Worthy is the Lamb

This is the fourth piece of the Revelation collection and creates a period of stillness between more energetic movements.  The warm key of D Flat Major, the largo tempo and the rich harmonies make for a musical setting quite different from Handel’s work of the same title in Messiah and invokes a peaceful intimacy as the listener is drawn into the deep pain of looking upon ‘the lamb who was slain’.

Patrick wrote this piece very early one spring morning when all was still and his outlook was a beautiful English church surrounded by different shades of green.  It is his hope that this stillness and beauty is imbued throughout the musical setting of such tender words.

Click here for more information about the complete Revelation collection.

“Revelation … shows how inventive [Hawes] can be with harmony … moving lines in contrary motion to create crunchy dissonances then cleverly melding mellifluous modal melodies with bright tonal interjections … ” GRAMOPHONE

“There is no denying the beauty and immediate allure of Hawes’s writing.  Revelation has considerable attractiveness and appeal … the mood is enraptured [with] a dramatic and visionary quality.” CHURCH TIMES