Another Advent concert

The Advent Wreath at St. Matthew's
(see the Cardinal's throne behind the pink candle?)



A Festival of Lessons and Carols for the Season of Advent
Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle, Washington, District of Columbia


Opening hymn: "Once in Royal David's City" (congregation joining for third verse)

First Lesson: Genesis 3:9-15
Choir Carol: "Of the Father's Love Begotten," arranged by Thomas Howe

Second Lesson: Isaiah 40:1-8
Choir Carol: "Watchman, Tell Us of the Night," arranged by Christopher Bush

Third Lesson: Jeremiah 23:5-6
Hymn: "O Come, O Come Emmanuel"

Fourth Lesson: Zechariah 9:9-10
Choir Carol: "Lo in the Time Appointed," by Healey Willan

Fifth Lesson: Haggai 2:6-9
Choir Carol: "Come, My Way, My Truth, My Life," by Harold Friedell

Sixth Lesson: Isaiah 35:1-6
Hymn: "O Come, Divine Messiah"

Seventh Lesson: Isaiah 2:1-5
Choir Carol: "E'en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come" by Paul Manz

Eighth Lesson: Romans 8:28-39
Choir Carol: "Gabriel's Message," arranged by Gerard Chiusano

Gospel (Ninth Lesson): Luke 1:26-35, 38
Choir Carol: "Joys Seven," arranged by Stephen Cleobury

Hymn: "People, Look East"
(An organ postlude was played, but unidentified)

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The High Altar at St. Matthew's


Last night I ventured out to hear the 32-voice Festival Singers (the special occasion volunteer group) at St. Matthew's Cathedral sing an Advent Lessons and Carols services, and what a pleasant and enjoyable surprise it was! There was a good audience as well, with the 850 seat nave comfortably occupied, though not packed in, and noone had to sit in the two big aisle chapels (another 400 seats or so).

When singing, the choir stood on the sanctuary steps in front of the altar, facing the congregation. All but the last two anthems were sung a capella, and they made a glorious sound in the extremely reverberant marble cathedral. I was quite impressed with the diction and pitch of this volunteer group, and they seemed quite responsive to the direction of conductor William Culverhouse.

The service opened à la King's College with an unaccompanied solo choir boy singing the first verse of "Once in Royal David's City," although they did this from the front rather than in procession. Where did they get this boy? He was wonderful, singing loudly and clearly, maintaining his pitch to match when the organ joined for the second verse with choir. While the solo boy was not credited in the program, it appears that he might be "Éamon Boylan, guest soloist." He also got to sing the introductory solo for the Cleobury "Joys Seven" at the end of the service.

Readers for the service included the D.C. Fire Chief and the Lieutenant Governor of the State of Maryland. They also played up the "ahh factor," with two little girls who were just precious. Officiant for the service was the rector of the cathedral, attired in a startlingly magenta cope.

The congregation seemed involved, though it was clear they only knew the first two hymns ("Once in Royal" and "O Come Emmanuel"), but didn't know at all the final two hymns ("O Come Divine Messiah" and "People Look East"), but such is the bane of post-Vatican II American Catholic music performance practice. They chose to sing only three verses of each hymn. The only thing I didn't like about the evening was a matter of staging: the choir was moved back and forth from their singing position in front of the altar to rows of seats on the left side of the sanctuary for every single song, and it seemed all we did was watch the choir walk. As the service was only an hour long, I would have kept the choir standing in place or else arranged risers or chairs for them in front of the altar, rather than move them around. The seminarian (who had some unfortunate mutton chop sideburns) serving as liturgical master of ceremonies kept the readers from mounting the full flight of steps to the pulpit until the choir was back in their chairs, which I thought was an unnecessary delay, but Catholic clergy are fond of mandatory "meditation" periods (dead space) during services, so perhaps he thought we were using the choir and reader walking times to say our rosaries or something instead of watching the movement.