The night

Most Holy Night, that still dost keep
The keys of all the doors of sleep,
To me when my tired eyelids close
Give thou repose.

And let the far lament of them
That chaunt the dead day's requiem
Make in my ears, who wakeful lie,
Soft lullaby.

Let them that guard the hornèd moon
By my bedside their memories croon.
So shall I have new dreams and blest
In my brief rest.

Fold your great wings about my face,
Hide dawning from my resting-place,
And cheat me with your false delight,
Most Holy Night.

by (Joseph) Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953) , "The night", from Verses and Sonnets, published 1896

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by David Frederick Barlow (1927-1975) , "The night" [alto and piano]
by Robert James Berkeley Fleming (1921-1976) , "The night" [duet with piano], from Three duets, no. 2.
by Robert James Berkeley Fleming (1921-1976) , "The night", 1940. [voice and piano]
by Harry Gill (1897-1887) , "The night", published 1943. [alto or baritone and piano]
by Ivor Gurney (1890-1937) , "Most Holy Night", published 1959, stanzas 1,3-4. [voice and piano]
by Muriel E. Herbert , "Most Holy Night", published <<1949. [voice and piano]
by John Hind , "Most Holy Night", published 1955. [SATB chorus a cappella]
by Mervyn, Lord Horder, the Second Baron of Ashford (1910-1998) , "Most Holy Night" [SSATB chorus and piano]
by Archie James Potter (1918-) , "The night", published 1952 [SATB chorus a cappella], from Three Songs of Hilaire Belloc, no. ?
by Edmund Duncan Rubbra (1901-1986) , "The night", published 1926 [voice and piano], from Two songs, no. ?
by Bryceson Treharne (1879-1948) , "The night", published 1917. [high or medium voice and piano]
by Peter Warlock (1894-1930) [pseudonym] , "The night", published 1927 [baritone and piano], from Three Belloc Songs, no. ?

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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