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RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

The Vaughan Williams Collection™ brings together a series of newly-edited editions of his incidental music published by Promethean Editions. Recognised as one of the major musical figures of his time, Ralph Vaughan Williams began his career as a folk song collector, music editor of The English Hymnal and founding conductor of the Leith Hill Festival, and went on to generate a vast musical output that includes song settings, symphonies, chamber music, opera and choral music. Ralph Vaughan Williams’ incidental music for Gilbert Murray’s English translation of Euripides’ Iphigenia in Tauris is edited and arranged for orchestra by Alan Tongue. Vaughan Williams was brought into the production of three Greek plays by the dancer Isadora Duncan, with the public performance taking place at London’s Royal Court Theatre on Friday 31 May 1912. A preview of the production, appearing in The Globe, remarked of Vaughan Williams’ musical settings: “they are an attempt at something new, and something which is neither German nor French. This music is no experiment in style. It would seem, rather, as though the composer had disclaimed all styles and all schools, and found direct inspiration in the material of the poet’s inspiration, and the result is something of undeniable beauty.”

Ralph Vaughan Williams Iphigenia in Tauris

THE VAUGHAN WILLIAMS COLLECTION™

The publisher gratefully acknowledges the support of The Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust in the publication of this edition. ISMN 979-0-67452-291-5

Promethean Editions Limited PO Box 10-143 Wellington 6143 www.prometheaneditions.com

Printed in New Zealand • PEV01 • PNY PREPEV01

PEV01

New Zealand

Incidental music to Electra

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Incidental music to Electra

Study Score

P R O ME T HEAN EDIT IO NS WELLINGTON

Vaughan Williams Collection Volume 3 (PEV03) Incidental music to Electra (1911/2019) ÂŠ Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust Published exclusively by Promethean Editions Limited First edition ÂŠ 2019 Promethean Editions Limited Music Editor: Alan Tongue Publisher: Ross Hendy Founding Series Editor: Robert Hoskins Series Editor: Allan Badley Music Typesetter: Ben Woods Cover Image: Dr Ralph Vaughan Williams by Evelyn Page, 1950. Oil on canvas 500 mm x 41 mm. Courtesy of the Page Estate. ISBN 978-1-77660-703-7 (print) ISBN 978-1-77660-713-6 (ebook) ISMN 979-0-67452-293-9 Promethean Editions Limited PO Box 10-143 Wellington NEW ZEALAND http://www.prometheaneditions.com No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the Publisher. Promethean Editions would like to thank The Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust for a grant made toward the publication of this volume.

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Incidental music to Electra

FOREWORD Introduction to the series........................................... iv Vaughan Williams biography ..................................... v Editor’s introduction .................................................... vi Editorial notes ............................................................... vii Performance note ......................................................... ix Text ...................................................................................... x MUSIC Incidental music to Electra ........................................ 1 1. Onward O Labouring Tread....................................1 2. O for the Ships of Troy...........................................27

PEV03 – iii

FOREWORD Introduction to the series Discussions between the Vaughan Williams estate and Promethean Editions began in 2004 about the possibility of the New Zealand company issuing hitherto unpublished works by Ralph Vaughan Williams in a series based at Massey University, Wellington, and under the general editorship of Robert Hoskins. The first fruit of this co-operation was Nathaniel Lew’s edition of music written by Vaughan Williams for a drama based on John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, which was performed at Reigate in 1906. Since then, incidental music has become the keynote of the series, which went on to make available the composer’s scores for radio productions of The Mayor of Casterbridge, Richard II (in the event never broadcast) and, most recently, three Greek plays: Electra, The Bacchae and Iphigenia in Tauris. All these works are not only mature in themselves but also signposts to aspects of the composer’s future development. Pilgrim’s Progress became a sort of leitmotif throughout his life, for his Reigate music led to the Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, The Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains, the Fifth Symphony, music for a radio production in 1942, and finally his great opera The Pilgrim’s Progress of 1951. His adeptness at writing incidental music for plays led eventually, in the later part of his long life, to his exploring music for cinema, a new and enriching creative experience exemplified in his film-score for Scott of the Antarctic and its elaboration as the Sinfonia Antartica. The Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust is immensely grateful to Promethean Editions for establishing this important series, and to the editors who have been involved, Nathaniel Lew and Alan Tongue. We will watch the further growth of the series with close interest. Hugh Cobbe, Director, March 2019

