Flos Campi
Flos Campi: Suite for Solo Viola, Small Chorus, and Small Orchestra is a composition by the English composer
- Sicut Lilium inter spinas (Lento)
- Jam enim hiems transiit (Andante con moto - quarter note = 104)
- Quaesivi quem diligit anima mea (Lento - Allegro moderato)
- En lectulum Salomonis (Moderato alla marcia - quarter note = 90)
- Revertere, revertere Sulamitis! (Andante quasi lento)
- Pone me ut signaculum (Moderato tranquillo)[1]
As in his Sinfonia antartica, the quotations are intended to be read by the listener and are not part of the performance. The quotations are:[2]
Movement | Latin text | English translation |
---|---|---|
1 | Sicut Lilium inter spinas, sic amica mea inter filias … Fulcite me floribus, stipate me malis, quia amore langueo. | "As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters … Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples; for I am sick with love." |
2 | Jam enim hiems transiit; imber abiit, et recessit; Flores apparuerunt in terra nostra, Tempus putationis advenit; Vox turturis audita est in terra nostra. | "For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning has come, and the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land." |
3 | Quaesivi quem diligit anima mea; quaesivi illum, et non inveni … 'Adjuro vos, filiae Jerusalem, si inveneritis dilectum meum, ut nuntietis et quia amore langueo' … Quo abiit dilectus tuus, O pulcherrima mulierum? Quo declinavit dilectus tuus? et quaeremus eum tecum. | "I sought him whom my soul loveth, but I found him not … 'I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him I am sick with love' … Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? Whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee." |
4 | En lectulum Salomonis sexaginta fortes ambiunt … omnes tenentes gladios, et ad bella doctissimi. | "Behold his bed [palanquin], which is Solomon's, three score valiant men are about it … They all hold swords, being expert in war." |
5 | Revertere, revertere Sulamitis! Revertere, revertere ut intueamur te … Quam pulchri sunt gressus tui in calceamentis, filia principis. | "Return, return, O Shulamite! Return, return, that we may look upon thee … How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O Prince's daughter." |
6 | Pone me ut signaculum super cor tuum. | "Set me as a seal upon thine heart." |
In addition to the solo viola, the score calls for
The opening bars of the piece, which consist of a duet between the solo viola and the oboe, are well known as a classic example of
The first performance of Flos Campi, on 10 October 1925, was conducted by
In a program note for a 1927 performance, Vaughan Williams admitted that "The title Flos Campi was taken by some to connote an atmosphere of 'buttercups and daisies....'"[6] In reality, the piece is unabashedly sensual and lushly orchestrated, which is quite appropriate considering its subject matter.