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"
Ernest Williams (conductor) and Morton Gould. From 1929 to 1931, Williams divided his time between the Brooklyn school and as the new Dean of the Ithaca Conservatory Conway Band School, being the chosen successor of Patrick Conway. While fulfilling administrative duties at his respective institutions, Williams continued to conduct and also composed. He earned high praise for his conducting prowess with the Kismet Temple Band in Brooklyn and also, beginning in 1935, as the conductor of the New York University Symphonic Band. As a composer, Williams became the first American to write a full symphony for band when he penned the "Symphony in