Publisher’s note The Publisher gratefully acknowledges the assistance from the Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust, Dr Robert Hoskins and Dr Allan Badley in the publication of this edition. We are also very grateful to the executors of the Evelyn Page Estate who have granted us permission to use Page’s wonderful 1950 portrait of RVW. Promethean Editions, Wellington, 2019

PEV03 – iv

Vaughan Williams Biography Ralph Vaughan Williams, a descendant of the Darwins and Wedgwoods, was born in Down Ampney, Gloucestershire, on 12 October 1872. He was educated at Charterhouse, the Royal College of Music and Trinity College, Cambridge. His composition teachers included Hubert Parry, Charles Wood and Charles Villiers Stanford. He also studied with Max Bruch and Maurice Ravel, and enjoyed inspirational musical friendships with Gustav Holst and George Butterworth. He married Adeline Fisher in 1897 and, after her death, married Ursula Wood in 1953. Vaughan Williams began his career as a folk song collector, music editor of The English Hymnal (1906) and founding conductor of the Leith Hill Festival—a post he maintained for over fifty years. His reputation as a composer was established in 1910 with performances of A Sea Symphony (1909) and the Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (1910). After the premiere of A London Symphony (1913), Vaughan Williams enlisted with the Royal Army Medical Corps, serving in France as a wagon orderly. In 1919 he was appointed to the staff of the Royal College of Music and in 1921 became conductor of the Bach Choir. He was awarded the Order of Merit in 1935 and was recognized, even revered, as the major musical figure of his time. He died on 26 August 1958. His ashes were interred in Westminster Abbey. Vaughan Williams’ vast musical output includes song settings of Housman, Stevenson and Whitman; The Lark Ascending (1920), an iridescent orchestral miniature where the solo violin evokes a trilling lark rising above flat fields of ripening corn; Sancta Civitas (1923-25), an oratorio remarkable for the visionary precision of its expression; the opera, The Pilgrim’s Progress (1951), the last of several Bunyan-based settings (the first of which is published as PME14); and Riders to the Sea (1925-32), an operatic rendition of J.M. Synge’s play set against the unforgiving landscape of the Aran Islands. At the heart of his creativity lies a sequence of nine symphonies that move from the meditative pastoralism of the Third (1921) and Fifth (1938-43) to the louring existential dramas of the Fourth (1931-34), Sixth (1944-47) and Seventh (1949-52); the Ninth (1956-57) is played against the tragic backdrop of Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles. At the centre of all Vaughan Williams’ work is a robust delight in expressing his country, past and present, as a means of perpetually renewing himself and of discovering his own potential humanity. In a valedictory broadcast (27 August 1958) following the news of Vaughan Williams’ death, the New Zealand composer Douglas Lilburn (a former student of RVW) spoke of his music as sown in soil and reaped in wisdom: It speaks honestly and directly, and is not afraid sometimes to speak with affirmation. It draws into itself the whole rediscovered heritage of English sixteenth-century music, folk song and hymn tune, love of countryside and traditional ways. It always seems right for its purpose, for the particular truth that it wants to convey, and it seems to me one of the things we best learn from him—that greatness in art springs finally from conviction. Robert Hoskins, Founding Series Editor

