Williams headed this movement with words taken from Bunyan: Upon that place there stood a cross And a little below a sepulchre … Then he said "He hath given me rest by his sorrow and Life by his death"Connock, Stephen (1998). Notes to Chandos CD set CHAN 9625 The third and fourth lines were later sung in the opera by Pilgrim. The inscription was omitted from the published score in accordance with the composer's wish that the symphony should be regarded as absolute music. The movement may be considered the spiritual core of the work: Frank Howes calls it "the heart of the symphony" and David Cox calls it "a profound meditation on the three main musical elements presented at the outset". It is not clear why the composer called it "Romanza". Howes comments that with its spiritual, meditative nature there is nothing "romantic" about this movement; Michael Kennedy observes that with Vaughan Williams the term "is always a signal that the music was of special significance to him". The opening cor anglais solo is taken virtually without change. Rising fourths again appear as connecting passages. IV: Passacaglia Although this movement begins with the repetitive bass line characteristic of the passacaglia form, Vaughan Williams eventually abandons it. The triumphant primary melody of the passacaglia is used as Pilgrim's dialogue with Interpreter in the second half of "The House Beautiful" scene, while the fanfare motif recalls of "The Arming of the Pilgrim" in Act II Scene 1. This ushers in a return of the themes from the first movement of the symphony, which are resolved into a quiet valediction played first by the woodwind and then by the upper strings. Premieres and publication The Fifth Symphony was premiered on 24 June 1943 at a Prom concert in the Royal Albert Hall, London, by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the composer. Sir Henry Wood, the founder and presiding figure of the Proms, was originally intended to conduct the performance but was not well enough and the composer was persuaded to take the baton. The American premiere was given in Carnegie Hall on 30 November 1944 by the New York Philharmonic under Artur Rodziński. The score of the symphony was published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in 1946. Vaughan Williams lightly revised the score in 1951, but that revision was not published during his lifetime. It was published in 1961, re-engraved with