighttime London. It contains two scherzo themes, one fugato and one lively, ending with extremely quiet muted strings.
 
Finale – Andante con moto – Maestoso alla marcia – Allegro – Lento – Epilogue
The finale includes another appearance of the Westminster chimes and concludes with a quiet reflective epilogue, inspired by the passing of time and the city’s enduring yet ever-changing nature. Vaughan Williams drew on H. G. Wells’s Tono-Bungay to capture the sense of London and England passing into history, with the river and city fading into the distance.
 
A London Symphony remains one of Vaughan Williams’s most celebrated orchestral works, admired for its evocative power and structural mastery. It is regularly performed and recorded, offering a unique musical portrait of early 20th-century London, by weaving together direct musical quotations, atmospheric orchestration, and thematic references to specific places and moods within the city.
 
References
(2024, October 31). Program Notes: William’s London Symphony. Dayton Performing Arts Alliance. https://daytonperformingarts.org/program-note-williamss-london-symphony/

​(2025, January 7). A London Symphony. In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_London_Symphony