In the midst of this sea and on the edge of this desert.

Oh golly, lateness. So sorry! Well, because the Vaughn Williams is much harder/more complicated than the Elgar, I am enjoying the Elgar a lot because we always sing it after and it comes as rather a relief. Lots of people in my choir seem to find him a bit gauche I think. Perhaps because it is so popular and fairly over done in England? Patriotism with a capital P which dear old middle-England finds rather painful. The whole piece is called Spirit of England and it contains the most famous WW1 remembrance lines, "They shall not grow old, as we who are left grow old..." etc. But idk, I kind of love it. It's beautiful and the choir sounds good singing it and we are after all in the centenary year.