Memorial service for Frank Kermode, draft order - King's College

KING’S COLLEGE CHAPEL
ROBERT TEAR CBE
1939 - 2011
Choral Scholar 1957-1960
Honorary Fellow 1988-2011
Saturday 5 November 2011
2.30pm

When I had finished my song (Benedictus – Mass in B minor) in
the Chapel, Doctor Ord came up to me and said: ‘Have you had
any singing lessons, Mr Tear?’
‘No, Sir,’ I replied.
‘Good!’ he said. ‘Then you won’t ruin my choir.’
Extract from Tear Here by Robert Tear
Published by Deutsch, 1990 (by kind permission)
Professor Sir Patrick Bateson Fellow, Provost 1988-2003
Brian Etheridge Choral Scholar 1958-61
James Whitbourn Composer and Producer
Gerald Pointon Choral Scholar 1954-1957
Christopher Gillett tenor, Choral Scholar 1976-1979
Sir Philip Ledger piano, Organist and Director of Music,
Fellow 1974-1982

ORDER OF SERVICE
Organ music before the service
Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr BWV663 J.S. Bach
Vater unser im Himmelreich BWV 682 J. S. Bach
All stand at the entrance of the Choir and Clergy
INTROIT sung by the Choir
Domine Ihesu Christe, qui me creasti, redemisti, et preordinasti
ad hoc quod sum, tu scis quid de me facere vis: fac de me
secundum voluntatem tuam cum misericordia. Amen.
O Lord Jesus Christ, who hast created and redeemed me, and
hast brought me unto that which now I am; thou knowest what
thou wouldest do with me: do with me according to thy will, for
thy tender mercy’s sake. Amen.
All sit
WELCOME The Provost
Words, King Henry VI
Music, Henry George Ley
Welcome to King’s College Chapel, where we gather this
afternoon to remember the life and work of Robert Tear. Bob
was an Honorary Fellow of the College and, long before that, he
was a Choral Scholar here in this Chapel. He was, as we
celebrate today, a formidable and famous singer. However he
was also a formidable man, a source of amusement and life to
all around him. He was very fond of this his College and Chapel
in which today we remember and celebrate him with pride and
affection.

INTRODUCTION The Dean
As we meet today to commemorate Bob’s life, and to remember
his affection for this College, we hold that life up to God, and
through music, readings, tributes and prayers we give thanks for
Bob, and we honour him.
Lord, thou hast been our refuge: from one generation to
another.
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth
and the world were made: thou art God from everlasting,
and world without end.
Thou turnest man to destruction: again thou sayest, Come
again, ye children of men.
For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday:
seeing that is past as a watch in the night.
Psalm 90: 1-4
All stand to sing the Hymn
All people that on earth do dwell,
Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
Him serve with fear, his praise forth tell;
Come ye before him and rejoice.
The Lord, ye know, is God indeed;
Without our aid he did us make;
We are his folk, he doth us feed,
And for his sheep he doth us take.
O enter then his gates with praise;
Approach with joy his courts unto;
Praise, laud, and bless his name always,
For it is seemly so to do.
For why? the Lord our God is good;
His mercy is for ever sure;
His truth at all times firmly stood,
And shall from age to age endure.

All sit
To Father, Son and Holy Ghost,
The God whom heaven and earth adore,
From men and from the angel host
Be praise and glory evermore. Amen.
Words, William Kethe
Music, Genevan Psalter, 1551
‘Old Hundredth’
READING Brian Etheridge Isaiah 40: 1-11
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye
comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is
accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath
received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. The voice of
him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the
Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every
valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be
made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough
places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all
flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken
it. The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh
is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the
field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit
of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The
grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall
stand for ever. O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up
into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings,
lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto
the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold, the Lord God will
come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold,
his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed
his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm,
and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are
with young.
ADDRESS Professor Sir Patrick Bateson

The Choir sings
Of one that is so fair and bright
Velut maris stella,
Brighter than the day is light,
Parens et puella:
I cry to thee, thou see to me,
Lady, pray thy Son for me,
Tam pia,
That I may come to thee.
Maria!
All this world was forlorn
Eva peccatrice,
Till our Lord was y-born
De te genetrice.
With ave it went away
Darkest night, and comes the day
Salutis;
The well springeth out of thee.
Virtutis.
Lady, flow’r of ev’rything,
Rosa sine spina,
Thou bare Jesu, Heaven’s King,
Gratia divina:
Of all thou bear’st the prize,
Lady, queen of paradise
Electa:
Maid mild, mother es
Effecta.
A HYMN TO THE VIRGIN
Words, c. 1300 anon.
Music, Benjamin Britten

