Last updated; 28th December 2009
The Jersey Festival Choir continues to be very appreciative of the support of AIB Jersey
Jersey Festival Choir
The main piece of music in the 2002 Spring concert was Dona Nobis Pacem (which means "give us peace"). The text is poetry by Walt Whitman and John Bright alongside verses from the Bible with the overall theme of War and Peace. The words are set to music by R. Vaughan Williams.
Peace and War by Rubens is reproduced on
the cover of the score by permission of The National Gallery
DONA
NOBIS PACEM
Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi Dona nobis pacem.
II
Beat!
beat! drums! blow! bugles! blow!
Through
the windows- through the doors-burst like a ruthless force,
Into
the solemn church, and scatter the congregation,
Into
the school where the scholar is studying ;
Leave
not the bridegroom quiet-no happiness must he have now with his bride,
Nor
the peaceful farmer any peace, ploughing his field, or gathering in his grain,
So
fierce you whirr and pound you drums-so shrill you bugles blow.
Beat!
beat! drums!-blow! bugles! blow!
Over
the traffic of cities-over the rumble of wheels in the streets
Are
beds prepared for the sleepers at night in the houses? No sleepers must sleep in
those beds,
No
bargainers' bargains by day-would they continue?
Would
the talkers be talking? Would the singer attempt to sing?
Then
rattle quicker, heavier drums-you bugles wilder blow.
Beat!
beat! drums!-blow! bugles! blow!
Make
no parley-stop for no expostulation,
Mind
not the timid-mind not the weeper or prayer,
Mind
not the old man beseeching the young man,
Let
not the child's voice be heard, nor the mother's entreaties,
Make
even the trestles to shake the dead where they lie awaiting the hearses,
So
strong you thump O terrible drums-so loud you bugles blow.
WALT
WHITMAN.
III
RECONCILIATION
Word
over all, beautiful as the sky,
Beautiful
that war and all its deeds of carnage must in time be utterly lost,
That
the hands of the sisters Death and Night incessantly, softly, wash again and
ever again this soiled world;
For
my enemy is dead, a man divine as myself is dead,
I
look where he lies white-faced and still in the coffin- I draw near,
Bend
down and touch lightly with my lips the white face in the coffin.
WALT
WHITMAN.
IV
DIRGE
FOR TWO VETERANS
The
last sunbeam
Lightly
falls from the finished Sabbath,
On
the pavement here, and there beyond it is looking
Down
a new-made double grave.
Lo,
the moon ascending,
Up
from the east the silvery round moon,
Beautiful
over the house-tops, ghastly, phantom moon,
Immense
and silent moon.
I
see a sad procession,
And
I hear the sound of coming full-keyed bugles,
All
the channels of the city streets they're flooding
As
with voices and with tears.
I
hear the great drums pounding,
And
the small drums steady whirring,
And
every blow of the great convulsive drums
Strikes
me through and through.
For
the son is brought with the father,
In
the foremost ranks of the fierce assault they fell,
Two
veterans, son and father, dropped together,
And
the double grave awaits them.
Now
nearer blow the bugles,
And
the drums strike more convulsive,
And
the daylight o'er the pavement quite has faded,
And
the strong dead-march enwraps me.
In
the eastern sky up-buoying,
The
sorrowful vast phantom moves illumined,
'Tis
some mother's large transparent face,
In
heaven brighter growing.
O
strong dead-march you please me!
O
moon immense with your silvery face you soothe me!
O
my soldiers twain! O my veterans passing to burial!
What
I have I also give you.
The
moon gives you light,
And
the bugles and the drums give you music,
And
my heart, O my soldiers, my veterans,
My
heart gives you love.
WALT
WHITMAN.
v
The
Angel of Death has been abroad throughout the land; you may almost hear the
beating of his wings.
There
is no one as of old to sprinkle with blood the lintel and the two side-posts of
our doors, that he may spare and pass on.
JOHN
BRIGHT.
Dona
nobis pacem.
We
looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold
trouble!
The
snorting of his horses was heard from Dan ; the whole land trembled at the sound
of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the
land
and those that dwell therein
The
harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved .....
Is
there no balm in Gilead?; Is there no physician there ? Why then is not the
health of the daughter of my people recovered?
Jeremiah
8:15-22.
V1
'O
man greatly beloved, fear not, peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong.'
Daniel
10:19.
The
glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former . . . . . and in
this
place will I give peace.'
Haggai
2:9.
Nation
shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
And
none shall make them afraid, neither shall the sword go through their land.
Mercy
and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Truth
shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
Open
to me the gates of righteousness, I will go into them.
Let
all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled; and let
them hear, and say, it is the truth.
And
it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues.
And
they shall come and see my glory. And I will set a sign among them, and they
shall declare my glory among the nations.
For
as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me,
so shall your seed and your name remain for ever.'
Glory
to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men.
(Adapted
from Micah 4:3, Leviticus 26:6, Psalms 85:10, and 68:19, Isaiah 43: 9,
and 66:18-22, and Luke 2:14.)
Dona
nobis pacem.
TIME
OF PERFORMANCE: about 40
minutes