This piece follows Rite B of the Anglican Eucharist as it was celebrated in my home church of St. Peters Limpsfield when I was growing up in the 1980s. It is organised into 24 sections which, for the most part, are intended to flow directly from one to the next (I have subsequently divided these up into 7 movements to provide pause points). Five of the sections are extended movements for solo organ which serve to anchor the piece and introduce the themes that are elaborated in the following solos and choruses. These solos also replace the hymns that are usually sung at these points in the service - much as I like the audience participation that hymns allow, I decided that they would break the moods that I was trying to create. The congregation/audience is welcome to sing along with the melody line of the choruses if they can follow it! Where possible, instructions for the congregation to stand, sit or pray are included in the music - at other times, the congregation should follow the choir's lead.
The Eucharist changes throughout the year which raised the problem of how to set the readings and other elements which differ from week to week. In the end I decided that the best solution was to hold a drone in the organ and let the reader sing the reading over it. The reader can either sing the reading as a monotone on the note given, or may improvise ad libitum as best fits the text.
It is important to emphasise that this is a setting of the Eucharist, so the words must come first. All words should be sung clearly and as close to natural English as possible. Use as much rubato as needed.
I hope that the choir parts are still within the technical capabilities of an ordinary church choir, though the unusual harmonies and rhythmns and the lack of support from the organ may make it a challenge to learn. If the choir is having difficulties and the organist is up to it, feel free to reinforce the choir parts. It is vital that in the faster movements the tone is kept punchy and energetic - one of the things I was trying to get away from was the beautiful but enervating Church of England style.
A professional organist may be needed - overall the organ part is not, I think, too challenging, but there are technically tricky sections and considerable stamina will be needed as the organist plays continuously for almost the whole length of the piece. I am not an organist, so please feel free to re-write the organ part to make it more playable, particularly in relation to the distribution of notes between pedals and manuals.
The priest's part can be sung by either a tenor or a soprano (when I started writing the piece, women priests had only just been admitted, and I was making a point).
The piece starts with three notes separated by the intervals of a ninth and a fifth which represent God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. These three notes are the core of the musical structure and recur in various guises throughout the work. The notes are repeated and developed to form a brief motif that reappears in the Sanctus and at the end of the work, and represents holiness. I was also thinking of the empty church of St Peters with the sunlight falling on the whitewashed pillars.
The holiness motif is followed by a second, a sequence of solemn chords in A minor that represents the cross. This in turn opens out into the main theme, a development of the motifs already introduced which represents the murmuring of people entering the church for worship (note: the congregation should already be seated at the start of the piece - the Introit is too short to allow both the congregation and the choir to enter). Other motifs are introduced including "Lord be with you" and the "Glory" theme.
At some point during the introit, the procession of celebrants starts from the vestry. At Limpsfield, this consisted of the cross carried by the crucifer, two candles carried by servers, the choir, the lay reader carrying the Bible and the priest. The congregation should stand during the procession. The precise point in the movement at which the procession begins will depend on the size and shape of the church in which the performance takes place, but should be timed so that the Bible arrives in front of the altar during the statement of the "Bible" theme at the climax of the movement. The cross should be in its holder, the choir in the choir stalls and the priest in position behind the altar by the time that the movement ends.
The priest introduces the service with the words "The Lord be with you", to which the choir responds in unison. After the invitation to pray, there should be a slight pause before the piece proper begins to allow people to kneel or sit.
The Gloria should follow directly (note: not during Advent or Lent - at some point I shall write a Kyrie to be used in its place). After the announcement of "Glory be to God on High", the congregation should stand.
The priest introduces and sings the collect at the point indicated. The congregation should remain standing. At the end there can be a short pause before the next section begins.
The Old and New Testament readings appropriate for the day can be sung by soloists from the choir or the congregation. After the New Testament reading, during the 3/4 variation on the "cross" theme leading to the statement of the "Bible" theme, the cross, candles and bible process to the front of the chancel. The Gospel can be sung by the priest or the reader. The procession returns to the altar after "Praise be to thee, O Christ."
