Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus

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Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus
by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Dedication"The People of the United States of America" (not in published score)
Publisher Oxford University Press
Durationc. 13 minutes
Premiere
Date10 June 1939 (1939-06-10)
Location Carnegie Hall, New York City, New York, US
ConductorSir Adrian Boult
Performers New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra

Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus is a work for string orchestra and harp composed in 1939 by Ralph Vaughan Williams. It is based on the English folk song "Dives and Lazarus". The composer first heard the song in 1893. He subsequently transcribed various versions of it during his ethnomusicological surveys, one of which he included in the The English Hymnal in 1906. He also quoted the melody in the first movement of his English Folk Song Suite in 1923.

Contents

The Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus was commissioned by the British Council for the 1939 New York World's Fair's scheduled classical music events at its Hall of Music. A budget deficit from lack of public interest forced a change of venue to Carnegie Hall, where the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult premiered the work on 10 June 1939. It was played at Vaughan Williams' funeral in 1958.

Background

Early encounters and uses

It was in 1893 when Vaughan Williams first heard the folk song "Dives and Lazarus". Upon his initial encounter with the song, the composer later recalled that he felt "that sense of recognition—here's something which I have known all my life, only I didn't know it!" [1]

Vaughan Williams subsequently transcribed several versions of the song during his ethnomusicological surveys. One of these he heard in 1904, in the village of Kingsfold, near the town of Horsham. It was this version that he included in The English Hymnal in 1906, bearing the title "Kingsfold". In 1923, he quoted the melody in the first movement of his English Folk Song Suite . [1]

Composition and premieres

Vaughan Williams composed the Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus on commission from the British Council for the 1939 New York World's Fair. [2] It was originally intended to be premiered at the fair's Hall of Music as part of a series of classical music concerts that would have lasted through October 1939. [3] Budget deficits and lack of interest from fair patrons forced organizers to cancel these concerts or move them to alternative venues. [4]

As a result, the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra premiered the Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus at Carnegie Hall on 10 June 1939, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult; it shared the programme with a performance of Vaughan Williams' Suite for Pipes [2] and the world premiere of the Piano Concerto by Arthur Bliss. Although the programme notes stated that Bliss' Piano Concerto and Vaughan Williams' Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus were "specially composed for this occasion and dedicated to: 'The People of the United States of America'", this dedication does not appear in the latter's printed score. [1] The premiere performance occurred during a heat wave, which Boult later said posed difficulties for the musicians and audience because of the lack of air conditioning in the hall. [2]

Boult also conducted the first British performance on 1 November 1939 at Colston Hall in Bristol, where his orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, had been temporarily evacuated because of World War II; [5] [6] the concert was broadcast. Altogether, Boult conducted the work five times. In 1975, near the end of his career, EMI proposed to him that he should record the work, but this plan was not realized. [6]

Music

Instrumentation and structure

The Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus is scored for string orchestra and harp, of which the score requests two if possible. [5] It is published by Oxford University Press. [7] Its structure, key and tempo markings are as follows: [5]

According to Vaughan Williams, his variants "are not exact replicas of traditional tunes, but rather reminiscences of various versions in my own collection and those of others". [5]

Duration

A typical performance lasts approximately thirteen minutes. [5]

Reception

Olin Downes, who reviewed the world premiere of Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus for the New York Times , said that the concert was well attended and that the audience reacted very enthusiastically to Vaughan Williams' music, despite the heat: [1]

The second novelty [on the programme] was Vaughan Williams' setting of the old English carol ... "Dives and Lazarus". Five variants are woven on this beautiful old air. The variants are in character with the air and stick closely to it. They also cause Mr Williams [ sic ] to return after recent excursions in other fields to modal harmonization and modal counterpoint, which he loves and he writes so well ... At the same time, there is variety of pace and mood, sometimes gay, sometimes reflective, always poetical. [8]

In his overview of Vaughan Williams' music, the music critic Michael Kennedy called the Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus a "labour of love" that "[mused] upon shapes and aspects of the great folk song he had known from his childhood". [9] It was played at Vaughan Williams' funeral, conducted by Boult. Kennedy recalled the performance: [10]

Into the silence of [Westminster] Abbey came the first notes Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus. It was as if Vaughan Williams himself had spoken. The tune which he had loved all his life, which came from the soil of England, ageless and anoymous, which he had used in so many of his own compositions, was the perfect choice to create a mood of remembrance which will haunt those who experienced it to the end of their days. [10]

In 2021, the work ranked No. 56 in that year's Classic FM Hall of Fame. [11]

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References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 Simeone 2022, p. 174.
  2. 1 2 3 Kennedy 1964, p. 258.
  3. ↑ "Premieres Scheduled for Three Works". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle . 4 June 1939. p. 62. Retrieved 18 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ↑ "In the World of Music". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle . United Press International. 11 June 1939. p. 63. Retrieved 18 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Kennedy 1964, p. 565.
  6. 1 2 Simeone 2022, p. 175.
  7. ↑ "Five Variants of 'Dives and Lazarus'". Oxford University Press . Archived from the original on 27 December 2024. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  8. ↑ Simeone 2022, pp. 174–175.
  9. ↑ Kennedy 1964, p. 278.
  10. 1 2 Kennedy 1964, p. 392.
  11. ↑ "Classic FM Hall of Fame 2021". Classic FM . 2021. Archived from the original on 27 December 2024. Retrieved 27 December 2024.

Sources

Further reading

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