Now the birth of Jesus Christ was upon this wise...

Hodie (This Day) is a cantata by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Composed between 1953 and 1954, it is the composer's last major choral-orchestral composition, and was premiered under his baton at Worcester Cathedral, as part of the Three Choirs Festival, on 8 September 1954. The piece is dedicated to Herbert Howells. The cantata, in 16 movements, is scored for chorus, boys' choir, organ and orchestra, and features tenor, baritone, and soprano soloists.Stylistically, Hodie represents a synthesis of Vaughan Williams' entire artistic career, with elements drawn from most periods of his creativity. He had already experimented with the form, of Biblical texts interwoven with poetry, in his cantata Dona nobis pacem. Musically, various movements may suggest different earlier works: for example, the accompaniment to the "Hymn" is very similar to the Sinfonia antartica, while the "Pastoral" shares some elements from the Five Mystical Songs of 1911. Hodie was not well-received by critics, though it generally pleased audiences. Critics thought Vaughan Williams' compositional style too simple and direct, with one accusing Vaughan Williams of "primitivity" [sic]. In general in this period the octogenarian composer's nationalism had gone out of fashion and his older style suffered comparison with the new sounds coming from composers such as Benjamin Britten. Later critics, uninfluenced by this context, have been more generous.

Thanks as so often are due to Wikipedia for the above. The latest piece of Christmas music up for discussion, Vaughan Williams 'Hodie', is certainly worth getting to know if it is unfamiliar. The musical language is certainly not adventurous, and represents, as stated above, a synthesis of VW's musical life, so there is much that will seem familiar even if it is not. Having said that, 'Hodie' will not reveal all its qualities on a first reading: this is a very varied work, which displays power, subtlety, mysticism and a profound examination of faith. VW had a highly developed literary taste and there is a judicious mixture in 'Hodie' of biblical text and poetry by a range of English writers including Milton, Hardy, George Herbert, and Ursula Vaughan Williams, the composer's wife. VW employs a very large orchestra and chorus, STB soloists and, in what I consider a masterstroke, a choir of boys' voices who sing, in unison, passages from the Gospels in a quasi arioso style. Alan Bennett once said that the Bible should be read aloud as if it were the telephone directory, by which he meant that the direct simplicity and beauty of the Christmas story will be best served by a simple, direct reading, without interpretative embellishment. VW achieves this with his boys' choir setting.

After the plethora of recordings considered in my previous Christmas music Blogs, it is somewhat of a relief that there only three versions of 'Hodie' available on disc. These are:

London Symphony Orchestra cond. David Willcocks with John Shirley-Quirk, Richard Lewis, Janet Baker (soloists) – recorded 1965.

London Symphony Orchestra cond. Richard Hickox with Stephen Roberts, Robert Tear, Elizabeth Gale (soloists) – recorded 1990.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra cond. Hilary Davan Wetton with Peter Hoare, Stephen Gadd, Janice Watson (soloists) – recorded 2007.

The Morman Tabernacle Choir have broadcast the work on PBS and this is a performance I am very keen to find!

To take the recordings in chronological order. Originally issued by EMI I have the American Angel LP (recently purchased for 10 p) and it still sounds astonishingly good: a CD version is available! The LSO and the Bach Choir are both excellent and David Willcocks conducts with absolute mastery. The soloists are a positively regal line-up. Janet Baker is, of course, not a soprano, and there are moments when she sounds a little stretched, but the part as a whole is relatively low lying; by and large she sounds glorious, and delivers the text with intelligence and integrity. As for Richard Lewis, I have thought long and hard about how I can convey the very special qualities of his performance. When discussing recordings of 'Messiah' in my recent Blog I suggested, rather flippantly, that Lewis always sounds as if he has a cold, and I still think that is true, but his very individual, rather covered, tone-quality conveys a feeling of tenderness and devotion. He was apparently a rather difficult, uncompromising individual with a profound religious faith and this seriousness and devoutness comes across most strongly, particularly when he is singing the angel of the annunciation. VW gives the tenor a good deal of chromatic, melismatic music which Lewis deals with consummately but more than this his sound is enveloped in a sort of halo; this is partly a vocal matter, but I also believe it to be a manifestation of sincere belief. When the Angel sings to Joseph '...fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus' it is as if the word really is made flesh. Of course, it also helps that Lewis has the vocal clout to produce a thrilling ff on 'Jesus'... John Shirley-Quirk, still relatively early in his career, imbues all his music with warm tenderness: he conjures up the magic of 'The Oxen' most beautifully, and here and elsewhere he brings a touch of autumnal melacholy; after all, the stable in Bethlehem stands in the shadow of the cross on Calvary. In the all important boys' choir, the choristers of Westminster Abbey give an ideal performance. Steeped in the Anglican cathedral tradition, they tell the Gospel story of Christmas with pure tone and immaculate diction. Nothing more is required, and the effect is overwhelmimg.

The Richard Hickox recording from 1990 has much to recommend it. To begin with, the playing of the LSO is superb and the three soloists make a strong team. Elizabeth Gale's soprano might be rather too vibrant for some but her gleaming tone and intelligent way with the text has much to commend it. Robert Tear sings with typical commitment and interpretative insight but is occasionally overly forceful. To my ears he lacks the extra magic Richard Lewis brings to this music. Stephen Roberts sings beautifully, and if he lacks some of Shirley-Quirk's individuality he still gives very moving performances of the two major baritone set pieces 'The Oxen' and 'The Shepherds Sing'. The boys of St Paul's Cathedral Choir cannot quite match the Westminster choristers in terms of vocal purity and unified intonation but do not disappoint overall. THe LSO Chorus can sound rather coarse when singing forte and are guilty of some vowel distortion ('Hodiayee' for example) but their softer singing is very fine. As for Hickox, he reminds us what a profound loss his early death was: this is a beautifully paced and realised interpretation.

The most recent recording, with Hilary Davan Wetton conducting the RPO and the Guildford Choral Society cannot be recommended. The RPO is predictably excellent and Davan Wetton has the measure of the peace, but the Guildford Choir sounds underpowered and are often overwhelmed by the orchestra. Janice Watson has a beautiful, silvery timbre but the part lies rather low for her and she struggles to cut through the orchestral texture when not singing above the stave. Peter Hoare is a fine artist on the opera stage and the tenor part presents no difficulties to him, but his singing is unremarkable in vocal quality or interperative insight. Stephen Gadd has a fine dark toned instrument but his singing lacks light and shade and his response to the text is, to my ears at least, rather dull. He was singing Macbeth for Glyndebourne about the same time he recorded this and by all accounts did an excellent job, but 'Hodie' is not a piece for a Verdi baritone. There is no reason the 'boys' choir should not be sung by girls and the young ladies of St Catherine's Middle School sing pleasantly, but lack the crisp attack and purity of vowels displayed by the Westminster Abbey boys.

All in all, no one is going to be disappointed by either the Willcocks or Hickox recordings and as it is very easy and inexpensive to acquire both, why not treat yourself? After listening to one or both of these recordings, I hope you'll agree with me that 'Hodie' is a masterpiece and deserves to be performed far more frequently than it is.