Originally scored for chorus and large orchestra with a baritone and soprano soloist, the first piece, "Agnus Dei", is the only piece that is not in English. Taken …show more content…
Vaughn Williams follows this recitative with sections of the Bible patched together in a way that makes the text less about the original interpretation of divine destruction and more about war between countries. The focus of the movement then shifts up to a climax where the chorus sings "Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good-will toward men." As the chorus repeats this line, the organ and the glockenspiel are portrayed as church bells, with a sense of victory. Williams then ends the work with a return to the original Dona Nobis theme in C major, now adorned with accidentals, and the soprano soloist ends on a lingering E, which hints that the world has yet to reach its'