Evensong – Notes from the Choir
Timothy E Popple
Quires and Places 268pp (pb) £11.99
What with its suplices and ruffs, magnifying the Lords, preces, Cantoris, Decani and all, the ritual of Choral Evensong in Britain’s cathedrals and college chapels is a quirky old beast, as author Timothy Popple aknowledges early on here. He then rather masterfully guides us through this arcane world, neatly weaving together three main narrative strands – the order of service, the liturgical year and the typical life of a chorister – to help explain Evensong’s strange terminology, outline its history and, above all, enthuse about the music.
Part of his aim is to make us chuckle, but Popple also packs in an impressive amount of fact along the way, and even those of us from…
