Outside the chapel, night falls quietly. Inside, candles flicker, and the sound of the choir fills the building.
Evensong happens once every month and always on the last Sunday of the month. Last month’s Evensong was on Sept. 28 and featured several solos. This month’s Evensong was held on Oct. 26.
“It’s a pretty cool chance to get to hear the choir do what they do and sing some wonderful music, ” Organist and Choir Teacher Glenn Stroh said.“It’s just a nice atmosphere to come together and have a calm musical experience.”
This month’s Evensong, however, will look a little different.
“We have a documentary crew coming from the United Kingdom to film the choir for about a week in class rehearsals,” Stroh said. “Then they’ll film again on Saturday morning when we all gather together with our organist, Dr. Malcolm Matthews from UNT (University of North Texas), and our professional scholars (who sing with us).”
This documentary about Evensong will feature the school choir as well as many other choirs from the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe.
“The documentary is focused on Evensong throughout the world, and so there are a lot of institutions in the United Kingdom, where the tradition comes from and is most prevalent,” Stroh said. “But also, a choir from the Netherlands is participating. We are the only American choir that gets to be part of this major documentary, so it’s exciting for St Mark’s and for our voices in the choir program too.”
The music this month is also particularly special, as it’s written by a famous British composer, Herbert Howells.
Howells, one of Britain’s most celebrated 20th-century composers, wrote extensively for church choirs. His music is known for blending traditional Anglican harmonies with a sense of modern expressiveness.
For the choir, performing his work in an American chapel adds another layer of meaning — a fusion of British tradition and American artistry
“It’s centered around a set of pieces that were written for a church in Dallas,” Stroh said. “He wrote this piece of music that’s really extraordinary. (It) incorporates elements from jazz, blues and true American art forms in this setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, which is what we sing every Evensong. (It’s) that same text, but different artist and different composers are putting their mark on it and putting their spin on it.”
The piece bridges British and American musical traditions, giving it special meaning for the school choir.
“It’s like uncovering a piece that not many people know about,” Stroh said. “It’s a way of rediscovering and shining light on something that’s really a wonderful piece of music.”