PEV03 – v

Introduction Ralph Vaughan Williams’ first musical foray into Greek plays was his incidental music to Aristophanes’ The Wasps, presented by Cambridge University in 1909. The production used the original Greek text, as is still the tradition there, though English translations of the plays were becoming popular at the time, amongst them those by Gilbert Murray, the Oxford University Professor of Greek. In 1911 the dancer Isadora Duncan asked Murray for permission to mount three of his versions of Greek plays, with her brother Augustin directing. Murray had been advised by his friend Herbert Fisher that “my brother-in-law Ralph Vaughan Williams (who is a musical composer and therefore prejudiced) would like to see a big orchestra and some frankly modern music”. 1 Vaughan Williams in his late thirties had actually previously written to Murray: “May I say how much it has distressed me to hear those wonderful lines in Elektra [sic] and your other plays mauled about by (as it seems to me) quite the wrong kind of musical setting.” 2 The musicologist Henry Hadow had also recommended Vaughan Williams: “a very good musician—also keen on poetry and full of understanding.” 3 When Isadora Duncan finally met Vaughan Williams and danced for him, he immediately found “the melting beauty of her phrasing” 4 exactly the sort of movement for which he could write. As he began work on the plays, Vaughan Williams wrote to Murray, stating: There is nothing I should like better than to be associated in such a production as you foreshadow—however problematical it may be. I have had several shots at some Electra music and have found the task much harder than I thought—I cannot make up my mind what sort of music would be best and naturally until I can do that the music itself refuses to come. However your letter has excited me so that I believe my imagination is beginning to work.5 In a later letter he becomes more specific: ...the problem gets more insoluble the more I work at it. I tried setting them in the way I suggested to you—a sort of chant without any accompaniment—but it did not seem to work altogether—I have tried other parts in a more operatic method—the result is rather a mixture—the only way I think will be a sort of trial performance of some of the music when it is ready. I can’t hope to satisfy you and Miss Duncan and Augustin (who wants the choruses spoken!). I want to ask you a lot about the Bacchae choruses—whether all the big choruses should be sung throughout—or whether parts spoken—and what bits should be murmured and what parts declaimed.6 The trial performance of the three scores finally happened, with a subsequent public performance of the music taking place at London’s Royal Court Theatre on Friday 31 May, 1 Herbert Fisher to Gilbert Murray, 5 November 1907. 2 Vaughan Williams to Gilbert Murray, October 1911. 3 Henry Hadow to Gilbert Murray, 2 October 1909 cited in Duncan Wilson, Gilbert Murray, OM, 1866-1957, (Oxford: OUP, 1987). 4 Ursula Vaughan Williams, R.V.W. A Biography of Ralph Vaughan Williams (Oxford: OUP, 1964). 5 Vaughan Williams to Gilbert Murray, 12 October 1911. 6 Vaughan Williams to Gilbert Murray, 6 November 1911. PEV03 – vi

1912. In its 25 May Musical Gossip column, English newspaper The Globe included a preview of the performance, with the prescient remarks: In connection with Mr Vaughan Williams’ musical setting of choruses from Euripides, to be given at the Court Theatre next Friday, we are informed that “they are an attempt at something new, and something which is neither German nor French. This music is no experiment in style. It would seem, rather, as though the composer had disclaimed all styles and all schools, and found direct inspiration in the material of the poet’s inspiration, and the result is something of undeniable beauty.” A chorus from ‘The Electra’ and from ‘The Bacchae’ and four from ‘Iphigenia in Tauris’ should make up a programme of interest.7 Electra is the central figure of this tragedy. The daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra, she is shattered in childhood by the shock of an experience too hard to bear, growing to become a poisoned and haunted woman eating her heart in ceaseless broodings of hate and love, alike unsatisfied. How does the history set out above tally with the manuscripts found in the British Library? Let us begin with two choruses from the second section. The first of these, O for the ships, is set in ‘a sort of chant’ accompanied by a dominant pedal on the strings and with occasional interjections from woodwinds, horn, cymbals and harp. The second, There came a man, has thrumming string and harp chords with the voices doubled in mostly single woodwind instruments. This chorus has a touch of Vaughan Williams’ superb archetypal melody against the words “How, orb on orb, to strike with cold the Trojan”. The first section, for Electra herself, Onward O labouring tread, is set as recitative, with the addition of pure speech occasionally. The singing and much of the speaking is against chords, often dissonant to reflect the subject matter, and with the small orchestra setting the mood of each section. Vaughan Williams’ treatment of dissonance is a premonition of his use of it in the symphonies to come, although the music is less elaborate than his music for The Wasps. Here, he mostly concerns himself with the vocal line and how it carries the text in such a natural flow. The chorus is made up of women’s voices. As Vaughan Williams specified, ‘the solos may be divided among the members of the chorus’, after Electra has disappeared from the stage. Alan Tongue, Editor

