Choral Evensong will highlight the feast of Saint Michael and All Angels this Sunday at 5 p.m. at Grace Episcopal Church, Lexington.
The Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, often called Michaelmas, celebrates the presence and power of God’s angels.
The Grace Church choir, comprised of parishioners together with students from Southern Virginia University and Washington and Lee, will offer music by some contemporary composers along with a well-known traditional one.
These include responses recently composed by Gabriel Rhys Simerson, director of music ministries at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church in Ivy; and canticles --Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis — by Arlen Clarke of Greenville, S.C. He has composed hundreds of works, including for the liturgies of Roman Catholic and Anglican churches.
The choir will also sing a setting of Psalm 150 by “the English Mozart,” Samuel Wesley — son of the Methodist hymnodist Charles Wesley —and a portion of the same psalm by his shorter-lived contemporary, Mozart himself, in his anthem, Jubilate Deo.
Choral Evensong, in the Anglican tradition, is the sung version of the office of Evening Prayer. Derived from medieval monastic tradition, it is primarily comprised of scripture including psalms, canticles which are biblical songs, and prayers.
On Sunday morning, the Rev. Tuck Bowerfind will officiate and preach at the two morning services, 8 and 10:30. Grace Church is located at 123 W. Washington St., at the corner of Lee Avenue.
