6
December
–
6
December
7pm
7pm
Alternative Lessons and Carols
Alternative Lessons and Carols
London Review of Books
Featuring ‘lessons’ selected and read by CAConrad, Jem Finer, Andrew O’Hagan, Marina Warner and many more, and ‘carols’ performed by the experimental choir, Shards.
Since its invention in Cornwall on Christmas Eve, 1880, the familiar sequence of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, at King’s College Cambridge and in churches great and small across the land, has been one of the defining rhythms of the festive period. It has become a tribal custom that transcends the usual terms of churchgoing, of bible readings and hymn-singing. But what if, almost 150 years on, these terms really were transcended – or at the very least, remixed? Why cleave so loyally to Christianity when something else is clearly going on: something nostalgic, reflective, ritualistic…
So here, instead, are nine ‘lessons’ selected and read by writers and artists including the ‘shamanic cult hero of contemporary queer poetry,’ CA Conrad; Andrew O’Hagan, author of this year’s most talked-about novel, Caledonian Road; the artist and musician Jem Finer, who co-wrote the greatest of all Christmas songs, the Pogues’ ‘Fairytale of New York’; and Marina Warner, the mythographer whose many books include Alone of All Her Sex: The Myth and the Cult of the Virgin Mary. Each lesson loosely tracks the arc of the traditional service’s journey through scripture, from the fall of man to the mystery of the incarnation via prophesy, annunciation, shepherds and wise men, etc. – while offering more radical, transgressive, inclusive kinds of wisdom, by drawing on alternative literatures and traditions.
'Carols’ will be arranged by composer Kieran Brunt and performed by the experimental vocal ensemble, Shards. Join in if you can.
The London Review of Books is Europe’s leading journal of culture and ideas, founded 45 years ago in 1979. Published twice a month, it provides the space for many of the world’s best writers to explore a wide variety of subjects in exhilarating detail – from art and politics to science and technology via history and philosophy, fiction and poetry. In the age of the long read, the LRB remains the pre-eminent exponent of the intellectual essay, admired around the world for its fearlessness, its range, and its elegance.
Featuring ‘lessons’ selected and read by CAConrad, Jem Finer, Andrew O’Hagan, Marina Warner and many more, and ‘carols’ performed by the experimental choir, Shards.
Since its invention in Cornwall on Christmas Eve, 1880, the familiar sequence of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, at King’s College Cambridge and in churches great and small across the land, has been one of the defining rhythms of the festive period. It has become a tribal custom that transcends the usual terms of churchgoing, of bible readings and hymn-singing. But what if, almost 150 years on, these terms really were transcended – or at the very least, remixed? Why cleave so loyally to Christianity when something else is clearly going on: something nostalgic, reflective, ritualistic…
So here, instead, are nine ‘lessons’ selected and read by writers and artists including the ‘shamanic cult hero of contemporary queer poetry,’ CA Conrad; Andrew O’Hagan, author of this year’s most talked-about novel, Caledonian Road; the artist and musician Jem Finer, who co-wrote the greatest of all Christmas songs, the Pogues’ ‘Fairytale of New York’; and Marina Warner, the mythographer whose many books include Alone of All Her Sex: The Myth and the Cult of the Virgin Mary. Each lesson loosely tracks the arc of the traditional service’s journey through scripture, from the fall of man to the mystery of the incarnation via prophesy, annunciation, shepherds and wise men, etc. – while offering more radical, transgressive, inclusive kinds of wisdom, by drawing on alternative literatures and traditions.
'Carols’ will be arranged by composer Kieran Brunt and performed by the experimental vocal ensemble, Shards. Join in if you can.
The London Review of Books is Europe’s leading journal of culture and ideas, founded 45 years ago in 1979. Published twice a month, it provides the space for many of the world’s best writers to explore a wide variety of subjects in exhilarating detail – from art and politics to science and technology via history and philosophy, fiction and poetry. In the age of the long read, the LRB remains the pre-eminent exponent of the intellectual essay, admired around the world for its fearlessness, its range, and its elegance.
