Hugh the Drover, or Love in the Stocks (1910–14; revised 1924, 1933, 1956). Romantic ballad opera in 2 acts, with libretto by Harold Child (later revised by Ralph and Ursula Vaughan Williams)
A Cotswold Romance, Cantata for tenor, soprano, baritone, chorus and orchestra, adapted from Hugh the Drover by M. Jackson (1950)
Sir John in Love (1924–28). Opera in 4 acts, based on The Merry Wives of Windsor by Shakespeare with interpolations from other authors.
In Windsor Forest, Cantata for chorus and orchestra, adapted from Sir John in Love (1931)
Fantasia on "Greensleeves" for strings and harp, adapted from Sir John in Love by Ralph Greaves (1889-1966) in 1934;
The Poisoned Kiss, or The Empress and the Necromancer (1927–29; revisions 1936–37 and 1956–57). Romantic Extravaganza in 3 acts, with libretto by Evelyn Sharp (later amended by Ralph and Ursula Vaughan Williams)
The Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains (1921). Libretto: Ralph Vaughan Williams (from John Bunyan) (Later incorporated, save for the final section, into The Pilgrim's Progress)
"Seven Songs from The Pilgrim's Progress" for voice and piano (1952)
"The 23rd Psalm" for soprano and chorus, arranged by John Churchill (1953)
Pilgrim's Journey, Cantata for soprano, tenor, baritone, chorus and orchestra adapted from The Pilgrim's Progress by Christopher Morris and Roy Douglas (1962)
Thomas the Rhymer, Opera in 3 acts to libretto by Ursula Vaughan Williams, based on traditional ballads Thomas the Rhymer and Tam Lin. Uncompleted.
Fantasia on "Greensleeves" (1934)[6] (for string orchestra and harp; arranged by Ralph Greaves from Vaughan Williams's treatment of folk tunes in his opera Sir John in Love)
Two Hymn Tune Preludes (1936) for small orchestra: 1. Eventide; 2. Dominus regit me
Three Elizabethan Songs , partsongs for chorus 1. Sweet Day (setting by George Herbert) 2. The Willow Song (Othello) 3. O Mistress Mine (Twelfth Night) (1896)
Suite for small orchestra from Folk Songs of the Four Seasons, arranged by Roy Douglas (1956)
Three Shakespeare Songs for SATB unaccompanied, composed for The British Federation of Music Festivals National Competitive Festival (1951)
The Sons of Light (1950), Cantata for chorus and orchestra; text by Ursula Vaughan Williams
Sun, Moon and Stars (1955), Cycle of four songs from The Sons of Light with strings or piano
O taste and see, a motet setting of Psalm 34:8. The original SATB version was composed for the Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey in June 1953. (1953)
A Choral Flourish for unaccompanied SATB chorus, composed for a large choral event in the Royal Albert Hall at the invitation of (and dedicated to) Alan Kirby (c. 1952).[15]
Nine Carols for Male Voices arrangements made during the Second World War at the request of the British Council for performance by H.M. Forces in Iceland.[16]
Hymn tunes and carols
Vaughan Williams was the musical editor[17] of the English Hymnal of 1906, and the co-editor with Martin Shaw of Songs of Praise of 1925 and the Oxford Book of Carols of 1928, all in collaboration with Percy Dearmer. In addition to arranging many pre-existing hymn tunes and creating hymn tunes based on folk songs, he wrote several original hymn tunes:
Original hymn tunes included in The English Hymnal (1906)
"Orpheus with his Lute", song (1904), setting text by Shakespeare
The House of Life, six sonnets by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1904): 1. Lovesight; 2. Silent noon; 3. Love's minstrels; 4. Heart's haven; 5. Death-in-Love; 6. Love's last gift
Two Vocal Duets, for soprano, baritone and violin with piano, setting texts by Walt Whitman (1904)
Songs of Travel, song cycle for baritone and piano, setting texts by R. L. Stevenson (1901–04). Includes "The Vagabond".
Songs 1 3 8 arranged for baritone and orchestra (1905)
"I have trod the upward and the downward slope" was added to the original eight songs in 1960, after the composer's death
Songs 2 4 5 6 7 9 arranged for baritone & orchestra by Roy Douglas (1962)
^Recorded in completion by James Francis Brown. Some ideas were used again in A London Symphony - see notes by Stephen Connock with Albion Records CD ALBCD016
^Recorded in edition by James Francis Brown. Opening clarinet melody was used again in A Sea Symphony, in The England of Elizabeth and in Symphony No. 9 - see notes by Stephen Connock with Albion Records CD ALBCD016
^There were two other Norfolk Rhapsodies from the same period: Norfolk Rhapsody No. 2 has been recorded in a completion by Stephen Hogger (Chandos CD 10001), but the score of the third was lost. See Norfolk Rhapsody No. 1 for details.
^Some of the music was used again in An Oxford Elegy. Another impression for orchestra from the same period, Boldre Wood, has not survived - see notes by Stephen Connock with Albion Records CD ALBCD016
^Notes by Stephen Connock included with Albion Records CD ALBCD002
^Written just before he went to study with Ravel. Score dated 11 January 1908. Manuscript discovered in 2000, among the papers of Richard Austin, the son of the baritone & composer Frederic Austin. FP Gloucester Three Choirs Festival, August 2001. Two further Nocturnes orch. by Anthony Payne 2014. Sources: "Ralph Vaughan Williams: Catalogue of Works"(PDF). Faber & Faber Music. February 2020. p. 4. Retrieved 28 September 2021., and "The 39th Delius Society AGM and social weekend"(PDF). Delius Society Journal. 130: 31–33. Autumn 2001. Retrieved 28 September 2021. A different setting of the poem appears in Three Poems by Walt Whitman of 1925.
^Notes by Michael Kennedy with Hyperion CD CDA 67381/2
^The music was based on folksongs and the film describes the work of the National Trust - see notes by Michael Kennedy with Chandos CD CHAN 10007
^The composer wrote more music than was actually used in the finished film: see notes by Michael Kennedy to Chandos CD 10007
^This was a short Central Office of Information film. The music was based on folksongs and incorporates parts of Five Variants on Dives and Lazarus: see notes by Michael Kennedy with Chandos CD CHAN 10244
