I took this picture during the dress rehearsal for L&C...
trying to capture the "Jesus shining" phenomenon...
that we have experienced at certain times of the year...
this is not the best I've seen...
but I hope that you can get the idea anyway...
when the light is just right, generally in late November-December...
around 10:30-11 AM, the Jesus in the window above the altar...
is in a beam of light that illuminates only Him...
I first noticed it during the dress for L&C in 2007...
when, as I was directing the choir for the first time...
I looked up to see, what I now know to be...
a really spectacular illuminated moment...
which I shared with the choir...
since then, I look for that moment...
anytime that I'm in the church at the right time of day...
during the right time of year...
if it's cloudy outside, the moment is not as stunning...
but if it is sunny, or at least sunny at the right time...
it can be a moment that takes your breath away...
much like the service of Lessons & Carols has become...
we think of it as a service, although it is the only time during the year...
that the choir does anything that even vaguely approaches a concert...
in as much as we prepare and present 9 anthems...
as well as sing a prelude, processional and recessional...
there is, however, no point at which the choir receives applause...
this year, as usual, we opened the service with the Matin Responses of Palestrina...
sung from the back of the church with tenor, baritone & boy soprano cantors...
we used to have some scary moments with this...
but we really know it now and this year, it was wonderful...
then accompanied by a tolling handbell...
we process up the center aisle...
singing the old hymn, "Creator of the Stars of Night"...
which along with the Palestrina and the recessional...
are a legacy from Dearest Dragonfly...
the 1st Reading is the creation of man, including the fall, from Genesis...
then follows an anthem...
[this pattern is followed through 9 Readings]...
our first anthem was the Boris Ord,"Adam Lay Ybounden"...
this year, sung in a very lively tempo...
the ancient text reminds us of the "fall"...
and how we were doomed until God sent His Son to us...
to take on our sins and return us to grace...
after the 2nd Reading, we sang Wm Byrd's,"O Magnum Mysterium"...
a hauntingly beautiful telling in Latin...
of the great mystery that God should come among us...
to be born in a stable, watched over by animals...
sung with great sensitivity by the choir...
the 3rd Anthem was Singh's arrangement of the old Latin hymn,"Personent Hodie"...
and speaks of proclaiming the "good news"...
it is a rather plaintive setting...
combining a Medieval sound with contemporary harmonies...
the choir does so well with unison sections in this style...
very smooth & blended, with the open harmonies of the part singing...
such a nice contrast to the smooth unison singing...
then came the 1st congregational hymn,"Comfort Ye, My People"
the 4th Reading speaks of "the child who will be conceived..."
and this year, we sang Natalie Sleeth's lovely, "Baby, What You Goin' to Be?"...
an anthem that asks the question so many have asked over the centuries...
"are you the chosen?... are you the one to save us from our sins?"...
this is a big favorite with both the congregation...
and the singers, who do it very well...
then came the 2nd congregational hymn, "Lo, How a Rose"...
our next anthem was Paul Manz's, "E'en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come"...
a more traditional choral selection...
which the choir sings with great sensitivity and heart...
with the singers using a more "trained" vocal placement...
but avoiding the heaviness that many singers approach such selections with...
following the reading of the Annunciation...
we sang a 4 part arrangement of Archadelt's 15th century tune...
with the Ave Maria text...
it is very plainsong-like and even though the music was secular in its' origin...
the 19th century addition of the Ave Maria text to the 15th century music...
is a wonderful match and the choir sings it beautifully...
Reading 7 speaks of the coming birth of the Savior...
this year, as in years past, we used a setting of a James Agee text...
["Knoxville, 1915", the "Sure on this Shining Night" section...]
we have done the haunting Samuel Barber setting in past years...
but last year, and this year also...
we have sung the, absolutely gorgeous setting by Morten Lauridsen...
it has quite a bit of fluid, unison male singing...
and our guys have such a blended, mellow & sweet, yet full, timbre...
very graceful and effortless sounding in their execution...
it's almost as if it was written just for them...
the ladies have some similar passages, which they do very well...
but this one belongs to the guys...
and their artistry puts large smiles on everyone's faces...
then came the final congregational hymn,"Savior of the Nations, Come"...
following the reading of the shepherds going to the manger...
we sang a contemporary arrangement of Holst's setting...
of Christina Rosetti's,"In the Bleak Midwinter"...
where the traditional tune gets some new harmonies...
as well as a dancing keyboard accompaniment...
there are unison sections in this selection also...
and once again, the choir shines in its' blended artistry...
the final reading, "of the great mystery of the incarnation"...
was followed this year, as it was 2 years ago...
by "A Silent, Holy Night"...
the Fetke setting of the traditional "Silent Night" text...
uses a contemporary tune with a lovely flute obbligato...
that is, at times reminiscent of the traditional Grüber tune...
and allows the choir's mastery of the contemporary style...
to be enjoyed by the assembly yet again...
after concluding prayers, we begin our recessional...
singing,"Once in Royal David's City"...
starting with an unaccompanied, treble soloist...
then adding the choir in parts for the 2nd verse...
and finally, as we begin to recess on the 3rd verse...
we add the organ and the congregation...
with a choral descant on the 6th & final verse...
it was a glorious service...
it seems that every year, the choir gets better...
so thanks to Dearest Dragonfly & Fr. Carioca...
who instituted this service several years ago...
and to all the singers...
who put their hearts, talents, efforts and love...
into this service every year...
but especially to the One, who is the reason we sing...
Deo sola gloria...
and so may it ever be...
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