Anzac Song - Kipling RECESSIONAL - Lest We Forget

http://www.songuine.blogspot.com
Rudyard Kipling, the author of Jungle Book, wrote this Recessional during Queen Victoria's Jubilee, a time that celebrated the great power of the British Empire. But Kipling chose not to celebrate. He wrote a lament to the pride that births and fuels war, and a warning that while pride is near, so is war. It was a prophecy of what was to come, and the song of a heart pleading with that haunting phrase: Lest We Forget.

Recessional (Lest We Forget)
By Rudyard Kipling

God of our fathers, known of old,
Lord of our far-flung battle line,
Beneath whose awful Hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget, Lest we forget!

The tumult and the shouting dies,
The Captains and the Kings depart.
Still stands thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget! Lest we forget, forget!

Far-calld our navies melt away.
On dune and headland sinks the fire.
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget, Lest we forget!

If drunk with sight of powr we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe,
Such boasting as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the law,
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget! Lest we forget, forget!

For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard,
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding calls not Thee to guard,
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy mercy on Thy people, Lord!

Amen.

Performed by Narelle Worboys
www.Songuine.blogspot.com

Category:

Music

Tags:

• ANZAC Day
• Lest We Forget
• New Zealand
• Narelle Worboys
• Songuine
• patriotic
• Gallipoli
• soldier
• Queen Victoria
• Rudyard Kipling hymn
• memorial
• war
• WWI
• The Great War
• 25 April 1915
• cenotaph
• remembrance day

[ThePhilBest]

There is a MAGNIFICENT multi-part setting of these words by a little known British composer named George Blanchard, far better than the DeKoven setting. It is a mystery to me why it is not better known. It can be found in Methodist hymnals from a few decades ago, and the "Boy Scouts Song Book". I presume Blanchard was not C of E.

[Songuine]

@ThePhilBest Thanks for the tip! I'll have a look for it!

[ThePhilBest]

@Songuine, thanks for the positive response. I am sure you won't be disappointed, and I hope the Blanchard setting ultimately becomes famous. A friend of mine played it to me and my family on the Organ a few years ago, and within the first few bars I sat up, with the hair on my neck tingling, and we all looked at each other with that "wow" look on our faces. The impact was maintained to the end, too. I think it deserves to be ranked with "Land of Hope and Glory", "Jerusalem", "Non Nobis", etc.

[Songuine]

@ThePhilBest Wow, that's Recommendation indeed!

[Songuine]

@ThePhilBest What a surprise to find the music in my mail box! Thank you so much! The setting is certainly very different to Reginald De Koven's. Quite haunting, isn't it? It suits my voice much better. I'll be glad to add it to my Anzac repertoire. What do you think -- acapella? or with organ? I have access to a wonderful pipe organ, but it's not in the venue where Anzac programs are presented. (Voice is somewhat more portable. =) But I suppose I could engineer a recording just for YouTube...

[Songuine]

Hi! Yes, I love this piece also. It's not particularly suited to my voice, but it carries a lot of punch. The music is by Reginald De Koven. Copyright 1898 by the John Church Co. Have you tried googling for it? My favourite online sheetmusic providers are musicnotes and sheetmusicplus. If you can't find it, I'd be happy to email you a copy of the version I used.

[ThePhilBest]

A pleasure, I feel remiss at not having promoted this setting to anyone before. Yes, "haunting" is a good description of it. All the more so given what has happened to Britain and her empire since the words were written. Imagine this being performed at "Last Night of the Proms" in London. Too shattering, perhaps? I'd love to hear it a capella with a choir, but if sung solo I think it demands an organ of some kind. If a choir did not have strong bass singers, a good organ could help there too.

[QuixoticTendencies]

Meh. Koven doesn't really capture the grandeur of Kipling. I'm not saying the music is bad, it just doesn't suit the prose.

@jhurstiv : We don't live in a secular world. If we did, the Arts would be much more appreciated. And this isn't a hymn, it's a poem set to music.

[jhurstiv]

A wonderful hymn, one that has almost been lost in today's secular world. Can anyone tell me who wrote the music, and is there sheet music available for piano and/or choral?