We had seen the school boys walking around Kings College in top hats and black gowns. 7 to maybe 12 years old. Very cute, very quaint. I knew that the local colleges educate local boys in return for their indentured servitude as choristers.  I also saw that every day, they sing “Evensong” in Kings College Chapel, one of the masterpieces of Gothic architecture.

It was free. I figured I could enjoy listening to choir boys in such a gorgeous spot. I thought it would last ten, twenty minutes.  I mean, they sing every day, right?

Turns out Evensong is basically Mass without the Eucharist part. Very formal, surprisingly stuffy, but beautiful. Some in English, some in Latin.  A formal entrance with the boys entering wearing surplices, the celebrants leading a processional with a monstrance.  Additional boys up to maybe 18. Organ music which was a booming, deep register which one could feel . The church lit by candles, almost full congregation in the choir. (Plenty of seating was available on the far side of the rood screen.) Sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows. Transcendent views of the fan vaulting, deeply carved wood rood screen with Henry VIII’s coat of arms.

I was raised Catholic. I am old enough that I remember the Mass in Latin. (Barely). Then: Vatican II happened. “Let’s demystify Mass; let the congregation participate in their religion!” I naively assumed that the C of E  would be on the same page. But no. Still using thee’s and thou’s, parts of the service in Latin. I think this qualified as High Church.

As to the music, much of the service was plainsong. The priest sang also, mostly in a song-and-response fashion with the choir. The hymns  were new to me, maybe traditional, but I hadn’t heard them previously. While they sang, I was thinking of Palestrina. Then, the priest mentioned that the next song would be by Palestrina.

The unaccompanied boys’ voices were clearly well trained and I wonder if the colleges are grooming them for roles in the church? The priest could sing and I wondered if they let the tone deaf perform services. The congregation was expected to stand, sit and kneel at the times indicated on a program, recite the Lord’s Prayer and Creed. Many did not kneel.

All together, glad to have experienced Evensong even though