Symphony No. 5 in D major was completed in 1943 by British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958). It is generally seen as one of his best works, and highly representative for the British Pastoral idiom. Many of the musical themes in the Fifth Symphony stem from Vaughan Williams's then-unfinished operatic work, The Pilgrim's Progress. The four movement work's average playing time is 39 minutes (AllMusic). I have three versions, with a slight preference for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under Vernon Handley on an EMI CD.
