Vaughan Williams' Christmas Cantata 'Hodie'

Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote a great deal of Christmas music, primarily carol settings, but also the well-known Fantasia on Christmas Carols, the relatively obscure "masque" On Christmas Night, and this cantata, Hodie.

The work dates from relatively late in the composer's career, in 1953-54, when he was 82. By this time, Vaughan Williams had explored a variety of styles; this work reflects many of them, from the pastoralism of his youth to the visionary quality of The Pilgrim's Progress.

Accordingly, in Hodie he set words from a variety of sources: from the Bible to Myles Coverdale, George Herbert and Thomas Hardy and his wife, the poet Ursula Wood Vaughan Williams.

In this regard, the work's anthology nature is similar, surprisingly, to Benjamin Britten's Spring Symphony of 1949. In that work, the composer remains at some distance from his material; nonetheless, the music is dazzling.

In the same way, Hodie is not consistently in the warm, consoling manner that we associate with holiday fare. This is a much different composition than the Fantasia on Christmas Carols. In his notes, Michael Kennedy notes that the work primarily expresses joyful exuberance, but to me, its visionary quality is to the fore.

The Performance

David Willcocks

Hodie had to wait until 1965 for its first recording, led by David Willcocks, who recorded a great deal of Vaughan Williams' choral music. By this time, the conductor had become well known for his work with the Choir of King's College, Cambridge. He also was the director of the Bach Choir, which performs on this recording. The boys' voices are from Westminster Abbey. The orchestra is the London Symphony. The organist is Philip Ledger, who himself was to become the director of the King's College Choir.

Janet Baker

John Shirley-Quirk

Two of the solo voices were of the generation that came to prominence in the 1960s - mezzo-soprano Janet Baker and bass-baritone John Shirley-Quirk. The other voice was tenor Richard Lewis, who was 20 years older than his colleagues. None of the soloists were particularly associated with Vaughan Williams. This appears to be the only recording of the composer's music from both Baker and Lewis. Shirley-Quirk also can be heard in Willcocks' recording of Sancta Civitas and Previn's of the Sea Symphony. All distinguish themselves in this music, as was their pattern with all their recordings.

A few of the contemporary reviews thought that Willcocks' conducting could have been more incisive, citing the Narrations, which function as recitatives. These do tend to drag as the trebles and organ make their way through the biblical passages. But that's inherent in Vaughan Williams' writing. All told, the work is exceedingly beautiful, although its inspiration is not as consistent as the composer's best works. 

Richard Lewis

The Recording

Hodie was one of the many large-scale recordings of the time to have been recorded in London's Kingsway Hall. The sound on this record is a notable achievement by producer Ronald Kinloch Anderson and engineer Neville Boyling.

Kingsway Hall in 1970 - Sir Adrian Boult is the conductor

For EMI recordings of this vintage, the best sound is generally derived from the UK pressings. In this case, I have transferred my copy from a 1970s-vintage box set of Vaughan Williams' choral music from HMV. That's not to say that it is perfect in all respects: as with many classical LPs, the dynamic range is compressed.

The download includes many contemporary reviews of the LP, the front cover of the original UK Columbia pressing and the back cover from the US issue, which includes the texts.