Vaughan Williams: Sancta Civitas; Dona Nobis Pacem [Import]

Bryn Terfel (Performer), Ralph Vaughan Williams (Composer), Richard Hickox (Conductor), Vasko Vassilev (Conductor), London Symphony Chorus (Orchestra), London Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Yvonne Kenny (Performer), Philip Langridge (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Bryn Terfel, Yvonne Kenny, Philip Langridge
• Orchestra: London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Richard Hickox, Vasko Vassilev
• Composer: Ralph Vaughan Williams
• Audio CD (November 9, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Angel Records
• ASIN: B000002RTA
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #151,466 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Dona nobis pacem: I. 'Agnus Dei' (Lento)

2. Dona nobis pacem: II. 'Beat! beat! drums!' (Allegro moderato)

3. Dona nobis pacem: III. Reconciliation (Allegro moderato)

4. Dona nobis pacem: IV. Dirge for Two Veterans (Moderato alla marcia)

5. Dona nobis pacem: V. 'The Angel of Death has been abroad' (L'istesso tempo)

6. Dona nobis pacem: VI. 'O man greatly beloved'

7. Sancta Civitas: I was in the spirit (Lento)

8. Sancta Civitas: And I Saw Heaven opened (Allegro)

9. Sancta Civitas: And I saw an angel standing in the sun (Meno mosso)

10. Sancta Civitas: Babylon the great is fallen (Lento)

11. Sancta Civitas: Rejoice over her O Heavens (Allegro moderato)

12. Sancta Civitas: And I saw a new heaven (Adagio)

13. Sancta Civitas: Therfore are they before the throne of God (Poco meno largo)

14. Sancta Civitas: And I saw a pure river

15. Sancta Civitas: Holy, Holy, Holy (Andante sostenuto)

16. Sancta Civitas: Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory (Poco animato)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Astonishing performances of two masterpieces, September 4, 2001

By 

Samer T Ismail "SF & classical music fan" (Danbury, CT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Vaughan Williams: Sancta Civitas; Dona Nobis Pacem (Audio CD)

Vaughan Williams's 1926 oratorio "Sancta civitas" (The holy city) is a setting of texts from "Revelation", while his 1936 cantata "Dona nobis pacem" was a plea for peace when Europe was on the brink of WWII. There is debate as to which is the greater work, but both are impressive.

Hickox's recording of "Dona nobis pacem" is excellent (I rate it second, just behind the late Robert Shaw's on Telarc); the singing is first-rate throughout, and the finale is a roller coaster of emotions, from fear to joy to quiet dignity. Yvonne Kenny in particular handles her solos effortlessly.

That brings us to Hickox's definitive recording of "Sancta civitas." Using all the forces RVW recommended, the net result is incredible: the finale, "Heaven and earth are full of thy glory," is simply overwhelming, an incredible onslaught of sound, followed by one of the great surprises in all of 20th century music. And there are moments of great beauty as well: "Babylon the great is fallen" is a hushed lament (handled with even more skill than Walton's setting of the same text in "Belshazzar's Feast"), while "And I saw a new Heaven" is simply ravishing.

I recommend this CD highly and without reservation.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two works of peace and transcendence speak to our time, June 29, 2006

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Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Vaughan Williams: Sancta Civitas; Dona Nobis Pacem (Audio CD)

These are two of Vaughan Williams' finest choral works in the English oratorio tradition ('Sancta Civitas' was his personal favorite) recorded in beautiful, heartfelt readings under Hickox, and notable for the powerful singing of Bryn Terfel, here at his youthful best in 1992.

Contrary to the reviewer below, VW wasn't a pacifist and these aren't pacifist works. Sancta Civitas is a vision of the Holy City described by St. John in the Book of Revelations, and although VW served in the trenches in the First World War, he remained idealistic, even redemptively mystical about the future. Written in the 1920's, Sancta Civitas is an oratorio whose dominant tone is shining and optimistic.

A decade later in the mid-30s, Dona Nobis Pacem, as its name says, is a prayer for peace. Like the earlier work, it combines Biblical verse with poetry from Walt Whitman (VW's favorite poet for setting to music). This time the composer has war and its horrors in mind, and there re many parallels both to the Verdi Requiem and Britten's War Requiem. but he doesn't resort to dissonance very often--we get gorgeous melodies and his firm belief in uplifting the audience. In that sense, both works are really Victorian rather than modern in their fervent tiumphal tone, except that VW happens to be more inspired than any Victorian composer England produced.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vaughan Williams as the Pacifist, March 1, 2006

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Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Vaughan Williams: Sancta Civitas; Dona Nobis Pacem (Audio CD)

Ralph Vaughan Williams is far too often considered a secondary composers, one of the many gifted British artists whose works have never been as widely accepted (with notable exceptions!) as those from the European Continent. But Vaughan Williams is capable of powerful works that are deeply moving, especially when he celebrates the tradition of adding the human voice to his works ('Sea Symphony', Symphony Antarctica' etc).

In this very fine recording we hear two of his pleas for peace that were most assuredly inspired by England's stoic stand against the World Wars. The first work 'Dona Nobis Pacem, cantata for soprano, baritone, chorus & orchestra' deserves much wider audience exposure, especially in performances like this one that capitalizes on the fine London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Richard Hickox and adds the superb soloists Yvonne Kenny and Bryn Terfel whose voices not only are radiantly beautiful, but whose artistry gratefully includes perfect enunciation of the texts by Walt Whitman and John Bright and the bible. It is a deeply moving plea for peace.

The 'Sancta Civitas' is a pure British oratorio in the best sense of that moniker. The same forces are intact with the addition of the brilliant Philip Langridge with Bryn Terfel. Though the work does not hold the power of the previous work, it does provide some fine choral and solo writing. Hickox remains one of the finest conductors of the British school and these two works further that reputation! Recommended. Grady Harp, March 06