The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge

In 1972 St John's started broadcasting Evensong for Ash Wednesday on BBC Radio 3's Choral Evensong and the service has been aired every other year since then. All of the Ash Wednesday broadcasts have included the Psalm 51: 'Miserere mei, Deus, secundum magnam misercordiuam tuam' which has been sung to the sublime setting by Gregorio Allegri.

The Choir sings 'Joint Evensongs' each term with Choirs from other Colleges in Cambridge. We usually sing joint services with Clare, Gonville and Caius and Trinity College Choirs. The longest-standing is the King's and John's joint service which will be held at the end of the academic year. Each joint service has a different 'traditional' social event associated with it and on this occasion the Choirs of John’s and Caius went for a curry.

The last time the Gonville and Caius Choir joined forces with us for Choral Evensong was in March 2011.

Michael Tippett (1905–1998) was an English Composer, arguably most famous for his first oratorio 'A Child of our Time'. Tippett's St John's Service, composed in 1961 was written for the 450th anniversary of St John's College. After the first performance, Tippett sent the then Director of Music, George Guest, a signed photograph to St John's Choir, which still hangs on the wall in the Song School.

The Choristers return to Chapel services this week, following their half term break. One of the highlights of last week was the Ash Wednesday Service, which was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 . The broadcast is available on BBC iPlayer and features the stunning Allegri's 'Miserere mei, Deus' and 'In ieunio et fletu' by Tallis.