ADDRESS James Whitbourn
All stand to sing the Hymn
All Sit
Who would true valour see
Let him come hither;
One here will constant be,
Come wind, come weather.
There's no discouragement,
Shall make him once relent,
His first avow'd intent,
To be a pilgrim.
Who so beset him round,
With dismal stories,
Do but themselves confound;
His strength the more is.
No lion can him fright,
He'll with a giant fight,
But he will have a right,
To be a pilgrim.
Hobgoblin, nor foul fiend,
Can daunt his spirit:
He knows, he at the end,
Shall life inherit.
Then fancies fly away,
He'll fear not what men say,
He'll labour night and day,
To be a pilgrim.
Words, John Bunyan
Music, English Traditional
‘Monks Gate’

READING Gerald Pointon
To be the Sons of God is not only to enjoy the privileges and the
freedom of His house, and to bear the relation of children to so
great a Father, but it is to be like Him, and to share with Him in
all His glory, and in all His treasures. To be like Him in spirit
and understanding, to be exalted above all creatures as the end
of them, to be present as He is by sight and love, without limit
and without bounds, with all His works, to be Holy towards all
and wise towards all, as He is. Prizing all His goodness in all
with infinite ardour, that as glorious and eternal kings being
pleased in all, we might reign over all for evermore.
You will not believe what a world of joy this one satisfaction
and pleasure brought me. Thenceforth I thought the Light of
Heaven was in this world: I saw it possible, and very probable,
that I was infinitely beloved of Almighty God, the delights of
Paradise were round about me, Heaven and Earth were open to
me, all riches were little things; this one pleasure being so great
that it exceeded all the joys of Eden. So great a thing it was to
me, to be satisfied in the manner of God's revealing Himself
unto mankind. Many other enquiries I had concerning the
manner of His revealing Himself, in all which I am infinitely
satisfied.
The Choir sings
from Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to
thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast
prepared before the face of all people, to be a light to lighten the
Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it
was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without
end. Amen.
First performed in Chapel on Easter Day 2005 with Robert Tear,
tenor
NUNC DIMITTIS
Words, Luke 2, 29
Music, James Whitbourn
‘Collegium Regale’
All kneel.
PRAYERS The Chaplain
Prayer of Benjamin Whichcote, Provost (1644-1660)
Let the light of truth, and the help of grace, be vital principles of
action in us; that we may, in the time of life, attain the ends for
which we live; and that our religion, which begins in
knowledge, may proceed in action, settle in temper, and end in
happiness: that we may make it the work and business of our
lives, to reconcile the temper of our spirits to the rule of
righteousness; and to incorporate the principles of our religion
into the complexion of our minds; that what we attribute to God,
as his moral excellencies and perfections; we may propose to
our selves, as matter of practice and imitation; and that what is
our best employment in this world, and will be our only
employment in the next, may be our free choice, and our
transcendant pleasure.
All: Amen.
Prayer of John Donne
Bring us, O Lord God, at our last awakening into the house and
gate of heaven, to enter into that gate and dwell in that house,
where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal
light; no noise nor silence, but one equal music; no fears nor
hopes, but one equal possession; no ends nor beginnings, but

one equal eternity; in the habitations of thy glory and dominion,
world without end.
All: Amen.
All sit
Christopher Gillett tenor
Sir Philip Ledger piano
These little limbs, these eyes and hands which here I find,
This panting heart wherewith my life begins;
Where have ye been? Behind what curtain were ye from me hid
so long?
Where was, in what abyss, my new-made tongue?
When silent I, so many thousand, thousand years
Beneath the dust did in a chaos lie, how could I smiles, or tears,
Or lips, or hands, or eyes, or ears perceive?
Welcome, ye treasures which I now receive.
From dust I rise and out of nothing now awake,
These brighter regions which salute my eyes,
A gift from God I take, the earth, the seas, the light, the lofty
skies,
The sun and stars are mine: if these I prize.
A stranger here, strange things doth meet, strange glory see,
Strange treasures lodged in this fair world appear,
Strange, all, and new to me: But that they mine should be who
nothing was,
That strangest is of all; yet brought to pass.
THE SALUTATION
Words, Thomas Traherne
Music, from ‘Dies Natalis’
Gerald Finzi

