100 years of Lessons & Carols

Today is the 100th anniversary of the first Lessons and Carols service at King’s College Cambridge first done in 1918. It also marks the 90th live broadcast by the BBC Home Service (now BBC 4) that was done every year (except 1929) since 1928. It also marked the 37th and final service conducted by music director Stephen Cleobury. (The recording is available until Jan. 23 on the BBC website).

In preparation for this morning, I was reading from a book by William P. Edwards about the service, published in 2004.

History of King’s College Cambridge

Construction of King’s College Cambridge was begun in 1446 by Henry VI (son of Henry V), who reigned until 1471 (when he was murdered by his distant cousin, Edward IV). 

Henry VI took a unique interest in the chapel; according to the college,

Henry drew up detailed instructions for Eton and King's, and at both places his first concern was the chapel. He went to great lengths to ensure that King's College Chapel would be without equal in size and beauty. No other college had a chapel built on such a scale: in fact, the building was modelled on the plan of a cathedral choir, the architect being Henry VI's master mason, Reginald Ely.

The college was not finished until the Tudor kings, Henry VII (grandson of Henry V) and Henry VIII, who oversaw its completion.

The choir was created by scholarship for “poor and needy” boys, with the male singers being local lay clerks. As with all things choral in England, the program deteriorated in the late 18th and early 19th century, until it was re-invigorated with the choral revival sparked by the Oxford Movement.

History of the Service

The 1918 service was adapted from the service begun in 1880 by Edward Benson, Bishop of Truro, late Abp. of Canterbury from 1883 to 1896. It was begun by Rev. Eric Milner-White, whose service as chaplain of KCC was interrupted by service in the British Army from 1914-1918, when he served on the Western Front of World War I.

The 1918 service — published by the Cambridge archives — includes Milner-White’s bidding prayer, inspired by the loss of 199 King’s men who died in the Great War; the prayer, followed by the congregation saying the Lord’s Prayer (“Our father, which art in heaven”), remains to this day. The original service also ended with Hark the Herald Angels Sing, sung by the congregation.

However, the opening hymn — Once in Royal David’s City — did not begin until 1919; the opening first by the pubescent boy soprano is the signature of the service, widely emulated the world over. As last week’s New York Times article helpfully notes, the boy soloist is named by the choir director just before the service begins.

Today three congregation hymns are fixed: Royal David (1 verse by soloist, 1 verse by choir, rest by congregation) and the two closing hymns: O Come, All Ye Faithful and Hark the Herald. The database on the Sinden website shows that in recent years, several hymns are regularly repeated:

• Between the 3rd (Isaiah 9) and 4th (Isaiah 11) Lesson: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen; O Little Town of Bethlehem; It Came Upon a Midnight Clear; Unto Us Is Born a Son
• Between the 7th (Luke 2) and 8th (Matthew 2) Lesson:  God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen; While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks

Only six men have led the choir during the 101 years of broadcasts:

• 1918–1928: Arthur Henry Mann
• 1929–1939,1946-1956: Boris Ord
• 1940–1945: Harold Darke
• 1957–1973: Sir David Willcocks
• 1974–1981: Sir Philip Ledger
• 1982–2018: Stephen Cleobury

This Year’s Service

In this year’s program, the lessons were as in previous years, except (as in 2017 and 1997-2007) the college censored Genesis 3:16 (“Your desire shall be for your husband”) from the opening lesson.

The program promised pieces by all six music directors. From the program, the (sung) music credits are:

