''Lo, the full, final sacrifice'' ( Op. 26) is a festival

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to sho ...

for

SATB In music, SATB is a scoring of compositions for choirs or consorts of instruments consisting of four voice types: soprano, alto, tenor and bass. Choral music Four-part harmony using soprano, alto, tenor and bass is a common scoring in classic ...

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

and

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

, composed by

Gerald Finzi Gerald Raphael Finzi (14 July 1901 – 27 September 1956) was a British composer. Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata '' Dies natalis'' for solo voice and ...

in 1946. The work was commissioned by the Revd Walter Hussey for the 53rd anniversary of the

consecration Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

St Matthew's Church, Northampton St Matthew's Church, Northampton is a Church of England parish church in Northampton, within the Anglican Diocese of Peterborough, Diocese of Peterborough. The church is a Grade II* listed building. It was erected (1891–4) in memory of bre ...

. Finzi

orchestrated Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

the piece for its performance at the

Three Choirs Festival 200px, Worcester cathedral 200px, Gloucester cathedral The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held annually at the end of July, rotating among the cathedrals of the Three Counties (Hereford, Gloucester, and Worcester) and originally fe ...

in 1947. Since then it has become a staple of the Anglican choral tradition. Performance time ranges between fourteen and eighteen minutes. The anthem's text memorializes the celebration of the

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

. Finzi assembled the text from two poems of

Richard Crashaw Richard Crashaw (c. 1613 – 21 August 1649) was an English poet, teacher, High Church Anglican cleric and Roman Catholic convert, who was one of the major metaphysical poets in 17th-century English literature. Crashaw was the son of a famous ...

(c. 1613–1649), an English

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

of the

Metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of h ...

tradition of

John Donne John Donne ( ; 1571 or 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under Royal Patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's, D ...

and

Thomas Traherne Thomas Traherne (; 1636 or 1637) was an English poet, Anglican cleric, theologian, and religious writer. The intense, scholarly spirituality in his writings has led to his being commemorated by some parts of the Anglican Communion on 10 October ...

. These two poems, Crashaw's "Adoro Te" and "Lauda Sion Salvatorem", themselves constitute poetic translations of

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

s by St

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

(c. 1225–1274). Finzi did not set the entirety of both poems; he instead excerpted and re-ordered selected stanzas from Crashaw's original to create a composite text for the work. The music of the piece adheres to a conservative tonal idiom, albeit one that modulates frequently. The highly sectionalized form follows the stanza divisions of the text, featuring episodes of

homophonic Homophony and Homophonic are from the Greek language, Greek ὁμόφωνος (''homóphōnos''), literally 'same sounding,' from ὁμός (''homós''), "same" and φωνή (''phōnē''), "sound". It may refer to: *Homophones − words with the s ...

textures as well as short stretches of

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chord ...

. The text is set in a syllabic style, except for the

melisma Melisma (, , ; from , plural: ''melismata''), informally known as a vocal run and sometimes interchanged with the term roulade, is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in ...

tic ''

Amen Amen (, ; , ; , ; , ) is an Abrahamic declaration of affirmation which is first found in the Hebrew Bible, and subsequently found in the New Testament. It is used in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic practices as a concluding word, or as a respons ...

'' that closes the piece.

Text

: Lo, the full, final sacrifice : On which all figures fix’d their eyes, : The ransom’d Isaac, and his ram; : The Manna, and the Paschal lamb. : Jesu Master, just and true! : Our Food, and faithful Shepherd too! : O let that love which thus makes thee : Mix with our low Mortality, : Lift our lean Souls, and set us up : Convictors of thine own full cup, : Coheirs of Saints. That so all may : Drink the same wine; and the same way. : Nor change the Pasture, but the Place : To feed of Thee in thine own Face. : O dear Memorial of that Death : Which lives still, and allows us breath! : Rich, Royal food! Bountiful Bread! : Whose use denies us to the dead! : Live ever Bread of loves, and be : My life, my soul, my surer self to me. : Help Lord, my Faith, my Hope increase; : And fill my portion in thy peace. : Give love for life; nor let my days : Grow, but in new powers to thy name and praise. : Rise, Royal Sion! rise and sing : Thy soul's kind shepherd, thy heart's King. : Stretch all thy powers; call if you can : Harps of heaven to hands of man. : This sovereign subject sits above : The best ambition of thy love. : Lo the Bread of Life, this day's : Triumphant Text provokes thy praise. : The living and life-giving bread, : To the great twelve distributed : When Life, himself, at point to die : Of love, was his own Legacy. : O soft self-wounding Pelican! : Whose breast weeps Balm for wounded man. : All this way bend thy benign flood : To a bleeding Heart that gasps for blood. : That blood, whose least drops sovereign be : To wash my worlds of sins from me. : Come love! Come Lord! and that long day : For which I languish, come away. : When this dry soul those eyes shall see, : And drink the unseal'd source of thee. : When Glory's sun faith's shades shall chase, : And for thy veil give me thy Face. : Amen.

References

*Banfield, Stephen. ''Gerald Finzi: An English Composer.'' London: Faber and Faber, 1998. *Crashaw, Richard. ''Steps to the Temple: Delights of the Muses and Other Poems.'' Edited by A. R. Waller. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, 1904. *Finzi, Gerald. ''Lo, the full, final sacrifice.'' London: Boosey & Co., Ltd., 1946. {{Portal bar, Classical music, Music Anthems Compositions by Gerald Finzi 1946 compositions