Vaughan Williams: Songs of Travel (selections) Elgar: Violin Sonata in E minor, Op. 82British composers Ralph Vaughan Williams and Edward Elgar were the first since Henry Purcell (1659-1695) to have a major impact on British classical music. They, in turn, paved the way for later British composers, leading to a 20th century musical renaissance in England. Vaughan Williams attended some of the best institutions in England, and received instruction from very prominent composers, yet he became best known for his appreciation and use of British folk songs. These three pieces--“The Vagabond,” “The Fireside,” and “Whither Must I Wander”--are taken from his song cycle “Songs of Travel” which uses poems by Robert Louis Stevenson. Elgar, a generation older than Vaughan Williams, was largely self-taught as a composer and gained much of his knowledge by studying scores in his father’s music shop. After his first major success with “The Enigma Variations,” Elgar became known as the greatest English composer since Purcell.