• [Hymn] Once in royal: words, C. F. Alexander; melody, H. J. Gauntlett, harmonized Gauntlett and A. H. Mann; descant Stephen Cleobury
• Up good Christen folk: Melody: Piae Cantiones, 1582; words and harmony: G.R. Woodward
• The tree of life my soul hath seen: words: anon, music: Elizabeth Poston
• Adam lay ybounden: words: anon, 15th century; music: Boris Ord
• In dulci jubilo: translated and arranged by Robert de Pearsall
• I saw three ships: arranged by Simon Preston
• In Bethl’em in that fair city: mediaeval, edited by Cleobury
• [Hymn]  Unto us is born a Son: 15th C. Latin transl. G. R. Woodward. Music: Piae Cantiones, arr. David Willcocks
• A spotless rose is blowing: trans. Catherine Winkworth; music: Herbert Howells
• Little Lamb, who made thee: words, William Blake; music: John Tavener
• Seven Joys of Mary: arr. Cleobury
• Bogoróditse Dyevo (Rejoice, O virgin Mary): words, Orthodox liturgy; music: Arvo Pärt§
• What sweeter music can we bring: words: Robbert Herrick; music: John Rutter§
• Stille Nacht: words: Joseph Mohr; music: Franz Gruber, arr. Philip Ledger
• In the bleak midwinter: words Christina Rossetti; music: Harold Darke
• [Hymn] While shepherds watched: words, N. Tate; music, after C. Tye, descant Cleobury
• O mercy divine: words, Charles Wesley; music: Judith Weir§
• Nowell (who is there that singeth so): words, anon; music: William Mathias
• [Hymn] O come all ye faithful: Adeste fideles, transl. Frederick Oakley; descant David Willcocks
• [Hymn] Hark the herald: words, Charles Wesley “et al“; descant uncredited, but the only descant for this tune published by Encore is by Cleobury [as later acknowledged by his retweet]

§ carol commissioned for KCC’s annual service in 1990, 1987, 2018 respectively

Going Forward

Cleobury (who turns 70 a week from today) is retiring next Sept 30. KCC advertised for a new director and in May named Daniel Hyde, a former KCC organ scholar and currently organist and choir director at St Thomas Fifth Avenue, a wealthy Episcopal Church in Manhattan.

What is the future of the service and the choir? In light of claims that the choir is an obstacle to full gender equality, the Guardian [the official paper of the British Left] ominously predicts:

At some point, though, the BBC will come under pressure to rule on the issue, and whether they will be willing to hold the line is a moot point. Traditional practice and gender equality make for discordant partners.

The editorial statement ignores Cleobury’s remarks that gender integration would end the male singing program, a point echoed by Anna Lapwood, music director and conductor of a girl’s choir at Pembroke College, Cambridge.  Both refer to an experiment that showed in a mixed group, after two years all but two of the boys had dropped out — so an integrated choir means, in effect, a girl’s choir. Instead, Lapwood argues that Cambridge needs a full time girls choir so that the best young girls get the same training and experience as the best young boys.

As Cleobury says in the Guardian:

“Boys – certainly in the presence of girls – feel that singing isn’t a cool thing to do,” he says. “But they are the tenors and basses of tomorrow. Neglect them and you won’t have your symphony chorus, so you won’t have your Beethoven Nine or your Missa Solemnis or your Dream of Gerontius being performed.”

It is wonderful that this tradition has survived as long as it has. Hopefully the current dean of King’s College will do his part to make sure that the choir — and the annual service — continue for another century.

Update: In November 2019, a complete recording of this service was released for download or CD purchase

Veni Emmanuel out of sync thanks to Hymnal 1982

Differences between hymnals — either in updates or between dominations — usually cause confusion due to the change in words. Differences in harmony are also widespread, but only impact those who sing parts (in my experience, less than 10% of those in the pews in most churches).

Earlier this week I witnessed a train wreck that I’d never seen before — due to a difference in the melody that everyone sings. Specifically, the congregation at an Anglican church was confused due to a unique change in the meter made by Hymnal 1982 to the oldest — if not the greatest† — Advent hymn of all time: “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”

To cut to the chase, today there are four different meters used for the tune Veni Emmanuel:

1. There is the original version by John Mason Neale and Thomas Helmore in Hymnal Noted, published from 1851-1854.
2. There is the way used by Hymns Ancient & Modern, The English Hymnal, the New English Hymnal, and any CD or YouTube video of English choristers that you might listen to. This also appears to be the way that most American Protestant hymnals do it: I’ve looked at Baptist, Lutheran and Methodist hymnals, and they all match this.
3. There is the version of Hymnal 1940 and its recent update, the REC’s Book of Common Praise 2017.
4. There is the unique version of Hymnal 1982.

