Wood Street Congregational Chapel,
Wednesday, January 21st, 1931
Programme
---- of ----
50th Annual Concert
. . . of . . .
The Cardiff Blue Ribbon Choir.
The Choir will render
" The Revenge " (Stanford)
and
(Mendelssohn)"Hymn of Praise "
Conductor: Ronald Chivers.
Assisted by
Herbert Ware's Full Orchestra.
Soprano: JENNIE ELLIS, L.R.A.M.
(Famous Welsh Prima Donna).
Mezzo-Soprano: CEINWEN PARKER, L.R.A.M.
Tenor: BEN JONES (London and Provincial Concerts).
Choir Accompanist: Madam RONALD CHIVERS.
Admission 1/- Front Balcony and Centre Area, 2/-
Doors open at 7. Commence at 7.30.
Ticket-holders admitted 6.45.
Tickets may be obtained from Members of the Choir or from
35, Windsor Place.
" THE REVENGE "
A BALLAD OF THE FLEET
Set to Music for Chorus and Orchestra
by
C. Villiers Stanford
(Op. 24)
AT FLORES in the Azores Sir Richard Grenville lay,
And a pinnace, like a flutter'd bird, came flying from far away
Spanish ships of war at sea! we have sighted fifty-three!'
Then sware Lord Thomas Howard
'Fore God I am no coward ;
But I cannot meet them here, for my ships are out of gear,
And the half my men are sick. I must fly, but follow quick.
We are six ships of the line; can we fight with fifty-three ? "
Then spake Sir Richard Grenville : ` I know you are no coward;
You fly them for a moment to fight with them again.
But I've ninety men and more that are lying sick ashore.
I should count myself the coward if I left them, my Lord Howard,
To these Inquisition dogs and the devildoms of Spain.'
So Lord Howard passed away with five ships of war that day,
Till he melted like a cloud in the silent summer heaven ;
But Sir Richard bore in hand all his sick men from the land
Very carefully and slow,
Men of Bideford in Devon,
And we laid them on the ballast down below ;
For we brought them all aboard,
And they blest him in their pain, that they were not left to Spain,
To the thumbscrew and the stake, for the glory of the Lord.
He had only a hundred seamen to work the ship and to fight,
And he sailed away from Flores till the Spaniard came in sight,
With his huge sea-castles heaving upon the weather bow.
Shall we fight or shall we fly ?
Good Sir Richard, tell us now,
For to fight is but to die !
There'll be little of us left by the time this sun be set.'
And Sir Richard said again : ` We be all good English men.
Let us bang these dogs of Seville, the the children of the devil,
For I never turn'd my back upon Don or devil yet.'
Sir Richard spoke and he laugh'd, and we roar'd a hurrah, and so
The little Revenge ran on sheer into the heart of the foe,
With her hundred fighters on deck, and her ninety sick below;
For half of their fleet to the right and half to the left were seen,
And the little Revenge ran on thro' the long sea-lane between.
Thousands of their soldiers look'd down from their decks and laugh'd,
Thousands of their seaman made mock at the mad little craft
Running on and on, till delay'd
By their mountain-like San Philip that, of fifteen hundred tons, .
And up-shadowing high above us with her yawning tiers of guns,
Took the breath from our sails, and we stay'd.
And while now the great San Philip hung above us like a cloud
Whence the thunderbolt will fall
Long and loud,
Four galleons drew away
From the Spanish fleet that day,
And two upon the larboard and two upon the starboard lay,
And the battle thunder broke from them all.
But anon the great San Philip, she bethought herself and went
Having that within her womb that had left her ill content ;
And the rest they came aboard us, and they fought us hand to hand,
For a dozen times they came with their pikes and musqueteers,
And a dozen times we shook 'em off as a dog that shakes his ears
When he leaps from the water to the land.
And the sun went down, and the stars came out far over the summer sea,
But never a moment ceased the fight of the one and the fifty-three.
Ship after ship, the whole night long, their high built-galleons came,
Ship after ship, the whole night long, with her battle-thunder and flame,
Ship after ship, the whole night long, drew back with her dead and her shame.
For some were sunk and many were shatter'd, and so could fight us no more
God of battles, was ever a battle like this in the world before ?
For he said `Fight on! fight on! '
Tho' his vessel was all but a wreck ;
And it chanced that when half of the short summer night was gone,
With a grisly wound to be drest he had left the deck,
But a bullet struck him that was dressing it suddenly dead,
And himself he was wounded again in the side and the head,
And he said' Fight on! fight on! '
And the night went down, and the sun smiled out far over the summer sea,
And the Spanish fleet with broken sides lay round us all in a ring ;
But they dared not touch us again, for they fear'd that we still could sting,
So they watched what the end would be.
And we had not fought them in vain, But in perilous plight were we,
Seeing forty of our poor hundred were slain,
And half of the rest of us maim'd for life
In the crash of the cannonades and the desperate strife ;
And the sick men down in the hold were most of them stark and cold,
And the pikes were all broken or bent, and the powder was all of it spent;
And the masts and the rigging were lying over the side ;
But Sir Richard cried in his English pride,
We have fought such a fight for a day and a night
As may never be fought again !
We have won great glory, my men !
And a day less or more
At sea or ashore,
We die-does it matter when ?
Sink me the ship, Master Gunnersink her, split her in twain !
