The
Anthem is as English as fish and chips wrapped in newspaper.
It was a child of the Reformation in Great Britain when, at Henry
VIII’s command, Bishop Crammer wrote the first Book of Common Prayer
(1549), thus providing new liturgies in the vernacular to replace the
Roman Catholic Breviary and Missal.
In
their sung versions, the newly created Offices of Morning and Evening
Prayer (often referred to as Matins and Evensong), as well as Holy
Communion, provided an opportunity for the singing of anthems, usually
during the collection of alms, “In quires and places where they sing,
here may be sung an anthem."
Of
singular importance was the introduction, through the anthem, of
non-scriptural as well as scriptural texts, thus providing a unique
opportunity for the introduction of “parabiblical” thought and
expression for poets, composers, and performers.
Within such a framework, a church musician becomes a theologian
and inherits the liabilities therewith, both positive and negative.
As
a composer of anthems for more than 40 years, I hope these works will
find a place within the continuum of the Anglican tradition that
inspired them.
-Peter
Hallock
Few
musicians have been more important to modern Episcopal church music than
Peter Hallock. During his forty years at St. Mark’s Cathedral,
Seattle, he produced a remarkable legacy: a daunting number of published
and unpublished compositions, including numerous motets as well as
large-scale anthems with instrumental accompaniment. A three-year cycle
of psalm settings for choir with congregational antiphons is the most
popular Psalter in common use in both the Episcopal and Lutheran
denominations in the United States.
At
the Cathedral itself, Hallock’s legacy includes the landmark Flentrop
tracker organ, the Compline service, the annual Messiah performances on
period instruments, and a national reputation for the great musical
tradition he brought about. The popularity of Compline at St. Mark’s
spawned a revival in interest in this service, now included in the
prayer books of Lutheran and Episcopal denominations worldwide.
His
musical accomplishments have been recognized by numerous degrees and
honors: Doctor of Sacred Music, honoris causa, from the Church Divinity
School of the Pacific (the Episcopal seminary of the western United
States); Associate of the Royal School of Church Music; Associate of the
Royal College of Music; Master of Music in Organ Performance and
Composition (University of Washington); Canon Precentor (emeritus), St.
Mark's Cathedral; and Canon of Honor, Diocese of Olympia.
Dr.
Hallock was the first lay person in the Episcopal Church to be given the
title of Canon Precentor, indicating his importance not only as a
composer and musician, but also as a contributor to the liturgy of St.
Mark's and the Dioceses of Olympia.
Now
retired from St. Mark's Cathedral, Dr. Hallock serves as organist at St.
Clement's Parish, Seattle, and continues as director of the prestigious
Compline Choir.
