Patrick Hawes: The Angel Of Mons: SSA: Score

POD-This work by Patrick Hawes was inspired by the legend of The Angel of Mons. This is the vocal score for SSA choir with Piano accompaniment. The legend claims that an angel appeared before members of the British Army at the Battle of Mons in World War 1 supposedly protecting them from the enemy. This work is dedicated to the memory of all the British soldiers who witnessed the apparition of the angel. The Angel Of Mons was premiered in its SATB choir version on 23 August 2014 in St Michael & All Angels Church Edenham Lincolnshire and conducted by the composer Patrick Hawes on the exactcentenary of the apparition of the angel. 'Scored for soprano solo SSA choir harp and strings this reworking by the composer of the original SATB version musically accessible and also offering teaching opportunities about WWI is particualrly suitable for good school choirs. The vocal lines are logical and the word-setting is comfortable'. Organists' Review December 2017

For King And Country is part of a larger work entitled 'The Angel Of Mons' by composer Patrick Hawes dedicated to the memory of the British soldiers who Hawes believes witnessed an 'angel' during a battle in World War One. This is the Vocal Score arranged for SATB Chorus and Piano Accompaniment. This piece with a libretto by his brother Andrew Hawes was premiered in the latter's own church on the centenary of the date the 'angel' sighting was said to have occurred.  The inspiration comes from a mythical story around the Battle of Mons during World War One where a group ofsoldiers supposedly received divine help from 'angels'. The story arose from a fictional short story by a writer that came to be known as fact despite the author's desperate please otherwise. The music itself is beautiful perfectly capturing the crisis of conscience and cognitive dissonance that the soldiers must have experienced being told that they were fighting for King and country yet at the same time being terrified of their own lives. 

From the album 'Angel' this piece is an extract of a larger work 'The Angel of Mons' and is adapted from the words of Psalm 130.The Angel of Mons is a large-scale choral work describing the apparition of an angel to British soldiers in the first battle of the First World War. Out of the Depths first conveys the prayers of the wives fiancées and mothers left at home: the angel responds with words of reassurance. Next the soldiers themselves sing of their longing for divine assistance. The angel appears once more as the prayers of the men and women alike combine in a final climax. The piece subsides into quiet prayer asking the Lord for mercy.