Evenings of Song and Reflection in the Trinity Chapel

Trinity’s iconic chapel was a gift from businessman Gerald Larkin, built in 1955. It was designed by British architect Sir Gilles Gilbert Scott, who also designed the Liverpool Cathedral and the famous red telephone boxes in Britain. The chapel is made almost entirely of solid masonry, and the glass-stained, panelled windows are the most distinguishable feature of Trinity’s outward appearance. In the evenings when the sun is low, light spills in through the stained glass and envelops the chapel in a warm yellow glow.

Every Wednesday between 5:15 and 6 PM, the chapel is filled with the sound of the Trinity chapel choir singing the Service of Choral Evensong. Singing from a balcony overlooking the chapel, the choir is composed of about twenty-five members, many of whom are Trinity students.

Conducting the chapel choir is John Tuttle, the Director of Music at Trinity College. Tuttle has been an organist at the University of Toronto since 1979, and is an adjunct professor of organ at the Faculty of Music. John’s primary occupation is as a church musician at Saint Thomas’ Anglican Church on Huron Street.

On a Monday evening before the choir’s rehearsal, I met with John in the choir gallery - which also houses the Chapel Organ - to receive some insight into the chapel choir and the Anglican musical tradition at Trinity.

You’ve been director of the Exultate Chamber Singers, the Hart House Choir, are teaching organ music at the U of T faculty of music, and are currently organist at St. Thomas’ Church. What brought you to Trinity College?

I have been the organist here at the University for over 35 years, and I’ve been teaching at the Faculty of Music for almost as long. But I’m a church musician first. Working at Trinity with smart people and good singers, who can who are committed to this effort is a great opportunity.

It’s also a chance for me to work with divinity students. You may or may not know that the church has largely given up on good music - in most churches, the music played and sung is pretty awful. It’s expedient really: music which requires no commitment, no time to learn, and isn’t crafted very well.

None of that applies to good church music; real church music is an offering which requires effort, commitment and understanding. That’s partly why I came here - I welcomed the opportunity to work with divinity students, to let them see what a real live church musician actually does, because many of them are going to become priests in parish churches. If they hear good music here at Trinity, maybe they will set their expectations higher.

How often do you meet with divinity students?

I see them once a week. I’m not really teaching them as much as advising them. They meet on Wednesday afternoons to choose the music for all of their daily offices and liturgies. My primary responsibility here is to provide them with ample choice of good and relevant music.

You also conduct the Trinity Chapel Choir, which performs Evensong on Wednesday evenings. Who are the members of the choir?

One would expect that they would all be members of the Trinity College community, but they’re not. People from all over the University community sing in the choir. Diversity in the choir’s composition is one of the things I promote, because we get a better choir by doing that. We have people from the Faculties of Music and Engineering, graduate students – sometimes we get people who have graduated, but who like the music and continue to come. The only thing that we ask is that the choral scholars be students at the University of Toronto.

How long has the chapel choir been around? Could you give some insight into the history of the choir?

I don’t know a lot about it. I think John Sidgewick was the name of the fellow back in the 50’s and 60’s who more or less started the choir, as we know it now. For about ten years, around the time that I moved to Toronto in 1975, Robert Bell was conducting the choir. He also served as Choirmaster and Organist at St. Mary Magdalene’s on Ulster Street.

Robert was the one who started the Choral Scholar’s program. After he retired, it was Willis Noble who ran the choir. I succeeded Willis in 2006. The choir been going on for a while; it’s been up and down, but the Choral Scholars program is an excellent way to give it stability.

Was there a time when the choir performed at something other than Evensong?

I don’t know if there was ever a time they did more than just Evensong. There may have been a time when they did a Sunday afternoon service.

I jealously guard our choristers time. `We were recently asked if we could join the Gryphon Trio in a concert, but I felt the extra rehearsal time required would compromise our primary mission, which is the weekly music at Choral Evensong. I am aware of the tremendous load students carry in College, and I want the experience in the Trinity Choir to be a positive influence on their College life, rather than a source of frustration.

I also want to expose choristers to what I think is some of the greatest church music ever written. It’s a great opportunity for intellectual, spiritual and musical growth, one that many people don’t have. You don’t get it in many church choirs. Occasionally, you will hear some of this music sung by a concert choir, but to sing this music every week in the context of the Office of Evensong is really quite a special thing.

I haven’t been to church much growing up. Would Evensong still be appealing to a person like me?

Evensong is a ”toe in the door.” It does not require a congregant to make a positive, public commitment to the faith (for example, going to Communion) – one can sit in the nave and soak in the experience, then walk away, or if some deeper resonance is struck, you can pursue it.

I think Evensong is great thing for Trinity, and I wish they would promote this more with the College community. Frankly, I think Trinity’s Chapel Choir is one of the best choirs on the campus. I know “Pride goeth before a fall,” but I it’s a fine choir.

At Evensong what kind of music could one expect to hear?

I pattern our Evensong after English cathedral Evensong. If you were to walk into Salisbury Cathedral on a Sunday afternoon or even a weekday, the choir would come in and sing a service very much like what we do. We’ll sing the Versicles and Responses by Smith, Byrd, Leighton or Rose, we’ll sing the Psalms to Anglican chant, we’ll sing an anthem, we’ll sing a hymn, and possibly a Final Response. It’s the kind of music that wouldn’t be unusual to hear if you went to Westminster Abbey or St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

There’s a rhythm to the music week-by-week. It’s not the same musical or liturgical high every week; Sometimes a special day in the church’s calendar is cause for a grander style of music; Other times, it’s an ordinary day and you try to make the music just a little less spectacular so that when you do have a spectacular day then you can really ramp it up.

Since you first joined Trinity College, what has changed in the music program?

Well the schedule hasn’t changed. I have purposely kept it that way. We have certainly expanded our repertoire. I’m a believer not so much in change as in perfecting things. Some of the music gets repeated over the years, because it is supremely appropriate to our needs, and it is good to have another kick at it. It’s a chance to polish things which may not have gone as well the first time we did it.

Here at Trinity you have been the organist and director of music since 2006. What does being the director of music at Trinity involve?

Other than the choir and doing the services, I supervise the organ scholar, I meet with divinity students, and I’m member of the senior common room. But other than that, I do whatever special music comes along. I play for Convocation, for example.

Did you play for matriculation this year?

Yes, David Simon (the organ scholar) and I played duets by Schubert, which we’ve done in the last three or four years.

Finally, what is your favourite part about directing the Trinity College Chapel choir?

I love the people and their enthusiasm. The reason why it’s such a good choir is that you are all smart. You pay attention, and if we fix something, it usually stays fixed. And then if a similar problem arises somewhere else, you usually fix that that, too. Smart people tend to extrapolate from ideas and use them creatively. And I love promoting this great music with you folks, and giving you an opportunity to sing it. I think that’s terribly important.

I believe that the kind of music you listen to is just as important as the food you eat. I tell the divinity students, “if you are feeding yourself junk music for the soul, then it sooner or later is going to rot your faith.” I think that if you’re listening to terrible music it’s not really going to edify you.

I encourage students, faculty and staff to attend a Choral Evensong service. During the hectic pace of life during term, Evensong provides the opportunity for a quiet time of reflection and peace; an excellent way to stand apart from the daily stress of study and work.

If for no other reason, you could stop by Evensong to enjoy one of the most beautiful spaces in the University and the city - with the setting sun trickling through the glass-stained windows, and golden light dancing across the chapel, it truly is magical. Not to mention, there are delicious treats and great conversation waiting in the reception, which is situated in the Divinity common room after the Evensong service.