Editorial notes The manuscripts are held in the British Library Archives within two folios. The editor arranged them into four sources in the preparation of this edition. Sources:

A MS 71480 Instrumental parts, complete

B MS 71480 Chorus parts, mulitple copies, complete

C MS 71479 Vocal short scores and sketches, incomplete D MS 71479 Full scores, incomplete 7 The Globe, 25 May 1912. PEV03 – vii

The present edition is based on a reading of the complete and legible orchestral parts (A) with the addition of the incomplete full score (D). Chorus parts (B) and vocal short scores (C) were used where the full score was incomplete or unclear. The chorus parts (B) only begin from their entry at m.60 but are otherwise complete. Some of these chorus part copies are possibly not in the composer’s hand and have been disregarded by the editor in any decision making. There is no bassoon part extant in A. Where D is written out in full, a staff for bassoon is shown occasionally. However, it is mostly blank only having notes written in ink on a few pages. At m.178 and m.217 in pencil it reads Fag col Bassi and the following bars include ditto marks and a few pencilled notes. It was judged by the editor that there is insufficient evidence that a unique bassoon part did exist and the bassoon has been excluded from this edition. Notation of rhythms has been silently altered to conform with modern convention. Fermatas have been added to all parts when appearing in only one staff. The editor has added a tempo markings, time signatures and rehearsal marks as required. Occasional expression and articulation inconsistencies have been discreetly amended by the editor and only notable changes or conflicts are listed below. 92

There is a word conflict between the RVW manuscripts and the text source for the line beginning “Or bend”. In B, C and D this line reads “Or bend thy haters low?”. Source texts for this translation read “Or bend thine haters low”. This section is sourced from D and correlates with B. Interestingly, C has different pitches suggesting that revisions were made after the compilation of the short score. The editor has chosen to retain RVW’s inked text and use “thy”.

119

Clarinet. The part, A, is missing a bar near the beginning of the second scene. Counting backwards from the following key change confirms there is a bar missing. C and D both show there is a missing rest bar at the end of the sixth measure of this scene. Pencilled in the part there is a ‘1’ and an extra barline added at the end of the first stave, likely added by a player to correct the error.

150

Flute and Voice. A, D, and two chorus parts from B show that this bar has five beats. Three different chorus parts show the note duration for “star” as a dotted quaver, but with no semiquaver to pair with it leaves the bar with 4 1/4 beats which is unlikely in the context. One of the pages in C shows quavers for both “star” and “of” giving the bar 4 beats, but the pitches used in this differ from the other sources suggesting it is just a sketch.

183 Viola. A and D show the last pitch as AÏ, however this is likely an error by RVW and the editor has corrected it to match Violin II, Oboe, and Cello playing Aˆ. 189 Clarinet. A and D show written pitches GÍ/FÍ, however this is likely an error by RVW with Violin II sounding Fˆ/EÏ. The editor has corrected the Clarinet to written Gˆ/Fˆ. 201 Horn. A and D show written FÍ on beat 3, however this is likely an error by RVW with Viola sounding a BÏ. The editor has corrected the Horn to written Fˆ.

PEV03 – viii

Additional research during the preparation of this edition has led to a few differences between this score and the recording (ALBCD033) but this edition should be considered the definitive version. Oddly included within the orchestral parts, on the back of the Violin II part, is a setting of IÂ Vow to Thee, My Country for voice and piano. Initial research into this suggests that this was penned much later than the rest of the material in this folio.

