2
L]
FESTIVAL CHOIR
MUNICIPAL ORCHESTRA
Leader: TATE GILDER
Guildford Corporation Concerts
DIRECTOR oF Music: VERNON HANDLEY
e,
- SATURDAY,
16th MARCH,
1963, at 7.30 p.m.
CIVIC HALL
The Dream of Gerontius
By CARDINAL NEWMAN
Set to Music by EDWARD ELGAR
MONICA
SINCLAIR
3
The Angel
ALFRED HALLETT
Gerontius, and Soul of Gerontius
GORDON CLINTON
Priest, and The Angel of the Agony
GUEST CONDUCTOR
-
SIR ADRIAN BOULT
s
e
PROGRAMME
-
ONE SHILLING
THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS
|
Tenor
Chorus
Bass
GERONTIUS
ASSISTANTS
THE PRIEST
Al] holy Disciples of the Lord, pray
Gerontius.
Jesu, MARIA—I am near to death
And Thou art calling me; I know
it now,
Not by the token of this faltering
breath,
for him.
All holy Innocents, pray for him.
All holy Martyrs, all holy Confessors,
All holy Hermits, all holy Virgins,
All ye Saints of God, pray for him.
This chill at heart, this dampness
on my brow,—
(Jesu, have mercy!
me!)
Mary, pray for
*This this new feeling, never felt
before,
Gerontius.
Rouse thee, my fainting soul, and
play the man;
And through such waning span
Of life and thought as still has to be
trod,
(Be with me, Lord, in my
Prepare to meet thy God.
And while the storm of that
!)
extremity
That | am going, that | am no
bewilderment
[s for a season spent,
more.
*Tis this strange innermost
abandonment,
(Lover of souls!
look to Thee,)
great God!
And, ere afresh the ruin on me fall,
This emptying out of each constituent
And natural force, by which I
come to be.
Pray for me, O my friends; a visitant
Is knocking his dire summons at
my door,
The like of whom, to scare me and
to daunt,
Has never, never come to me
before;
So pray for me, my friends, who have
not strength to pray.
Assistants.
Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie
eleison.
Holy Mary, pray for him.
All holy Angels, pray for him.
Choirs of the righteous, pray for him.
All Apostles, all Evangelists, pray
for him,
Use well the interval.
|1
Assistants.
Be merciful(,:l be gracious; spare him,
Be
ord,
merciful,
be
deliver him
gracious,
Lord,
From the sins that are past;
From Thy frown and Thine ire;
From the perils of dying;
From any complying
With sin, or denying
His God, or relying
On self, at the last;
From the nethermost fire;
From all that is evil;
From power of the devil;
Thy servant deliver,
For once and for ever.
By Thy birth, and by Thy Cross,
Rescue him from endless loss;
By Thy death and burial,
Save him from a final fall;
By Thy rising from the tomb,
By Thy mounting up above,
By the Spirit’s gracious love
Save him in the day of doom.
Gerontius.
Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus,
De profundis oro te,
Miserere, Judex meus,
Parce mihi, Domine.
Firmly I believe and truly
Godis Three, and Godis One;
And I next acknowledge duly
Manhood taken by the Son.
And I trust and hope most fully
In that Manhood crucified;
And each thought and deed unruly
Do to death, as He has died.
Simply to His grace and wholly
Light and life and strength
belong.
And I love, supremely, solely,
Him the holy, Him the strong.
Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus,
De profundis oro te,
Miserere, Judex meus,
Parce mihi, Domine.
And | hold in veneration,
For the love of Him alone,
Holy Church, as His creation,
And her teachings, as His own.
And | take with joy whatever
Now besets me, pain or fear,
And with a strong will | sever
All the ties which bind me here.
Adoration aye be given,
With and through the angelic
host,
To the God of earth and heaven,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Sanctus, fortis, Sanctus Deus,
De profundis oro te,
Miserere, Judex meus,
Mortis in discrimine.
I
can no more;
for now it comes
again,
That sense of ruin, which is worse
than pain,
That masterful negation and collapse
Of all that makes me man.
O Jesu, help!
pray!
pray for me, Mary,
Some Angel, Jesu!
such as came to
Thee
In Thine own agony.
Mary, pray for me.
for me.
Joseph, pray
Mary, pray for me.
Assistants.
Rescue him, O Lord, in this his evil
)
hour,
As of old so many by Thy gracious
power.—
Noe from the waters in a saving
home;
(Amen.)
