A LATE CHRISTMAS GIFT

I ought to explain to my six or so faithful readers, that the blogs I write are not like a diary. They are written at various times and not necessarily posted in order. This one is being written January 11, for example, but I know it won't be posted until the end of January. As a result, the subject matter can seem somewhat out of date.

Maybe you can tell from these blogs that I really love Christmas. I usually look forward to taking several days off following the Christmas eve celebration to recover from the preparation and enjoy the season. This year with Christmas falling on Sunday, Advent was shortened by a week, and I couldn't get things ready for the days following. Hence, I only got one day off following Christmas, December 26 St. Stephen's Day, or Boxing Day as it is called in England, which is usually observed as a holiday there.

Deprived of my extra days off, I tried to extend by holiday season a little past Epiphany (January 6) even though I had packed up all the decorations and, worse yet, had again started on the low-fat, low-carb diet my physician insists on for me. I decided I deserved a special treat as compensation, so I ordered two DVDs I have been wanting for several years, "Carols from Kings" and "Anthems for Kings." The "Kings" in both cases refer to King's College, Cambridge. Endowed by King Henry VI there have been boy choristers singing there since the fifteenth century joined by adult male choral scholars. The most famous service of the choir is the service of Nine Lessons and Carols held every Christmas Eve and broadcast throughout the world.

I have listened to recordings of the choir for forty years now and some years catch the BBC broadcast in the U.S. which starts in the morning of Christmas Eve. Although I have attended Carol Services in this country many times, I never had the opportunity to see the televised version from Cambridge. With my new DVD I now have the opportunity to see the 2000 version of the service with the choir under the direction of Stephen Cleobury.

On a cold (for Florida) January evening I settled down to watch sipping a mug of steaming no-fat, no sugar added hot cocoa. It's a magnificent program. This is the first recording in surround sound which gives some impression of wonderful acoustics. It's visually wonderful, also. There are tremendous shots of the fan-vaulted ceiling of the chapel as well as of the choir.

The first Carol is always "Once in Royal David's City" sung unaccompanied by one of the boys. I have learned that it is the practice that four boys are prepared to sing the solo, but only at the last minute the director indicates who will sing. The youngster does a great job on this recording, without flaw. As I watch the video, I wondered why the choir was standing in the front of the chapel, before the altar with it's glorious altar piece, "The Adoration of the Magi" by Rubens. From everything I had read, the choir processed from the ante-chapel behind the organ screen and into the chapel. They were at the wrong end! And then when the first lesson was read, I was even more astounded. It was the wrong lesson. Had some one fooled with tradition and changed things? It was only later listening to an interview of the past three directors of the choir that I learned that in addition to the official service, the choir performs another one with different music for a televised version. My goodness! There are 25 carols in this recording. The boys have to learn a tremendous amount of music in addition to what they sign for the daily services in the chapel and special concerts.

An added feature of this DVD is the inclusion of a film of part of the festival of lessons and carols done in 1954 when Boris Ord was director. It’s black and white, of course, and the sound is below par, but it is a nice bonus. Ord directed the choir from 1928 to 1957 so this was near the end of his tenure. He directed, as was the custom then, with one finger tapping on the choir stall. The performance of “One in David’s Royal City” was almost painful to watch as his directing had almost nothing to do with what the boy was singing and I learned from an interview with David Wilcocks that Ord would hum the pitch for the singer in a rather indefinite tone, so the singer had to pull the pitch out of the air and ignore the directing which would have been no help at all. Well, the real work in a performance in the rehearsing, and Ord must have worked the singers hard to achieve the quality they did produce.

I suppose if I were more “blog literate” I would know how to include some recorded samples of the music, but I haven’t a clue how to do that. The best I can do is the pictures of the chapel, the choir, and the boys in their extraordinary top hats.

How wonderful it is to hear youngsters doing such professional work. Today fewer and fewer people are actually learning to perform music. Schools cut the music programs as economy measures depriving the students of the opportunity for learning about music and performing. And churches are no better. The day when a large church had three or four children’s choirs is gone. Even a small church like the one I grew up in had a choir for children and another one for teens. I loved singing and still consider my short time directing both an adult and a children’s choir one of the high points in my life. I’ll never forget the Christmas I had the children playing assorted instruments–piano, chimes, triangle, finger cymbals, and tambourine–to accompany the adults. The congregation had never heard anything like it. Someone even started to applaud. What joy there is in making music. I can't imagine being without it.

"Be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:18-20).

May you travel your journey with music in your ears and on your lips and in your heart.
And may the Lord God bless you on your way and greet you on your arrival.

Wayne