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<!-- Vaughan Williams is a 'Double-barrelled name', and therefore the surname name must be referred to as Vaughan Williams, not Williams.-->
<!-- Vaughan Williams is a 'Double-barrelled name', and therefore the surname name must be referred to as Vaughan Williams, not Williams.-->


'''A Cambridge Mass''' is a choral work in [[G major]] by [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]] written between 1898-99<ref name="Whitehouse">{{cite web|url=http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_concert_review.php?id=8995|title=Vaughan Williams’s A Cambridge Mass – World Premiere Performance by Bach Choir & New Queen's Hall Orchestra|author=Richard Whitehouse|publisher=The Classical Source|accessdate=September 2012}}</ref><ref>{{harv|McClarney|2013|p=6}}</ref> as part of his studies in Cambridge for his Doctorate of Music. It is one of two large scale choral works with orchestral accompaniment by Vaughan Williams surviving from this period, the other being a [[cantata]] setting of [[Algernon Charles Swinburne|Swinburnes']] poem '''[[The Garden of Proserpine]]'''.,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://albionrecords.org/notes/proserpine_notes/proserpine_notes.html|last=Rooksby|first=Rikky|title=Liner notes to Albion Records CD of The Garden of Proserpine & Fen and Flood. 2011}}</ref><ref name="Tongue">{{cite web|url=http://www.alantongue.co.uk/green/page_one/A-Cambridge-Mass_p1.html|title=Alan Tongue. Account of the rediscovery of A Cambridge Mass|accessdate=September 2012}}</ref>
'''A Cambridge Mass''' is a choral work in [[G major]] by [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]] written between 1898-99<ref name="Whitehouse">{{harv|Whitehouse|2011}}</ref><ref>{{harv|McClarney|2013|p=6}}</ref> as part of his studies in Cambridge for his Doctorate of Music. It is one of two large scale choral works with orchestral accompaniment by Vaughan Williams surviving from this period, the other being a [[cantata]] setting of [[Algernon Charles Swinburne|Swinburnes']] poem '''[[The Garden of Proserpine]]'''.,<ref>{{harv|Rooksby|2011}}</ref><ref name="Tongue">{{harv|Tounge|2011}}</ref>


==History==
==History==
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After being submitted for Vaughan Williams' [[doctorate]], the mass was stored in the university archives until it was put on display in 2007, where it was noticed by conductor [[Alan Tongue]], who recognized its potential significance and obtained permission from the Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust for a performing version to be made from the manuscript score.<ref name="Tongue" />
After being submitted for Vaughan Williams' [[doctorate]], the mass was stored in the university archives until it was put on display in 2007, where it was noticed by conductor [[Alan Tongue]], who recognized its potential significance and obtained permission from the Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust for a performing version to be made from the manuscript score.<ref name="Tongue" />


The first performance of the mass took place on March 3, 2011 at the [[Fairfield Halls]] in [[Croydon]].<ref name="Whitehouse" /> Subsequent performances have taken place in [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bath-choral-society.org.uk/index.php?page=new-discovery|title=Bath Choral Society Concert Notes: A Cambridge Mass|accessdate=September 2012}}</ref><ref name="Williams">{{cite web|url=http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/Review/story-13678537-detail/story.html|title=This is Bath: Review|author=Peter Lloyd Williams|publisher=The Bath Chronicle|date=27 October 2011|accessdate=September 2012}}</ref> and in the United States at [[Smith College]], [[Northampton, Massachusetts|Northampton]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gazettenet.com/2012/01/19/039a-cambridge-mass039|title=Hampshire Choral Society presents US debut of long-lost 'A Cambridge Mass'|publisher=Gazettenet.com |accessdate=September 2012}}</ref>
The first performance of the mass took place on March 3, 2011 at the [[Fairfield Halls]] in [[Croydon]].<ref name="Whitehouse" /> Subsequent performances have taken place in [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bath-choral-society.org.uk/index.php?page=new-discovery|title=Bath Choral Society Concert Notes: A Cambridge Mass|accessdate=September 2012}}</ref><ref name="Williams">{{harv|Williams|2011}}</ref> and in the United States at [[Smith College]], [[Northampton, Massachusetts|Northampton]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gazettenet.com/2012/01/19/039a-cambridge-mass039|title=Hampshire Choral Society presents US debut of long-lost 'A Cambridge Mass'|publisher=Gazettenet.com |accessdate=September 2012}}{{dl|date=October 2014}}</ref>


