CE: Holy Sepulchre Church, London [L] Sunday 15 Sep 2024

[Pulcinella]

A service of thanksgiving and celebration for the 2024 BBC Proms, live from Holy Sepulchre Church, London.

At the beginning of the Proms each year, the bronze bust of Sir Henry Wood (founder of the Proms) is taken from its home at the Royal Academy of Music and positioned on the stage at the Royal Albert Hall. On the first night of the Proms, a chaplet of laurel is placed over the head of the statue by two of the Prommers, and at the end of the season the chaplet is moved to sit on Henry Wood's gravestone in Holy Sepulchre (the National Musicians' Church) as part of an act of commemoration, which forms part of this service.

Introit: How calmly the evening (Elgar)
Responses: Ben Parry
Office hymn: All my hope on God is founded (Michael)
Psalms 149, 150 (Stanford, Stanford)
First Lesson: 2 Chronicles 5 vv7-14
Canticles: Stanford in B flat
Second Lesson: Ephesians 5 vv8-20
Anthem: God is light (Cecilia McDowall)
Hymn: I vow to thee my country (Thaxted)
Voluntary: Six Short Preludes and Postludes Op 105 (Postlude) (Stanford)

Peter Asprey (Director of Music)
Joshua Ryan (Organist)

[jonfan]

A wonderful service with stunning, delectable singing caught in a beautiful acoustic by the engineering. Highlights were the Elgar introit and the anthem. There were some beautiful extras after the prayers that I couldn’t identify though the sung blessing sounded like Rutter and the final dismissal was by Richard Marlow. Better the extras rather than all six Stanford organ pieces to finish? Glad the liturgy included Donne’s prayer referring to ‘one equal music’.

[PhilipT]

I went. One estimate was that there were about 80 in the congregation, which must be a record for a Proms service of thanksgiving and celebration for the life of Sir Henry Wood.

The prayer referring to the "ministry of broadcasting" and the Donne quotation have been staples of this service as far back as I can remember, and I first I went to it almost 30 years ago. I believe credit is due to the Rev. Peter Kettle, who took the service in those days and who was himself a regular (and much-liked) prommer.

Pulcinella: Two trivial points. The chaplet is placed on the bust at the Last Night, not the First Night. Please don't argue - I had that honour once. And, it's not exactly a gravestone - the stone marks where in the Musicians' Chapel Sir Henry's ashes are buried. It's a beautiful chapel and well worth a detour if you happen to be in that part of London.

jonfan: Yes, the blessing was by Rutter. I have a copy of the order of service, but owing to the logistical nightmare that is getting back home at the end of the Proms season, it's in London and I'm in Winchester.

[oddoneout]

I went. One estimate was that there were about 80 in the congregation, which must be a record for a Proms service of thanksgiving and celebration for the life of Sir Henry Wood.

The prayer referring to the "ministry of broadcasting" and the Donne quotation have been staples of this service as far back as I can remember, and I first I went to it almost 30 years ago. I believe credit is due to the Rev. Peter Kettle, who took the service in those days and who was himself a regular (and much-liked) prommer.

Pulcinella: Two trivial points. The chaplet is placed on the bust at the Last Night, not the First Night. Please don't argue - I had that honour once. And, it's not exactly a gravestone - the stone marks where in the Musicians' Chapel Sir Henry's ashes are buried. It's a beautiful chapel and well worth a detour if you happen to be in that part of London.

jonfan: Yes, the blessing was by Rutter. I have a copy of the order of service, but owing to the logistical nightmare that is getting back home at the end of the Proms season, it's in London and I'm in Winchester.

The chaplet saga isn't Pulcinella's doing - it is what the BBC put in its online schedule, so perhaps direct the correction there?
Thank you for confirmation about the Rutter blessing - I thought I recognised it but it has been some time since I sang it.

[Pulcinella]

The chaplet saga isn't Pulcinella's doing - it is what the BBC put in its online schedule, so perhaps direct the correction there?
Thank you for confirmation about the Rutter blessing - I thought I recognised it but it has been some time since I sang it.

I didn't even read what I copied and pasted, or I might have spotted this and queried it!
And not that trivial, really: more evidence of BBC/R3 sloppiness.

Philip: Do you know who was singing? They're not credited.

[oddoneout]

I didn't even read what I copied and pasted, or I might have spotted this and queried it!
And not that trivial, really: more evidence of BBC/R3 sloppiness.

Philip: Do you know who was singing? They're not credited.

This from their website

https://hsl.church/meet-the-choir

If it was only this group singing on Sunday then all I can say is that the gents must have had their Weetabix for the Nunc - the sound was absolutely glorious and that of a bigger group to my ears.

[jonfan]

Thanks Philip for the extra details. The congregation sang the two hymns with great gusto.

[PhilipT]

I certainly had the impression at the time that the choir had put in a lot of effort rehearsing for this one. I have never heard this choir sing better. A few years ago I did a reading at this service, and it was mildly irritating that I couldn't try out the acoustic beforehand because the choir were rehearsing. Rehearsals this time around must have taken place earlier.

The only things that went wrong, and they were utterly trivial, were down to errors in the order of service. The 'please stands' and 'please sits' didn't match up, and (despite an announcement beforehand) some people sang "asks no questions" not "asks no question" in "I Vow To Thee".

[Caussade]

The choir was augmented with some members of other professional London outfits, I think.

[Simon Biazeck]

Beautiful singing. A keeper, this one. I hope the organ will be restored soon.

[mopsus]

The prayer referring to the "ministry of broadcasting" and the Donne quotation have been staples of this service as far back as I can remember, and I first I went to it almost 30 years ago. I believe credit is due to the Rev. Peter Kettle, who took the service in those days and who was himself a regular (and much-liked) prommer.

Which made it all the more jarring that alongside these prayers (and the Authorised Version readings, which you rarely get on evensong broadcasts now) we heard about lives being 'impacted' by Henry Wood. There has been a lot of clunky language in the spoken parts of recent broadcasts.

The other uncredited piece was Howells' Hymn for St Cecilia.

I sensed that the balance was rather different in the two hymns, the first being more echoey. It is a shame that the organ still hasn't been restored - but then there were tensions at this church a few years ago over matters such as the building's use for rehearsals.