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) London Symphony Orchestra. Both used the original version of the third movement. The composer revised that movement in 1950, and Boult recorded it for Decca. At the end of those sessions, the composer thanked the musicians; this speech was taped and included on disc releases of the main recording. Altogether there have been 25 recordings: Part of the symphony's first movement (Allegro) was used as the theme tune for the ITV drama "A Family at War". Symphony No. 6 (Vaughan Williams) Ralph Vaughan Williams's Symphony in E minor, published as Symphony No. 6, was composed in 1946–47, during and immediately