This sceptr'd isle

commissioned by the Exmoor Singers of London, 2005

• Blow blow thou winter wind
• Daisies
• Fairies' Song
• The lusty horn
• Icicles
• Music to hear
• So hallow'd and so gracious is the time
• This sceptr'd isle

This royal throne of kings, this sceptr'd isle
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars
This other Eden, demi-paradise
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in a silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands;
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England...

• choral - mixed voices unaccompanied