'Hymns are the poetry of the people’, said Sir John Betjeman in the 1970s. This Poet Laureate is now memorialised in Westminster Abbey, along with many other poets, writers and performers in a space known as Poets’ Corner. In this series, join us as we explore a few of these poets whose words were turned into hymns and anthems, which are sung in Christian churches around the world.

Hello I’m Matthew Jorysz, Sub-Organist of Westminster Abbey, and today I’m going to explore the anthem Faire is the Heaven composed by William Henry Harris, a setting of words from Edmund Spenser’s poem An Hymn of Heavenly Beauty.

Spenser was born either in Smithfield, London in around 1552 and went to the Merchant Taylor’s School before studying at Cambridge University. He was married in St Margaret’s Church on the North Green of Westminster Abbey in 1579 shortly before taking up the post of private secretary to Arthur, Lord Grey of Wilton. Arthur had been appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland and it is here that Spenser spent much of his career as a civil servant and a poet. He was buried near Geoffrey Chaucer’s grave, in Poets’ Corner, on 16th January 1599, at the expense of the Earl of Essex. Many of his contemporaries attended the funeral, possibly including Shakespeare.

He is best known for his 1590 epic poem The Fairie Queene, a series of interrelated stories based around the quests of six knights who each represent a particular virtue. Dedicated to Elizabeth I, it is one of the longest poems in the English Language and gave rise to what is now known as Spenserian stanza, eight lines of iambic pentamer followed by two lines of iambic hexameter.

An Hymne of Heavenly Beauty followed in 1596. Written after the death of his first wife, it illustrates an ascent from the mortal to the heavenly. It is the latter that Harris takes as the emphasis of his anthem. Choosing lines from three of the stanzas of the poem that describe heaven and choirs of angels, he sets it for an unaccompanied double choir. That is to say that the choir splits into two smaller choirs, both containing singers from each voice part. They often sing antiphonally, answering one another and at other times join together to sing in rich eight-part harmony. This particularly suits choirs such as ours at Westminster Abbey. The choir here, as in many cathedrals, are split into two sides called Decani (originally named as it would be side that the Dean sits) and Cantoris (the side that the ‘cantor’ would sit). They sit ‘collegiately’, that is facing one another across the sides of the Quire stalls. So this style of music, where the choirs complement and answer one enough, works perfectly in that spatial configuration.

Harris was intimately acquainted with this way of performing, having been organist at New College and Christ Church Oxford, and Director of Music at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, his most significant position. Whilst at Windsor he also composed music for the coronations of George VI in 1937 and Elizabeth II in 1953 both here at Westminster Abbey, where he was also involved in the performances as one of the conductors. He also taught music to the late Queen and Princess Margaret when they lived in the castle during the war years.

Lets take a listen to a short clip.

Harris’s setting of Faire is the heaven is undoubtably one of his finest achievements as a composer. It is set in three parts: first a warm, opening section that conveys the contentment of souls in heaven, followed by a faster middle section where both choirs build up to dramatic music that almost resembles a fanfare as Spenser describes the Angels and Archangels. The transition into the final section, is one of the most beautiful moments in the piece as we hear music similar to the opening and the poet asks ‘How then can mortall tongue hope to expresse the image of such endlesse perfectnesse?’ It was a recording of the choir of King's College, Cambridge under David Willcocks that introduced me to this piece when I was first discovering choral music. I used to listen to it over and over and its definitely one of the reasons I wanted to be involved in church music in some form in my life. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

To listen to the full anthem, and the Abbey Choir’s full catalogue of recordings, please search for “The Choir of Westminster Abbey” on your chosen music streaming platform. Alternatively, you can purchase CDs from Westminster Abbey’s shop. We’d also love to welcome you at one of our services here at Westminster Abbey.