Experience "The Choral Legacy of Ralph Vaughan Williams" - a collection of his magnificent works for chorus and instruments. The program includes "O Clap Your Hands" (1920), showcasing the joyous sounds of a mixed chorus and organ, "Benedicite" (1929) with its vibrant orchestral and choral textures, and the profound "Dona Nobis Pacem" (1936), blending poetry and music to reflect on peace amidst war. The concert concludes with the majestic "The Old Hundredth Psalm Tune" (1952), composed for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, inviting audience participation in this historic musical celebration.
O Clap Your Hands (1920)
Mixed chorus (SATB) & organ
This early motet, whose structure and harmonic language is closely related to the Gloria section
of Vaughan Williams’ Mass in G minor (1922) uses text from Psalm 47 and was described by
Vaughan Williams biographer Michael Kennedy as “apt to its purpose of filling a great cathedral
with joyous sounds.”
Benedicite (1929)
Soprano solo, mixed chorus (SATB), orchestra & organ
Composed for the Leith Hill Musical Festival of May 1930, this is a setting from the canticle
Benedicite, omnia opera (“O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord”) and from a poem by
the 17th century poet John Austin. Following a jubilant, striding orchestral introduction, the
chorus proclaims that the Heavens, the Waters, the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, Winds, Frosts
and other astronomical and meteorological phenomena all exult in a great paean of praise to the
Lord. The work changes mood with the soprano soloist focusing on how the Earth pays tribute
to the Lord. The chorus, in hushed ecstasy, weaves in gently flowing contrapuntal lines. The
soprano also introduces Austin’s poem (“Hark, my soul, how everything strives to serve our
bounteous King”). The final section returns to the vigorously joyful exclamation: “Praise Him and
magnify Him forever!”
Dona Nobis Pacem (1936)
Soprano & Baritone solists, mixed chorus (SATB), orchestra & organ
Vaughan Williams' love of the poetry of Walt Whitman lasted all his life. He set the prose
of the poet many times. This cantata, a precursor of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem,
comes from the troubled late 1930’s and sets parts of Whitman's Drum Taps, John
Bright's "Angel of Death" speech, and sections from the Holy Bible as an artistic warning
of what was to come. Parts of Verdi's Requiem (a work which deeply influenced
Vaughan Williams) seem to hover in the background, particularly the soprano's repeated
cries of "Dona nobis pacem" and the driving "Dies irae." "The Dirge for Two Veterans," a
long, magnificent dead march, takes you to despair. The following "Reconciliation" and
the concluding "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation" will lift you into regions celestial.
The Old Hundredth Psalm Tune (1952)
Soprano solo, mixed chorus (SATB), orchestra & organ
Based on one of the greatest chorale tunes in the world as well as one of the best known, this work, for chorus, orchestra, organ and congregation was composed for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952. Vaughan Williams wanted the congregation of peers to join in, thus showing his idealism. It's a marvelous ceremonial piece which will provide you
with an opportunity to participate in the majesty of this musical master’s choral legacy.
