Something which annoys me quite a bit is when people describe a plot twist as something unexpected that happens within a narrative. Because it just isn't. Your favourite character dies? It's a shock ending, sure, but it's not a plot twist. Plot twists make you re-evaluate your entire perception of the thing itself, and if you are to go back and re-watch/read whatever the narrative is, you'll see things very differently. And that is why I'm arguing that Vaughan Williams' Fourth Symphony is, in effect a plot twist. It shows that there is a composer in there who hardly ever gets to display this side of himself. Wildly different in aesthetic to pretty much all of his other work, Vaughan Williams surprises and shocks here to the extent that listening to his other music might cause you to pick out these slightly more...unsettled traits, which you'd never have imagined could have been there.
I'm not really a big Vaughan Williams fan, I'll admit. Like, he's ok, and some of his music is very beautiful, but I can see why his music doesn't export from England very well. Well, actually, this symphony is one of the only exceptions to that rule - as it has equally as many recordings made inside and outside of the UK, something very rare for this composer. So why is this? And why am I writing a blog post about a piece of music from a composer that I'm not too fussed about?
Well, let me tell you, I'm very fussed about this symphony. I think it's great. From its very first note, you know you're in for something a little different. The vast, shrieking dissonances in the first movement are interesting enough to entice you but not abhorrent enough to repel you. Not only is there harmonic uncertainty here, but also rhythmic instability. Just try tapping your foot to it for any extended period of time. It's pretty difficult. Some people thought, and still do, that this instability foresees the second world war and the heightening global tensions, but the composer denied this. In fact, it was his first symphony not to have a subtitle or nickname, with Vaughan Williams saying that this was pure, non-programmatic (non-narrative/representational) music. We can't be certain about the truth, but it's interesting to consider that when he wasn't composing about the beauty of England, this was what was going through his mind.
After the turmoil of the first movement, the second perhaps offers us a little more calm. However, placed in the context of the symphony as a whole, the dissonances become all the more noticeable, and echoes of aggressive, fragmented motifs from the first movement remind the listener that there is something unsettling going on here. By the third movement, these motifs are back with full vengeance. This propels us into the finale, which, while it may seem to anchor us initially onto some kind of harmony, we're based around a diminished seventh chord, traditionally one of the most unstable harmonies. There are some little sarcastic jolly moments, almost in the manner of Shostakovich. Again, there are some calmer moments, but ultimately all hell breaks loose, leading the symphony to end on a very brutal, familiar and unsettling note...
Now, even Vaughan Williams himself had, since the piece's premier, said that he wasn't actually too sure how he felt about this piece. I can imagine that it's quite hard to put on in a concert, too, as people who come because they see the name 'Vaughan Williams' written on the programme may leave the concert hall a little bit confused and maybe even disappointed. But I think this symphony has so much merit on its own and, if shown a little love, could become really popular.
I can't really give you a list of similar works here, because that's kind of the point - but if you found this interesting, maybe try listening to some of his other works for some context. And if you're interested in more unsettling British music, try listening to some Benjamin Britten (although, and this is a purely subjective viewpoint, they are hardly on the same level...)
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