==Movements==
==Movements==
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==Recording==
==Recording==


In October 2014, Albion Records released a recording of the premier performance of the Mass.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2014/Oct14/VW_Cambridge_ALBCD020.htm|last=Quinn|first=John|title=Review: A Cambridge Mass|publisher=Musicweb International|date=6 October 2014|accessdate=6 October 2014}}</ref>
In October 2014, Albion Records released a recording of the premier performance of the Mass.<ref name="Quinn">{{harv|Quinn|2014}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
;Notes
;Notes
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
{{Reflist}}


;Sources
;Sources
* {{Cite thesis|last=McClarney|first=Kevin Blake|title=A Cambridge Mass by Ralph Vaughan Williams: A History, Context, and Analysis|date=December 2013|publisher=Texas State University - San Marcos|url=https://digital.library.txstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10877/4721/MCCLARNEY-THESIS-2013.pdf?sequence=1|accessdate=7 February 2014|ref={{harvid|McClarney|2013}}}}
* {{Cite thesis|last=McClarney|first=Kevin Blake|title=A Cambridge Mass by Ralph Vaughan Williams: A History, Context, and Analysis|date=December 2013|publisher=Texas State University - San Marcos|url=https://digital.library.txstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10877/4721/MCCLARNEY-THESIS-2013.pdf?sequence=1|accessdate=7 February 2014|ref={{harvid|McClarney|2013}}}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2014/Oct14/VW_Cambridge_ALBCD020.htm|last=Quinn|first=John|title=Review: A Cambridge Mass|publisher=Musicweb International|date=6 October 2014|accessdate=6 October 2014|ref={{harvid|Quinn|2014}}}}
*{{cite AV media notes|url=http://albionrecords.org/notes/proserpine_notes/proserpine_notes.html|last=Rooksby|first=Rikky|title=The Garden of Proserpine & Fen and Flood|type=CD|id=ALBCD012|publisher=Albion Records|year=2011|ref={{harvid|Rooksby|2011}}}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.alantongue.co.uk/green/page_one/A-Cambridge-Mass_p1.html|last=Tounge|first=Alan|title=Account of the rediscovery of A Cambridge Mass|year=2011|accessdate=September 2012|ref={{harvid|Tounge|2011}}}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_concert_review.php?id=8995|title=Vaughan Williams’s A Cambridge Mass – World Premiere Performance by Bach Choir & New Queen's Hall Orchestra|last=Whitehouse|first=Richard|publisher=The Classical Source|date=3 March 2011|accessdate=September 2012|ref={{harvid|Whitehouse|2011}}}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/Review/story-13678537-detail/story.html|title=This is Bath: Review|last=Williams|first=Peter Lloyd|publisher=The Bath Chronicle|date=27 October 2011|accessdate=September 2012|ref={{harvid|Williams|2011}}}}