1ob- Erni-ath Biv niaibenn and foll
distress;
(Amen.)
Moses fror;x th.e lar.xd c;f bondage and
despair;
(Amen.)
David from G.olia.anci the wrath of
Saul;
(Amen.)
—So, to show Thy power,
Rescue this Thy servant in his evil
hour.
Gerontius.
Novissima hora est; and I fain would
sleep,
The pain has wearied me.
. . Into
Thy hands,
O Lord, into Thy hands.
The Priest and Assistants.
Profiscicere, anima Christiana, de
hoc mundo!
Go forth upon thy journey, Christian
.
And, crueller still,
A fielf'icile and restless fright begms to
The mansion of my soul.
And,
worse and worse,
Some bodily form of ill
Floats on the wind, with many a
loathsome curse
Tainting the hallowed air, and
laughs, and flaps
Its hideous wings,
And makes me wild with horror and
dismay.
Go
soul!
from this world!
Go, in the
Name of God
The Omnipotent Father, Who
created thee!
Go, in the Name of Jesus Christ, our
ord,
Son of the living God, Who bled for
thee!
Go, in the Name of the Holy Spirit,
Who
Hath been poured out on thee! Go,
in the name
Of Angels and Archangels; in the
name
Of Thrones and Dominations;
in the
Of holy Monks and Hermits;
in the
name
name
Of Princedoms and of Powers;
and
in the name
Of Cherubim and Seraphim, go
forth!
Go, in the name of Patriarchs and
Of holy Virgins; and all Saints of
God,
Both men and women, go! Go on
thy course;
And may thy place to-day be found
Prophets;
And of Apostles and Evangelists,
Of Martyrs and Confessors, in the
name
in
peace,
And may thy dwelling be the Holy
Mount
Of Sion:—through the Same,
through Chnst our Lord.
SOUL OF GERONTIUS
ANGEL
Tenor
Mezzo-Soprano
ANGEL OF THE AGONY
Bass
DEMONS, ANGELICALS, AND SOULS
Chorus
Soul of Gerontius.
Angel.
I went to sleep; and now | am
refreshed.
A strange refreshment: for I feel in
My work is done,
My task is o’er,
And so I come,
Taking it home,
For the crown is won,
Alleluia,
For evermore.
My Father gave
In charge to me
This child of earth
E’en from its birth,
To serve and save,
Alleluia,
And saved is he.
This child of clay
To me was given,
To rear and train
By sorrow and pain
In the narrow way,
Alleluia,
From earth to heaven,
me
An inexpressive
lightness, and a
sense
Of freedom, as ] were at length
myself,
And ner'er had been before.
How
still it is!
I hear no more the busy beat of time,
No, nor my fluttering breath, nor
struggling pulse;
Nor does one moment differ from
the next.
This silence pours a solitariness
Into the very essence of my soul;
And the deep rest, so soothing and
so sweet,
Hath something too of sternness and
of pain.
Anotlfwr marvel:
someone has me
ast
Within his ample palm;
:
mform
And gentle pressure tells me | am not
Self-moving, but borne forward on
my
way
And hark' I hear a singing: yet in
sooth
I cannot of that music rightly say
Whether 1 hear, or touch, or taste
the tones.
Oh, what a heart-subduing melody
!
Soul.
It is a member of that family
Of wondrous beings, who, ere the
worlds were made,
Millions of ages back, have stood
around
The throne of God.
I will address hlm
Mlghty one, my
Lord,
My Guardian Spirit, all hail!
Angel.
Angel.
All hail! my child,
My child and brother, hail!
wouldest thou?
what
That calm and joy uprising in thy
Soul.
I would have nothing but to speak
with thee
[ wish to hold
For speaking’s sake.
with thee
Conscious communion;
fain would know
though |
A maze of things, were it but meet
to ask,
And not a curiousness.
Angel.
You cannot now
Cherish a wish which ought not to be
wished.
Soul.
| ever had
Then I will speak.
lieved
A presage falls upon thee, as a ray
Straight from the Judge, expressive
of thy lot.
soul
Is first-fruit to thee of thy recompense,
And heaven begun.
Soul.
Now that the hour is come, my fear
is fled;
And at this balance of my destiny,
Now close upon me, I can forward
look
With a serenest joy.
But hark!
make me fear
Could I be frighted.
Angel.
That on the moment when the
struggling soul
upon my sense
Comes a fierce hubbub, which would
We are now arrived
Quitted its mortal case, forthwith it
Close on the judgment-court;
Under the awful Presence of its God,
There to be judged and sent to its
Is from the demons who assemble
What lets me now from going to my
Hungry and wild, to claim their
fell
e
own place.
Lord?
sullen howl
there,
property,
Angel.
Thou art not let; but with extremest
speed
Art hurrying to the Just and Holy
Judge.
that
And gather souls for hell.
their cry.
Hist to
Soul.
How sour and how uncouth a
dissonance!
Soul.
Dear Angel, say,
Why have I now no fear of meeting
im?
Along my earthly life, the thought
of death
And judgment was to me most
terrible.
Angel.
It is because
Then thou didst fear, that now thou
dost not fear.
Thou hast forestalled the agony, and
so
For thee bitterness of death is
passed.
Also, because already in thy soul
The judgment is begun.
Demons.
Low-born clods
Of brute earth,
They aspire
To become gods,
By a new birth,
And an extra grace,
And a score of merits,
As if aught
Could stand in place
Of the high thought,
And the glance of fire
Of the great spirits,
The powers blest,
The lords by right,
The primal owners,
Of the proud dwelling
And realm of light,—
Dispossessed,
Aside thrust,
Chucked down,
By the sheer might
Of a despot’s will,
Of
a tyrant’s frown,
Who after expelling
Their hosts, gave,
Triumphant still,
And stil] unjust,
Each forfeit crown
To psalm-droners,
And canting groaners,
To every slave,
And pious cheat,
]
And crawling knave,
Who licked the dust
Under his feet.
Angel.
It is the restless panting of their
being;
Like beasts of prey, who, caged
within their bars,
In a ?efep hideous purring have their
ife,
:
And an incessant pacing to and fro.
The mind bold
And independent,
The purpose free,
So we are told,
Must not think
To have the ascendant.
hat’s a saint?
One whose breath
Doth the air taint
Before his death;
A bundle of bones,
Which fools adore,
Ha! ha!
When life is o’er.
Virtue and vice,
A knave's pretence.
"Tis all the same;
Ha! hal
Dread of hell-fire,
f the venomous flame,
A coward’s plea.
Give him his price,
Saint though he be,
Ha!
ha!
From shrewd good sense
He'll slave for hire:
Ha! ha!
And does but aspire
To the heaven above
With sordid aim,
And not from love.
Ha! ha!
Soul.
see
Angel.
Yes,—for one moment thou shalt see
thy Lord.
One moment;
my child,
but thou knowest not,
What, thou dost ask: that sight of
the Most Fair
Will gladden thee, but it will pierce
thee too.
Soul.
Thou speakest darkly, Angel!
an
and
awe
Falls on me, and a fear lest I be rash.
Angel,
There was a mortal, who is now
above
In the mid glory: he, when near to
ie,
Demons.
I see not those false spirits;
My dearest Master, when I reach His
throne?
shal] I
Was given communion with the
Crucified,—
Such, that the Master’s very wounds
were stamped
Upon his flesh; and, from the agony
Which thrilled through body and
soul in that embrace,
Learn that the flame of the Everlasting Love
Doth burn ere it transform.
Choir of Angelicals.
Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise:
Angel,
.
.
.
Hark to those sounds!
They come of tender beings
angelical,
Least and most childlike of the sons
of God.
Choir of Angelicals.
Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise:
In all His words most wonderful;
Most sure in all His ways!
To us His elder race He gave
To battle and to win,
Without the chastisement of pain,
Without the soil of sin.
The younger son He willed to be
A marvel in His birth:
Spirit and flesh His parents were;
His home was heaven and earth.
The Eternal blessed His child, and
armed,
And sent Him hence afar,
To serve as champion in the field
Of elemental war.
To be His Viceroy in the world
Of matter, and of sense;
Upon the frontier, towards the foe,
A resolute defence.
Angel.
We now have passed the gate, and
are within
The House of Judgment.
Soul.
The sound is like the rushing of the
wind—
The summer wind—among the lofty
pines.
Should flesh and blood refine,
God's Presence and His very Self,
And Essence all divine.
O generous love! that He Who smote
In man for man the foe,
The double agony in man
For man should undergo;
And in the garden secretly,
And on the cross on high,
Should teach His brethren and
inspire
To suffer and to die.
Praise to the Holiest in the height, .
And in the depth be praise:
In all His words most wonderful;
Most sure in all His ways!
