Afterwards, I walked over to Westminster Abbey to meet David, a fellow St. Andrean chorister, for 3 o' clock evensong (which, for those who don't know, is just what it seems: songs in the evening, or in this case mid-afternoon). I have been planning to attend a service in the Abbey since I arrived for several reasons, primarily as the entrance cost for students during non-service hours is 12 pounds. The general aesthetics of the place aren't bad either.
On the menu for the evening:
Introit by Thomas Mudd (d. 1667)
Preces and Responses by Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656)
Psalm 13 by Edwin Monk (1819-1900)
Psalm 126 by Percy Whitlock (1903-1946)
Magnificat and Nunc in D minor by Thomas Attwood Walmisley (1814-1856)
Anthem by Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)
Hymns were Let the Round World with Songs Rejoice and There is a Land of Pure Delight
Obviously we went to hear the Anthem. I always feel with Stanford that I've wandered into an opera/almost pseudo-Gilbert and Sullivan masquerading as a church service. It's fantastic. The text follows:
For lo I raise up that bitter and hasty nation which march through the breadth of the earth
To possess the dwelling places that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful,
Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.
Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves.
And their horsemen spread themselves, yea, their horsemen come from far.
They fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour,
They come all of them for violence; their faces are set as the east-wind,
And they gather captives as the sand. Yea, he scoffeth at kings,
And princes are a derision unto him. For he heapeth up dust and taketh it.
Then shall he sweep by as a wind that shall pass over, and be guilty,
Even he, whose might is his God. Art not Thou from everlasting,
O Lord, my God, mine Holy One?
We shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained him for judgment,
And thou, O Rock hast established him for correction.
I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower,
And look forth to see what he will say to me, and what I shall answer concerning my complaint.
And the Lord answered me and said:
The vision is yet for the appointed time,
And it hasteth toward the end, and shall not lie,
Though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come.
For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
But the Lord is in his holy temple: Let all the earth keep silence before Him.
Habakkuk 1: 6-12, 2: 1-2a, 3, 14, 20
If you can get your hands on a recording of Standford I highly suggest acquainting yourself with his music. Just fantastic. Below is a You Tube video of New College, Oxford singing the anthem from evensong this afternoon.
I haven't forgotten about the short shorts men and will post on them just as soon as I can find enough time to adequately stalk them; this will most definitely not be until Wednesday as I am in the throes of writing a 2000 word essay at the moment on theory in art history. Sadly, this is much less enjoyable than church hopping and coffee drinking but apparently necessary to get the elusive degree in the end. So back to the grindstone I go!
