A special Evensong

Saint Philip’s Saint Nicholas (youth) Choir, along with members of the Schola Cantorum and Adult Choir, will sing a special commemorative Evensong in memorium for Queen Elizabeth II. The service will begin at 4:15pm with an organ prelude by Dr Jeffrey Campbell.

The service will highlight repertoire featured on the Church of England’s recommendations for such an occasion: Ralph Vaughan Williams’ O taste and see, Edgar Bainton’s And I saw a new heaven,  Herbert Brewer’s Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in D, and the rousing Te Deum in B Flat by Charles Villiers Stanford.

It’s worth pointing out that this commemorative service marks a very natural tendency to honor and give thanks to a person who was the Head of the Church of England—a church to which the Episcopal Church has significant ties historically, and with which it shares a common Ecclesiology, Sacramental life, and Liturgical Traditions. The Evensong is one of the most significant shared liturgical expressions of all, so it is an appropriate service with which to give thanks for the Queen and for that connection the Episcopal Church has to the English church. We do this knowing the Queen was a sinner like us, as well as a representative of deeply flawed institutions.

We hope you will give thanks with us at this choral service. Be prepared for some vigorous singing and plenty of incense. (If you have an allergic reaction to incense, skip this one and watch the livestream.) It will be a beautiful, a solemn, and a joyful space in which to offer prayers and thanksgiving to God for his mercy and grace.

—Justin Appel, Director of Music