Performance note The solo passages may be divided among the members of the chorus according to the compass and nature of the voices.

PEV03 â€“ ix

Instrumentation Flute Oboe Clarinet in BÏ Horn in F Cymbal Harp Alto Chorus (SSA) Strings Transposed Score

PEV03 – xvi

Incidental music to Electra

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Flute

# #

1. Onward O Labouring Tread Lento

4 4 w pp

-̇

Oboe

Clarinet in B b

## 4 & # 4 w pp

-̇

Horn in F

4 4 #w pp

-̇

# ˙-

-̇

Cymbal

4 4

Soli

4 4

Chorus (SSA)

4 4 Lento

Violin I

Violin II

4 4

Double Bass

n ˙-

-̇

n ˙-

-̇

# ˙-

-̇

j œ‰ Œ Ó # ˙-

-̇

4 4

Violoncello

-̇

4 4

Harp

Viola

j‰ Œ Ó œ

4 4

w ppp

-̇

pizz.

n ˙-

-̇

n ˙-

-̇

˙ bœ bœ bœ ˙ bœ nœ œ ˙ bœ nœ œ ˙ bœ bœ bœ nœ œ n˙ p pesante pizz.

˙ bœ bœ bœ ˙ bœ nœ œ ˙ bœ nœ œ ˙ bœ bœ bœ nœ œ n˙ p pesante

-̇

w ppp

ww ppp

arco

b œ n œ œ ˙ b œ nn ww ppp bœ nœ œ ˙ bœ

arco

nw ppp

PEV03 – 1

ISMN: 979-0-67452-293-9

## & #

Ob.

Cl.

poco più mosso

Fl.

-̇

# ˙-

3 j j‰ j j œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ ‰ œ œ. œ ˙

-̇

Cym.

& Hp

Soli

ELECTRA parlante, quite free

j j œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ. œ œ œ. œ ˙. 3

On - ward O la - bour - ing tread, As on move the

Chor.

poco più mosso

Vn I

Vn II

Vc.

D.B.

œ ˙ œ

ww w

dead!

On - ward a - mid thy tears, O hap - pier

years;

œœ ˙˙ œœ œœ n ˙˙ œœ œ n˙ œ

˙.

j‰ œ

˙.

j‰ œ

˙˙ ..

j œœ ‰ # ˙ pp

U U U

˙˙ ..

˙.

PEV03 – 2

j œœ ‰ j‰ œ

-̇

pizz.

œœ˙ œ p

œœ˙ œ

pizz.

œœ˙ œ

œœ˙ œ p

A #

###

14 Fl.

Ob.

Cl.

Cym.

& ã &

Soli

lunga

A lunga # U & w ppp

14 Vn I

Vn II

Vc.

D.B.

And life is heavy about my head; And thou far off, O Father and King, In the lost lands of the dead. A bloody twain made these things be; One was thy bitterest enemy, And one the wife that lay by thee.

lunga

ELECTRA (spoken)

Let me remember. I am she, Agamemnon’s child, and the mother of me Clytemnestra, the evil Queen, Helen’s sister. And folk, I ween, That pass in the streets call yet my name Electra… God protect my shame! For toil, toil is a weary thing,

Chor.

senza misura

lunga

bw ppp bw ppp

arco

b ww ppp

arco

bU w ppp

U U

PEV03 – 3

senza misura

U U

Solo - - ‰ œ œ œJ œ œ œ ˙ 3 pp

U U

U œ œ œ œ œ ˙ J J

Fl.

Ob.

## & #

Cl.

Cym.

& Hp

Soli

ELECTRA

œ œ

Bro - ther,

Chor.

‰

œ œ œ œ œ œ

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ 3

Vn II

Vc.

D.B.

œ.

bro - ther, on some far shore Hast thou a ci - ty, is there a door That knows thy foot - fall, Wan - der - ing One?

Vn I

3 j œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ ˙

‰Ó

Œ Œ Œ

PEV03 – 4

œœœœœ p ˙. p

Tutti

˙. pp

Œ ˙. p

Fl.

Ob.

## & #

Cl.

Cym.

& Hp

Soli

‰ j j œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ. œ 3

Who left me, left me, when all our pain

Chor.

Vn II

Vc.

D.B.

Was bit - ter a - bout us,

Vn I

3 j œ œ œ œ œ ‰ œ œ œ œ

B# ?#

œ. œ. œ. œ.

‰ Ó

?# PEV03 – 5

j œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ 3

fa - ther slain, And a girl that wept in her room

a -

Fl.

Ob.

Cl.

Cym.

Soli

Vn II

Vc.

D.B.

j œ

œ.

j œ

œ.

œ J

pp [colla voce]

œ œ œ œ 3

Thou couldst break me

B# ?# ?#

this bon - dage sore,

On - ly

thou,

who

art

far

20 Vn I

œ.

- lone.

Chor.

œ J

pp [colla voce]

œ.

pp [colla voce]

## & #

œ œ œ œ œ p

˙. pp

Œ ˙. n˙ . p

˙ ˙

ppp

PEV03 – 6

Fl.

Ob.

Cl.

Cym.

Soli

## U & # nw

U U

- way,

Chor.

Loose

our

fa - ther,

and

wake

once

Vn I

Vn II

Vc.

D.B.

PEV03 – 7

more…

œ Zeus,

œ.

Zeus,

dost

hear

nœ

23 Fl.

Ob.

Cl.

ã &

Vn II

Vc.

D.B.

3 2

3 2 3 2

œ.

‰ # œj œ

œ œ œ #œ 3

The sleep - ing blood and the shame and

3 ‰ œj œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ.

œ œ

the

doom!

# #

3 2

?# &

3 2

pray?…

Vn I

Cym.

Chor.

Soli

## & # n˙

feet that rest not,

o - ver the foam

j œ œ œ

dis - tant

3 2

˙ pp # ˙˙ pp ˙ pp ˙ ˙ pp

32 PEV03 – 8

3 2

4 4

lunga

## 3 & # 2

4 4

lunga

24 Fl.

Ob.

Cl.

Cym.

& &

Soli

ã #

?# &

a tempo

3 2

4 4

& Hp

3 2 3 2 3 2

Vn I

Vn II

Vc.

D.B.

4 4

lunga

3 2 œ.

j œ ˙

come

4 4

a tempo

4 4

3 2

3 2 ˙ n˙

32 w

3 2 ˙

lunga

3 2

4 4

seas, come home,

Chor.

˙ pp

˙ œ

˙ Œ Ó n˙

4 4

ELECTRA (spoken)

home!

What boots this cruse that I carry? O, set free my brow! For the gathered tears that tarry Through the day and the dark till now, Now in the dawn are free, Father, and flow beneath The floor of the world, to be As a song in the house of Death: From the rising up of the day They guide my heart alway, The silent tears unshed, And my body mourns for the dead; My cheeks bleed silently, And these bruised temples keep Their pain, remembering thee And thy bloody sleep.

lunga

w ppp

lunga

44 Œ

˙ œ œ nœ pp

˙ Œ

w ppp

lunga

œ œ nœ

lunga

Be rent, O hair of mine head!

w ppp

U 4 œœ œœ 4 œ œ œ nœ œ nœ #w pp ppp lunga

44 œ œ œ œ n œ œ œ œ œ n œ U #w pp ppp

lunga

PEV03 – 9

Fl.

Ob.

## & #

Cl.

senza misura

Cym.

& Hp

Soli

Chor.

Vn II

D.B.

ELECTRA

œ œ nœ

a swan

B# ?# ?#

œ œ œ œ

œ #œ

cry - ing a - lone Where the

œ œ œ œ œ

riv - er wind - eth cold,

‰ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ 3

For a

loved,

for a si - lent one

Vn I

Vc.

senza misura

U U

œ œ n˙ pp Solo

œ œ œ œ U˙ .

