- For King and Country
- Angel’s Charge
- The March to Mons
- Out of the Depths
- Angel’s Lament
- Let Them Give Thanks Whom The Lord Has Redeemed
- Duration: 25 minutes
- Soloist(s): Soprano
- Chorus: SATB or SSAA
- Instrumentation: String Octet (2:2:2:2), Double Bass, Harp
- Published by: Novello & Co
Out of the Depths from The Angel of Mons
On the 23rd August 1914 the Battle of Mons took place – the first major conflict between the British and the Germans in World War I. During this battle more than a hundred British soldiers claim to have witnessed the vision of an angel which guided them to safety. This work, premiered on 23rd August 2014 (the exact centenary) depicts the drama between the angel, the soldiers and the loved ones at home. Each of the six movements can be performed separately including Out of the Depths which featured on Patrick’s Number-One-selling album ‘Angel’.
I. For King and Country
Long expected; well prepared;
The militia men are gathering.
In every town, on every green
The yeomanry are mustering.
Ploughmen, thatchers, clerks and smiths
Their daily task relinquishing,
Are encamped throughout the land
In deadly earnest practicing.
Volunteers by veterans led
Are off to fight heroically,
Their hearts of oak, their honest wills
To God and right entrusting.
Down Jack-dressed streets
Through cheering crowds they’re marching.
As England’s white cliffs sail from sight
The adventure is beginning.
Words: Andrew Hawes (1954 – )
II. Angel’s Charge
He shall give his angels charge over thee:
To keep thee in all thy ways.
Words: from Psalm 91
III. The March to Mons
Long roads and heavy loads
Silence to song.
New boots and August’s heat
Wound their feet.
Each long day the enemy
draws near,
Each short night darkens
In private fears.
Into an unknown land the
Little army comes;
Driven by the desire that
Duty’s done.
In chaotic mystery the opening
Scenes unfold.
In pain and blood the first
Reports are told.
Black storm clouds hide the living
Light of sun;
Broken scattered, leaderless and lost
In God they trust.
Night time thunder mingles with the guns;
And lightning strikes like terror
On the men.
For an angel of peace,
For a faithful guardian and guide.
Let us pray to the Lord!
Lord have mercy.
Words: Andrew Hawes (1954 – )
except final verse which is a prayer from the Orthodox litany
IV. Out of the Depths
Out of the depths Lord,
Lord hear our voice,
Hear our supplication.
Wait for the Lord,
With Him is mercy.
He shall redeem his people.
More than the watchmen
My soul waits for Him
Before the morning watch.
With Him is plenteous redemption.
Trust in the Lord.
Words: adapted by Andrew Hawes (1954 – ) from Psalm 130
V. Angel’s Lament
It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed,
Because his compassion fails not.
They are new every morning:
Great is thy faithfulness.
For though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion
According to the multitude of his mercies.
For he doth not afflict willingly
Nor grieve the children of men.
Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord,
And we shall be turned;
Renew our days as of old.
Words: verses from the Lamentations of Jeremiah (chapters 3 and 5)
VI. Let Them Give Thanks Whom The Lord Has Redeemed
& Glory To Thee My God This Night
(lower voices)
Let them give thanks whom the Lord has redeemed
And delivered from the hands of the enemy.
They went astray in the wilderness out of the way;
Hungry and thirsty; their soul fainted in them.
He led them forth by the right way
That they might go to the city where they dwelt.
O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness;
And declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men!
(upper voices)
Glory to thee, my God, this night
For all the blessings of the light;
Keep me, O keep me, King of kings,
Beneath thy own almighty wings.
Forgive me, Lord, for thy dear Son,
The ill that I this day have done,
That with the world, myself and thee,
I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.
Teach me to live, that I may dread
The grave as little as my bed;
Teach me to die, that so I may
Rose glorious at the aweful day.
O may my soul on thee repose,
And with sweet sleep my eyelids close,
Sleep that may me more vigorous make
To serve my God when I awake.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise him all creatures here below,
Praise him above, ye heavenly host,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Words: adapted by Andrew Hawes (1954 – ) from Psalm 107 & Words of the hymn ‘Glory To Thee, My God, This Night’ by Thomas Ken (sung simultaneously)