I Sicut Lilium in spinas (Lento)
II Jam enim hiems transiit (Andante con moto)
III Quaesivi quem diligit anima mea (Lento - Allegro moderato)
IV Et lectulum Salomonis (Moderato alla marcia)
V Revertere, revertere Sulamitis! (Andante quasi lento)
VI Pone me ut signaculum (Moderato tranquillo)

Despite being the composer of numerous overtly Christian works, Vaughan Williams' ambivalence with regard to religious orthodoxy is well documented; even his friends dubbed him a 'Christian Agnostic'. Nowhere is the epithet more apposite than in the case of Flos Campi. Vaughan Williams initially prefaced each of the six sections of this most exotic and unusual score with a Latin quotation from the Song of Solomon adding parallel English texts in a later programme note. But, contrary to expectation, Vaughan Williams' interpretation of the Song is no religious allegory; instead it is taken at face value as one of the greatest love poems of all literature, and its music is accordingly explicit and sensuously orchestrated. In the latter regard, his studies with Ravel had introduced him to a kaleidoscopic range of sonorities. The scoring is for flute (piccolo), oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, harp, celesta, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, tabor, twelve violins, four violas, four cellos and two basses, to which are added the sensuous sound of the solo viola and a wordless chorus. The composer's own love of the viola is almost palpable in the sensitive way it is given music so marvellously suited to its special tone quality.

When Sir Henry Wood conducted the first performance, in London on 10th October 1925, many in the audience were mystified by its unfamiliar language, including Vaughan Williams' great friend Holst who admitted that he 'couldn't get hold of it'. Certain unsympathetic orchestral players were even heard to lampoon it, christening it 'Camp Flossie'! In the fulness of time, however, it has come to be recognised for the masterpiece that it undoubtedly is. This wonderfully atmospheric music ranges from a first section, achingly depicting the poet languishing for love, to life-affirming ecstasy in its final section. En route its intervening sections conjure up in turn, delicate pastoral images, the near frenzy of the lovelorn poet, an unashamedly macho march with a brazen climax, and a ceremonial dance to the accompaniment of the tabor. Despite this wide emotional range, the key to its structural integrity is in Vaughan Williams' gift for melody and especially in the almost imperceptible way that one melody is transformed into another throughout the suite.

© J. S. Whitehead, October 2002

The quotations from the Song of Solomon in the score of Flos campi appear as follows:

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 of 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, 1o, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle 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 of 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.
© J. S. Whitehead, October 2002