Evensong at Christ Church Glendale with the Cincinnati Boychoir

I was accompanied last evening by the lovely Robin to an Evensong service at Christ Church Glendale. Evensong is a traditional Anglican service of evening prayers and songs.

We arrived plenty early for the 5 p.m. service and noticed that the beautiful sanctuary seemed a tad empty. So we kept walking through the expansive and elaborate church--but not before pausing to take a photo of the gorgeous “Good Shepherd” window in the rear of the church.

We followed the sounds of activity to the Holy Spirit Chapel (below), a fairly new addition to the facility, where preparations were being made for the service.

We grabbed a couple front row seats facing the boychoir section. The service began right on time with a voluntary of Bach's Fantasia in G Minor (ah, Bach). The liturgy was feelingly presented, with the psalm, Magnificat, and Nunc Dimittis presented by a half dozen female voices of the church's Chorus Angelorum.

The Cincinnati Boychoir, special musical guests for the evening, then presented five "anthems": "Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning" (Willie Johnson), "Cantique de Jean Racine" (Gabriel Fauré), "Ave Verum Corpus" (Mozart), "Cantata 196" (Bach), and the traditional spiritual, "City Called Heaven." Outstanding, every one, with three excellent soloists.

Unfortunately, though I am a boychoir alumnus, no one asked me to sing. Strange. Passing strange. Otherwise, however, the service was a lovely way to worship with my wife and enjoy the music of the Cincinnati Boychoir, which never disappoints.