Advent Carols in the Chapel of St John’s College, Cambridge 29th Nov 2020 [L]

[Jack Pudding]

The radio audience is the congregation and I shall be singing along even more lustily than ever to Helmsley surely one of the finest hymn tunes ever penned and a shame it gets an airing just once a year.

Hallelujah for sanity

[DracoM]

Well I CERTAINLY won’t be listening. Even if there were to be a congregation they wouldn’t be allowed to sing. Why the hell bother? This is gratuitous music - not worship!

So WE, listening, are NOT a congregation? Not physically there maybe, but spiritually........? For some, maybe even Forumistas, a memorable point of the singing year on radio? And I DO feel part of the congregation. That choir is singing for me, to me.

Sorry you feel so antagonistic about it.

[Vox Humana]

The radio audience is the congregation

Quite. A Christian does not need to be in a church, either to pray or to worship. Many services take place with only musicians and clergy present. To deny the validity of that as worship is to dismiss the whole concept of the Opus Dei.

[Andrew Butler]

I can see all these points, but for me I like to hear the different dynamic of congregational singing. Poised “performance” of the hymns is not the same. And regarding the Opus Dei, people choose to attend or not - quite different to being told not to attend, or not to sing.

[Resurgam]

Well I CERTAINLY won’t be listening. Even if there were to be a congregation they wouldn’t be allowed to sing. Why the hell bother? This is gratuitous music - not worship!

The choir and clergy are the congregation in the chapel as well for this particular service worshiping God through the liturgy and their musical gifts to the very best of their ability as it should be.

O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name. This service will be true worship.

[oddoneout]

The choir and clergy are the congregation in the chapel as well for this particular service worshiping God through the liturgy and their musical gifts to the very best of their ability as it should be.

O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name. This service will be true worship.

Indeed.
This is appropriate as well:
Psalm 100
King James Version
1 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

I sympathise with AB's dislike of change, but it does seem a pity to me that the lack of a congregation on the broadcast means doing without any of that music offered to celebrate the Advent season.
It does change the 'feel' of the broadcast but, at the risk of upsetting someone, I have to say I won't be entirely sorry to miss out the congregation 'drag' in the hymns ...

[Andrew Butler]

The drag is part of the atmosphere! Everyone else seems happy, I am not saying it shouldn’t be done, rather, much as I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this and Kings on Christmas Eve, I shall not be listening this year for the first time since goodness knows when. I shall miss them dreadfully, but l like what l like and won’t settle for 2nd best.

[vinteuil]

The drag is part of the atmosphere! Everyone else seems happy, I am not saying it shouldn’t be done, rather, much as I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this and Kings on Christmas Eve, I shall not be listening this year for the first time since goodness knows when. I shall miss them dreadfully, but l like what l like and won’t settle for 2nd best.

... so it seems your objection is aesthetic rather than liturgical. It has nothing to do with whether this service is 'worship' or not.

.

[CallMePaul]

I will definitely be listening. Under its present direction "John's" is my favourite Oxbridge college choir - unfortunately my last visit to Cambridge was a week to late to go to a service there.

[Spdrgn]

The St John’s Choir website says that there will be no congregation, but according to the College website, there will be up to 50 members of the college in the congregation (ie no “tickets” made available to the general public or choir families).
Presumably the maximum of 50 and the fact that the hymns will be sung by the choir only, is to minimise the risk from aerosols, which is surely a sensible decision.
I for one am very happy that the service is not only happening but also being broadcast live on Radio 3 and I’m looking forward to it enormously.
The full service sheet is available on the choir’s website, by the way.

[Andrew Butler]

I am very glad that most people are happy. I just happen to love this time of year, and for me, it will not be the same. The hymns SHOULD have a bit of congregational drag and thundering organ - not beautifully nuanced by just the choir with a few soft stops in the background! We have just moved house so l shall use the time to continue sorting boxes!

[Petrushka]

I am very glad that most people are happy. I just happen to love this time of year, and for me, it will not be the same. The hymns SHOULD have a bit of congregational drag and thundering organ - not beautifully nuanced by just the choir with a few soft stops in the background! We have just moved house so l shall use the time to continue sorting boxes!

You do understand why St John's have to do this don't you? The reason I ask is that there is no acknowledgement, or even a mention, of the restrictions under which they, and the rest of us, have to operate.

[Andrew Butler]

Of course l understand and I resent the implication that I don’t. I can’t help feeling bitter that Advent and Christmas have been ruined for me.

[BasilHarwood]

Anyway, back to the music... One of the anthems for the service ‘O virgo virginum’ is composed by 12 year old Harry L’Estrange (son of singer / composer Jo Forbes L’Estrange and composer Alex L’Estrange); he is a chorister at St John’s.

[Simon Biazeck]

Anyway, back to the music... One of the anthems for the service ‘O virgo virginum’ is composed by 12-year-old Harry L’Estrange (son of singer / composer Jo Forbes L’Estrange and composer Alex L’Estrange); he is a chorister at St John’s.

Indeed. I am very much looking forward to this - a light in the darkness and I'm very interested to hear Gardner's Gallery Carol which I don't know. So grateful for the fortitude, resourcefulness and perseverance of all those you have kept choral worship going. SJCC are superb at the moment, so this should be a real treat.

SBZ