NW3003
Holy Thursday
Music: Sheena Phillips. Words: William Blake
SATB
performance time approx 2m 30s
Price code: B
Complexity: **
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During Blake's lifetime there were annual parades on Holy Thursday of poor children from London's charity schools. His poem was a protest at the existence of dire poverty in the 'rich and fruitful land' of Britain and also sounded a satirical note against the annual display of charity.
Both the title and the words resonated strongly for me in the run-up to Easter 1999, when thousands of families fled the violence in Kosovo in terror and the world looked on in anguish as a beautiful country became war-torn.
A recording by Rudsambee company of singers is available on their album bottled at source (RUBEECD003).
Both the title and the words resonated strongly for me in the run-up to Easter 1999, when thousands of families fled the violence in Kosovo in terror and the world looked on in anguish as a beautiful country became war-torn.
A recording by Rudsambee company of singers is available on their album bottled at source (RUBEECD003).
Words
Holy ThursdayIs this a holy thing to see,
In a rich and fruitful land,
Babes reduced to misery,
Fed with cold and usurous hand?
Is that trembling cry a song?
Can it be a song of joy?
And so many children poor?
It is a land of poverty!
And their sun does never shine.
And their fields are bleak and bare.
And their ways are fill'd with thorns.
It is eternal winter there.
For where-e'er the sun does shine,
And where-e'er the rain does fall:
Babes can never hunger there,
['Babe' in the original]Nor poverty the mind appall.
William Blake
Purchase – 3003: Holy Thursday
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Copies must not be given, lent, hired or sold to any other group.
Orders are normally despatched within 24 hours - not instantly, because each PDF file is created specially for the purchaser.
Canasg sales are processed via Paypal. Paypal lets you pay with a simple credit or debit card if you don’t have a Paypal account. Your Paypal transaction will be in sterling and it will be converted automatically if your credit card draws on a different currency. Paypal passes none of your secure information to Canasg.
If you would like us to send an invoice before you pay, or if you would like your order priced in $US or Euros, then please e-mail your order to us instead of using the form above.
