Patrick Hawes: The Angel Of Mons: SSA: Vocal Score

This is the Vocal Score for composer Patrick Hawes' beautiful work The Angel Of Mons featuring all six movements. This work is arranged for solo Soprano and SATB Chorus with a Piano reduction and was composed in memory of the British soldiers who supposedly witnessed an apparition of an angel during World War I. The premiere of The Angel Of Mons was on 23rd August 2014 in St Michael and All Angels Church Edenham Lincolnshire and conducted by Patrick Hawes himself on the exact centenary of the apparition of the angel. The inspiration comes from a mythical story around theBattle of Mons during World War One where a group of soldiers 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 pleas otherwise. The work lasts approximately 25 minutes and therefore would make for a hugely enjoyable concert especially a World War I memorial concert.  The Full Score can also be purchased separately  here.

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.