This edition was prepared by Lewis Jones — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Begin the Song (The Resurrection)
Staff Notation • Sacred, Art songs
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Begin the Song (The Resurrection) by Henry Purcell — Lyrics
Begin the song, and strike the living lyre!
Lo! How the years to come, a numerous and well fitted quire,
All hand in hand do decently advance,
And to my song with smooth and equal measures dance.
Whilst the dance lasts how long so e'er it be,
My music's voice shall bear it company
Till all gentle notes be drown'd
In the last trumpet's dreadful sound,
That to the spheres themselves shall silence bring,
Untune the universal string:
Then all the wide extended sky
And all th'harmonious world on high
And Virgil's sacred work shall die;
And he himself shall see in one fire shine
Rich nature's ancient
Troy, though built by hands divine.
Whom thunder's dismal noise
And all the prophets and apostles louder spake
And all the creatures' plain conspiring voice
Could not, whilst they liv'd, awake,
This mightier sound shall make
When dead to arise
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About Begin the Song (The Resurrection)
Written for solo bass voice, this sacred English song celebrates the Resurrection. The text is a powerful meditation on the dawn of a new era, beginning with the joyous imagery of "striking the living lyre" and advancing "hand in hand" with "smooth and equal measures." As the song progresses, it contrasts this earthly celebration with the eschatological vision of the "last trumpet's dreadful sound" and the "fire" that will consume the world. Purcell’s setting would have been intended for an occasion marking renewal and ultimate triumph, allowing a single voice to explore the profound theological depths of the text.
