Our goal of the Compline Choir is to provide a brief, soothing respite, as an antidote to the chaotic pace of the world; to chant and sing praises and thanks to God for the successful completion of the day in the ancient, mystical way and provide spiritual peace for the rest of the night, and hope for the new day.
Our hope is also to develop for our readers and listeners, not just an experience, but a relationship with Compline; a balm to soothe the sin-sick soul; a place to pursue spiritual peace.
What Is Compline?
Historically, it is the last of the seven daily monastic offices, which include Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline.
Compline is a short service of prayers upon completion of the day; a said or sung service before retiring.
Trinity uses an expanded chanted Sarum version with an orason, petitions, confession, deliverance, psalms, an office hymn with Gloria Patri, scripture lessons, in manus tuas, the Apostles Creed, a litany, The Lord’s Prayer, collects, Nunc dimittis with antiphon, anthems, final preces, dismissal, and amen. Almost the entire service is chanted or sung by the choir.
Our Compline Choirs
The traditional voicing for Compline is all male voices including altos, tenors, baritones, and basses. The altos are typically baritones singing very high with a usable falsetto. Sometime in the dim, dark past a mixed choir adding female sopranos and altos emerged as a sound alternative to the ‘monk’ choir sound. The SATB mix has worked well for many Compline choirs.
The Trinity Compline Choir uses a hybrid mixed choir voicing. The sound of the Trinity Compline choir features alto (both male and female), tenor, baritone, and bass.
Voces Angelorum (voices of angels) may be the first all-women choir chanting Compline outside of the convent. The voicing is soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, and tenor.
Text
Renaissance Man features a male quartet consisting of 2 altos, a tenor, and a bass.
| Read more about the Compline Choir Director, Jeff Reynolds. For more information, please visit Trinity’s Compline Choir’s website at www.trinitycomplinechoir.org or their Facebook page. |  |