œ œ œ ˙. 3

U U

PEV03 – 10

˙.

œ œ

Fl.

Ob.

## & #

Cl.

Cym.

& Hp

Soli

œ œ

˙ pp Ó

3 j #œ œ œ œ . #œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ‰œ œ œ œ . nœ ˙ cry, Fa - ther, to thee, O slain in mis

a tempo

Whom the toils of the fow - ler hold, I

Chor.

e - ry!

j‰ Œ œ

˙ pp

j‰ Œ œ

j‰ Œ œ ˙ ˙

j‰ Œ œ

bœ . pp

‰ Ó

bœ .

‰

The

B Vn I

Vn II

Vc.

D.B.

˙.

a tempo

œ. œ

PEV03 – 11

˙ pp

Tutti

œ nœ œ ˙ pp

œ nœ œ ˙

bœ œ nœ œ bœ pp

bœ œ nœ œ bœ

bœ œ nœ œ bœ pp

bœ œ nœ œ bœ

Fl.

Ob.

Cl.

## & #

Cym.

j‰ Œ œ

j‰ Œ œ ˙

j‰ Œ œ

Soli

j j œ œ œ ˙

wa - ter,

Vn II

Vc.

D.B.

j‰ Œ œ

j ‰ Œ Ó œ

j‰ Œ œ

bœ .

‰ Ó

bœ .

‰ Ó

bœ .

œ œ ˙

œ œ œ.

b˙

‰

the wan

j œ œ.

wa - ter,

Lapped him,

and his head

j œ œj œ .

Drooped in the bed

slaugh - ter

Low,

Vn I

‰ Ó

j‰ Œ œ

Chor.

bœ .

j‰ Œ œ

B# ?# ?#

j ‰ Œ œ

œ nœ œ

œ nœ œ ˙

œ nœ œ

bœ bœ

œ nœ œ

bœ bœ

œ nœ œ

bœ bœ

œ nœ œ bœ œ nœ œ bœ

bœ bœ

œ nœ œ PEV03 – 12

bœ bœ

œ nœ œ œ nœ œ

bœ bœ

˙ #˙ ˙ 3

bœ nœ œ nœ œ bœ 3

bœ nœ œ nœ œ bœ

Fl.

Ob.

Cl.

Cym.

## & #

Soli

j‰ Œ Ó œ U

& Hp

j‰ Œ Ó #œ

Vn II

Vc.

D.B.

B# ?# ?#

3 4 ˙. f 3 4

4 4 ˙

3 4

#w ppp

j‰ Œ Ó œ ppp

j‰ Œ Ó #œ ppp U

#w ppp

U j #œ ‰ Œ Ó ppp

4 4

˙. f

j‰ Œ œ

˙ pp

Woe

con sord.

œ. p U

axe,

And woe

œ bœ œ œ .

for the heart

j nœ ˙ of

hate,

freely

œ nœ œ f dim. œ nœ œ f dim.

œ. œ œ œ

4 b˙ 4 4 4

Hound - like a - bout thy

4 4

nœ

‰

œ œ n œ œ 4 b œ . œj b ˙ 4

for the edg - èd

U U

j‰ Œ œ

4 4

3 4 ˙ f dim. 3 4 œ nœ œ f dim.

3 4

4 4

3 ˙ 4 f dim.

3 4

˙ pp

4 4

U 3 n œf

4 4

3 4

‰ j #œ œ œ . #œ œ

Vn I

4 4

3 4

as one wear - i - èd;

Chor.

3 4

b˙

b˙ b˙

˙ œ

bœ

4 bœ œ 4

bœ

4 4 bœ œ

œ œ nœ œ

bœ

4 4 bœ œ

œ œ nœ œ

PEV03 – 13

œ œ nœ œ

œ. p œ. p

j nœ ˙ pp

j j‰ Œ Ó œ nœ pp

bœ bœ œ œ bœ bœ œ œ

œ nœ œ b˙ pp

U bœ bœ œ œ œ nœ œ b˙ pp

Fl.

