MADISON — Continuing a tradition of 30-plus years, the Madison Diocesan Choir will present Lessons & Carols on Sunday, Dec. 22, at Holy Name Heights, accompanied by orchestra, harp, and organ in performing works of Fauré, Handel, and Mendelssohn, all celebrating the Savior’s birth.
Bishop Donald J. Hying will preside, his first Lessons & Carols as the new bishop of the Diocese of Madison. With Dr. Patrick Gorman directing the choir, the Advent service will begin at 4 p.m. in the Holy Name Oratory, 702 South High Point Rd.The concert in the chapel is free, and Holy Name is wheelchair accessible. Guests are urged to bring a non-perishable food item for the food pantry at the Catholic Multicultural Center. The choir also is grateful for donations to help fund its music ministry and student scholarships. To learn more about the choir and its scholarship initiative, visit: https://madisondiocese.org/diocesanchoir
Unlike earlier concerts, this will be the choir’s sole Lessons & Carols concert this Christmastide. Due to scheduling conflicts, a second performance coinciding with the Feast of the Epiphany was unfortunately not possible.
Otherwise, the tradition continues, offering all an opportunity to pause and reflect on the meaning of Christmas. The nine lessons begin with Genesis 3, Adam’s temptation and fall. They conclude with the bishop’s reading of St. John 1, the great mystery of the incarnation, the word made flesh, the Savior’s birth.
Following each lesson, Gorman directs the choir and accompanists in performing a selection that complements the reading. Following the first reading, Gorman will direct the choir in singing a cappella, Of the Father’s Love Begotten, a doctrinal hymn based on a Roman poem and medieval plainsong.
A performance of Gabriel Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine follows the final reading, and here Gorman will direct the choir accompanied by a chamber orchestra, 12 professional musicians, including members of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.
Other selections include Mendelssohn’s How Lovely are the Messengers, and Handel’s And the Glory of the Lord. In addition to the strings, the choir will be accompanied at times on harp by Mary Ann Harr Grinde and on organ by Glenn Schuster, Diocesan Choir assistant director and choir accompanist. Throughout the concert, Gorman will invite all present to join in singing such carols as Sleepers Wake, O Come All Ye Faithful, and Angels We Have Heard on High.
The choir is one of the few diocesan choirs to offer lessons and carols. Most often, it is performed in America by college or professional choirs.
The readings and carols were first introduced in the Anglican Church of England in 1880. In 1918, the King’s College Cambridge Choir presented its first Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. Ten years later, the King’s College event was broadcast for the first time, and its popularity has grown with broadcasts around the world, bringing people of all faiths together.