Draco
It's short. 

I think all the Sunday broadcasts have included some sort of homily - it is far more common for Sunday evensong to include a sermon.  Whether it's listed on the website probably just depends how much info the cathedral gives the BBC.

Draco, I think you'll find this is a joke. The Service is called the "Short" service, and that's all we know about it.

BWS

I don't really, no, but I can only assume it was what they sang at this evening's Evensong as an unannounced late replacement for the advertised Orlando Gibbons Short Service.

They seemed to sing it very well but I wouldn't really like to comment on the music as we were about two-thirds of the way through the Mag before I finally persuaded myself that this really, really, really couldn't be Gibbons and the penny dropped as to what they were doing 

The Berkeley, which we also got this evening, is a lovely little thing though.

Thank you, Andrew, and delighted that you have found your way to this Board.

But, Whoops! How very, very deeply embarrassing. I admit to a strong temptation to make use of the 'remove your message' facility on my earlier post to try and hide my shame but I suppose I had better take it like a man and leave it there for the world to see. (Crawls under stone.)

All best wishes to you and the choir for tomorrow's broadcast.

I have to say that both Orr and Berkeley are composers to whom I find it very hard to respond.  For me - and I know it's my problem - they fall into a deep hole between Howells and (say) Macmillan or Harvey;  neither has a distinctive voice, both seem to be striving for an effect slightly beyond their reach.  They are non-missing links.  My problem.

Notwithstanding, I thoroughly enjoyed this CE broadcast.  As a service, it hung together well, and seemed to involve the listener as much as those present in the Abbey.  Despite its sombre subject, the homily was very affecting and superbly delivered.  The second lesson was read in a manner that overcame most of the deficiencies of a modern translation.  There was precisely that intensity and sense of reverence that makes CE such a popular feature of the BBC's output.

Musically, I found the choir excellent - excellent in that they were there to enhance the service rather than prove their virtuosic credentials (this selflessness, thank heaven, seems to be the norm among cathedral choirs).  The Ley was a lovely cameo introduction to the whole - and was an early indication that the choir knows its business.  The psalm, taken at stately pace, achieved a welcome gravitas (though I would not honestly wish to be in the Abbey on the 15th evening!)  I thought Orr did better with the Nunc than with the Mag, though his setting of the words "rich he hath sent empty away" is novel and delightful, and was carried off delightfully by the choir.  The purity and focus of the treble tone was nowhere better seen than in the opening bars of the Berkeley anthem - I feared for the ornamental glass near my speakers, though there was nothing strident or aggressive about the singing, but just honest, industrious, well-trained Anglican trebledom.  So yes - I didn't much care for the music, but I deeply appreciated its performance.

I notice that the DoM at St Alban's has honoured us with his presence on these boards.  I hope he and his clerical colleagues will accept my thanks for an hour very rewardingly spent.

Dear DracoM

You have missed that the date of the exchange of information between Mr Garnett and I was about evensong in our cathedral on Saturday the 17th March (which he clearly attended) when we sang Gibbons Short Service. On Sunday the 18th we sang Orr's Short Service. I'm a bit surprised that anyone should confuse the two pieces, but there you go.

Thank you for your compliments. Re the psalm, yes that is how we sing them. Some choirs sing them quickly and some don't - that's the beauty of the different choral foundations. The style, based on a system I inherited and which has developed over the years, suits the nature of the choir well, so it works for us.

The pace varies according to the service and the psalm. Ps 78 would indeed be recited faster.

Andrew