Ob.

Cl.

j‰ Œ Ó œ

## & #

Cym.

‰

œ.

Soli

œ œ . œ nœ

Vn II

Vc.

D.B.

œ. œ ˙

des - o - late,

Vn I

B# ?# ?#

4 4

3 2

4 4

3 2

4 4

3 2

4 4

3 2

4 4

3 2

4 4

3 2

tracks, O con - quer - or

Chor.

3 2

3 Œ 2

4 4 œ

j 4 œ œ œ nœ . œ 4 œ

From Troy

Ó œ nœ œ bœ

bœ

œ nœ œ bœ

bœ

œ nœ œ bœ pizz.

bœ

˙ bœ bœ pp ˙

32 ˙ 3 Ó 2 3 2 ˙

o - ver land

and

sea,

œ œ œ œ

Till a wife stood

j œ ˙

œ.

wait - ing thee;

w bw w

3 bœ 2 nœ œ bw b œ œ n œ œ œ bœ 3 nœ œ bw œ nœ œ bœ 2 œ PEV03 – 14

44 ˙ 4 Ó 4 4 4 ˙ 4 4

œ nœ œ

44 œ n œ œ

w ppp

b˙

w ppp

˙ b˙ b˙

bw ppp bw

ppp bœ ppp

C &

lunga

###

52 Fl.

Ob.

Cl.

lunga

j j j j j ˙ nœ bœ œ œ . nœ œ bœ œ ˙ n˙ ppp più lento

U U

˙ œ œ œ œ . œ œ œ #œ ˙ ˙ J J J J J ppp

lunga

j j j j ˙ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ J ppp senza sord.

lunga

˙ n˙

˙ ˙ ˙ ˙

n Œ œ œ- n œ- # ˙ œ œ n œ ˙ œ . ‰ b b f pesante

poco più mosso

n Œ œ œ- n œ- # ˙ œ œ n œ ˙ œ . ‰ b b f pesante nn Œ ‰ n œ- œ- # œ- # ˙ œ œ n œ ˙ œ . f pesante Œ

lunga

Cym.

& Hp

Soli

nb b

lunga

?# #

‰ œ- œ- # œ- # ˙ œ œ œ ˙ œ . f pesante

nb b

ELECTRA (spoken)

Not with crowns did she stand, Nor flowers of peace in her hand; With Aegisthus’ dagger drawn For her hire she strove, Through shame and through blood alone; And won her a traitor’s love.

Chor.

nb b

lunga

C Vn I

Vn II

Vc.

D.B.

lunga

˙.

j‰ œ

˙.

j‰ œ

U U

più lento

poco più mosso

j‰ œ

˙.

j œ‰

˙.

lunga

Œ œ œ- n œ- # ˙ œ œ n œ ˙ ˙ f pesante

nb b

Œ œ œ n œ- # ˙ œ œ ˙ ˙ nœ - f pesante

nb b

Œ œ œ- n œ- # ˙ œ œ n œ ˙ ˙ f pesante

nb b

Œ PEV03 – 15

œ- œ- n œ- # ˙ œ œ n œ ˙ ˙ f pesante arco

œ- œ- n œ- # ˙ œ œ n œ ˙ ˙ f pesante

nbb

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

Ralph Vaughan Williams Incidental music to Electra

THE VAUGHAN WILLIAMS COLLECTION™

The publisher gratefully acknowledges the support of The Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust in the publication of this edition. ISMN 979-0-67452-293-9

Promethean Editions Limited PO Box 10-143 Wellington 6143 www.prometheaneditions.com

Printed in New Zealand • PEV03 • PNY PREPEV03

PEV03

New Zealand

Incidental music to Electra

Incidental Music to Electra by Ralph Vaughan Williams