Commissioned by Cathedral Commissions of Wells Cathedral.

The core of the Easter message is so beautifully condensed in these fourteen lines by Edmund Spenser and, from the outset, Patrick felt genuinely inspired to write a work of both praise and deep love for the Risen Lord.

The main theme, first appearing in the choir’s opening phrase, reaches upwards in three clear steps, inviting the listener to become directly involved in a sense of being ‘raised’. The theme’s second appearance is more joyous as a result of the slightly quicker tempo and the urgency of the choral imitation until this first of three main sections comes to a decisive close.

The middle section, featuring solo soprano and a cappella choir, is a quiet reflection on the way in which we must ‘weigh’ the love which Christ won for us at such great cost and, with the full choir, there appears the anthem’s main invitation – that we ‘with love may one another entertain.’

The final section urges us to be unafraid of taking up this invitation as references to the main theme reappear and the textures swell again and again until the final climax is reached, and we are able to deliver our final words of thanksgiving to the Glorious Lord of Life on the occasion of his mighty Resurrection.