At Sunday’s service, the organ and instruments were doing #4, while the choir and most of the congregation (largely ex-Baptist and Methodist) were doing #2 (perhaps some doing #3). After two verses, everyone gave in to the organ, but the confusion was clearly something that any parish would want to avoid.

1. Hymnal Noted

Earlier this year I published an academic article in The Hymn on the impact of Hymnal Noted upon 20th century American hymnody. “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” was the second most popular hymn in the American hymnals, with Neale’s translation credited in 16 of 24 hymnals; four hymnals included the hymn, but used a updated translation (based on Neale’s) that did not credit Neale.†† Here is how I summarized the origins of the text:

Neale translated “Veni Emmanuel” by selecting five daily Advent antiphons that date to the eighth century, compiled in the twelfth century and later published in a 1710 Cologne Latin psalter.  Neale re-ordered the final (Dec. 22) antiphon to be the first verse…

All versions of the hymn used a version of the tune arranged by Helmore. Here is how I summarized the tune:

All of these hymnals use the tune Veni Emmanuel from Volume 2 of HN (Figure 1). It was adapted by Helmore from a French missal discovered by Neale in Portugal, a manuscript that others have been unable to locate. In the 1960s, a parallel fifteenth-century processional from a French nunnery was rediscovered in the National Library in Paris and subsequent discoveries suggest that the tune may have originally been a Franciscan funeral chant.¶ However, the characteristic refrain that begins “Rejoice! Rejoice!” was of Helmore’s own creation.

Here is the first phrase. Note that each phrase of the chant ends with a two-beat note:

2. English Hymnals

The hymn was quickly picked up by Hymns Ancient & Modern, the most influential (and commercially successful) of all Victorian English hymnals. The text was slightly modified, most notably by changing Neale’s “Draw nigh, draw nigh, Emmanuel” to the now-familiar “O come, O come, Emmanuel.”

It was hymn #36 in the original A&M, while the much revised 2nd edition of 1875 lists it as #49. (The same numbering was retained in the 1889, 1916 and 1924 editions). Below is how the first phrase appears in the 1889 edition:

Note that each phrase ends on a three-beat note. Later on, in the refrain Helmore’s original “Rejoice, Rejoice” had 1,1,1,2 beats, while A&M uses 1,3,1,3.

In The English Hymnal (1906), the phrases of hymn #8 are counted as in A&M. The rejoice is counted the same, but the “joice” is listed as a two beat note with a one beat rest. Musically this is different, but for the purposes of congregation singing it would count the same.

Update: I found my copy of New English Hymnal, and Hymn #11 is almost like HN: one beat at the end of the first phrase, and two beats for the final note of 2nd, 3rd, 4th phrases — with the “Rejoice” matching TEH. (1 beat, 2 beat, 1 beat rest). I have recording of this hymn by three English cathedral choirs (King’s College Cambridge, Salisbury, Wells) that usually sing hymns as written in the NEH. In the KCC and Wells, they are clearly singing the NEH words but not rushing through the first phrase as NEH implies.

For this blog posting, I didn’t have a chance to look at all 24 hymnal. However, in the Baptist Hymnal 1991, Baptist Hymnal 2008, The Lutheran Hymnal (1940) and the United Methodist Hymnal (1989), all seem to follow the A&M pattern.

3. Hymnal 1940

In Hymnal 1940, hymn #2 goes back to Helmore’s two beat phrase endings rather than the three beat of the English (and subsequent American Protestant) hymnals:

The two beat pattern is also used on each Rejoice.

I won’t argue it’s morally superior to the English/Methodist/Lutheran approach — it’s just the way we’ve done it. In fact, it doesn’t feel all that different. If were singing from H40 (or BCP17) with an ecumenical audience, I might be inclined to add a breath (lift) after each phrase, to give the visitors a chance to keep up.

