Geoffrey Burgon: "Nunc dimittis", from BBC's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Yet another lovely piece by Geoffrey Burgon - this time for the BBC TV series' adaptation of John le Carré's novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979) starring Sir Alec Guinness, Ian Richardson CBE and other distinguished actors. I hope you enjoy this too.

English composer Geoffrey Burgon was equally known for his film and television scores, and for his serious choral, vocal and orchestral works. He wrote the music for British TV's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Brideshead Revisited, and The Forstye Saga, among others, and his film work includes Monty Python’s Life of Brian. His compositional voice is melodic and influenced by Benjamin Britten and medieval music.

Nunc dimittis

According to the narrative in Luke 2:25-32, Simeon was a devout Jew who had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. When Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem for the ceremony of consecration of the firstborn son (after the time of Mary's purification: at least 40 days after the birth, and thus distinct from the circumcision), Simeon was there, and he took Jesus into his arms and uttered words rendered here in the English (Anglican) Book of Common Prayer, 1662:

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel.

Images

I took these images of Lincoln Cathedral, England, in 2012.

Performance

Boy treble: Thomas Hopkins
Trumpet: John Wallace
King's College Chapel, Cambridge, England
Director of Music: Sir Stephen Cleobury