Symphony No. 8 (Vaughan Williams) Symphony No. 8 (Vaughan Williams) Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 8 in D minor was composed between 1953 and 1955. It was the first of his symphonies which Vaughan Williams numbered. Sir John Barbirolli conducted the premiere of the piece on 2 May 1956, with the Hallé Orchestra. The Eighth Symphony is the shortest of Vaughan Williams' nine symphonies, with a typical performance taking just under a half hour, yet it is remarkably inventive, especially in the composer's experiments in sonority. Not only does he use a much-expanded percussion section, including "all the 'phones and 'spiels known to the composer"
Symphony No. 6 (Vaughan Williams) tempo marking but the feel is decidedly slower here. The symphony continues to provoke much speculation about its "meaning", and the only clue from Vaughan Williams himself (as quoted by his widow), points us in the direction of an agnostic "Nunc dimittis". A typical performance takes about 35 minutes. It is scored for a large orchestra including: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets (in B♭), tenor saxophone, bass clarinet (in B♭), 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns (in F), 3 trumpets (in B♭), 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, side drum, triangle, bass drum, cymbals, xylophone, harp (optionally doubled), and