Sancta Civitas

Sancta Civitas (The Holy City) is an oratorio by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Written between 1923 and 1925, it was his first major work since the Mass in G minor two years previously. Vaughan Williams began working on the piece from a rented furnished house in the village of Danbury, Essex, found for him by his former pupil, Cecil Armstrong Gibbs.[1]

Sancta Civitas
Oratorio by Ralph Vaughan Williams
The composer c. 1920
EnglishThe Holy City
Textfrom Book of Revelation
LanguageEnglish
Composed1925 (1925)–1926
Performed1926 (1926)
Scoring
  • tenor
  • baritone
  • choirs
  • orchestra

The work received its first performance in Oxford in May 1926, during the General Strike. Although its title is in Latin, the libretto is entirely in English, based upon texts from Revelation. The text is drawn from several translations, including Taverner's Bible. Late in life, Vaughan Williams called Sancta the favourite of his choral works.[2] Michael Kennedy described it as "in the form of a homage to Bach from the twentieth century".[3]

Orchestration

Sancta Civitas is scored for a full orchestra, with optional organ, as well as a mixed chorus, a semi-chorus, a "distant chorus" of boys (accompanied by an offstage trumpet), a baritone solo, and a tenor solo.

Structure

The work lasts approximately 30 to 35 minutes. Although Sancta Civitas is presented in the score as a single continuous piece, recordings typically divide it into 10 sections as follows:

  1. I was in the spirit (Lento)
  2. And I saw Heaven opened (Allegro)
  3. And I saw an angel standing in the sun (Meno mosso)
  4. Babylon the great is fallen (Lento)
  5. Rejoice over her O Heavens (Allegro moderato)
  6. And I saw a new heaven (Adagio)
  7. Therefore are they before the throne of God (Poco meno largo)
  8. And I saw a pure river
  9. Holy, Holy, Holy (Andante sostenuto)
  10. Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory (Poco animato)

Vocal score

The piano reduction of the orchestral parts used in the first vocal score was prepared by fellow composer Havergal Brian. That score is now superseded by the revised and corrected edition issued by Faber Music in 2014.

Recordings

References
  1. Aldritt, Keith. Vaughan Williams: Composer, Radical, Patriot - a Biography (2017)
  2. Steinberg, Michael (2005). Choral Masterworks. Oxford. pp. 295–300. ISBN 978-0-19-512644-0.
  3. Kennedy, Michael. The Works of Ralph Vaughan Williams (1964), p.216


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