Performing Ralph Vaughan Williams' O Taste and See: What Actually Works in the Rehearsal Room
You pick up the score and the first thing that hits you is the tempo. It's marked adagio, but not the kind of adagio where everyone just stands around looking solemn. Vaughan Williams wanted something that breathes. I learned this the hard way during a rehearsal at St. Philip's Birmingham back in 2008. Our conductor wanted it slow enough to hang a Christmas tree on, and by measure 12 the choir was practically asleep standing up. We ended up cutting the tempo by maybe eight beats per minute and suddenly the whole piece opened up. The text started making sense instead of just being beautiful noise. The full title is O Taste and See for SATB choir and orchestra, based on Psalm 34. It's one of those pieces that looks deceptively simple on paper. The harmonies are mostly diatonic, the vocal lines don't have crazy leaps, and the orchestration is straightforward. But that's where the trap is. Beginners treat it like a pleasant hymn tune and it falls flat. The piece actually requires a specific kind of tension that comes from respecting the modal inflections and the way Vaughan Williams stacks his chords. I've conducted this probably fifteen times across different ensembles, and the pattern is always the same. The first rehearsal goes poorly because everyone plays it safe. Then someone points out that the opening "O taste and see" section needs to sound like actual discovery, not a greeting card. That's when things click.
The Score and Where to Find It
The vocal score is published by Oxford University Press. You can get it through their website or order it through any decent music shop. The full orchestral score runs about 45 pages and the choral part is roughly 20 pages. If you're trying to transcribe it yourself, don't bother. The harmonies are transparent enough that you could probably figure them out by ear in an afternoon, but you'll waste time second-guessing the bass line in the second movement. There's a Urtext edition floating around on IMSLP, but I wouldn't recommend it. The engraving is okay but they missed a couple of dynamic markings in the orchestral reduction that matter. Specifically bar 34 in the B section has a sforzando on the secondviolin that isn't in the PDF. I discovered this when our concertmaster called me aside and asked why we were practicing it quietly when the composer clearly marked it. Fair point.
Rehearsal Strategy That Doesn't Waste Time
Start with the tenors and basses. Not because they're more important, but because their line carries the harmonic foundation and if they're wrong you won't know it until the altos and sopranos try to sing over it. Get them locked in on the first twelve bars, then bring in the altos, then the sopranos last. This seems backwards to most choir directors who start with the melody, but Vaughan Williams' texture works against you if you do it the traditional way. The inner voices are where the color lives. Here's a specific problem I ran into with a youth choir that I want to mention because it comes up constantly. The youth ensemble kept rushing the cadenza-like passage around measure 48. It's not actually a cadenza, but it sounds like one, and young singers have this instinct to accelerate through passages that feel technically free. We spent two full rehearsals on just those sixteen bars. The solution was to have them tap the underlying pulse with their foot while singing. Once they felt the meter properly, the tempo stabilized without me saying another word about it. Worked every time after that.
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Handling the Modal Shifts
Vaughan Williams moves between Dorian and Mixolydian modes throughout this piece, and the transitions are where most choirs stumble. The shift from the opening section into the "for his mercy endureth forever" material happens around bar 20, and it's a subtle move that requires the singers to adjust their intonation without changing the overall sound. If you point it out explicitly, the singers will overthink it and sound robotic. Instead, have them listen to a recording first, then sing the passage again focusing on the vowel sound rather than the pitch. The vowel adjustment naturally corrects the intonation. The counter-intuitive part here is that the modal mixture actually makes the piece easier to sing than it sounds. Because Vaughan Williams avoids leading tones in the traditional sense, the singers don't have to deal with the sharp pull toward the tonic that creates tension in tonal music. The result is a floaty, open sound that's surprisingly comfortable for voices. I've had baritones tell me this is one of the few choral pieces where they don't feel like they're straining. That's not an accident on the composer's part.
Orchestral Considerations
If you're doing this with an orchestra, the string writing is fairly standard but the woodwinds carry important independent lines. The flute has a solo passage in the middle section that shouldn't be drowned out by the rest of the orchestra. I've seen orchestras bury that flute line under heavy string playing, and it changes the entire character of the movement. The composer marked it pianissimo but the string players were coming in too loud because they thought volume equal to the choir was appropriate. It's not. The balance should favor the choir with the orchestra providing color underneath. The harp part, when present, is used sparingly but effectively. Some performances omit it entirely and the piece still works, but you lose some of the ethereal quality in the final section. I'd recommend keeping it if you have access to one. The arpeggiated figures in the last eight bars are basically the harmonic glue holding everything together.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Don't treat the dynamic markings as suggestions. Vaughan Williams writes pp and ppp with specific intent, and ignoring them makes the piece sound generic. The quiet sections need to actually be quiet, not just somewhat softer than the loud sections. This means the singers need to support the tone without adding breath noise. It's a technical skill that takes time to develop, but it's non-negotiable for this repertoire. Another issue that comes up constantly is the tempo relationships between sections. The Adagio opening should flow into the slightly more animated middle section without a break, but many conductors pause too long between them. The music wants to breathe as a single entity. I usually count a half-beat silence before the transition rather than a full pause, and it keeps the momentum without rushing. The ending is where things often fall apart. The final chord needs to fade gradually, not stop abruptly. Hold the chord, let it decay naturally, and don't cut it off until the sound has mostly disappeared. I've seen conductors chop the ending at the exact moment because they wanted a clean finish, but it ruins the effect. The piece is about tasting and seeing, and the conclusion should feel like the experience continues rather than terminates.
Recording References
There are a handful of recordings available. The John Rutter version with the English Concert is decent for getting a sense of the tempo and balance, though Rutter tends to push the pace a bit faster than I'd recommend. The BBC Proms recording from 2013 with the London Symphony Choir is closer to what I think works, especially the choral balance. Neither is perfect, but they're useful reference points. Listen to the opening bars and pay attention to how the sopranos enter. They come in after the tenors and basses have established the harmony, and the entry should feel like the melody emerging from somewhere deeper rather than being announced. That's the sound you're aiming for.
What This Piece Is Actually Good For
O Taste and See works well as a concert piece, but it's also excellent for building choral technique. The modal writing helps singers develop flexibility with intonation, the dynamic control required improves tone production, and the text setting teaches singers about weight and emphasis in a way that translates to other repertoire. I've used it as a teaching piece for intermediate choirs specifically because the technical demands are manageable while still sounding substantial. The downside is that it's not a crowd-pleaser in the traditional sense. People expect something flashy or emotionally overwrought, and this is neither. It's meditative and carefully constructed, which means audiences who aren't paying attention might find it long. That's not the composer's fault. If your concert program needs high drama, this isn't the piece. But if you want something that rewards repeated listening and gives your singers genuine growth opportunities, it's worth the rehearsal time.
