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Ralph Vaughan Williams

zeal, the ending is subdued (save for one fi nal explo- called in the Apocrypha, is a part of the Greek addi-
sive release) in the manner of many Vaughan Williams tion to the third chapter of the book of Daniel; it is a
pieces. A virtuoso organist and professional singers are rhythmical expansion of Psalm 148 and was used as a
necessary for this rarely-performed composition. hymn in the later period of the ancient Jewish Church.
Benedicite (1929), the composer’s non-liturgical set- Essentially, the Benedicite is a great song of praise in
ting of the morning prayer (15 minutes in duration), which the works of the Lord are summoned to wor-
scored for soprano, mixed chorus and orchestra, was ship Him. Beginning with the heavens and the great
written for the Leith Hill Festival, where it received its phenomena of nature, reaching down to the creatures
premier on May 2, 1930, with Margaret Rees (sopra- of earth and working up again to humankind, all life

no) and the Leith Hill Festival Chorus (Towns Divi- is called to take part in this magnificent chorus of ado-
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sion) and Orchestra conducted by the composer. The ration. From a literary perspective, therefore, the in-
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compositional-editorial approach he utilized in his terpolated poem by the seventeenth-century poet John
hymns, arrangements, and compilations for the English Austin, “Nature’s Praise,” is germane.
Hymnal, unaccompanied or with orchestra, is exempli- Vaughan Williams did not utilize these sources in
fied in the vocal opening of Benedicite. The specifi ed their entirety, however; he edited and adapted them

measures are, fundamentally, in two parts, departing with the aim of tightening the musical discourse.
from the orthodox four-part harmony of the poorer Hence, Benedicite is a through-composed work that may
evensong composers of the era (vide vocal score, m. be divided into four large units suggested by the com-

13 to rehearsal letter A); and where a richer texture is posite text: the first (pp. 1 to 20, Lento), an abridgment
desired thereafter, Vaughan Williams substituted two- of lines one through seventeen of the familiar canticle;
part or three-part writing with parallel chords under- the second (p. 20, Lento, to p. 34), a similar compres-
pinning the melodic lines. The melodic theme is based sion of lines eighteen through thirty-two; the third (pp.
on a modal scale, with a dominant anywhere between 34 to 42, rehearsal letter P/5), verses one, seven, and
the third and sixth, rather than on one organized dia- eight of Austin’s poem; and the fourth (P/5 to the end)
tonically, emphasizing the third and the fi fth. Further- an abbreviated recapitulation consisting of lines one,

more, it is melismatic-like in orientation and its profi le, five, and eighteen from the canticle (vide the text pref-
rhythm, and syllabic grouping, epitomize an irregular acing the music in the vocal score). 11
construction thereby undermining the convention- The Sons of Light (1950) represents the fi rst endeav-

al four-bar unit. Lastly, the exquisite cadence (three or of Vaughan Williams’s final compositional phase,
measures before rehearsal letter A) is a consequence and all of the compelling elements of his late style
of modality and linear treatment, the latter delineated are visible in its pages. Commissioned for the Schools

by its unexpected florescence, which imbues the work. Music Association, the piece (in duration 25 minutes)
When creating Benedicite, Vaughan Williams utilized was premiered (May 6, 1951) by over 1,100 young
an imaginative design: the anthology cantata initiated choristers (from 25 counties) and the London Phil-
by Hubert Parry, one of Vaughan Williams’s teach- harmonic Orchestra. Bernard Shore, the superlative
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ers, in his oeuvre of ethical cantatas. Parry’s model viola player who had become one of Her Majesty’s
was the concertato with various instrumental groupings Inspectors of Schools, approached Vaughan Williams
by Gabrieli and Schütz, whereas one can detect the early in 1950, requesting that he devise a choral-or-
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Bach cantata behind Benedicite with its similar ritornel- chestra essay for a massed ensemble of children who,

lo energy in the jubilant opening, closing, or cadential at the first performance, would have the joy of sing-
episodes and elsewhere serenely pastoral like many of ing with the famous orchestra under the direction of
Bach’s solo and chorale arias. Its text is a construct of Adrian Boult. Vaughan Williams gladly complied with
the canticle Benedicite Omnia Opera and the poem “Na- The Sons of Light, a cantata (so designated) for mixed
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ture’s Praise” by John Austin (1613-1669). The Benedic- chorus and orchestra. The composer was pleased
ite Omnia Opera, or the Song of the Three Children as it is with the work and, later, included The Sons of Light,

CHORAL JOURNAL October 2022 Volume 63 Number 3 37