Reflections

Revisiting "Olivet to Calvary" - An All Saints Tradition

 

“I am about to create new heavens and a new earth;

the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.”

 

This morning, as I began drafting our bulletins for Easter, I found myself—as I often do—skipping ahead from Palm Sunday to Easter Day. These are the largest and most complex services of the week, and getting an early start helps everything fall into place. But as I paused to read the first lesson appointed for Easter from Isaiah 65, the opening verse above caught my attention.

 

These words echo one of my favorite choral settings for All Saints’ Day—Edgar Bainton’s And I Saw a New Heaven. Of course, Bainton’s text is drawn from Revelation, not Isaiah. But the connection is no coincidence. The author of Revelation, John of Patmos, was undoubtedly familiar with the prophetic words of Isaiah and reframed them as part of the New Testament’s great concluding vision.

 

In the church, for good reason, we often dwell on the “former things”—traditions, familiar rituals, and inherited stories. Yet it’s through repetition that those same things become new. Holy Week is a perfect example. Though the liturgies and themes remain unchanged from year to year, I find myself surprised each time by some new insight or detail I hadn’t noticed before. After twenty-two years of preparing for Holy Week in the Episcopal Church, the logistical worries have mostly faded into the background—though a few still manage to sneak up on me!

 

One particular “former thing” we are bringing back is this year’s Good Friday choral meditation. From 1920 through the early 1990s, Maunder’s Olivet to Calvary was a beloved annual tradition, sung by the All Saints Choir of Men & Boys on Good Friday. In honor of the 125th anniversary of the choir program, we are revisiting this meaningful work. You can find out more here!

 

Composed in 1904, Olivet to Calvary traces the final days of Christ’s earthly ministry—from the triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the sorrow of the Crucifixion. Rooted in the English choral tradition, the work tells the stories through expressive solos, dramatic recitatives, and rousing choruses. The work is often described as a “heartfelt” reflection on the Passion.

 

In 1970, the 50th consecutive performance at All Saints was recorded on LP under the direction of Charles P. Cooke, Jr., who served as Director of Music from 1952 to 1988. That year’s choir included 38 boys, six altos, five tenors, and fourteen basses, with soloists William Cooper and Lloyd Bell. (This recording has since been remastered and is now available for pre-order – click here to put your name on the list!)

 

This year’s performance will look quite different from that of decades past. Our choir now includes girls and women alongside the men and boys. Yet at its heart, the spirit of the tradition lives on. A new generation of singers and listeners will encounter Maunder’s work—some for the very first time. Through its Victorian harmonies and poetic text, perhaps they too will discover something new about Jesus, and the story of his trial and sacrifice.

 

That, after all, is the gift of the liturgical year. Even the oldest stories can be heard anew. What are the “new things” that you might discover this year? I hope you’ll join us as we tell the old story once more through the various liturgies of Holy Week —and encounter it in a fresh and meaningful way.