Fortunare Nos

Fortunare Nos was composed in 1986 for the wedding of one of Tranchell's students. It incorporates the hymn tune Wish Road originally written for Eastbourne College in 1950.

The words are from a hymn by Henry J. Buckoll (1803-71) in Psalms and Hymns for Rugby School Chapel, 1850, and the Latin verse is a translation, presumably by Tranchell, of Verse 1.

Fortunare nos discessuros, Deus Domine, precamur ut
tibi placeat. Gratias accipe praeteritis pro bonis quae
dedisti nobis. Omni da veniam confesso delicta sua.
Tempus recuperent quodcumque perditum, nec post hac
spiritum tuum angant, liberi tui.

1. Lord, dismiss us with thy blessing,
   Thanks for mercies past receive;
   Pardon all, their faults confessing;
   Time that’s lost may all retrieve;
   May thy children
   Ne’er again thy Spirit grieve.
2. Bless thou all our days of leisure;
   Help us selfish lures to flee;
   Sanctify our every pleasure;
   Pure and blameless may it be;
   May our gladness
   Draw us evermore to thee.
3. By thy kindly influence cherish
   All the good we here have gained;
   May all taint of evil perish
   By thy mightier power restrained;
   Seek we ever
   Knowledge pure and love unfeigned.
4. Let thy Father-hand be shielding
   All who here shall meet no more;
   May their seed-time past be yielding
   Year by year a richer store;
   Those returning,
   Make more faithful than before.

Peter Marchbank has written "This is a strikingly impressive piece of writing."

Click on the image below to access the full typeset PDF score. Please also see our guidance on the use of this score.