Who was Ralph Vaughan Williams?
Music Composer. Date and Place of Birth: 12th October 1872, The Vicarage, Down Ampney, Gloucestershire, England. Family Background: Second of three children (two sons and a daughter) of Arthur Charles Vaughan Williams, a vicar and his wife Margaret Wedgwood, a relation of Josiah Wedgwood, the potter. Education: Field House School, Rottingdean, Charterhouse School. Royal College of Music, London under Charles Stanford. Trinity College, Cambridge. Chronology/Biography of Ralph Vaughan Williams: 1875: Death of his father. His mother, brother and sister move back to the family house at Leith Hill Place near Dorking in Surrey. 1879: Learns to play the violin. 1890: Visits Munich and hears the music of Richard Wagner for the first time. 1892: Meets his fellow Composer Gustav Holst at the Royal College of Music and they become lifelong friends. 1894: Passes his Bachelor of Music Examinations at the Royal College of Music, London. 1895: Studies History at Cambridge University. Becomes organist
