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"
Edward Vaughan Williams His fifth son, Roland Vaughan Williams, became lord justice of appeal in 1897. His grandson was the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. Edward Vaughan Williams Sir Edward Vaughan Williams (1797–1875) was an English judge. Born in Queen's Square, Bayswater, he was the eldest surviving son of the barrister John Williams. He was educated first at Winchester College from 1808, but moved to Westminster School in 1811. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge, as a scholar in 1816, and graduated B.A. 1820 and M.A. 1824. On leaving Cambridge Williams entered Lincoln's Inn as a student, and, after reading in the chambers of John