The one non-standard change, however. In the Helmore, A&M, TEH, Baptist and other versions of this hymn, the first syllable of “exile” is two beats. H40 changes it to one beat:

I believe that’s why the H40/BCP17 version was not used Sunday, and thus indirectly caused the train wreck.

4. Hymnal 1982

Hymnal 1982 made the most dramatic changes to the hymn of any hymns I’ve seen. Here I’ll respond to the effects of the changes in text and music — the cause of Sunday’s problems — and not to the reasons they chose to do so. 

In updating H40, H82 changed the words here and there (as they loved to do). They also repeat verse 1 as verse 8. In this case, with the words printed in the program, they were not the source of confusion.

For the music, they use a non-standard chant notation — neither modern Western nor the medieval neumes. However, anyone who’s opened H82 has seen it, and it’s easy enough to get used to — certainly easier than Helmore’s notation from Hymnal Noted. (Fortunately, the accompaniment uses conventional notation).

The even number phrases and the Rejoice match Hymnal 1940 by ending on a two-beat note. The extra beat of “exile” is restored from the English originals.

However, the odd number phrases (#1, #3) do not have any extra beat:

Whenever I sang from H82, this always rattled me — if for no other reason than I needed a breath. This certainly is what caused Sunday’s problem — the musicians went on without the choir and the congregation until eventually people figured out what was going on.

Since the very first time I sang it, this part of H82 seemed to be what IT people would call a needless incompatibility. I’m sure the editors had their reasons; to be fair, I would need to consult the Hymnal 1982 Companion, but I don’t have the $600 for this four volume set. And perhaps it makes sense if you’re going to get every ECUSA church in the country to buy your new hymnal (as most denominations try to do to make money). But for our current era of weakened denominational loyalty, today it appears to have been a mistake. For congregations that use H82, it would be more welcoming to add a breath or lift after the odd (or all) phrases to make the hymn more visitor-friendly.

Summary

To avoid problems like this in the future, here’s a summary of the different meters:

• Breaks at the end of the phrase: 2 beats in Hymnal Noted, Hymnal 1940; 3 beats in Hymns A&M, The English Hymnal and (apparently) most modern Protestant U.S. hymnals. Hymnal 1982 does 1 beat for odd phrases, 2 beats for even phrases
• The first syllable of “exile” has an extra beat in every hymnal except Hymnal 1940 (and the similar REC’s Book of Common Praise 2017)
• The refrain “Rejoice, rejoice” has two beats for “joice” in H40/H82/BCP17, while the others have three beats. The original HN only lengthened the second “Rejoice”

References

• J. M. Neale and Thomas Helmore, Hymnal Noted: Parts I & II (London: Novello, 1851, 1856), available at https://books.google.com/books?id=2E3Dya5ON5oC
• J. West, “Neale’s Hymnal Noted and its Impact on Twentieth-Century American Hymnody,” The Hymn, 69, 3 (Summer 2018): 14-24.

Footnotes

† Yes I know the Lutherans would say “Wake, awake, for night is falling” by Philip Nicolai. And obviously many Protestants are partial (as am I) to “Come, thou long expected Jesus”, justifiably the first hymn in my favorite hymnal.

†† The most popular hymn was the Palm Sunday processional “All glory, laud and honour,” found in 22/24 hymnals — excluding only the Southern Baptist The Broadman Hymnal (1940) and The Lutheran Hymnary (1913)
¶ See Mother Thomas More, “O Come O Come, Emmanuel,” The Musical Times 107, no. 1483 (Sept. 1966): 772; C. E. Pocknee, “Veni, veni, Emmanuel,” Bulletin of the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland 118 (Spring 1970): 65-69; Chris Fenner, “VENI EMMANUEL and its Manuscript Sources,” THE HYMN 65, no. 1 (2014): 21-26.

