Crotchets and Quavers

Crotchets and Quavers [by Patrick 09] On Tuesday, I went to Trinity College chapel for evensong. I expect most people are unfamiliar with this tradition, so it deserves some explanation: There are 30+ constituent colleges to Cambridge, each meant to serve the every need of its students. Most of them have a chapel, a dean, and a choir. According to Anglican tradition, there should be prayers every evening, and the choir gives it voice (hence, evensong). In reality, only one college (Kings) manages to do it every day, but everyone else sings Sunday and at least one other day. A good choir is a thing of great pride for a college, and they will entice good musicians with scholarships, free dinners, etc, etc. Some choirs have reputations all their own Trinity happens to be one of them. Since I sing with my own college choir most days, I rarely get to go hear others. But I had time off this week. So at 6.15 Tuesday, I walked into Trinity chapel with all the pretense of being a real Trinity student and sat down in one of the long, sideways stalls. **Sorry I dont have any pictures of the actual thing its not nice to take pictures during the service, but I have some informal pictures that I will post very soon.** Everything is candle lit. The choir process in in two neat rows, followed by the dean and cantor, all dressed in long robes. They sing a lot of the same texts every day but to different music. In fact, most of our job is constantly learning new music; we may repeat a few favorites, but generally, the program is fresh throughout the year. On this particular day, they sang the Byrd Second Service (yes, its a lovely piece). Choir is one of the truly special things that I would never get to do in America (youve already heard about punting and formals). Most singers are not known for being able to learn music, but quick rehearsals and sight-reading are routine here. Our conductor says its an English thing, although I think its just a difference in training. In any case, I am rapidly expanding my musical knowledge with every service. Its all part of this *other* education that were supposed to be getting at Cambridge; frankly, its the one I prefer.