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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Doing Non-choral evensong well
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scuffleball
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# 16480
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Posted
With reference to this post -
http://forum.ship-of-fools.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=70;t=011036
As I see it, there seem to be two attitudes to doing non-choral evensong in the Church of England.
The first is to do it with plainsong, and the second is to use the "ferial responses" and sing the canticles to anglican chant. I think plainsong can work very well indeed without a choir if you have one or two people who can keep it in pitch, and I feel a bit disappointed that some churches seem to feel the need to make plainsong choir-only (these tend to be those that do plainsong only for compline).
A friend of mine (not on this chatroom) said anglican chant was too difficult for people not in the choir to sing. I went to a non-choral evensong at St Giles Oxford, and it felt very much as though this might have been the normal sort of service in the Church of England at the end of WWII or so. Anyhow the people's mouths seemed to be moving during the psalm and canticles and responses but it was very difficult to tell whether they were singing or not because they sounded very bored and unenthusiastic, or indeed whether it was the custom there for the congregation to sing those things. I have also noted that there are congregational editions of the Parish Psalter.
I have never seen non-choral evensong done with anglican chant and ferial responses without there being a (albeit sometimes small) choir and organist. I heard vespers from an RC church broadcast in Radio 3's evensong slot, and there even the plainsong was assisted by organ (to stop it dropping?) which to me sounded very odd. At the aforementioned service at St Giles Oxf, the organist, did some strange improvisations during the ferial responses that were really discordant.
St Giles Oxford has a book called the "Oxford psalter" (emphatically no that has all the psalms and canticles pointed for anglican chant, but none of the music itself. It also has a funny system for singing the BCP litany that I'd probably have to look at more closely to get my head around. Does anyone know whether this book is
• in copyright
• out of print?
(Books that are both are annoying I suppose)
So what works well for non-choral evensong?
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SPK: I also plan to create ... a Calvinist Ordinariate
ken: I thought it was called Taize?
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Fr Weber
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# 13472
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Posted
Anglican chant requires at least an organ, if not a 4-part choir, to fill out the harmony; otherwise, it's a trivial little tune with no accompaniment.
Of course, the Gregorian or Sarum tones for the psalms & canticles can sound trivial too. But they are designed to be sung unaccompanied, and they have the advantage of 8 different tones/modes where Anglican chant typically only has two (major & minor).
Most of the time when I am officiating at Evensong (or Mattins, for that matter) there isn't even an organist, let alone a choir. I have found Briggs & Frere's Manual of Plainchant for Divine Service to be very helpful, as it contains tones and pointing for each psalm and canticle (the canticles are given in all 8 tones, some of them with the solemnior tones as a bonus), as well as settings for the Ordinary of the Mass and other chants. An extremely useful little book!
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"The Eucharist is not a play, and you're not Jesus."
--Sr Theresa Koernke, IHM
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Bishops Finger
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# 5430
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Posted
I have attended Evensong where they used Briggs & Frere, and found it quite easy to use/follow (though they did have the benefit of a very small but very competent mixed choir).
We often use the plainsong settings for the Office Hymn (and the usual Benediction hymns), but have not so far made any headway with using plainsong for the Mag and Nunc on a regular basis. Our monthly Evensnog this year has sometimes given way to other services......
Ian J.
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Liturgylover
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# 15711
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Posted
St Mary Bourne St. is the only church in this neck of the woods (as far as I know) that does non-choral Evensong with the office hymn, Psalm, and Canticles sung to plainchant, ending with the seasonal Marian hymn, and then on to Benediction.
Elsewhere in North London it's either fully choral, or sung congregationally (supported by a small choir) to Anglican chant.
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scuffleball
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# 16480
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Liturgylover:
St Mary Bourne St. is the only church in this neck of the woods (as far as I know) that does non-choral Evensong with the office hymn, Psalm, and Canticles sung to plainchant, ending with the seasonal Marian hymn, and then on to Benediction.