Unparalleled Lessons & Carols resource

In doing background research for the Lessons & Carols service at my daughter’s church, I found a unique resource: a website with a database of various Lessons & Carols services:

spreadsheets - carol service, FAQ

Frequently asked questions about Sinden.org's Carol Service Spreadsheets

• A Service for Advent with Carols from St. John's College, Cambridge, England
• A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College, Cambridge, England

Compiled by by Episcopal Church organist David Sinden, the website includes links to Google spreadsheets with

• Advent services from 2004-2018 (including last Sunday’s broadcast) from St. John’s College
• Christmas Eve BBC radio services from 1997-2018 (and various services from 1918-1991) from King’s College (not to be confused with the TV broadcast)

The Scripture lessons for SJC are more specific than for KCC. However, the hymns, anthems and the voluntary (postludes) appear to be complete for both. For example, the SJC Advent service always includes these four congregational carols:

1. O come, O come, Emmanuel
2. Come, thou long-expected Jesus
3. On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry
4. Lo! he comes clouds descending

Similarly, in the past 20 years, KCC has always performed

• Once in Royal David’s City
• (nine lessons and various musical pieces)
• O Come All ye Faithful
• Hark! the herald-angels sing

The databases don’t seem to list the tune. Perhaps some of that is redundant: globally, “Lo! he comes” has at least three commonly used tunes,  but I’m guessing the English choirs always use Helmsley (as does their bible, the New English Hymnal). We also know that unlike this side of the Atlantic, the English never use St. Louis when they sing “O Little town of Bethlehem.”

For KCC, it does distinguish how the choir has alternated between the Ord, Ledger, Warlock and (recently) Howard versions of “Adam lay ybounden.” Overall, it provides an extremely valuable resource for anyone planning an Anglican Lessons & Carols service.

George Bush's Houston Funeral

If Wednesday’s state funeral was a quasi-government event and (consistent with other presidents) a nationally televised spectacle, it appears that today’s invitation-only service for President Bush in Houston was a cross between a traditional funeral service (at a 1500-seat Gothic-style church) and a country music concert.

The service at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church — the largest by membership of any in North America — was officiated by Rev. Dr. Russell Levenson, Jr. The rector of SMEC since 2007, Levenson also officiated the service for Barbara Bush held here on April 21, and gave the homily at President Bush's D.C. funeral yesterday.

The program is posted to the church website and summarized on the ATWNews site. Among other TV stations, the funeral was broadcast live on the website of Houston station CW69 (and also available on C-SPAN).

Funeral Music

While the D.C. funeral was Rite II, today’s Houston funeral was Rite I. Below is a summary of the music by the congregation and the St. Martin’s choir; as with other SMEC service booklets, the full hymns with harmony are included in the appendices. The worship music comprised

• Preludes
• Brass voluntary: “America the Beautiful”
• “O Beautiful for Spacious Skies” (H82: 719)
• Anthem: “This is my Country” (choir)
• Lessons: Psalm 23, 1 Cor 12:31-13:13, John 11:21-27
• Sequence Hymn: “Eternal Father, Strong to Save”: rather than the H40 or H82 version, this is the version from Baptist Hymnal 1991 (“Eternal father, strong to save, Whose arm doth bind the restless wave”)
• Anthem: “Battle Hymn of the Republic” (choir)
• Recession Hymn: “Onward, Christian Soldiers” (H82: 562), announced by Fr. Levenson to be one of the late president’s favorites
• Organ and Brass Voluntary: Widor “Toccata”

I’ve twice attended services at St. Martin’s and even under normal circumstances the choir is impressive as their voices echo through the resonant spaces of the poured-concrete Gothic structure. However, today’s augmented choir (which appeared to more than 50) must have offered an unmatched experience for those attending. I thought the choir’s talents were best demonstrated in the Battle Hymn, with an arrangement that separated the men and women’s choir and included an a capella verse.

While the front of the church was filled with VIPs, it appeared as though in the back rows of the parish were filled with parishioners who opened their 12-page booklets and sang the closing hymn. At least among those in the front rows, nobody crossed themselves during the Apostle’s Creed (in a normal service, my experience was 5-10%).

