The "O" Antiphons — Advent Procession with Lessons & Carols
EVERY YEAR SICNE 1986, ON THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT
2024 O ANTIPHONS SERVICE: SUNDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2024, in person in the cathedral nave and livestreamed
The annual “O” Antiphons Liturgy is considered by many to be a highlight of the liturgical year at Saint Mark’s and an emblem of this community’s tradition of liturgical innovation and musical excellence. The particular form of this liturgy that we use was invented here, first presented in 1986, and is today used by churches around the world. It is similar to a “Lessons & Carols” service, but rather than presenting a linear narrative from scripture, it is structured around seven medieval antiphons, each beginning with the word “O”—which also form the basis of the hymn O Come, O Come Emmanuel.
The liturgy is a poetic exploration of resonant images of Christ found in the antiphons—star, key, root, cornerstone—while drawing the connections between the first advent of Jesus, when he came into our world 2,000 years ago, with both the long-expected coming of the Christ at the end of time, as well as the coming of Christ into the human heart. This beloved cathedral tradition provides a moving and evocative entrance into the Advent season of prayerful expectation.
The 2024 Liturgy
in 2024, we observe the 100th anniversary of the birth of Peter Hallock (1924–2014), as well as the tenth anniversary of his death. Hallock, who served as organist and choirmaster of Saint Mark's Cathedral, Seattle, from 1951 to 1991, and whose musical and liturgical vision inform the worship of this cathedral to this day, not least for his central role in the crafting of the "O" Antiphons Advent Procession.
For this year's liturgy, the "O" Antiphons themselves will be sung by the Cathedral Choir and Compline Choir using the second of Hallock's two complete settings of the seven antiphons. The Cathedral Choir and Compline Choir will be joined by the Senior Choristers of the Choir School for Behold a Mighty Prophet sung during the opening procession. The Compline Choir will offer Hallock's setting of the "Advent Prose," Rorate caeli desuper.
Other repertoire in the 2024 liturgy includes the premier of In the Stillness by B.E. Boykin (see above), Jan Sandström's breathtaking meditation on Lo, how a rose e'er blooming.
About the Liturgy
Advent Processions have been offered at Saint Mark’s Cathedral for many years, though known by different names: Advent Vespers, Advent Lessons and Carols, etc. Peter R. Hallock, organist and choirmaster of Saint Mark’s from 1951 to 1991, and other creative individuals conceived a liturgy using the Great “O” Antiphons as a framework, which was presented for the first time at Saint Mark’s in 1986. Today, the form of this liturgy created here is used in churches around the world.
Materials and resources for this liturgy, including order of service, suggested readings, graphics and banner designs, etc, can be purchased at ionianarts.com
Photo Gallery
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Anthem Commissioning Project
Beginning in 2021, the cathedral music department began a program to commission new anthems for the “O” Antiphons Liturgy, with an intention to enrich the choral repertoire with new voices, and to disrupt pattern of exclusion that have historically limited opportunities in the field of sacred choral music. These commissions have been supported by the Saint Mark's Vestry, and are not funded by a particular donor—the commissions have come from the cathedral music program's own resources.
The first commissioned work, Ecstatic Expectancy by Zanaida Robles, premiered at the 2021 service on November 28, 2021.
(Note that newly-composed work presented at the 2022 liturgy, O Clavis David by William C. White, was commissioned by the American Guild of Organist for their national convention, and was not part of the cathedral's commissioning project.)
For the 2024 “O” Antiphons service, the Cathedral Choir is proud to present the second premiere in this series of commissions, “In the Stillness,” by B.E. Boykin.