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Office Services and Antiphons

The timetable during the two weeks of the enactments at St Teilo’s Church offered space to explore services other than the Mass and Procession: in June 2011, Vespers and Antiphon of the Blessed Virgin Mary; in September 2011, both Antiphon of the Cross followed by Compline, and also Compline and Antiphon of the Holy Name of Jesus.

During both weeks, these services were used as a basis for exploration. In both June and September, the presence of the newly-made medieval organ offered opportunities to explore the interchange between voices and organ evident in the surviving musical repertory. In June, we wanted to explore the use of women in the liturgy – there were after all several hundred churches in Britain where nuns conducted the daily services before the dissolution of the monasteries (1526-40). In September, there was exploration of polyphony, including the experiment of singing of a polyphonic antiphon in procession.