The Concert

During the middle of the service, there was a country-western music concert by some of the late president’s favorite entertainers. Having been on funeral standby for weeks, The Oak Ridge Boys sang three voices of “Amazing Grace”, as they had for the president’s 1989 inauguration and several other occasions. However, at ages 70,75,75,and 79 (rather than in their 40s), their singing was not what it used to be.

This was followed by Reba McEntire singing a version of the Lord’s Prayer. She paced across the stage chancel while singing.

My daughter and I were surprised to see the scattered applause after the first performance (including by Jeb Bush). The decision by some to applaud seemed to give permission for everyone (including former president Bush-43) to applaud the second performance. The later choir performances were also applauded.

Heading to the Burial

When the service was over, the casket was taken outside and loaded into the hearse while the family and a select group of St. Martin’s clergy participated in the final part of the service.

The military band played the customary flourishes and Hail to the Chief. Then it played Lobe den Herren, the tune for the Lutheran hymn “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!” by Joachim Neander.

The former president was buried at his library at Texas A&M. When the service was ended, the casket was loaded into a hearse to take it to a special Union Pacific train traveling from Houston to College Station.

Remember our last Episcopalian president

Today was the first of two funerals for George H.W. Bush (1924-2018), the 41st president whose term of office ran from 1989-1993. He was the last surviving World War II veteran to serve as president or vice president.

The 26 page service booklet for the funeral was posted by the National Cathedral and is also available here. Their 3:26 video is on YouTube while C-SPAN has a 2:26 video as well. (When the casket is being carried into the cathedral, the US Coast Guard band plays “For all the saints” at 15 minutes into C-SPAN and 1:14 into the cathedral video.) The latter has some interesting preludes (by the head organist of a Dallas Episcopal church) but the military orchestra and chorus spent more than 40 minutes on pieces that (other than America the Beautiful at the very end) I didn’t recognize.

Funeral Hymns

The liturgy was “Burial II” from the 1979 prayer book. The psalm was omitted, while the Scripture readings (from the NRSV) were Isaiah 60:1-5,18-20 and Revelation 20:1-4,6-7,23-25 (read by granddaughters) and Matthew 5:14-16 (read by the cathedral dean). The homily was by Bush's rector, Rev. Russell Levenson, Jr., who officiated the April funeral service in Houston for Barbara Bush.

It’s difficult to characterize a three hour service, so let me list the hymns:

• "Praise my soul, the King of heaven,” 4 verses sung (in harmony) by the congregation, cathedral choir and Armed Forces Chorus
• After the first lesson, “The King of love my shepherd is,” 6 verses by cathedral choir
• Gospel hymn: “O god, our help in ages past,” 6 verses by military choir
• Lord’s Prayer: the two choirs and Irish tenor Ronan Tynan
• Before the commendation: “Eternal Father,” (the Navy version) 4 verses by the military choir for Mr. Bush (LTJG, USN, 1942-1945)
• After the dismissal: “For all the saints,” 8 verses (unison) by all

CCM pop star Michael W. Smith also did a solo (backed by both choirs) of one of his pieces (“Friends”).

The Bush family sat on one side and the former presidents on another. During “Praise my soul,” Pres. Clinton sang the most enthusiastically, Pres. Obama next, and Mrs. Clinton sang portions; the video suggested that neither of the Carters (ages 94, 91) and the Trumps attempted to sing, nor did Mrs. Obama. On the Bush side, almost all of the children and grandchildren seemed to be singing (and some of the in-laws).

Monday's Ceremony

As is normal for a former president, Bush’s casket lay in state at the Capitol Rotunda before the funeral. When watching the ceremony Monday afternoon for the arrival of the casket, I heard three hymns played by the military band:

• 4:28pm EST: The Navy hymn (while waiting for the casket to arrive)
• 4:50pm EST: after Hail to the chief, the band alternated between the hymns “Fairest, Lord Jesus” and “A mighty fortress is our God” as the casket was carried up the steps

Since the latter is Martin Luther’s most famous hymn, I tend to associate it with Lutherans but I keep running into other Protestants who admire its statement of the Christian doctrine.

