Voices of Connection: 02/09 Magnificent Vaughan Williams
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Lord, Thou Hast Been Our Refuge
Voices of Ascension
Dennis Keene, Artistic Director
Thomas Hoyt, Trumpet
Renée Anne Louprette, Organ
Recorded live in concert on April 22, 2015, The Church of the Ascension, New York, NY
The singers in this performance are represented by the
American Guild of Musical Artists, AFL-CIO.
This motet is, I believe, Vaughan Williams’ finest composition. The work uses as its text one of the greatest of all psalms, Psalm 90. Vaughan Williams evokes the text’s timelessness and universality by scoring the work for two choirs: one choir with a small group of singers, usually in a chant-like style, and the second choir much larger, split into multiple parts. The two choirs often sing different material simultaneously, depicting a grand musical panorama.
At first, the large choir sings the familiar hymn, “O God, our help in ages past,” pianississimo, as if from a great distance. When the hymn is over, the large choir sings (“As soon as Thou scatterest them...”) with rich chords and many deep bass notes. At the words “For we consume away” the music moves a bit faster, and the two choirs at times dialogue with each other, at other times exist simultaneously. All of this finally ends with the words “So shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.”
Up until now, the work has been entirely a cappella (unaccompanied.) But now, all of a sudden, the organ comes in, and, little by little, it builds up to an extraordinarily inspired recapitulation of the beginning of the piece. Here the opening chant is now sung fortissimo by both choirs in unison. And, when the famous hymn tune is now repeated, this time it is played by a trumpet soloist. “And the glorious Majesty of the Lord” is depicted by a fittingly glorious choral fugue, with the trumpet continuing forth with the hymn tune. The work ends in one of the most inspired pages of British choral music.
This piece was chosen by Christopher Ryan who writes, “The first Voices concert I went to was an all English program ending with Vaughan Williams’ Lord, Thou Hast Been Our Refuge. The whole concert was amazing but that last piece really destroyed me. The choir sang it with such power, expression, and grace.” Thank you so much, Chris!
– Dennis Keene