Bring Us O Lord by Peter R. Hallock sung by The Compline Choir
Words: John Donne (1572-1631), from A Sermon Preached at White-hall, February 29, 1628. Revised and ed. Eric Milner-White (1884-1964).
Music: Peter R. Hallock (1924-2014), 1991.
Recording: The Compline Choir, CD “Night Music,” 2001.
Bring us, O Lord God, at our last awakening
Into the house and gate of heaven.
To enter that gate and dwell in that house,
Where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light;
No noise nor silence, but one equal music;
No fears nor hopes, but one equal possession;
No ends nor beginnings, but one equal eternity;
In the habitation of thy glory and dominion,
World without end, Amen.
Today is the eighth anniversary of my membership in The Compline Choir. Before The Pandemic kept us from gathering in large groups, every Sunday night our choir of 23 singers would gather to sing the office of Compline at 9:30pm…
Compline has developed a lasting popularity of almost mythical proportions, unlike any other worship event in the Pacific Northwest. The service continues to attract a diverse congregation upwards of 300 people, who come to sit in the quiet and dimly lit nave, to listen to words and music, and to be renewed and comforted by this ancient liturgical office. Classical KING-FM 98.1 estimates that 10,000 or more listen to weekly radio or internet broadcasts.
https://www.complinechoir.org/about/history/
We still gather each week, but now as a rotating quartet of singers taking care to observe a Covid protocol that involves rehearsing in masks before the service and standing ten feet apart to sing and chant the office in an empty cathedral…
What is Compline?
https://www.complinechoir.org/about/office/
In short, Compline is a sung prayer service. As is characteristic of monastic offices, Compline consists of psalms, short passages from scripture (chapters), an office hymn, a canticle (Nunc Dimittis), a litany, collects and additional prayers. Compline is offered when the work of the day is completed, and the quietness of evening settles over the hearts and minds of those who have come together in thankfulness for the blessings of the day which has passed, and in anticipation of God’s gift of a new day. At first, Compline was offered primarily by the monastic communities, but as Christian influence spread throughout Europe and the Mediterranean area, the offices found a place in local liturgical settings.
Last year, the choir took a pilgrimage to the UK where we were Choir in Residence at Canterbury Cathedral and Salisbury Cathedral, two significant places in our choir’s 64 year history:
In August 2019, the Compline Choir will make a pilgrimage to two of England’s most storied and historic cathedrals: Canterbury and Salisbury. Canterbury is significant because it served as a spiritual home and place of learning for our founder, Dr. Peter Hallock, during his formative years as a musical leader of the Episcopal Church. Salisbury is home to the Sarum rite, including many of the prayers and chants which imbues the Office of Compline we chant weekly.
It has been devastating for many of us who can’t sing together each week. This is a new reality for so many choral and instrumental groups- we are tired of just listening and singing on our own. Virtual choirs may look and sound appealing, but none of those singers is hearing anyone else in real time. Making music with a click track is getting old…
Song a Day 2020 