Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony

E139751

choral symphony choral-orchestral work symphony

Vaughan Williams' *A Sea Symphony* is a large-scale choral-orchestral work that sets Walt Whitman’s sea-themed poetry to music, renowned for its expansive, evocative depiction of the ocean and human exploration.

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All labels observed (6)

Label	Occurrences
A Sea Symphony	12
A Sea Symphony (Symphony No. 1)	1
Symphony No. 1 "A Sea Symphony"	1
Symphony No. 1 (A Sea Symphony)	1
Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony canonical	1
Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1208128 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony
Context triple: [Westminster Symphonic Choir, repertoireIncludes, Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony]

A. Britten War Requiem
Britten's War Requiem is a large-scale choral and orchestral work that juxtaposes the traditional Latin Requiem Mass with the anti-war poetry of Wilfred Owen to create a powerful pacifist statement.
B. Debussy La Mer
Debussy’s *La Mer* is a landmark early 20th-century orchestral work that evocatively depicts the sea through innovative harmony, coloristic orchestration, and impressionistic textures.
C. Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms
Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms is a choral-orchestral work composed in 1930 that sets Latin psalm texts in a stark, neoclassical style.
D. Vaughan Williams Dona nobis pacem
Vaughan Williams' "Dona nobis pacem" is a 1936 cantata for soprano, baritone, chorus, and orchestra that combines liturgical texts and poetry by Walt Whitman in a powerful plea for peace.
E. “Scotch Symphony”
“Scotch Symphony” is a neoclassical ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Felix Mendelssohn’s music, inspired by the composer’s Scottish Symphony.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony
Target entity description: Vaughan Williams' *A Sea Symphony* is a large-scale choral-orchestral work that sets Walt Whitman’s sea-themed poetry to music, renowned for its expansive, evocative depiction of the ocean and human exploration.

A. Britten War Requiem
Britten's War Requiem is a large-scale choral and orchestral work that juxtaposes the traditional Latin Requiem Mass with the anti-war poetry of Wilfred Owen to create a powerful pacifist statement.
B. Debussy La Mer
Debussy’s *La Mer* is a landmark early 20th-century orchestral work that evocatively depicts the sea through innovative harmony, coloristic orchestration, and impressionistic textures.
C. Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms
Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms is a choral-orchestral work composed in 1930 that sets Latin psalm texts in a stark, neoclassical style.
D. Vaughan Williams Dona nobis pacem
Vaughan Williams' "Dona nobis pacem" is a 1936 cantata for soprano, baritone, chorus, and orchestra that combines liturgical texts and poetry by Walt Whitman in a powerful plea for peace.
E. “Scotch Symphony”
“Scotch Symphony” is a neoclassical ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Felix Mendelssohn’s music, inspired by the composer’s Scottish Symphony.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	choral symphony ⓘ choral-orchestral work ⓘ symphony ⓘ
approximateDuration	about 70 minutes ⓘ
basedOn	Leaves of Grass ⓘ
catalogueNumber	VWV 45 (commonly used thematic catalogue reference) ⓘ
composer	Ralph Vaughan Williams ⓘ
compositionEndDate	1909 ⓘ
compositionStartDate	circa 1903 ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United Kingdom ⓘ
genre	choral music ⓘ classical music ⓘ orchestral music ⓘ
influencedBy	English choral tradition ⓘ Gustav Holst (friendship and musical milieu) ⓘ linked to: Gustav Holst Romantic symphonic writing ⓘ
instrumentation	large orchestra ⓘ
key	D major ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
movement	I. A Song for All Seas, All Ships ⓘ II. On the Beach at Night, Alone ⓘ III. Scherzo: The Waves ⓘ IV. The Explorers ⓘ
notableFeature	expansive depiction of the ocean ⓘ integration of Whitman’s poetry with symphonic form ⓘ one of the earliest symphonies to use chorus throughout ⓘ
notablePoemUsed	A Song for All Seas, All Ships ⓘ linked to: I. A Song for All Seas, All Ships After the Sea-Ship ⓘ On the Beach at Night Alone ⓘ The Explorers ⓘ
numberOfMovements	4 ⓘ
opusNumber	Symphony No. 1 ⓘ
orderInComposerSymphonies	first symphony by Ralph Vaughan Williams ⓘ
premiereConductor	Ralph Vaughan Williams ⓘ
premiereDate	1910-10-12 ⓘ
premiereFestival	Leeds Festival ⓘ
premierePlace	Leeds, England ⓘ linked to: Leeds
publisher	Stainer & Bell ⓘ
style	early 20th-century English music ⓘ late-Romantic ⓘ
subjectMatter	human exploration ⓘ spiritual journey ⓘ the sea ⓘ
textAuthor	Walt Whitman ⓘ
textSource	Poems by Walt Whitman about the sea ⓘ
vocalForces	baritone soloist ⓘ mixed chorus ⓘ soprano soloist ⓘ

How these facts were elicited