An English Requiem for Solo Soprano, Solo Tenor, SATB Chorus, and Orchestra (2024)

An English Requiem is a symphonic setting of the sung portion of The Order of the Burial of the Dead from the 1662 edition of The Book of Common Prayer.

The work is in five movements, and was completed during the spring of 2024 in Hampton, Virginia.

Harvey J. Stokes
6/15/24

Duration of movements:
I. “I am the resurrection” ca. 7′ 45″
II. “My redeemer liveth” ca. 8′ 00″
III. “We brought nothing into this world” ca. 6′ 00′
IV. “Man that is born” ca. 11′ 08″
V. “I heard a voice from heaven” ca. 7′ 07″
Total Duration: ca. 40′ 00″

An English Requiem
Text
(from The Order for the Burial of the Dead,
The Book of Common Prayer, 1662)

I. “I am the resurrection” (Solo Tenor, SATB Chorus, Orchestra)
I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord:
he that believeth in me, though he were dead,
yet shall he live: and whoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

II. “My redeemer liveth” (Solo Soprano, SATB Chorus, Orchestra)
I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall
stand at the latter day upon the earth.
And though after my skin worms
destroy this body; yet in my flesh shall I see God:
whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.

III. “We brought nothing into this world” (Solo Soprano, Solo Tenor, SATB Chorus, Orchestra)
We brought nothing into this world,
and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away;
blessed be the name of the Lord.

IV. “Man that is born” (Solo Tenor, SATB Chorus, Orchestra)
Man that is born of a woman
hath but a short time to live, and is full of misery.
He cometh up, and is cut down, like a flower;
he fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay.
In the midst of life we are in death: of whom may we seek for succour,
but of thee, O Lord, who for our sins art justly displeased?
Yet, O Lord God most holy, O Lord most mighty,
O holy and most merciful Savior,
deliver us not into the bitter pains of eternal death.
Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts:
shut not thy merciful ears to our prayer; but
spare us, Lord most holy, O God most mighty,
O holy and merciful Savior, thou most worthy Judge eternal,
suffer us not, at our last hour for any pains of death, to fall from thee.

V. “I heard a voice from heaven” (Solo Soprano, SATB Chorus, Orchestra)
I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write,
From henceforth blessed are the dead which die in the Lord:
Even so, saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labors.

Instrumentation
Flute
Oboe
English Horn (F)
Clarinet (Bb)
Bassoon

French Horn (F)
Trumpet (C)
Euphonium

Pedal Timpani

Timpani map 1 an english requiem