CE Canterbury Cathedral 5th June 2013

[DracoM]

CE Canterbury Cathedral
Archive: 7th February 1988, marking the Accession of Her Majesty The Queen.



Order of Service:



Introit: O Lord, make thy servant, Elizabeth (Byrd)
Responses: Anthony Piccolo
Psalms 20, 101, 121 (Felton, Cooper, Walford Davies)
First Lesson: Joshua 1:1-9
Canticles: Brian Chapple
Second Lesson: Revelation 21:22 – 22:4
Anthem: Zadok the Priest (Handel)
Hymn: The National Anthem



Organ voluntary: Orb and Sceptre (Walton)



Assistant Organist: Michael Harris
Organist: Allan Wicks

[DracoM]

Can anybody help me on the provenance of the Accession date above?

[Vox Humana]

The accession started to be proclaimed from 5 February 1953. I assume 7 February 1988 was the nearest broadcast date to the anniversary. I see that in 1988 the 7 February was a Sunday. Was that the regular broadcast day for Choral Evensong at that time?

[Petrushka]

Can anybody help me on the provenance of the Accession date above?

The Accession date is February 6. February 7 1988 was actually a Sunday not a Wednesday. Was CE broadcast live on a Sunday in those days?

Edit: Cross-posting, VH!

[french frank]

The Accession date is February 6. February 7 1988 was actually a Sunday not a Wednesday. Was CE broadcast live on a Sunday in those days?

The best I can manage is a Radio Times for November 1988. As (bad) luck would have it, Sunday afternoon, 27 Nov, on R3 was a - wait for it - Wagner special, with Siegfried on from 1.30pm to 6.15pm. So I can't be sure 100% sure there wouldn't usually have been a CE. But I think it unlikely, as on Wednesday 30 Nov, CE was live at 4pm.

[Dentes improborum]

The Accession was actually proclaimed in 1952, not 1953!

[french frank]

The Accession was actually proclaimed in 1952, not 1953!

Goodness me, yes. You're right, of course.

[Old Grumpy]

Sunday afternoon, 27 Nov, on R3 was a - wait for it - Wagner special, with Siegfried on from 1.30pm to 6.15pm.

No change there then, eh?

[Y Mab Afradlon]

As this dates from 1988 I would guess that it fell into a time when the BBC broadcast a live evensong on the Wednesday but would also record another for future use which was transmitted on Friday afternoon. This might explain that it may have been recorded on the Sunday and broadcast at a later date. I wonder if anyone has access to the Canterbury service list archive can assist.?

[DracoM]

Yes, well, that is rather why I expressed some puzzlement in the first place. Feb 6th ' 52?

Still puzzled.

[ardcarp]

Royal occasions apart, CE used to be broadcast regularly on Wednesdays and Fridays I think; and if memory serves, the Friday one wasn't a repeat. (No doubt someone can remember more accurately.) And they were 45 mins too.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Yes, well, that is rather why I expressed some puzzlement in the first place. Feb 6th ' 52?

Still puzzled.

The day George VI died.

[DracoM]

OK, Feb 6th was when he died, yes, I knew that. So what we are getting is that as near as Canterbury could get to that date? Or.........?

But it's the 1988 aspect that foxes me: Feb 7th is not Feb 6th, so not the anniversary of HM's accession, is it? Or do they calculate it from the day after the previous sovereign's death? And anyway 1988 is 36 yrs since G6's death, so hardly a memorable anniversary of any event. What am I missing?

Today, we are currently celebrating roughly 60 yrs since the coronation of QE2, so what does the BBC's heading of this Choral Evensong mean? I'm with a couple of posters upthread who have already indicated their puzzlement at the 1988 date, so what is meant by the BBC's billing of this archive tx?

Sorry, I'll go and lie down in a quiet room until it all goes away.

[decantor]

OK, Feb 6th was when he died, yes, I knew that. So what we are getting is that as near as Canterbury could get to that date? Or.........?

One can speculate. Producer knows that this Wednesday is the nearest to the 60th anniversary of the Coronation - a royal connection is needed. Rattles through the files - finds Canterbury, Feb '88. Accession? Coronation? Close-ish - and it's got Servant Elizabeth and Zadok. And look - Orb & Sceptre too. Just the job.

What puzzles me is why, with the choral season rapidly running out and the cathedral choirs about to takes two months' leave, we need an archive broadcast at all right now. I'm not complaining. Just puzzled. Is the OB van in for its annual service, d'you think? SS on his hols?

[french frank]

What puzzles me is why, with the choral season rapidly running out and the cathedral choirs about to takes two months' leave, we need an archive broadcast at all right now. I'm not complaining. Just puzzled. Is the OB van in for its annual service, d'you think? SS on his hols?

Saving money?