The Church with Psalms Must Shout
If his only bequest to the Church had been the hymn tunes Down Ampney and Sine Nomine, we would have cause to be grateful for the gifts of Ralph Vaughan Williams. The melodies that he composed for Christians to sing the fourteenth-century hymn, “Come down, O Love divine,” and the mid-nineteenth-century, “For all the saints, who from their labors rest,” continue to convey the quiet spiritual urgency of the first and the triumphant confidence of the second. Both tunes were devised for inclusion in The English Hymnal, which Vaughan Williams edited, a liturgically seminal volume published in 1906 (the story of which I summarized in “Taught by Melodious Sonnets,” in the November/December 2017 issue of Touchstone).
Apart from hymns, Vaughan Williams wrote very little music for use in liturgical settings. But the catalogue of his works includes some remarkable compositions for performance in concert that employ Christian texts and explore Christian themes. The celebration this October 12th of the 150th anniversary of his birth offers an occasion for Christians to become more familiar with these works.
A Fantasia for All Time
THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:
Ken Myers is the host and producer of the Mars Hill Audio Journal. Formerly an arts editor with National Public Radio, he also served as editor of Eternity, the Evangelical monthly magazine, and This World, the quarterly predecessor to First Things. He also serves as music director at All Saints Anglican Church in Ivy, Virginia. He is a contributing editor for Touchstone.
Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more on music from the online archives
33.3—May/June 2020
Bach's Cantata BWV 106, Gottes Zeit ist die allerbesteZeit (God's time is the very best time) by Ken Myers
more from the online archives
30.3—May/June 2017
C. S. Lewis Assesses the Religion of Mohammed by Jacob Fareed Imam
35.6—Nov/Dec 2022
on the Divine Promise Fulfilled by the Child of Bethlehem by James M. Kushiner
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
