Thou Knowest, Lord (Purcell) — Choir of Guildford Cathedral

The Choir of Guildford Cathedral, under the direction of Barry Rose, perform Henry Purcell's 'Thou Knowest, Lord, the Secrets of Our Hearts' from the 1695 Funeral Anthem of Queen Mary. Purcell composed the Funeral Anthem, whose text draws upon the Book of Common Prayer (1662) and the Order for the Burial of the Dead, for the funeral services of the widely mourned Queen Mary II. The anthem would be performed at his own funeral just shy of a year later, and and over three centuries beyond that, in Westminster Abbey—where both Purcell and Mary II lay buried—the very same piece would be performed during the funeral services for Diana, Princess of Wales.
[ Text: ]

Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts;
shut not thy merciful ears unto our pray'rs;
but spare us, Lord most holy, O God most mighty.

O holy and most merciful Saviour,
thou most worthy Judge eternal,
suffer us not, at our last hour,
for any pains of death, to fall from thee.

Amen.

[ Recording available on the disk 'A Treasury of English Church Music' (EMI, 2011). Originally recorded 1966. ]

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