Understanding the Prayer Book Tradition
and what it means to be Episcopal and Anglican.

Above
"Children of the choir of Westminster in number 8;
the sergeant porter; the sergeant of the vestry;
children of his Majesty Chapel Royal, in number twelve at the
coronation of King James II

public domain by courtesy of the


In Quires

and

Places where they sing...



At a time when many choirs have been unable to sing
and when the very survival
of the historic choral tradition in Anglicanism
may now be in danger,
(See the article in The Times of London this last week "Good riddance to insanely expensive cathedral choirs" in which the author wrote: "The crisis is a great opportunity for radical change. Of course, our cathedral choirs are amazing. So they should be, given the insane expense of maintaining them. But the whole tradition is completely desiccated.” ny Benedict King


it was a great pleasure to have welcomed

our 2000th listener

this last week to the
Choral Evensongs with Sermon
and
Reflections

which the
Prayer Book Society USA
has carried and promoted since the pandemic
first caused widespread lockdowns


These have been prepared with much gratitude and in association with the Church of the Advent in Boston and its sound Archive
and the Grosvenor Chapel of Mayfair in London and its choir.

Despite the current peril, the vibrancy of the tradition is well attested by the long running BBC broadcasts of Choral Evensong which go back to October 1926 and down to this day and they command a listening audience of 250,000 or more.


The PBS USA is keen to sustain our Anglican choral tradition with its deep roots in the Book of Common Prayer
and hopes to add additional churches and choirs in future webcasts

Some of our most recent webcasts are presented below
together with links to the audio files available on Soundcloud


AM-R
Evensong with Sermon
on the occasion of
the Commemoration of
John Keble


Officiant and preacher: The Revd. Canon Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff
For the Grosvenor Chapel, 
in the Parish of Mayfair, London,

Organ Prelude: the conclusion of the Prelude in F Major, Op 85 '4 by Max Reger (1873 – 1916) Präludien und Fugen für die Orgel no. 2, played by Peter Bayer,
Opening Anthem*: Locus iste by Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
sung by the Choir of the Grosvenor Chapel (each part recorded remotely and subsequently re-mixed in ensemble).

Preces and Responses*: Wlliam Smith of Durham (1603-1645)

Psalm 103 Benedic, anima mea, to a setting composed by Lt-Col (in the Royal Horse Guards) John Lemon, M.P. for Truro in Cornwall (1754-1814).
The Lessons: Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 Matthew 5:1-12
Magnificat and Nunc dimittis*, 
The Gloucester Service, (1946) by Herbert Howells, CBE, C.H. (1892 –1983)
The Anthem*, 
Hail Gladdening Light – as translated by John Keble (see below) from the Φως ιλαρον

Choral Evensong with Sermon
upon the occasion
of the Commemoration
of Bishop Jeremy Taylor

for the The Grosvenor Chapel
in the Parish of Mayfair.


Officiant and Preacher: 
The Revd. Canon Alistair
Macdonald-Radcliff

Prelude: the Corrente from Bach’s Cello Suite no. 1 in G major_BWV 1007, transcribed for the Viola, performed by Daniel Orsen; 

Preces and Responses, Radcliffe, 
Psalm 139:1–9, Domine, probasti, 
The Canticles , Howells, St Paul’s Service, 
the anthem: by Paulus: Hymn to the Eternal Flame,
Postlude:
J.S. Bach, In dir ist Freude, BWV 615

The music heard here is from the sound archive of the professional Choir of the Church of the Advent in Boston under the direction of Mark Dwyer The Director of Music with Mr Jeremy Bruns assisting and is used here by kind permission of the Rector, The Revd. Fr. Douglas Anderson
Evensong On the occasion of 
The Commemoration of J.M. Neale, 
7th August, 2020
for the Grosvenor Chapel, Mayfair



Officiant and Preacher,
The Revd. Canon
Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff

Opening Hymn: Of the Father’s Love Begotten Divinum mysterium / arr David Willcocks (1919-2015) 
Translated by J.M. Neale

Psalm 37:3-9, sung to the chant by Ivor Algernon Atkins (1869-1953) 

Magnificat 
and 
Nunc Dimittis 
from the Mt St Alban Service, 
H. David Hogan (1949-1996)

Anthem:
And the glory of the Lord (Messiah)- George Frederick Handel (1685–1759)

Postlude: Paean (1940) by Herbert Howells, 
played by Katelyn Emerson, 
\
recorded live on Easter day, 1 April 2018 on the 1935 Aeolian-Skinner organ in The Church of the Advent, Boston, MA
The music from the Advent is here included by kind permission of the Rector Fr Douglas Anderson and performed under the direction of Mark Dwyer the Director of Music, assisted by Jeremy Bruns.
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and
as the Society
prepares for the first edition
of the "new look"

Anglican Way

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