From the Back Page
Richard Moore, Pastor
One of the Christmas rituals in our family is, at 9 o’clock in the morning on December 24, to listen to the service of Nine Lessons and Carols as it is broadcast live from Kings College in Cambridge. Begun in 1918, Christmas Eve 2008 marks the 90th year of this lovely and endearing service and the 30th year for the National Public Radio broadcast of it. You can hear it on our own 89.3 public radio station.
The music by the famed men and boys choir of Kings College is stirring. But one thing that really fascinates me about the service is the way it begins. The first carol, which follows the organ prelude, is “Once in Royal David’s City.” Always, the single voice of a boy soprano sings the first stanza. That in itself might not seem too unusual, but the chorister who sings that stanza is only chosen at the moment the service begins. As I understand, the director of the choir points to the one who will start the service. Nobody knows in advance who it will be, so every single one of those boy sopranos has got to be on alert! It always brings tears to my eyes.
I’ll be listening on Wednesday, December 24, with rapt attention, imagining what it must be like to stand with such a choir and have the director point toward me. Tears will again fill my eyes as I listen to the ethereal opening strains of “Once in Royal David’s City.” Will the young voice crack from nervousness? It won’t matter, because he will be ready.
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