NOW ONLINE – Choral Evensong in a Time of Pandemic – With Prayers and Songs for our Country On the Eve of our Election
VIDEO LINK: https://vimeo.com/474834389
When Thomas Cranmer wrote the original Book of Common Prayer, he combined all of the individual evening prayer services said by monks into one: Evening Prayer. The profound, sacramental poetry of the service immediately attracted composers, and Choral Evensong immediately became a musical art form of the English-speaking world: literally thousands of versions have been composed by major composers, each containing choral settings of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis prayers from the Gospel of Luke. These are powerful songs of redemption, of freedom and release, of God’s blessings, and of relief from poverty. The accompanying sung responses amplify God’s call for social justice, and our worshipful plea for God’s mercy; keeping us safely through the night.
The choral portions of our service began as an All Saints Evensong at St. Peter’s Church in the Great Valley. We have added special music of decidedly different genres, prayers, and songs for God’s mercy, as we ask that our pandemic Passover us this night, and forevermore. And we ask God’s blessings on our country and on all its people on the occasion of our election.
We give special thanks to the Rector and her assistant, to the Music Director, and to the extensive and glorious music program of St. Peter’s in the Great Valley, and to the choir section leaders and members for this magnificent “virtual choir” achievement; and for all that they do for our larger Church. Each member in several steps learned their music and added their voice and video to the recorded accompaniment individually at home using cellphones, tablets, and cameras – and they were all then synchronized into a virtual video choir. Having had to sacrifice the joy of singing together, each member of the choir dedicated themselves to the hard tasks involved in making this work; all to the glory of God. We give thanks to God that they have shared this with us for our worship.
Finally, give great thanks to David, Tess, and Shango for their gifts to us every Sunday and beyond. While they are very careful with safe distancing and masks as they gather in our sanctuary, we recognize that they are taking a risk in their praise of God, and we keep them constantly in our prayers. We are truly blessed with musical excellence, as well as with their courage, again all to the glory of God. electionevensong