Brought up in the Roman Catholic faith, and with a father who for many years was the organist at St George's Church in Worcester, it is unsurprising that Elgar wrote a number of religious works intended to be performed in church services.

Elgar wrote three processional marches in 1914 The final work of the later trio - Give Unto the Lord - was commissioned for a festival to mark the two hundredth anniversary of the Sons of the Clergy at St Paul's Cathedral in that year It is a setting of psalm 29

Psalm 29 (King James Version)
1 Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
2 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
3 The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters.
4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
5 The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.
7 The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire.
8 The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.
10 The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever.
11 The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.

Ave verum corpus is a short Eucharistic hymn that has been set to music by various composers. It dates from the 14th century and has been attributed to Popes Innocent III, Innocent IV[1] and Innocent VI.[2]

During the Middle Ages it was sung at the elevation of the host during the consecration. It was also used frequently during Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

The hymn's title means "Hail, true body", and is based on a poem deriving from a 14th-century manuscript from the Abbey of Reichenau, Lake Constance. The poem is a meditation on the Catholic belief in Jesus's Real Presence in the sacrament of the Eucharist, and ties it to Catholic ideas on the redemptive meaning of suffering in the life of all believers

The text is in Latin, and reads:

Ave verum corpus, natum
de Maria Virgine,[3]
vere passum, immolatum
in cruce pro homine,
cuius latus perforatum
fluxit aqua et sanguine:[4]
esto nobis praegustatum
in mortis examine.[5]
O Iesu dulcis, O Iesu pie, O Iesu, fili Mariae.
Miserere mei. Amen.

A translation into English is:
Hail, true Body, born
of the Virgin Mary,
truly suffered, sacrificed
on the cross for humankind,
whose pierced side
flowed with water and blood:
May it be for us a foretaste [of the Heavenly banquet]
in the trial of death.
Oh dear Jesus, Oh merciful Jesus, Oh Jesus, son of Mary,
have mercy on me. Amen.

Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (27 February 1848 – 7 October 1918) was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. He was knighted in 1898 Parry's first major works appeared in 1880.

As a composer he is best known for the choral song "Jerusalem", the coronation anthem "I was glad" and the hymn tune "Repton", which sets the words "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind". He was director of the Royal College of Music from 1895 until his death and was also professor of music at the University of Oxford from 1900 to 1908.

He also wrote several books about music and music history. Some contemporaries rated him as the finest English composer since Henry Purcell, but his academic duties prevented him from devoting all his energies to composition, and some felt this prevented him from fulfilling his potential. The choral piece is based on the Milton ode At a Solumn Music.

The work was commisioned by George Villiers Stanford.

Blest pair of Sirens, pledges of Heaven's joy,
Sphere-born harmonious sisters, Voice and Verse,
Wed your divine sounds, and mixt power employ,
Dead things with inbreathed sense able to pierce;
And to our high-raised phantasy present
That undisturbed song of pure consent,
Aye sung before the sapphire-coloured throne
To him that sits thereon,
With saintly shout and solemn jubilee;
Where the bright Seraphim, in burning row,
Their loud, uplifted angel-trumpets blow,
And the Cherubic host in thousand quires
Touch their immortal harps of golden wires,
With those just spirits, that wear victorious palms,
Hymns devout and holy psalms
Singing everlastingly.
That we on Earth with undiscording voice,
May rightly answer that melodious noise;
As once we did, till disproportioned sin
Jarr'd against Nature's chime, and with harsh din
Broke the fair music that all creatures made
To their great Lord, whose love their motion swayed
In perfect diapason, whilst they stood
In first obedience, and their state of good.
O may we soon again renew that song
And keep in tune with Heaven, till God ere long
To his celestial consort us unite,
To live with him and sing in endless morn of light.

This was was composed in 1887 for an architect friend, Josef Hlávka, the founder and first president of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts. Hlávka had built himself a private chapel at Lutany castle and needed a suitable work for performance at the consecration – circumstances not unlike those applying to the composition of the Chandos anthems. It was originally written for choir (with small solo parts) and organ, and, although Dvorák later orchestrated it, it has a charming, intimate character which comes over best in its original form. The six movements are the usual sequence of Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei.