Give Rest O Christ CD TRACK 1 Hear the track

Music: Kontakion (Kiev Melody) arranged Sir William Parrott

Words: Eastern Orthodox Memorial Service;

translated W. J. Birkbeck (1869-1916)

Give rest, O Christ, to thy servant with thy saints:

where sorrow and pain are no more;

neither sighing but life everlasting.

Thou only art immortal, the creator and maker of man:

and we are mortal formed from the dust of the earth,

and unto earth shall we return:

for so thou didst ordain, when thou created me saying:

“Dust thou art und unto dust shalt thou return.”

All we go down to the dust;

and weeping o’er the grave we make our song:

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Pie Jesu CD TRACK 2 Hear the track

from The Requiem Opus 48

Music by Gabriel Fauré (1845 – 1924)

Words from the Mass for the Dead

Pie Jesu, Qui tollis peccata mundi

Dona eis requiem

Agnus Dei,

Dona eis requiem sempiternam

Merciful Jesus, Who takes away the sins of the world

Grant them rest

Lamb of God,

Grant them everlasting rest

God So Loved The World CD TRACK 3 Hear the track

from The Crucifixion

Music by John Stainer (1840 - 1901)

Words St. John iii. 16, 17.

God so loved the world

that he sent his only begotten Son,

that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,

but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son

into the world to condemn the world,

but that the world through him might be saved.

God Be In My Head CD TRACK 4 Hear the track

Music by Sir Henry Walford Davies (1869-1941)

Words: Sarum Primer, 1558

God be in my head, and in my understanding;

God be in mine eyes, and in my looking;

God be in my mouth, and in my speaking;

God be in my heart, and in my thinking;

God be at mine end, and at my departing.

Bist Du Bei Mir, BWV 508 CD TRACK 5 Hear the track

from The Anna Magdalena Bach Book

Melody probably by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel (1690 - 1749), harmonised by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750), arranged FB

Words unknown

If you are near,

I can go gladly,

To death and find eternal rest,

Glad I should be to find you near me,

To comfort me when I am dying

To comfort me when death is near.

Thou Knowest Lord CD TRACK 6 Hear the track

(Second Setting) from the funeral music for Queen Mary II (1695),

Music by Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

Words from the Burial Service, Book of Common Prayer

Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts;

shut not thy merciful ears unto our prayer;

but spare us, Lord most holy,

O God most mighty,

O holy and most merciful Saviour,

thou most worthy Judge eternal,

suffer us not at our last hour,

for any pains of death,

to fall from thee. Amen.

After the Commendation

Three Plainsong Chants

Music: Gregorian Chant

Words: Graduale Romanum

In Paradisum CD TRACK 7 Hear the track

In Paradisum deducant angeli

In tuo adventu, suscipiat te martyres

Et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem.

May the angels lead you into Paradise

And when you come may the martyrs receive you

And lead you to the holy city of Jerusalem.

Chorus angelorum CD TRACK 8 Hear the track

Chorus angelorum te suscipiat

Et cum Lazaro, quondam paupere

Aeternam habeas requiem.

May a choir of angels receive you,

And with Lazarus, once a pauper,

May you have eternal rest.

Ego sum CD TRACK 9 Hear the track

Ego sum resurrectio et vita

qui credit in me etiam si mortuus fuerit, vivet et omnis qui vivit

et omnis qui vivit, et credit in me, non morietur in aeternum.

I am the Resurrection and the Life.

He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live,

and every one that lives, and believes in me, shall never die.

Song of Farewell CD TRACK 10 Hear the track

Words and Music by Ernest Sands (b.1949)

May the choirs of angels come to greet you.

May they speed you to paradise.

May the Lord enfold you in His mercy.

May you find eternal life.

The Lord is my light and my help;

It is he who protects me from harm.

The Lord is the strength of my days;

Before whom should I tremble with fear?

There is one thing I ask of the Lord;

That He grant me my heartfelt desire.

To dwell in the courts of our God

Everyday of my life in His presence.

Nunc Dimittis CD TRACK 11 Hear the track

Music Gregorian Chant (Tonus Peregrinus)

Words from Evening Prayer (Book of Common Prayer)

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace:

according to thy word.

For mine eyes have seen thy salvation:

which thou hast prepar’d before the face of all people;

To be a light to lighten the Gentiles:

and to be the glory of thy people Israel.

General Anthems

These anthems, with general texts are also sometimes sung at funerals (not recorded)

Ave verum corpus

Words: from a sequence hymn for Corpus Christi by Pope Innocent VI (d. 1342)

Music: W. A. Mozart (1756 - 1791)

Ave verum corpus, natum de Maria Virgine,

Vere passum, immolatum in cruce pro homine.

Cujus latus perforatum unda fluxit et sanguine:

Esto nobis praegustatum, in mortis examine.]

Hail, true body, born of the Virgin Mary. who truly

suffered and was sacrificed on the cross for mankind.

From whose pierced side flowed water and blood. Be our foretaste [of heaven] in the trial of death.

Panis Angelicus

Music: Cesar Franck (1822 - 1890) (from ‘La Messe Solenelle’)

Panis Angelicus fit panis hominum;

Dat panis coelicus figuris terminum:

O res mirabilis! manducat Dominum

Pauper, servus et humilis.

The bread of angels becomes the bread of men

and brings earthly forms to an end.

O marvellous act: a poor man, a slave and a humble man

all eat of the Lord.

Jesu, joy of man’s desiring BWV 147

from the cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben

Music by J. S. Bach (1685-1750)

Jesu, joy of man’s desiring,

Holy Wisdom, Love most bright;

Drawn by Thee, our souls, aspiring,

Soar to uncreated light.

Word of God, our flesh that fashion’d,

With the fire of life impassion’d,

Striving still to truth unknown,

Soaring, dying, round Thy throne.

Tracks 2 and 5 were recorded at a concert in St Martin’s Church, Stamford on 13th August 2008

Tracks 1, 3 and 6 were recorded at St Mary’s Church on 12th September 2008

Track 4, 10 and 11 were recorded at St Mary’s Church on 19th September 2008

Tracks 7 and 8 were recorded at St Mary’s Church on 3rd October 2008

Track 9 was recorded at St Mary’s Church on 10th October 2008

All performances by The Benefice Choir

Soprano soloist: Helen Drake

Organist Kenneth Court

Conductor Fergus Black