Fall into the hands of God, not into the hands of Spain ! '
And the gunner said `Ay, ay,' but the seamen made reply
We have children, we have wives,
And the Lord hath spared our lives.
We will make the Spaniard promise, if we yield, to let us go ;
We shall live to fight again and to strike another blow.'
And the lion there lay dying, and they yielded to the foe.
And the stately Spanish men to their flagship bore him then,
Where they laid him by the mast, old Sir Richard caught at last,
And they praised him to his face with their courtly foreign grace ;
But he rose upon their decks, and he cried
I have fought for Queen and Faith like a valiant man and true;
I have only done my duty as a man is bound to do
With a joyful spirit I Sir Richard Grenville die ! '
And he fell upon their decks, and he died.
And they stared at the dead that had been so valiant and true,
And had holden the power and glory of Spain so cheap
That he dared her with one little ship and his English few;
Was he devil or man ? He was devil for aught they knew,
But they sank his body with honour down into the deep,
And they mann'd the Revenge with a swarthier alien crew,
And away she sail'd with her loss and long'd for her own ;
When a wind from the lands they had ruin'd awoke from sleep,
And the water began to heave and the weather to moan,
And or ever that evening ended a great gale blew,
And a wave like the wave that is raised by an earthquake grew,
Till it smote on their hulls and their sails and their masts and their flags,
And the whole sea plunged and fell on the shot-shatter'd navy of Spain
And the little Revenge herself went down by the island crags
To be lost evermore in the main.
RECIT. AND ARIA . . . . " Lend Me Your Aid " (Irene) . . . . Gounod
BEN. JONES.
SOLO . . . . . . " Adonais " Landon . . . . . . Ronald
JENNIE ELLIS.
"HYMN OF PRAISE."
(Lobgesang).
A Symphonia Cantata
by
F. Mendelssohn Batholdy
(Op. 52).
NOTE.-This work was originally composed by Mendelssohn as a celebration for the 400th Anniversary of the Invention of Printing, and was first performed at the Thomaskirche, Leipzig, on June 25th, 1840, by a Chorus and Orchestra of 500, under the personal conductorship of Mendelssohn.
No. 1.-SYMPHONY.
Maestoso con Moto - Allegro - Allegretto agitato - Adagio religioso.
No. 2.-CHORUS.
All men, all things, all that has life and breath, sing to the Lord. Hallelujah.
Praise the Lord with lute and harp, in joyful song extol Him, and let all flesh magnify His might and His glory.
NO. 2a.-SOLO (SOPRANO) AND SEMI-CHORUS.
Praise thou the Lord, O my spirit, and my inmost soul praise His great loving-kindness.
Praise thou the Lord, O my spirit, and forget thou not all His benefits.
No. 3.-RECITATIVE.-(TENOR).
Sing ye praise, all ye redeemed of the Lord, redeemed from the hand of the foe, from your distresses, from deep affliction ; who sat in the shadow of death and darkness. All ye that cry in trouble unto the Lord, sing ye praise ! give ye thanks, proclaim aloud His goodness.
AIR.-(TENOR).
He counteth all your sorrows in the time of need. He comforts the bereaved with His regard. Sing ye praise, give ye thanks, proclaim aloud His goodness.
No. -1.-CHORUS.
All ye that cried unto the Lord in distress and deep affliction. He counteth all your sorrows in the time of need.
No. 5.-DUET (SOPRANI) AND
CHORUS.
I waited for the Lord, He inclined unto me, He heard my complaint; O blessed are they that hope and trust in the Lord.
No. 6.-AIR.-(TENOR.)
The sorrows of death had closed all around me, and hell's dark terrors had got hold upon me, with trouble and deep heaviness; but said the Lord, "Come, arise from the dead, and awake thou that sleepest, I bring thee salvation."
RECITATIVE.-(TENOR.)
We call through the darkness, " Watchman, will the night soon pass ? " The watchman only said, " Though the morning will come, the night will come also." Ask ye, enquire ye, ask if ye will enquire ye, return again, ask, " Watchman, will the night soon pass ? "
No. 7.-SOLO (SOPRANO) AND CHORUS.
The night is departing, the day is approaching. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us gird on the armour of light. The day is approaching, the night is departing.
No. 8.-CHORAL.
Let all men praise the Lord,
In worship lowly bending ; On His most Holy Word,
Redeem'd from woe, depending. He gracious is and just,
From childhood us doth lead ; On Him we place our trust
And hope, in time of need.
Glory and praise to God,
The Father, Son, be given, And to the Holy Ghost,
On high enthron'd in Heaven.
Praise to the Three-One God;
With power'ful arm and strong,
He changeth night to day;
Praise Him with grateful song.
No. 9 .-DUET.-(SOPRANO AND TENOR.)
My song shall alway be Thy mercy, singing Thy praise, Thou only God, my tongue ever speaks the goodness Thou hast done unto me.
I wander in night and foulest darkness, and mine enemies stand threatening around; yet called I upon the name of the Lord, and He redeemed me with watchful goodness.
No. 10.-CHORUS.
Ye nations offer to the Lord glory and might.
Ye monarchs offer to the Lord glory and might.
Thou heaven offer to the Lord glory and might.
The whole earth, offer to the Lord glory and might.
O give thanks to the Lord, praise Him, all ye people, and ever praise His Holv Name.
Sing ye the Lord, and ever praise His Holy Name.
All that has life and breath, sing to the Lord.
GOD SAVE THE KING.
|
