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"
Roland Vaughan Williams to the Privy Council at the same time. In 1906 he was appointed chairman of the Royal Commission on the disestablishment of the Church in Wales; the success of the commission and the smooth implementation of its recommendations were largely attributable to him. In 1865 he married Laura Susannah, daughter of Edmund Lomax of Surrey; they had one son who survived to adulthood and two who did not. Vaughan Williams died at his home in Abinger, Surrey, at the age of 77. Roland Vaughan Williams Sir Roland Lomax Bowdler Vaughan Williams (31 December 1838 – 8 December 1916) was an