Update (Friday Dec 7): Bush's Pastor Describes His Faith

There were two GetReligion stories on Thursday and Friday by (and a Issues Etc. interview with) former Episcopalian GR editor Terry Mattingly, who quoted two reports on the sermon by Rev. Levenson. The first story points to a report by the New York Times which said

“My hunch is heaven, as perfect as it must be, just got a bit kinder and gentler,” the Rev. Dr. Russell J. Levenson Jr., rector of St. Martin’s, said on Wednesday in his homily. Turning to the coffin, he said: “Mr. President, mission complete. Well done, good and faithful servant. Welcome to your eternal home, where ceiling and visibility are unlimited and life goes on forever.”

When the casket arrived at the Rotunda Monday, I heard Vice President Pence explain that “ceiling and visibility unlimited” was a favorite phrase of the former naval aviator.

The later story quotes a Religion News Service story that says about the late president what any Christian would hope could be said about them

The Rev. Russell Levenson Jr., rector of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, said the elder Bush made Levenson’s job as his pastor for almost a dozen years an easy one because of the late president’s concern more for others than for himself.

“Jesus Christ, for George Bush, was at the heart of his faith, but his was a deep faith, a generous faith, a simple faith in the best sense of the word,” said Levenson in his homily. “He knew and lived Jesus’ two greatest commandments: to love God and to love your neighbor.”

Legacies of the English State Church

This state funeral was unusual in that it was for an Episcopalian at the cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. The National Cathedral also host state funerals for other Christians, as it did with the 2004 funeral for Ronald Reagan (a Presbyterian) — just as Westminster Abbey did a 2013 state funeral for Lady Thatcher (a Methodist).

Bush was the last living Episcopalian president, marking the end of a run of 11 Episcopalian presidents out of the first 41. Three were founding fathers, five were among the 13 presidents from 1841-1885, and Bush was the last of the three in 20th century (that included F.D. Roosevelt and Gerald Ford).

When will the next Episcopalian become president? One proxy is the U.S. senate.

As the DC saying goes, “every senator thinks they should be president” (although in the past century, only Harding, Kennedy and Obama were senators when elected president). In today’s senate, there are only four Episcopalians (all Democrats), outnumbered by Lutherans and Mormons (6), Jews (7), Methodists and Baptists (11), Presbyterians (16) and Catholics (24). According to Wikipedia (and we all know how true it is),  Catholics are 21% of the country and Baptists 15%. The senators most visibly preening for a presidential run in 2020 or 2024 seem to be Baptist or Catholic.

I don’t expect to see another Episcopalian president in the next 30 years, as their influence has fallen dramatically. Some of it is the dilution of the English influence on America with generations of immigration; some is the shift of the American aristocracy from inherited status and wealth to one based on education. Some of it reflects the declining membership of mainline Protestantism, and Christianity more generally.

After G.H.W. Bush, there don’t seem to be a lot of prominent Republican officials who are Episcopalian. His eldest son, George W. (aka “Bush 43”) was raised Episcopalian, fell away from the church and later became a Methodist; second son, former governor and 2016 presidential candidate Jeb Bush converted to Catholicism in 1995.

As for Anglicans, 2016 presidential candidate John Kasich (governor of Ohio from 2011-2019) was raised Catholic, previously Episcopalian, and most recently reported to be attending an ACNA church. However, he would have to be considered a longshot candidate for president unless (like Bush, Ford, Nixon, Johnson, Truman, Coolidge) he was elected vice president first.

Advent Lessons & Carols in Cambridge

The Chapel of St. John’s College at Cambridge University is broadcasting its Advent Lessons & Carols service today at 3pm GMT on the BBC series of Choral Evensong. The 90 minute service was recorded during worship Nov 27 and 28.

Less well known than its sister King’s College Cambridge, the SJC choir dates to 1670 and sings the daily offices every day but Monday in the chapel.

