VERO BEACH — On Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015 at 4 p.m., the Trinity St. Cecilia Choir will offer a Service of Choral Evensong. Organist and Choirmaster Dr. Jason Hobratschk will direct the Choir, and Mr. Donald Ingram, Trinity Organist and Choirmaster Emeritus will serve as the recital and service organist.
Choral Evensong is one of the oldest and most exquisite services in the Anglican-Episcopal tradition, codified in the first Book of Common Prayer of 1549. The Service incorporates elements of the daily monastic offices of Vespers, sung at sunset, and Compline, sung before retiring.
Evensong is almost entirely sung throughout, and the service does not include a sermon or homily. Among the musical highlights of Evensong are one or more Psalms set to Anglican Chant, a style of singing particular to Anglicanism; a “Service,” a setting of the Magnificat (the Canticle of Mary, Luke 1:46-55) and Nunc Dimittis (the Canticle of Simeon, Luke 2:29-32); choral responses; congregational hymns; and choral anthems.
For this Evensong, the Trinity St. Cecilia Choir will sing the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in B-flat of Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924). Stanford was Organist and Professor of Music at Trinity College, Cambridge, and a founding professor of the Royal College of Music.
Psalm 103 will be sung to Anglican chant by Lt.-Col. J. Lemon (1754-1815), a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty and Member of Parliament. The choir will also sing two anthems: “Greater love hath no man” by Stanford’s pupil John Ireland (1879-1962); and “Listen, listen o my child” by Michael Berkeley (b. 1948), a work composed for the enthronement of Justin Welby as the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury in 2013.
The service is preceded by a half-hour recital played by Ingram on Trinity’s magnificent pipe organ, built by the firm of Harrison & Harrison of Durham, England in 1997. Joining Ingram for the recital are Eugene Tobey, Bass-Baritone and Martha Britt, Piano. Works include the Fantasy in A Major by César Franck (1822-1890); several of the Canonic Etudes, Op. 56, of Robert Schumann (1810-1856); and “The Ninety and Nine” in an arrangement by Alfred Fedak (b. 1953).
The service will take place at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2365 Pine Ave., Vero Beach. Admission is free. A freewill offering will be collected.
Visit www.TrinityVero.org or call (772) 567-1146 for more information.