Four Hymns for Tenor, Viola and Strings
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Four Hymns for Tenor, Viola and Strings, (sometimes shortened to Four Hymns or Four Hymns for Tenor) is a liturgical song cycle composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
[edit] Composition
Following the composition of Five Mystical Songs in 1911, Vaughan Williams began to compose a smaller scale piece, which was completed in 1914. However, World War I delayed the presentation of the song cycle until 1920. In setting the four hymns to music, Vaughan Williams chose poems by Jeremy Taylor, Isaac Watts, Richard Crashaw a translation from Greek by then Poet Laureate Robert Bridges.
[edit] Hymns
The first of the hymns, "Lord, Come Away!" penned by Jeremy Taylor, variously subtitled 'The Second Hymn for Advent' and 'Christ's coming to Jerusalem in triumph'. It is notable for shifts in dynamic relative to the poetic content. "Who is this fair one?", written by Isaac Watts, this hymn features notable interplay between the solo tenor and solo viola, the two instruments communicating. "Come Love, Come Lord", by Richard Crashaw, is the shortest in the cycle, and perhaps the most mysterious. "Evening Hymn", translated from Greek by Robert Bridges, is a contrapuntal composition, and features two themes, the viola and tenor melody with the bell-like basso ostinato accompaniment.
