And it wasn't for a marriage or funeral ritual. Rather it was for a worshipful one.
Another one of my goals on my UK trip was to hear evensong at Birmingham Cathedral, this place.
I arrived a little early and found St. Philip's (its proper name) to be a gorgeous place. No photography was allowed so here's a snap I found on the interwebs.
The chorus was rehearsing so I anxiously took a seat as more people trickled in. I noticed that one person was looking at a program so I hastily went back to the narthex and found a pile of them. Returning to my seat, I found that evensong was more of service than I expected and I would be standing and sitting at various points. Although a worship service, evensong proved to be mostly choral with only a couple Bible readings and a prayer.
Rehearsal ended and the chorus left the chancel.
They returned ere long with whom I presume was the presbyter as he was not donning a mitre. He took a seat on the right as the chorus took their places in whatever you call the choral benches. There were about 10 of us in attendance.
The singing was heavenly! (Ahem.) Just wonderful. The human voice is the most powerful of instruments. But I don't want to give short shrift to the organ playing which was also great. During one interlude when the grand instrument was going it solo, I saw a throughline from church music to my beloved progressive rock. It was hard not to hear Yes, to hear Rick Wakeman's pipe organ work on "Close to the Edge" in what I was hearing. In addition, it occurred to me that Yes' harmony vocals were not totally unlike the church chorus' singing.
The presbyter read one selection each from the Old and New Testaments and The Lord's Prayer was recited by everyone, including parishioners.
This atheist had a glorious experience at evensong.
No comments:
Post a Comment