THE Feast of All Souls on Sunday, November 2 was celebrated at St Ia’s Church, St Ives, with a service of choral evensong.

This was the first occasion in some time that a fully choral evensong had been held in the church, and it is hoped that it will become a more frequent event in the church’s ministry.

The choir was conducted by Diane Williams, assistant director of music, and sang a setting of the evening canticles by George Dyson.

The anthem was My Eyes For Beauty Pine, words by Robert Bridges that were set to music by Herbert Howells, and the congregation joined in with the singing of two hymns.

Jeffrey Williams, St Ia’s director of music, accompanied on the organ and played movements from Cesar Franck’s Prelude, Fugue and Variation before and after the service.

The officiant was the reverend prebendary Gorran Chapman who used his sermon to speak to the choir and congregation about the relevance and importance of the remembering souls of the faithful departed, and read out a list of names of those associated with the parish who had departed this life.

St Ia’s choir is a friendly and enterprising group of a dozen non-auditioned singers that meets for rehearsals on Tuesday evenings from 7pm to 8.30pm. New members who enjoy traditional church music and who are prepared to share the commitment are always welcome.