Angel,
Thy judgment now is near, for we
Choir of Angelicals.
Glory to Him, Who evermore
By truth and justice reigns;
Who tears the soul from out its case,
And burns away its stains!
are
come
Into the veiléd presence of our God.
Soul.
I hear the voices that I left on earth.
Angel,
Angel,
They sing of thy approaching agony,
Which thou so eagerly didst question
of.
Soul.
It is the voice of friends around thy
bed,
Who say the “‘Subvenite” with the
My soul is in my hand:
fear,———
[ have no
Bat hark! a grand mysterious
harmony:
It floods me, like the deep and
solemn sound
Of many waters.
Angel,
priest.
Hither the echoes come; before the
hrone
:
Stands the great Angel of the Agony,
The same who strengthened Him,
what time He knelt
Lone in the garden shade, bedewed
with blood.
That Angel best can plead with Him
for all
Tormented souls, the dying and the
dead.
Angel of the Agony.
And now the threshold, as we
traverse it,
Utters aloud its glad responsive
chant.
Choir of Angelicals.
Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise:
In all His words most wonderful;
Most sure in all His ways!
O loving wisdom of our God!
When all was sin and shame,
A second Adam to the fight
And to the rescue came.
O wisest love! that flesh and blood
Which did in Adam fail,
Should strive afresh against the foe,
Should strive and should prevail;
And that a higher gift than grace
Jesu!
by that shuddering dread
which fell on Thee!
Jesu! by that cold dismay which
sickened Thee;
Jesu! by that pang of heart which
thrilled in Thee;
Jesu! by that mount of sins which
crippled Thee;
Jesu! by that sense of guilt which
Jesu!
stlfled Thee;
that innocence which
glrdyed
Thee;
Jesu!
by that sanctity which reigned
in
Thee:
Jesu! by that Godhead which was
one with Thee;
Jesu! spare these souls which are
so dear to Thee;
Before the hills were born, and the
Souls, who in prison, calm and
patient, wait for Thee;
Hasten, Lord, their hour, and bid
them come to Thee,
To that glorious Home, where they
shall ever gaze on Thee.
Soul.
I go before my Judge.
world was, from age to
Thou art God.
Bring us not, Lord, very low:
Thou
hast
said,
Come
again, ye sons of Adam.
age
for
back
Come back, O Lord! how long: and
be entreated for Thy servants.
Voices on Earth.
Be merciful, be gracious; spare him,
Lord.
Be merciful, be gracious;
deliver him.
Angel,
Lord,
Softly and gently, dearly-ransomed
soul,
Angel.,
Praise to His Name!
O happy, .suffering soul!
for it is
safe,
Soul.
roll,
I poise thee, and I lower thee, and
resistance,
Take me away, and in the lowest
eep
There let me be,
And there in hope the lone nightwatches keep,
Told out for me.
There, motionless and happy in my
pain,
Lone, not forlorn,—
There will I sing my sad perpetual
strain,
Until the morn,
There will I sing, and soothe my
stricken breast,
Which ne'er can cease
To throb, and pine, and languish, till
possest
Of its Sole Peace.
There will | sing my absent Lord
and Love:—
Take me away,
That sooner | may rise, and go
above,
And see Him in the truth of everlasting day.
every generation;
enfold thee,
And o'er thlel penal waters, as they
hold thee.
And carefully | dip thee in the lake,
And thou, without a sob or a
Consumed, yet quickened, by the
glance of God.
Souls in Purgatory.
Lord, Thou hast been our refuge;
In my most loving arms | now
Dost through the flood thy rapid
passage take,
Sinking deep, deeper, into the dim
distance.
Angels, to whom the willing task is
given,
Shall
tend, and nurse, and
thee, as thou liest:
And Masses on the earth, and
lull
prayers in heaven,
Shall aid thee at the Throne of
the Most Highest.
Farewell, but not for ever! brother
dear,
Be brave and patient on thy bed
of sorrow;
Swiftly shall pass thy night of trial
ere,
And I will come and wake thee on
the morrow.
Souls.
Lord, Thou hast been our refuge,
etc.
Amen.
Choir of Angelicals.
in
Praise to the Holiest, etc.
THURSDAY, 21st MARCH, at 8 p.m.
MUNICIPAL ORCHESTRA
Amen.
CARDINAL NEWMAN.,
BELLAIRS BALLET
Viennese Light and Modern Music