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"
Ursula Vaughan Williams the carer. Ursula Wood became Ralph's literary advisor and personal assistant. Adeline Vaughan Williams died in 1951. Ursula Wood and Ralph Vaughan Williams married in February 1953. She encouraged her husband to resume the composition he had been forced to set aside during his first wife's illness, writing the libretto to two of his last choral works, including the cantata for Christmas "Hodie". Ralph Vaughan Williams died in 1958. Following her second husband's death, Ursula Vaughan Williams set up residence near Regent's Park, London. In 1964, she published "RVW: A Biography of Ralph Vaughan Williams". She completed her autobiography, "Paradise