Edgar Bainton (1880-1956) And I saw a new Heaven (1928)

Edgar Bainton wrote a considerable amount of music during his career, including a choral symphony, two instrumental symphonies, a Fantasia for piano and orchestra, several operas and many piano pieces, chamber works and songs. It is unfortunate that he is generally recalled for a single work: And I saw a new Heaven which has become part of the standard repertoire of ‘choirs and places where they sing’. The anthem was completed in 1928 and is a setting the first four verses of the Biblical Book of Revelation, Chapter 21. It is written for four parts (SATB) with organ accompaniment.

And I saw a new Heaven is composed in a largely late-romantic style which also has elements of pastoral modalism, especially in the considerable use of melisma. The listener will occasionally be reminded of Vaughan Williams’s liturgical music and possibly the choral elements of An Oxford Elegy. Throughout the anthem, Bainton makes a subtle fusion of melody and harmony which is always sympathetic to the text.  The general tone reflects the numinous moment when ‘the former things are passed away’ and St John has his revelatory vision of Heaven. This music is not triumphant, in spite of the considerable climax on ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men’,  but is suffused with a sense of beauty and wonder. It is a deeply felt anthem that meditates on the final consummation of Creation.

It is fitting that a few Edgar Bainton’s works have been rediscovered in recent years, including recordings of his Second and Third Symphonies, the Fantasy Concerto and the String Quartet.

And I saw a new heaven.

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth:

For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away;

and there was no more sea.

And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,

coming down from God out of heaven,

prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying,

Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,

and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people,

and God himself shall be with them and be their God.

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes,

and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,

neither shall there be any more pain,

for the former things are passed away.

Revelation, ch.21 vv.1-4

Listen to King’s College Cambridge perform ‘And I saw a new Heaven’ on YouTube.

With thank to the English Music Festival where this note was first published.