Job A Masque for Dancing

The one-act ballet Job has been described as one of Vaughan Williams's mightiest achievements. It is a work which, in a full production, combines painting, literature, music, and dance. The work was inspired by William Blake's Illustrations of the Book of Job, and includes quotations from the King James Bible. The result is a musical masterpiece, combining the ancient and the modern: Vaughan Williams's earlier style is in evidence, including tranquil pastoral melodies, but the work also anticipates the composer's later style. This new, scholarly edition, edited by Julian Rushton, will replace the existing OUP edition from 1934, and will include detailed preliminary matter, comprising a preface, sources and editorial method, and detailed textual notes.

Scene I
Introduction
Saraband of the Sons of God
Scene II
Satan's Dance of Triumph
Scene III
Minuet of the Sons of Job and their Wives
Scene IV
Job's Dream
Scene V
Dance of the Three Messengers
Scene VI
Dance of Job's Comforters
Scene VII
Elihu's Dance of Youth and Beauty
Pavane of the Sons of the Morning
Scene VIII
Galliard of the Sons of the Morning
Altar Dance
Epilogue