O Thou the Central Orb: The Splendor of the Empire, a Bit Late

For Sunday, December 14, 2025
O Thou the Central Orb by Charles Wood

By David Jolliffe

            At the 11 a.m. service on December 14, the St. Paul’s Choir will sing one of the most beloved anthems in Anglican church music, Charles Wood’s soaring “O Thou, the Central Orb.”  Written in 1915, Wood’s anthem appears a decade and a half after the death of Queen Victoria 1901, but in both musicality and lyrics, it harkens back to the spirit of the 19th century, when “the sun never set” on the British Empire, and the English reveled in the view that “thank God the empire is safe.”

            Wood (1866 to 1926) was born in Ireland and late in his life, after a long career as a composer and teacher. became Professor of Music at Cambridge.  Among his students were Ralph Vaughan Williams and Herbert Howells, both of whose works the St. Paul’s choir regularly sings. 

            The lyrics were penned by the poet H. R. Bramley, an Oxford academic who became the Canon Precentor at Lincoln Cathedral:

O Thou the central orb of righteous love,
Pure beam of the most high,
Eternal light of this our wintry world,
Thy radiance bright awakes new joy in faith,
Hope soars above, above.

Come, quickly come, and let thy glory shine,
Gilding our darksome heaven with rays divine.
Thy saints with holy lustre round Thee move,
As stars about thy throne, set in the height
of God’s ordaining counsel,
As thy sight gives measur’d grace to each,
Thy power to prove.

Let Thy bright beams disperse the gloom of sin,
Our nature all shall feel eternal day,
In fellowship with Thee,
Transforming day to souls erewhile unclean,
now pure within, now pure within. Amen.

For my money, the “Amen” section itself is worth the price of admission!

            Here is a tidbit of interpretation by Charles Pavey, organist and choirmaster of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Malvern, Worcestershire:

The ‘central orb’ can be assumed to be the poet’s way of describing Jesus who was foretold to be the Sun of righteousness shining forth the eternal light of God the Father.  An orb symbolizes kingship and there is no doubt about describing Jesus as a King.  Jesus is also described in the first section of this anthem as a ‘pure beam of the most high’ and the ‘eternal Light’ with ‘radiance bright.’  The middle section initially picks up an Advent theme (‘Come, quickly come’) before offering a heavenly vision of saints.  The final section returns to the theme of light and, particularly, its ability to turn darkness into light.

While the anthem could be sung any time to the Glory of God, Wood chose to label “O Thou the Central Orb” as an advent hymn, and so it finds its home on the third Sunday in Advent at St. Paul’s.