Ich frage keine Blume
Ich frage keinen Stern.
Sie können mir alle nicht sagen
Was ich erfür so gern.
Ich bin ja auch kein Gärtner.
Die Sterne stehn zu hoch
Mein Bächlein will ich fragen,
Ob mir mein Herz belog.
O Bächlein, meine Liebe,
Wie bist du heut’ so stumm!
Will ja nur eines wissen;
Ein Wörtchen um und um.
‘Ja’ heist das eine Wörtchen.
Das andre heisset ‘nein’.
Die beiden Wörtchen
schliessen
Die ganze Welt mir ein.
O Bächlein, meine Liebe,
Was bist du wunderlich!
Will’s ja nicht weiter sagen.
Sag, Bächlein, liebt sie mich?
I will ask no flower;
I will ask no star.
None of them can tell me
What I so dearly want to know.
I am no gardener;
The stars lie too high.
I will ask my little brook
Whether my heart has lied to
me.
O little brook, my love,
Why are you so quiet today?
I want to know only one thing,
A little word, over and over
again.
One little word is ‘yes’;
The other is ‘no’.
These two words enclose
The whole world for me.
O little brook, my love.
Why are you so strange?
I swear that I’ll not repeat it.
Tell me, little brook, does she
love me?
DIE NEUGIERIGE, The Curious One
Words, Wilhelm Müller
Music, from ‘Die Schöne Müllerin’
Franz Schubert

He often would ask us
That, when he died,
After playing so many
To their last rest,
If out of us any
Should here abide,
And it would not task us,
We would with our lutes
Play over him
By his grave-brim
The psalm he liked best—
The one whose sense suits
"Mount Ephraim"—
And perhaps we should seem
To him, in Death's dream,
Like the seraphim.
As soon as I knew
That his spirit was gone
I thought this his due,
And spoke thereupon.
"I think", said the vicar,
"A read service quicker
Than viols out-of-doors
In these frosts and hoars.
That old-fashioned way
Requires a fine day,
And it seems to me
It had better not be."
Hence, that afternoon,
Though never knew he
That his wish could not be,
To get through it faster
They buried the master
Without any tune.

The Choir sings
But 'twas said that, when
At the dead of next night
The vicar looked out,
There struck on his ken
Thronged roundabout,
Where the frost was graying
The headstoned grass,
A band all in white
Like the saints in church-glass,
Singing and playing
The ancient stave
By the choirmaster's grave.
Such the tenor man told
When he had grown old.
THE CHOIRMASTER’S BURIAL
Words, Thomas Hardy
Music, from ‘Winter Words’
Benjamin Britten
Here, a sheer hulk, lies poor Tom Bowling,
The darling of our crew;
No more he'll hear the tempest howling,
For death has broach'd him to.
His form was of the manliest beauty,
His heart was kind and soft;
Faithful below, he did his duty,
And now he's gone aloft.

All stand
Yet shall poor Tom find pleasant weather,
When He, who all commands,
Shall give, to call life's crew together,
The word to pipe all hands.
Thus Death, who kings and tars dispatches,
In vain Tom's life has doff'd,
For, though his body's under hatches,
His soul has gone aloft.
The Dean gives THE BLESSING
Words and Music, Charles Dibdin
Arranged, Philip Ledger
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to
shine upon you, and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up the
light of his countenance upon you, and give you peace. And the
blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit be among you and remain with you always.
All: Amen.
Organ music after the service
Fantasia in f K608 Mozart

Please remain standing while the Choir, Clergy, Provost,
members of the family and the Fellows of the College leave
the Chapel.
All are welcome to take tea in Hall following the service.
There will be a retiring collection in aid of the Chapel Choir
at the request of the family. Gift Aid envelopes are available.
I would wish at this joyful moment for eternal life with my bestfriend-wife
and daughters. I now deliberately have no ideas
concerning eternity; however, my experience tells me that
everything I construct as truth is almost certainly wrong. So I
will wait and watch.
Extract from Tear Here by Robert Tear