A budget deficit from lack of public interest forced a change of venue to Carnegie Hall, where the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult premiered the work on 10 June 1939.
He elaborated on his initial reactions:[2] I felt like this when I later heard Wagner, when I first saw Michael Angelo's [sic] Night and Day, [and] when I first visited Stonehenge.
[1] Vaughan Williams composed the Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus on commission from the British Council for the 1939 New York World's Fair.
[4] Budget deficits and lack of interest from fair patrons forced organizers to cancel these concerts or move them to alternative venues.
[1] The premiere performance occurred during a heat wave, which Boult later said posed difficulties for the musicians and audience because of the lack of air conditioning in the hall.
[8] Its structure, key and tempo markings are as follows:[6] According to Vaughan Williams, his variants "are not exact replicas of traditional tunes, but rather reminiscences of various versions in my own collection and those of others".
[9]James Day, in his biography of Vaughan Williams, described the Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus as a "cross between a folk song arrangement and original composition".
He compared it favorably to the Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and said that it may have influenced the design of the opening movement of the composer's Sixth Symphony.
The tune which he had loved all his life, which came from the soil of England, ageless and anonymous, which he had used in so many of his own compositions, was the perfect choice to create a mood of remembrance which will haunt those who experienced it to the end of their days.
[13] In 1949, Vaughan Williams composed music for a short documentary film directed by Humphrey Jennings titled Dim Little Island.