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalconcertreviews/8362244/Vaughan-Williams-Fairfield-Hall-Croydon-review.html Review of the first performance by The Telegraph]
* {{cite news|url=[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalconcertreviews/8362244/Vaughan-Williams-Fairfield-Hall-Croydon-review.html|last=Hewett|first=Ian|title=Vaughan Williams, Fairfield Hall, Croydon, review|date=4 March 2011|newspaper=The Telegraph|ref={{harvid|Hewett|2011}}}}
* [http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Cambridge/The-day-A-Cambridge-Mass-was-finally-recognised.htm The day A Cambridge Mass was finally recognised]
* {{cite news|url=http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Cambridge/The-day-A-Cambridge-Mass-was-finally-recognised.htm|title=The day A Cambridge Mass was finally recognised|newspaper=Cambridge News|date=10 October 2010}}
* [http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2012-03-15/a-new-work-by-britain-s-favourite-composer-will-be-performed-for-only-the-second-time-in-public-at-exeter-cathedral/ A ‘new’ work by Britain’s favourite composer will be performed for only the second time in public at Exeter Cathedral, ITV News, 15 Mar, 2012]
* {{cite news|url=http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2012-03-15/a-new-work-by-britain-s-favourite-composer-will-be-performed-for-only-the-second-time-in-public-at-exeter-cathedral/|title=A ‘new’ work by Britain’s favourite composer will be performed for only the second time in public at Exeter Cathedral|publisher=ITV News|date=15 March 2012}}
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-12565842 BBC News - Vaughan Williams Cambridge Mass World Premiere]
* {{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-12565842|title=Vaughan Williams Cambridge Mass World Premiere|publisher=BBC News|date=2 March 2011}}
* [http://nepr.net/blog/vaughan-williamss-cambridge-mass New England Public Radio: Vaughan Williams's Cambridge Mass]
* {{cite web|url=http://nepr.net/blog/vaughan-williamss-cambridge-mass|last=Montanari|first=John|title=Vaughan Williams's Cambridge Mass|publisher=New England Public Radio|date=23 January 2012|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804213513/http://www.nepr.net/blog/vaughan-williamss-cambridge-mass|archivedate=4 August 2012}}
* [http://www.stainer.co.uk/d99.html Stainer & Bell Ralph Vaughan Williams: A Cambridge Mass]
* [http://www.stainer.co.uk/d99.html Stainer & Bell Ralph Vaughan Williams: A Cambridge Mass]


Revision as of 01:52, 7 October 2014


A Cambridge Mass is a choral work in G major by Ralph Vaughan Williams written between 1898-99[1][2] as part of his studies in Cambridge for his Doctorate of Music. It is one of two large scale choral works with orchestral accompaniment by Vaughan Williams surviving from this period, the other being a cantata setting of Swinburnes' poem The Garden of Proserpine.,[3][4]

History

Composition

Returning to Cambridge from a period in Berlin taking lessons from Max Bruch,[5] Vaughan Williams was set the task of composing a large scale (40-60 minute) choral/orchestral work containing the following:[4]

  1. Sections for one or more soloists along with major portions for an eight voice choir;
  2. Examples of both canons and fugues;
  3. An orchestral section in sonata form, either as an overture or intermezzo; and
  4. A single section for voice(s) alone, the rest being with full orchestral accompaniment.

Vaughan Williams responded with a concert setting of the Credo & Sanctus of the mass in a quasi-symphonic structure with two choral movements with orchestral accompaniment flanking a central movement for orchestra alone. It is not known why Vaughan Williams did not set the complete mass. McClarney in his thesis speculates that it may have either been due to time constraints or personality clashes with his teacher Stanford, citing a letter to Holst in which the composer talks both of a lack of sleep due to time spent writing out the score and of a disagreement with Stanford over the structure of the completed composition.[6]

Rediscovery

After being submitted for Vaughan Williams' doctorate, the mass was stored in the university archives until it was put on display in 2007, where it was noticed by conductor Alan Tongue, who recognized its potential significance and obtained permission from the Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust for a performing version to be made from the manuscript score.[4]

The first performance of the mass took place on March 3, 2011 at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon.[1] Subsequent performances have taken place in Bath[7][8] and in the United States at Smith College, Northampton.[9]

Movements

The composition is a missa brevis for orchestra, double choir and four soloists, and is divided into three movements:[1]

  1. Credo: Andante Maestoso - Allegro moderato - Allegro[8]
  2. Offertorium: Allegro moderato
  3. Finale (Sanctus - Benedictus - Hosanna): Adagio - Allegro - Andante sostenuto - Allegro

Recording

In October 2014, Albion Records released a recording of the premier performance of the Mass.[10]

References

Notes
  1. ^ a b c (Whitehouse 2011)
  2. ^ (McClarney 2013, p. 6)
  3. ^ (Rooksby 2011)
  4. ^ a b c (Tounge 2011)
  5. ^ James Day. The Master Musicians: Vaughan Williams. J.M Dent & Sons Ltd. 1961
  6. ^ (McClarney 2013, p. 3 & 4)
  7. ^ "Bath Choral Society Concert Notes: A Cambridge Mass". Retrieved September 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  8. ^ a b (Williams 2011)
  9. ^ "Hampshire Choral Society presents US debut of long-lost 'A Cambridge Mass'". Gazettenet.com. Retrieved September 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)[dead link]
  10. ^ (Quinn 2014)
Sources
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