In today’s programme we mark Anzac Day on 25 April with hymns including O God, our help in ages past and Shirley Murray’s New Zealand Anzac hymn, Honour the dead.
An ANZAC poppy on a headstone in the Matakana cemetery Photo: RNZ / Ellie Jay
SONG: THINE BE THE GLORY
Artist: Choir of Portsmouth Cathedral
Words/Music: Edmond Budry translated Richard Hoyle/George Frederick Handel
Recording: Herald HAVPCD 205
Thine be the glory, risen,
conquering Son;
endless is the victory,
thou o'er death hast won;
angels in bright raiment
rolled the stone away,
kept the folded grave clothes
where thy body lay.
Refrain:
Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son,
Endless is the vict'ry, thou o'er death hast won.
Lo! Jesus meets us,
risen from the tomb;
Lovingly he greets us,
scatters fear and gloom;
let the church with gladness,
hymns of triumph sing;
for her Lord now liveth,
death hath lost its sting.
Refrain:
No more we doubt thee,
glorious prince of life;
life is naught without thee;
aid us in our strife;
make us more than conquerors,
through thy deathless love:
bring us safe through Jordan
to thy home above.
Refrain:
SONG: YE WATCHERS AND YE HOLY ONES
Artist: Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge
Words/Music: Athelstan Riley/Anon
Recording: Conifer 75605-51249
Ye watchers and ye holy ones,
Bright seraphs, cherubim and thrones,
Raise the glad strain, Alleluia!
Cry out, dominions, princedoms, powers,
Virtues, archangels, angels’ choirs:
Refrain:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia!
O higher than the cherubim,
More glorious than the seraphim,
Lead their praises, Alleluia!
Thou bearer of th’eternal Word,
Most gracious, magnify the Lord.
Refrain:
Respond, ye souls in endless rest,
Ye patriarchs and prophets blest,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Ye holy twelve, ye martyrs strong,
All saints triumphant, raise the song.
Refrain:
O friends, in gladness let us sing,
Supernal anthems echoing,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
To God the father, God the son,
And God the spirit, three in one.
Refrain:
SONG: O GOD, OUR HELP IN AGES PAST
Artist: Choir of Sheffield Cathedral
Words/Music: Isaac Watts/William Croft
Recording: Priory 713
O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
our shelter from the stormy blast,
and our eternal home:
Under the shadow of thy throne
thy saints have dwelt secure;
sufficient is thine arm alone,
and our defense is sure.
Before the hills in order stood,
or earth received its frame,
from everlasting thou art God,
to endless years the same.
A thousand ages in thy sight
are like an evening gone,
short as the watch that ends the night
before the rising sun.
Time, like an ever rolling stream,
bears all our years away;
they fly forgotten, as a dream
dies at the opening day.
O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
be thou our guard while troubles last,
and our eternal home.
SONG: EVENTIDE (ABIDE WITH ME)
Artist: Woolston Brass/David Gallagher
Words/Music: Henry Lyte/William Monk arr Kenneth Young
Recording: Woolston Brass CDWB3896340
[Arrangement of the tune ‘Eventide’ for brass band]
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.
I fear no foe, with thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness;
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if thou abide with me.
Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies;
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
SONG: TAMA NGAKAU MARIE
Artist: Te Roopu Waiata Maori
Words/Music: Anon
Recording: WEA 172870
[Translation by Toby Rikihana, from NZ Folk Song website]
|
Tama ngākau mārie |
Son of peace |
SONG: HONOUR THE DEAD
Artist: Viva Voce, John Rosser (dir), Michael Bell (organ)
Words/Music: Shirley Murray/Colin Gibson
Recording: NZ Hymnbook Trust 941300
Honour the dead, our country's fighting brave,
honour our children left in foreign grave,
where poppies blow and sorrow seeds her flowers,
honour the crosses marked forever ours.
Weep for the places ravaged by our blood,
weep for the young bones buried in the mud,
weep for the powers of violence and greed,
weep for the deals done in the name of need.
Honour the brave whose conscience was their call,
answered no bugle, went against the wall,
suffered in prisons of contempt and shame,
branded as cowards, in our country's name.
Weep for the waste of all that might have been,
weep for the cost that war has made obscene,
weep for the homes that ache with human pain,
weep that we ever sanction war again.
Honour the dream for which our nation bled,
held now in trust to justify the dead,
honour their vision on this solemn day:
peace known in freedom, peace the only way.
SONG: HE CAME SINGING LOVE
Artist: City of Dunedin Choir
Words/Music: Colin Gibson
Recording: Private CD 810
He came singing love
and he lived singing love;
he died singing love.
He arose in silence.
For the love to go on
we must make it our song:
you and I be the singers.
He came singing faith
and he lived singing faith;
he died singing faith.
He arose in silence.
For the faith to go on
we must make it our song:
you and I be the singers.
He came singing hope
and he lived singing hope;
he died singing hope.
He arose in silence.
For the hope to go on
we must make it our song:
you and I be the singers.
He came singing peace
and he lived singing peace;
he died singing peace.
He arose in silence.
For the peace to go on
we must make it our song:
you and I be the singers.
SONG: THE PEACE OF GOD
Artist: Cambridge Singers, City of London Sinfonia, John Rutter (conductor)
Words/Music: Book of Common Prayer/John Rutter
Recording: Collegium CSCD 522
The peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God,
and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord:
and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,
be amongst you and remain with you always.
Amen.
