The Rt. Rev. Gregory Rickel writes to members of the Diocese of Olympia:
I have just received word that Dr. Peter Hallock, long time Choirmaster, Director of Music at St. Mark’s Cathedral, Composer, the first layperson in the Episcopal Church to be named Canon Precentor, Creator of Compline and friend and pastor to so many died this afternoon at his home.
He will be deeply missed, but his legacy is profound and enduring. He helps guide the angel choirs now.
And Joel Connelly writes for The Seattle Times:
Hallock conducted the Compline Choir until 2003 when he was succeeded by Jason Anderson, who wrote his dissertation on Hallock’s music. Hallock believed, said Anderson, that “God could be experienced in beauty, in song, in the communal experience as well as the contemplative.”
The Compline service at St. Mark’s, begun in the 1950s, led to a rediscovery of the late-night monastic prayer tradition in the Episcopal and Anglican churches. Anderson estimates that, at one time or another, there have been 50 groups across North America modeled on the St. Mark’s Compline Choir. Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver has a Compline service.
The Compline Service at St. Mark’s has been widely copied across North America.