Elsewhere in North London it's either fully choral, or sung congregationally (supported by a small choir) to Anglican chant.
What is the office hymn, in the anglican tradition?
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SPK: I also plan to create ... a Calvinist Ordinariate
ken: I thought it was called Taize?
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Liturgylover
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# 15711
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by scuffleball:
What is the office hymn, in the anglican tradition?
I think they use the ones listed in the New English Hymnal (which is the hymn book also used there for High Mass.) At the moment O Blest Creator of the light is printed in the seasonal Trinity to Advent booklet, as is the Salve Regina - the Psalm is printed separately each week with the plainsong tone. There is also a hymn at the end of Evensong before Benediction begins. I think the Tantum Ergo and O Salutaris are sung congregationally to different tunes each week (some of which might include plainsong)
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IfUCanTalkUCanSing
Apprentice
# 17367
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Fr Weber:
Anglican chant requires at least an organ, if not a 4-part choir, to fill out the harmony; otherwise, it's a trivial little tune with no accompaniment.
Anglican chant is choral piece; I have no idea why one wd say it needs an organ if people can sing in parts.
Even without harmony I think it is usable. The melodies are quite singable and if that encourages congregational participation, then amen hallelujah!
Posts: 3 | From: Oakland | Registered: Oct 2012
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Angloid
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# 159
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by scuffleball:
What is the office hymn, in the anglican tradition?
Interesting question. It may be that the reason no office hymns appeared in the BCP, apart from Cranmer's desire to simplify, was his (or any of his colleagues') inability to write, or translate into, English verse as opposed to prose. The mediaeval, and current Roman Catholic, breviary contained metrical hymns which were prescribed by the liturgy, dating from the earliest years onwards. Some of those for saints' days would have been ruled out by Cranmer on doctrinal grounds, but otherwise there was no reason except the above for their omission.
The Tractarian revivals renewed an interest in all sorts of hymns and many of the old office hymns were translated by such as J M Neale. It was natural that people sought to use them in the same way as they used to be; as a fixed liturgical element in the office. Hence their appearance in the English Hymnal, clearly designated as 'office hymns' and set to the old plainsong tunes, and treated differently from all the other hymns which were used as we use them today, as devotional 'fillers' before and after the office or to cover the action in the eucharist.
More recently there has been a blurring of the distinction between office hymns and others, partly encouraged by the modern Roman breviary which has suggested alternatives (some poems as well as more modern hymns). It does make sense to set the tone and theme of the office by singing a liturgically appropriate hymn near the beginning. This is now the accepted place for the office hymn (after the opening responses); previously at Evensong, and still today in some places, it was sung just before the Magnificat for some obscure reason.
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Brian: You're all individuals!
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bib
Shipmate
# 13074
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Posted
I once played the organ in a small parish church with no choir. The congregation liked to sing and we managed canticles etc by using the same tunes each time. In that way there was no need for anyone to have to learn music settings and it was great to feel the congregation's participation. We managed both Choral Mattins and Evensong in this way.
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"My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End, accept the praise I bring"
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Amos
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# 44
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Posted
My shack is one of those that sing the Office Hymn before the Magnificat for some obscure reason.
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At the end of the day we face our Maker alongside Jesus--ken
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Angloid
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# 159
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Posted
Any idea what that obscure reason is, Amos?
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Olaf
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# 11804
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Amos:
My shack is one of those that sing the Office Hymn before the Magnificat for some obscure reason.
It does fall in that position in some or other breviary. Is it the Monastic Diurnal, perhaps? (I don't have them handy.)
Posts: 8953 | From: Ad Midwestem | Registered: Sep 2006
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leo
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# 1458
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Amos:
My shack is one of those that sing the Office Hymn before the Magnificat for some obscure reason.
Having the office hymn at that point gives the thurifer some time to stoke up.
But the proper place is before the psalmody, to set it in a Christological context.
[ 11. October 2012, 10:33: Message edited by: leo ]
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