In recognition of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Oxford University Press has today announced that it will donate a substantial collection of the Vaughan Williams archive to the British Library. The donation will enable the materials to be available to the general public for inspiration, research and enjoyment.

Already housing a large collection of Vaughan Williams material, the donation from OUP will add to the British Library’s collection music copyists’ full scores prepared for pre-publication performance, session materials for film scores written by the composer, scores with amendments in Vaughan Williams’s own hand, manuscripts and full scores marked by the conductors who gave early performances of the works.

Sir Adrian Boult's marked copy of Pilgrims Progress, among items to be donated to the British Library

Publishing the majority of Vaughan Williams’ music since his contributions to the English Hymnal in 1906, OUP’s donation looks to continue increasing the potential for further research, scholarship, and education relating to Vaughan Williams. 

Head of Rights & Contracts, Music at Oxford University Press, Simon Wright has said of the donation ‘we are honoured to be Vaughan Williams’s primary publisher and to provide a wide range of groups, from orchestras to schools, churches, and choirs, with access to his works. In the same vein, our donation to the British Library demonstrates not only the Press’s commitment to Vaughan Williams’s legacy but is underpinned by our mission for greater accessibility.’