Normally the priest delivers their sermon at this point in the service, but I decided that this would spoil the mood. Instead there is an organ solo during which the congregation can meditate or pray. The solo takes the form of a (sort of) passacaglia based on a twelve tone theme which is repeated some fifteen times, four times starting on A and once starting on each of the other eleven notes of the scale. This basic structure forms the framework on which the more melodic meditational themes are based. Some elements of these themes reappear in the Creed and Confession which follow, particularly the "Call to Confession" motif stated at the climax of the piece.
The 7/4 time signature was dictated by the words "I believe in one God", where it was required to give them the dance-like syncopation I was after. I was delighted to discover that the majority of the words of the creed could be fitted rhythmically into the seven beats, which I hope makes the movement interesting if a bit of a challenge to sing!
The intercessor can be a member of the congregation or the choir. The normal form of the intercession consists of five sections (the church, the nation, the community, the sick and the dead), each of which has a free-form prayer followed by set words ending in "Lord in thy mercy, hear our prayer". The free-form sections can be sung on the notes given or omitted altogether in concert versions. Looking back I can see that the "Amens" at the end were a semi-subconscious lift from Janacek's Glagolitic Mass.
The congregation should sit or kneel after the priest's introduction.
This has the most discordant harmonies in the entire piece to reflect the frankly horrifying words of this prayer (see this article for more details).
The congregation stands at the start and should offer one another a sign of peace after "And with thy spirit". The organ interlude that follows is intended to evoke a rustic harvest festival dance; it is based on the offertory march theme and hints at the foursquare "bread" and flowing "wine" themes. During this interlude (which would normally be a hymn), the sidesmen and -women collect the offerings from the congregation by passing around small offering pouches. When all the offerings have been collected, they congregate at the back of the church in preparation for the offertory procession. Two members of the congregation fetch the bread and wine, which in St Peter's were placed by the entrance.
During the march-like theme at the start, the offerings are brought up to the rail in front of the altar. A server collects the offering pouches on a plate, which is taken to the priest for a (silent) blessing. Then the bread and wine are presented - the priest should hold these up to the congregation on the full statements of the "bread" and "wine" themes. After the blessing, the sidesmen and -women and the bread and wine carriers return to their seats during the complicated and rhythmically irregular fugue that follows (sorry choir!).
The congregation should remain standing.
This starts with the three-note motif for "holy". The Benedictus is scored for female voices only in order to subvert the sexist "he that cometh in the name of the Lord".
The congregation should kneel or sit during the opening bars. This setting reflects an interpretation of the ritual as it was done by Father Kerr, a retired Anglo-Catholic priest who would sometimes stand in for our regular rector. He would speak the words of Jesus in a low murmur and dramatically beat his breast three times (sometimes intoning "I am not worthy") after each "in remembrance of me". The priest would place their hand on the chalice containing the wafers and the wine when they are mentioned, and lift them up on "with this bread, and this cup, we make the memorial...". At other times, they would stand with arms out to the sides, palms open towards the congregation.
The priest would hold up a large wafer and snap it in two just before the words "we break this bread..." The congregation should remain seated or kneeling.
This is a simple unison setting, based over a sustained middle C that represents the constancy of the God of loving kindness, which is the God in which I believe. It is the piece I would like performed at my funeral.
The congration should remain seated or kneeling during the invitation to communicants.
This is the only unaccompanied section, in part to give the organist a rest before the long solo that follows it, but also to allow them to take communion should they so wish.
This long meditation on the preceding themes and the main theme of the recessional is to enable the congregation to come up to the altar rail to take communion. This would typically take about ten minutes. If time permits, the priest consumes any unused consecrated bread and wine.
The congregation should kneel or sit for this prayer.
The congregation should stand. The priest makes the sign of the cross on the words "Father, Son and the Holy Spirit".
During this piece, the recessional procession forms up consisting of the crucifer, servers, choir, lay reader and priest, and they process back to the vestry. The congregation should remain in their seats (though they can prepare to leave!). The music is intended to represent the murmuring and bustle at the end of the service as people go out to live their daily lives. It ends, as the whole work began, with holiness and sunlight on whitewashed walls.