Russian Kontakion

Sung in The Funeral of The Duke of Edinburgh (youtube)


All sit as the choir sings
THE ANTHEM

GIVE rest, O Christ,
to thy servant with thy Saints:
where sorrow and pain are no more;
neither sighing, but life everlasting.
Thou only art immortal,
the Creator and Maker of man:
And we are mortal, formed of the earth,
and unto earth shall we return.
For so thou didst ordain,
when thou createdest me, saying,
Dust thou art,
and unto dust shalt thou return.
All we go down to the dust;
and, weeping, o’er the grave,
we make our song:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

Russian Kontakion of the Departed
Translated William John Birkbeck (1859–1916)
Kiev Melody, arranged by Sir Walter Parratt, KCVO (1841–1924)