The Role of Choral Music

At the Cathedral | In Episcopal Liturgy

Choral Music at the Cathedral

The purpose of the Cathedral Choirs is to offer, at the highest standard possible, praises to God through leadership in music and liturgy at Washington National Cathedral.

The Choirs of Washington National Cathedral are living embodiments of a tradition that extends back many centuries. Of all the Christian traditions, the Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is the American manifestation, has nurtured one of the strongest traditions of choral-led worship. The choirs in English cathedrals and in collegiate and royal chapels are world-renowned. The 25 or so Episcopal churches in the United States that train boy and girl choristers on this model provide a fascinating and ever-evolving American perspective of this tradition. The work of the Washington Cathedral Choirs has been influenced by this tradition from the beginning. The daily round of rehearsals and services has been inspired by the English cathedral tradition where daily services and choir schools shape the lives of choristers. At the same time, our choral repertoire includes a generous amount of American music, as well as music from all parts of the world.

In the Anglican cathedral choral tradition, the choir assumes a major role as a leader in worship. The singing of Eucharistic settings, anthems, canticles, and psalms is done on behalf of the congregation. As such, the choir performs an almost sacramental role, offering their ability to render these settings in more complex and refined ways than a congregation may be capable of. Equal attention is paid to those elements of the liturgy that are led by the choir, and those sung by the congregation. In this manner, the whole fabric of worship represents a harmonious blending together of the liturgical components that change from day to day and those that serve as constants, both sung and said. Worship in the classic Christian tradition is a sacred drama in which all participate and contribute to the highest level possible.

Music in worship draws from many centuries of compositional styles. In any given week, our choirs may sing a plainsong chant from the earliest centuries of the Church, a Renaissance motet by Palestrina or Byrd, an anthem or service from the Baroque era, and music composed during recent years and up to the present day. The education in musical style is not an insignificant feature in a chorister’s training, and for this reason, as well as for the inherent reminder of the living nature of our musical tradition, we are grateful for those who have created music for Christian worship through the ages. Especially during the last 50 years, Anglican church musicians have become appreciative of and eager to perform music from Lutheran, Roman Catholic, and other traditions. This music has enriched the musical diet of choral establishments, collegiate and cathedral, throughout the Anglican Communion.

Great care is taken at Washington National Cathedral to pair settings of the Evensong Office canticles and of the Eucharist with the designated rite. When, for example, the Eucharist is being celebrated with Rite II, the more contemporary text, the choir’s settings of the rite will likely be in the same translation. Similarly, at Evensong, which is more often sung in the traditional language of Rite I, the choir’s settings of the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis will be coordinated.

The repertoire at Washington National Cathedral incorporates a very strong commitment to music of our own time and from our own composers. Here in Washington, there is a noble tradition of music written by Americans. The Cathedral musicians themselves have provided much of this music through the years, but also included among the American composers performed at (and sometimes commissioned by) the Cathedral have been such luminaries as Ned Rorem, Gian-Carlo Menotti, Samuel Barber, Larry King, Alec Wyton, Lee Hoiby, Leo Sowerby, Gerre Hancock, and Craig Phillips, along with many others.

The Anglican choral tradition, represented by the centuries-old tradition of choirs in which the soprano line is sung by young boys, is predicated on the passing down from generation to generation all the skills necessary to be a fully professional singer. The “magic,” as perceived by outsiders, is the seemingly unplanned and unforced transition of talents from older to younger choristers. Now, with the inclusion of girls in the ranks of choristers, this transitional work occurs over a longer span of time, the career of a typical girl chorister generally exceeding by years the span of time encompassed by a boy’s singing career.

The choristers’ musical accomplishments and sight-reading ability is largely a function of the high expectations placed on them. In other words, as with choristers everywhere, excellence increases as the numbers of rehearsals, services, and concerts increase. At Washington Cathedral, we are fortunate to have a regimen that includes daily rehearsals. The swiftness with which the choristers move in these brief hours together is a direct result of our work together several times per week. The demands of the daily round of Cathedral worship become the very vehicle for an extensive education.

The Episcopal Church and the Role of Choirs in its Liturgy

The Cathedral Choirs, like the schools of the Cathedral Foundation, are open to children and men of all faiths, and the boy and girl choristers and choirmen come from a variety of religious backgrounds. While choristers are not required to be Episcopalian, as leaders of worship, all choristers must be willing to say and sing all creeds, prayers, and responses. As an integral part of the service at which they perform, all choristers should develop an awareness of the role of the Choir as a leader of worship and of the traditions that have shaped Anglican worship.

The choirs regularly sing on Sunday at the morning Eucharist and at Evensong. As of the fall of 2002, the choirs offer Choral Evensong with Preces, Responses, and Suffrages according to texts found in editions of the Book of Common Prayer from 1549 to 1979. Regardless of which responses are sung, the office itself is consistent with the order set forth in the 1979 American Book of Common Prayer. The readings of the Scripture at every service follow the lectionaries authorized by the Episcopal Church.