The choral music library of St. John’s in the Village is an excellent collection of anthems, motets and other music chosen for liturgical use to coordinate with the three-year Eucharistic lectionary in the Book of Common Prayer. Compiled primarily by Clifford Hill during his tenure as organist-choirmaster from 1990-2003, there are selections in the library for most Sundays of the church year during choir season with texts either taken from or complementing the propers of the day. The entire music library has been catalogued in a computer database in the music office. A complete printout of all 1,345 titles is available there for reference.

The choir’s primary ministry is to sing for the Eucharist on Sundays and Holy Days. Therefore the vast majority of music in our library is intended for liturgical, not concert performance. The music tends to be of a length proportionate to the service, appropriate to the size of our choir and worship space, and with liturgically appropriate texts.

Psalter: For settings of the Gradual Psalms we have alternated between Anglican chant and responsorial psalmody. Responsorial settings are taken from Church Publishing’s collection of Gradual Psalms Year A, B, C etc. (Crocker) Anglican chants have been gathered from numerous sources and collections. We have made extensive use of Peter Hallock’s Ionian Psalter (Anglican chant with congregational antiphons).

Minor propers: We own the complete American Gradual by Bruce Ford – the traditional Gregorian chant minor propers set in modern English and ordered to fit the three-year Eucharistic lectionary. It has been our custom to sing the Communion proper each Sunday, adding the Introit on festal occasions. In addition to the minor propers, we have Gregorian chant settings of the four Passion gospels, and various other liturgical texts.

Masses: The ordinary is usually sung by the congregation from settings in the Hymnal 1982. Two or three times a year we have sung a choral setting of one or more mass movements in the context of the liturgy. We own traditional mass settings by Victoria, Palestrina, Byrd, Josquin, di Lasso, Hassler, Mozart, Haydn, Lotti, Schubert and others, and numerous communion services of the past century by such composers as Howells, Wood, Willan and Sowerby.

Requiems: We own settings of the Requiem by Duruflé, Fauré, Brahms and Howells. Requiem movements have been sung at funerals and in the liturgy for All Souls Day.

Canticles: Settings of the traditional canticles for Evensong in our library include several settings by Howells, and settings by Near, Bairstow, Sumsion, Walmisley, Harris, Gibbons, Wood and others. We own a few choral settings of other canticles such as the Te Deum and Jubilate, and contemporary choir settings of canticles from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer such as the Songs of Isaiah (Dirksen), Phos Hilaron, Benedictus es, Dignus es and others.

Motets and Anthems: Because of our desire to maintain our liturgical focus, the music in our library tends to center on certain musical styles and genres that meet our needs, notably polyphony, and English and American music composed in the past century.

We have a significant collection of 16th-17th century Latin polyphony, including motets by Byrd, Victoria, Palestrina and their contemporaries such as Tallis, Sheppard, Philips, Padilla, Handl and others. Tudor church music is also well represented in the library, including early English anthems by Tallis, Byrd, Weelkes, Farrant, Batten, Gibbons and their contemporaries.

English and American composers of the past century represented in our library include, among others, Gerald Near, David Hurd, Herbert Howells, Larry King, Frank Ferko, Richard DeLong, Lee Hoiby, Richard Dirksen, Richard Proulx, Peter Hallock, Russell Schulz-Widmar, Leo Sowerby, Ned Rorem, Alan Hovhaness, Barry Rose, Richard Shepard, C.V. Stanford, John Rutter, Kenneth Leighton, Lennox Berkeley, Charles Wood, William Harris, William Mathias, Edward Elgar, Healy Willan, William Walton, Arvo Pärt and John Tavener. Other composers represented in the library include Bruckner, Poulenc, Rheinberger, Schütz, Mendelssohn, and many more.

We own a few larger-scale English Cathedral anthems, by S.S. Wesley, Henry Purcell and others, intended for use at choral Evensong.

The annual Tenebrae service, on the evening of Good Friday, has given us the opportunity to collect numerous settings of the Tenebrae responsories, including works by Padilla, Viadana, Handl, Lobo, Anerio and Ingegneri.

Major works: Because of the demands placed on the choir by the liturgical schedule of Sundays and Holy Days, it has not been a priority to sing Evensong, concerts or other extra events. We have offered services of Lessons & Carols (Advent and Lent), and anniversary concerts commemorating Bach and Purcell. We own Gerald Near’s Resurrexi, Morton Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna, three Bach cantatas, and the Mass and Requiem settings mentioned above, but no oratorios or other large works.

Anthologies: We own choir copies of the following anthologies:
Chester Motet Book 1: Italian School for 4 voices
Chester Motet Book 2: English School for 4 voices
Chester Motet Book 3: Spanish School for 4 voices
Chester Motet Book 4: German School for 4 voices
Chester Motet Book 5: Flemish School for 4 voices
Chester Motet Book 6: Christmas & Advent for 4 voices
Chester Motet Book 10: Italian & Spanish School for 5 voices
Chester Motet Book 11: Flemish & German School for 5 voices
Chester Motet Book 12: Christmas & Advent for 5 voices
Chester Motet Book 14: Italian & Spanish School for 6 voices
Chester Motet Book 16: Christmas & Advent for 6 voices
Chester Book of Carols
Diego Ortiz Music for Vespers and Compline
Faber Motet Series: Masterworks from Lisbon
Faber Motet Series: Masterworks from Seville
Faber Motet Series: Masterworks from Rome
Oxford: Anthems for Choirs 1, 2, 4
Oxford: Book of Tudor Anthems
Oxford: Carols for Choirs 1, 2
Oxford: Advent for Choirs
Oxford: Ash Wednesday to Easter for Choirs
Oxford: Palestrina Ten Four-part Motets