The Captain's Apprentice: Ralph Vaughan Williams and the Story of a Folk Song

Caroline Davison

ISBN 10: 1529115108 / ISBN 13: 9781529115109

Published by Vintage, 2023

About this Item

Seller Inventory # U9781529115109

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Captain's Apprentice: Ralph Vaughan Williams and the Story of a Folk Song
• Publisher: Vintage
• Publication Date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1529115108
• ISBN 13: 9781529115109
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1783019184.
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: 48090685
• Signed: 7/2/2026 7:06:24 PM
• Seller catalogs:
  • 1
  • 9781529115109
  • U

About this title

Synopsis

A beautifully written exploration of the world of Edwardian folk music, and its influence on the composer Ralph Vaughan WilliamsIn January 1905 the young Vaughan Williams, not yet one of England's most famous composers, visited Norfolk to find folk songs 'from the mouths of the singers'. An old fisherman, James 'Duggie' Carter, performed 'The Captain's Apprentice', a brutal tale of torture sung to the most beautiful tune the young composer had ever heard.With this transformational moment at its heart, the book traces the contrasting lives of the well-to-do composer and a forgotten cabin boy who died at sea, and brings fresh perspectives on folk-song collectors, the singers and their songs.***AS READ ON BBC RADIO 4***'A quirky, fascinating read. Davison excels in evoking English landscapes' Sunday Times'Animated, entertaining... Presenting a richly complex picture of a subject that can all too easily be shrouded in a sentimental haze' Daily Telegraph