This Year's Service at St. John’s, Cambridge

Here is the program announced on the BBC website (also available as a PDF on the SJC choir website):

Carol: Adam lay ybounden (Ord)†
Processional Hymn: O come, O come, Emmanuel! (Veni Emmanuel) (descant: David Hill)†
Bidding Prayer
Carol: E’en so, Lord Jesus, quickly come (Manz)

I The Message of Advent
Sentence and Collect
Antiphons: O Sapientia and O Adonai
First lesson: Isaiah 11 vv.1-5
Carol: Tomorrow shall be my dancing day (James Burton)†
Second lesson: 1 Thessalonians 5 vv.1-11
Sacred Song: Einklang (Wolf)

II The Word of God
Sentence and Collect
Antiphons: O Radix Jesse and O Clavis David
Aria: Ach, so lass von mir dich finden, TVWV 1:1657a (Telemann)
Third lesson: Micah 4 vv.1-4
Carol: The Linden Tree Carol (Trad, arr. Jacques)†
Fourth lesson: Luke 4 vv.14-21
Hymn: Come, thou long-expected Jesus (Cross of Jesus) (descant: Christopher Robinson)

III The Prophetic Call
Sentence and Collect
Antiphons: O Oriens and O Rex Gentium
Carol: A Prayer to St John the Baptist (Cecilia McDowall)
Fifth lesson: Malachi 3 vv.1-7
Carol: Vox clara ecce intonat (Gabriel Jackson)
Sixth lesson: Matthew 3 vv.1-11
Hymn: On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry (Winchester New) (descant: Christopher Robinson)

IV The God-Bearer 
Sentence and Collect
Antiphon: O Emmanuel
Carol: There is no rose (Elizabeth Maconchy)†
Seventh lesson: Luke 1 vv.39-49
Carol: Bogoroditse Dyevo (Arvo Part)
Carol: A Spotless Rose (Howells)†
Magnificat: Watson in E
Eighth lesson: John 3 vv.1-8
Sentence and Christmas Collect
Carol: Noe, noe (David Bednall)
Hymn: Lo! he comes with clouds descending (Helmsley) (descant: Christopher Robinson)
College Prayer and Blessing
Organ Voluntary: Chorale Prelude on ‘Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland’, BWV 661 (Bach)

As there are Nike and Adidas teams, this is not an Oxford Book of Descants choir — no Cleobury (or even Willcox) descants here. Instead, three of the four descants are by Christopher Robinson, editor of the Novello Book of Descants.

Advent: Not Just a Christmas Prequel

Many music directors and churchgoers know the KCC Christmas Eve service, broadcast annually on the BBC. It list of lessons are codified in the 2007 book on the KCC tradition, and least four other published books.

Instead, SJC is doing its Lessons & Carols on Advent 1. Right now I'm helping support my daughter’s church planning an Advent L&C service, so I'm becoming more aware of the differences, which include:

• Different lessons: only one lesson overlaps the KCC (Isa 11:1). One could argue that the John the Baptist (Matt 3) is equivalent to one of the OT lessons at KCC, but clearly these lessons downplay the “baby Jesus is coming” and add the “Christ will come again” eschatological sense of Advent.
• Different music: no baby Jesus songs, lots more Advent songs (4 explicitly about Jesus coming). Of the 14 carols or hymns, only 5 overlap (according to my files) the KCC choices from 1997-2017

IMHO a service on Advent 4 (particularly the evening of Dec 23, as in this year) would be almost indistinguishable from Christmas Eve. For their (our) Advent 3 service, there isn’t baby Jesus — except that (in a nod to the KCC tradition) they are opening with “Once in Royal David’s City.” (I’d argue this choice is more defensible than other Christmast hymns, because this one is clearly in the past tense, while “Hark the Herald Angels” and others are in the present tense.)

References

William Pearson Edwards, The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols: As Celebrated on Christmas Eve in the Chapel of King's College, Cambridge (Rizzoli International, 2007)

Julian Elloway, ed., The Oxford Book of Descants (Oxford: Oxford, 2012)

Christopher Robinson, ed., The Novello Book of Descants (London: Novello, 2007)