REPRINT SERIES
Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Six Choral Songs (To Be Sung in Time of War) was composed in 1940 as a response to the turmoil of the Second World War. Scored for unison voices (often treble or mixed children’s chorus) and orchestra, the cycle sets six poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley, aligning Vaughan Williams’s pastoral harmonies with Shelley’s themes of courage, liberty, healing, victory, pity, peace, and love.
The work unfolds in six concise movements, each titled after its text:
-
A Song of Courage
-
A Song of Liberty
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A Song of Healing
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A Song of Victory
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A Song of Pity, Peace and Love
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A Song of the New Age
Vaughan Williams employs simple, arching choral lines over gently shifting orchestral textures, allowing the unison chorus to declaim Shelley’s verse with clarity and directness.
In performance, the complete cycle lasts about 12 minutes, making it suitable for both concert settings and ceremonial occasions. The music balances modal harmonies and diatonic warmth with occasional dissonant inflections—reflecting wartime anxieties—while maintaining an overarching sense of hope and communal spirit.
In performance, the complete cycle lasts about 12 minutes, making it suitable for both concert settings and ceremonial occasions. The music balances modal harmonies and diatonic warmth with occasional dissonant inflections—reflecting wartime anxieties—while maintaining an overarching sense of hope and communal spirit.
- Instrumentation:
- 2Fl 1dPicc, 2Ob, 2Cl, 2Bsn, Cbsn, 4Hn, 2Tpt, 3Tbn, Tba, Timp, Cym, B.D., Org., Hp, Strings
- Duration:
- 12 minutes
- Set of Parts:
- Includes Strings count 4.4.3.3.2
- Extra Strings:
- Only available with the purchase of the Set of Parts
- Product Type:
- REPRINT SERIES
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