Thine be the glory....

Judas Maccabaeus is an oratorio in three acts composed in 1746 by George Frideric Handel and it was devised as a compliment to the victorious Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland upon his return from the Battle of Culloden.

This explains the reason why I can sing "Thine be the glory" far more readily in French. The hymn was never in the hymnbooks in Scotland until the 1970's - because the tune "See the conquering hero comes" was in honour of Butcher Cumberland - hated and reviled here. So I sang it and learned it for the first time when studying in Geneva.

Craindrais-je encore ? Il vit à jamais,
Celui que j'adore, le Prince de paix ;
Il est ma victoire, mon puissant soutien,
Ma vie et ma gloire : non, je ne crains rien !
À toi la gloire, Ô Ressuscité !
À toi la victoire pour l'éternité.

Here the trumpeters are gearing up for Easter Sunday morning....