John Larsson writes – May 2012:

Glory! and The Blood of the Lamb are the fifth and sixth in the series of ten musicals that John Gowans and I wrote in the period 1967 to 1990. In these two musicals we explore the riches to be found in the history of The Salvation Army.

Majors John Gowans and John Larsson

Glory! is based on Edward Joy’s classic book The Old Corps in which he writes about the Army’s early days in Folkestone. The stories he tells about personalities he had known in his youth have become part of Salvation Army folklore. In the book a separate chapter is devoted to each of these characters, but in the musical we weave these stories together so that the personalities interact with each other before their individual stories resolve as the musical climaxes. In the way that Glory! blends drama and music together, it is probably the best crafted of our musicals.

The musical was commissioned for the 1976 British Territory congress. It was given a private performance in the Mermaid Theatre already in the summer of 1975 by the delegates to the Vocational House Party of that year, after which it was put under wraps. The next year the delegates returned to further polish their presentation of the work, and the public premiere of the musical took place in the Royal Festival Hall, London, on 23 July 1976.

Rehearsing with members of the Vocational House Party in the grounds of Sunbury Court

The Blood of the Lamb is based on Vachel Lindsay’s epic poem General William Booth enters into Heaven, in which the poet depicts the Founder leading a march towards Heaven followed by the thousands upon thousands who have found salvation through his life-time of ministry. Vachel Lindsay uses the line from Elisha Hoffman’s gospel hymn ‘Are you washed in the Blood of the Lamb?’ as a continuing refrain. When the great host enters into Heaven and meets with Jesus their clothes are instantly changed into white robes ‘washed in the Blood of the Lamb’.

As the musical begins, the marchers are forming up outside International Headquarters and we learn their stories by means of flashbacks. Eventually the signal is given for the march to begin. As the poet tells it: ‘Booth led boldly with his big bass drum – Are you washed in the Blood of the Lamb?’ The march to Heaven is on its way.

Rehearsing with members of the Vocational House Party in the grounds of Sunbury Court

The Blood of the Lamb was commissioned for the 1978 International Congress. As with Glory!, a year before the musical was due the delegates to the Vocational House Party gave it a private performance in the Mermaid Theatre. The premiere of the musical took place in the Wembley Auditorium, London, on 7 July 1978. In 1980 we added a 15-minute American Sequence to the early part of the musical for its performance at the centenary celebrations of the Army in the USA. The two songs from this sequence are included on the CD.