I guess Belshazzar’s Feast is in English, but when that many voices are singing en masse, it can make it very difficult to understand
That surprises me! At one point the baritone sings, with no accompaniment at all:
Babylon was a great city,
Her merchandise was of gold and silver,
Of precious stones, of pearls, of fine linen,
Of purple, silk and scarlet,
All manner vessels of ivory,
All manner vessels of most precious wood,
Of brass, iron and marble,
Cinnamon, odours and ointments,
Of frankincense, wine and oil,
Fine flour, wheat and beasts,
Sheep, horses, chariots, slaves
And the souls of men
What John Shirley-Quirk, in particular, does with the last phase is absolutely spine-chilling.
The first performance was given in Leeds, at its Festival. The addition of two brass bands was suggested by Sir Thomas Beecham; the bands were on hand anyway for a performance of Berlioz’s Requiem, and Beecham said to the young Walton: "As you'll never hear the thing again, my boy, why not throw in a couple of brass bands?". So he did.
An excerpt conducted by the composer was featured in Gerard Hoffnung's humorous festival of music, which sold out the Festival Hall in London in record time - about an hour.
The full orchestra was in position, and a 300 strong choir filed in behind. Finally the composer appeared, carrying a fly swat. On the first downbeat of the fly swat, the chorus sang "slain" to a full orchestral chord. Then they all filed out again.