The Chapel

THE CHAPEL

This term has seen a continuation of the experiments in services which were begun in January. Mr. Cummin, who is a lay preacher, held the four weekday services early on in the term, basing them on biblical texts and having hymns and prayers as in normal services. Temple carried on the tradition instituted by Queens and Grove last term but their services did not show the moderation and maturity that Mr. Cummin's had. However, they deserve thanks for their efforts in trying to interrupt the sometimes stale routine of everyday services.

The sermons by visiting preachers over the course of the term were of a very high standard, and made the Sunday services refreshingly different. The Reverend A. J. G. Walker, a Presbyterian minister, showed that the average member of any branch of the Christian Church is ready for unity, even if Church leaders find it impractical. The Reverend A. M. A. Turnbull, Domestic Chaplain to the Archbishop, gave a sermon which held the whole congregation's attention, partly because he was particularly good at projecting his voice. The Reverend M. H. Burden preached on prayer and meditation, showing its relevance in the modern world, and the Headmaster rounded off the term by talking about the position of the individual in society.

The School's connection with the Minster was maintained by three events, the performance of St. Nicolas with Queen Margaret's, the play about the saving of the Minster by Fairfax during the Civil War, which was performed in aid of the Minster Appeal Fund, and the traditional St. Peter's Day service, in which our choir combined with the Junior School choir. The choir reverted to their original position in the chancel a week before Commemoration; their singing from the balcony had not made much difference, while people under the balcony had been scarcely able to hear them. The Commemoration sermon was preached by the Reverend G. Mountain, who had visited the Junior School earlier in the year.

Our thanks are once again due to those ladies who have brightened up the Chapel with their flowers; the Carol and Harvest Thanksgiving services could not have been the successes they were without their efforts. These notes would not be complete, of course, without some mention of the influence Mr. Waine has had in the services over many years; he has been praised much and will not go unnoticed. Friday mornings at 8-30 a.m. will no longer be the same as several generations of 'Peterites have known them. H.E.D.L.

CHOIR NOTES

This term, with the exception of the last week, the choir have been singing up in the gallery.. This move met with mixed feeling, but on the whole people were glad to get back to the traditional seating in the chancel. Many members of the School also felt that the choir should be seen as well as heard.

On the first Sunday of term we sang "This Joyful Eastertide", a regular feature in the choir repertory, and still in an Easter mood, we sang "The Strife is O'er" (Vulpius-Ley) the following week. "Jesu, joy of man's desiring" by Bach, sung on the 4th Sunday after Easter was one of the most popular anthems in the choir, and from the point of view of the School.

Vittornia's "0 quam Gloriosum" sung on Rogation Sunday really needed acoustics more like those of the Minster to give it a 16th Century Spanish feeling, but the choir dealt with it with masterly feeling, and captured much of the renaissance spirit. Cranmer's Litany, sung in the same service didn't have much popular appeal, but its beauty as a meditation is undisputable, and Mr. Kemp-Welch sung his part beautifully.

Ascension Day was celebrated by Sung Communion with Merbeche throughout which made a Change from the usual settings, although many are very fond of Darke in F. The following week saw a completely new anthem "Almighty God who hast me brought" by Thomas Ford and in fact was one anthem that the choir sang at Ripon where they went for the festival on the 30th May. Also sung at the festival was the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in C by R. Vaughan-Williams, a setting new to most of the choir. "Awake us Lord and hasten" by J. S. Bach, and "Above all Praise" by Mendelssohn (also sung in Chapel on the 16th June). There was also Hymn 4, with a Dutch melody arranged by Martin How, which has been introduced into the Chapel services.

The annual Choir Outing was on the 10th of June.

Perhaps the biggest and most looked forward to event of the term was the St. Peter's Day service in the Minster. These services are the highlight of the Choir year, and "Tu es Petrus" must surely rank as the best loved anthem that we sing. The older members of the choir who are leaving this term will especially miss singing in the Minster.

Finally, Sunday, 14th July saw Commemoration Day and along with Stanford's beautiful setting of the Te Deum in 13° there was the thrill of Handel's massive coronation anthem—"Zadock the Priest" written for King George II, who was crowned in Westminster Abbey on the 11th October, 1727.

No choir note for this term would be complete without a mention of Mr. Waine who is leaving. It is not until we lose something valuable that we realise its true value, and for most of us, we can never realise how much Mr. Waine has done for the choir in his career at St. Peter's, and how much he has built it into a body good enough to be asked to sing periodically in both the Minster and Ripon Cathedral. Perhaps most of us have never thought about it.

We feel sure that the choir will continue to flourish under Mr. Pemberton as Mr. Waine's successor, and meanwhile as Mr. Waine is conducting the massed choirs and festivals of the Royal School of Church Music, we hope he will remember with pleasure having led St. Peter's Choir, for St. Peter's Choir certainly has cause to remember Mr. Waine.