"Hearken Unto Me, Ye Holy Children" is an anthem

Anthem

The term anthem means either a specific form of Anglican church music , or more generally, a song of celebration, usually acting as a symbol for a distinct group of people, as in the term "national anthem" or "sports anthem".-Etymology:The word is derived from the Greek via Old English , a word...

 composed by Maurice Greene

Maurice Greene (composer)

Maurice Greene was an English composer and organist.- Biography :Born in London, the son of a clergyman, Greene became a choirboy at St Paul's Cathedral under Jeremiah Clarke and Charles King...

 in 1728. The first performance was probably given on 1 March 1728 at the King's College Chapel, Cambridge

Cambridge

The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

; however there is some conjecture that the actual first performance date was 25 April 1728 (to coincide with King George II

George II of Great Britain

George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...

's visit).

A typical performance takes about 17 minutes.

Movements

The work has the following movements

Movement (music)

A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...

:

Movement	Type	Voice	Text	Source
1	Solo	Countertenor	Hearken unto me, ye holy children: bud forth as a rose growing by the brooks of the field. Give a sweet savour as frankincense, and flourish as the lilies. Sing a song of praise, bless the Lord in all His works.	Sirach 39, 13-14
2	Chorus		Magnify His name, and shew forth His praise with the songs of your lips and with harps.	Sirach 39, 15
3	Chorus		And in praising Him you shall say: blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, who hath put such a thing into the king's heart; to build this house and set up a holy temple to the Lord, which was prepar'd for everlasting glory.	Sirach 39, 15; Ezra Book of Ezra The Book of Ezra is a book of the Hebrew Bible. Originally combined with the Book of Nehemiah in a single book of Ezra-Nehemiah, the two became separated in the early centuries of the Christian era...  7, 27; Sirach 49, 12
4	Solo	Tenor	To be a father to the fatherless; to feed them with the bread of understanding, and give them the waters of wisdom to drink.	Sirach 4, 10; Sirach 15, 3
5	Duet	Countertenor and Tenor	Therefore shall he receive a glorious kingdom and a beautiful crown from the hand of the Lord.	Wisdom of Solomon 5, 16
6	Recitative Recitative Recitative , also known by its Italian name "recitativo" , is a style of delivery in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms of ordinary speech...	Bass	How is he numb'red among the children of God, and his lot is among the saints.	Wisdom of Solomon 5, 5
7	Solo	Bass	His name shall endure for ever; His name shall remain under the sun among the posterities, which shall be blessed through him.	Psalm Psalms The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...  72, 17 (Book of Common Prayer Book of Common Prayer The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English... )
8	Chorus		Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, who hath put such a thing into the king's heart; to build this house and set up a holy temple to the Lord, which was prepared for everlasting glory. Hallelujah, Amen.	Ezra 7, 27; Sirach 49, 12