August 4th

The Parable of the Old Man and the Young

So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,
And took the fire with him, and a knife.
And as they sojourned both of them together,
Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, fire and iron,
But where the lamb for this burnt offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,
And builded parapets and trenches there,
And stretched forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! an angel called him out of heaven,
Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him. Behold,
A ram, caught in the thicket by its horns;
Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him.

But the old man would not so, but slew his son,
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.

Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 3 - known as his 'Pastoral Symphony,' but in the view of many, this work, written in 1921,  is RVW's war requiem, a distillation of his experiences in the Royal Army Medical Corps and, later, as an officer in the Royal Artillery during the Great War...
Roger Norrington conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra.