Beautiful music does not bring world peace. Vaughan Williams knew that when he set his political concerns to music in 1936 with the best of intentions. The title of his cantata Dona nobis pacem (Give us peace) was taken from the Catholic Mass. Furthermore, he mainly used poems by Walt Whitman and the Biblical prophets. It would have appealed to Vaughan Williams that Whitman volunteered as a nurse
… during the American Civil War. Vaughan Williams himself had been an ambulance driver during WWI, also voluntarily. Veterans like Whitman and VW could therefore speak from experience. Which does not mean that the kitsch is sometimes lurking. As in the scene where a soldier touches the pale face of a fallen enemy with his lips. It is reminiscent of the scene from Brittens (1962), when two fallen soldiers from the opposite camp meet on the other side. Vaughan Williams was certainly not naive when it came to such sentiments. About 15 years later, during the Cold War, he gave permission for a peace movement to print a quote from Dona nobis pacem on a Christmas card. That was not without protest. "I know you mean well, but there is a danger that you will be naively cheated by the Kremlin supporters," said the composer. (HJ)more
