"...where music dwells Lingering – and wandering on as loth to die; Like thoughts whose very sweetness yieldeth proof That they were born for immortality."
William Wordsworth
"It triumphs through three mediums: stone, glass, wood, and in the presence of that sumptuous trinity criticism is often dumb...if it perished, no millionaire and no government could replace it."
E.M. Forster 1952
For over 500 years the Chapel has been a place of worship and its choral service are essential to the life of the College. The Chapel and Choir Fund exists to safeguard and enhance this musical tradition, and to provide funds to keep the fabric of the Chapel in good repair.
Apart from the daily running costs of the Chapel and Choir, is the expense of maintaining and repairing the building: its glass, organ and furnishings. The cost of more fundamental works such as renewing the lead roof and preserving the priceless stained glass windows is substantially greater. The first stage of a £3 million programme of essential work to repair and refurbish the Chapel is currently under way.
It is not generally recognised that the College bears these expenses alone. It is part of the national and, indeed, the international, heritage, yet it receives nothing from local or national institutions towards the upkeep of what is more akin to a cathedral than to a college chapel.
The Chapel and Choir Fund ensures that the Chapel and the Choir can be preserved and enhanced so that visitors, listeners and viewers from all over the world can delight in its architectural and musical glories for centuries to come.
"King's College Chapel is one of the crowning glories of our civilisation: its Choir the jewel in that crown. This College needs support to help it maintain the intake of outstanding scholars who otherwise could never be funded, and to further its educational aims among the young. In this way the Chapel Choir can remain a living entity within the College, with relevance to its everyday surroundings, but allowing its spiritual magic to touch and enhance an ever-widening circle of young people through active, hands-on, musical contact."
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