St Aidan is 85 years old?….never!
31st Aug 2008
Clarkston is an attractive leafy suburb on the Southern outskirts of Glasgow, and well-placed just off the main road is the delightful Episcopal Church dedicated to St Aidan. It is a ’solid’ little building and most certainly does not look its age of 85 years, due to the care and attention of those responsible. It is of unusual internal design with individual seating, and the Choir and Organ at the rear of the building. If you look under 2008 Events you will see a photo of the inside. A splendid new reception area and connecting corridor join the Church with the Hall.
They have been holding a number of celebrations in the week leading-up to 31st August, culminating in Sung Evensong, and we were priveleged to be part of it. The service was lead by Rev Colin Curtis, and the preacher was the Primus Idris Jones. Julie Legowski was the organist, and there was a total of 19 in the Choir. (unfortunately three of our members had fixed-up their holiday at this time….or were not well……..how in-considerate can you get!).
Our final practice was in the Sunday afternoon when we all had the chance to get our indecision and mistakes out of the way. Those who were not cognizant of Anglican liturgican music did well in absorbing the traditions of centuries within a short time! Some two hours later we broke for tea . You have to be careful, of course, not to drink TOO much tea!
The service itself was a wonderful event with an absolutely packed church and the congregational singing was great, with familiar and new music being used. (See under 2008 Events for the music) As is usual at these events more tea was provided at the end as well as a nice fruit punch!
All in all a wonderful end to the commemorations and we wish them well for the years to come.
Introit:- ‘Calm Me, Lord’ (David Adam/Margaret Rizza)
Nunc Dimittis:- new single Chant ‘St Aidan’
Vesper:- ‘A Parting Blessing’ (Music by J.Jerome Williams to traditional words)
The complete choir (and organist in the middle in the grey suit)at St Aidan's Evensong
Hope this gives you a flavour of the enjoyable time we had. There may well be some more photos later.
Choral Cathedral
St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Glasgow
I have added a link (see after the list of Categories) to St Mary’s Episcopal Church, Great Western Road, Glasgow, where we hear the most wonderful music.
The organ-playing, hymns, anthems, Liturgy, etc are all of a high standard, and incorporate a wide range of ‘tastes’, both Ancient and Modern, with a high proportion from Scottish composers such as James MacMillan, and John Bell (in whose company I spent a wonderful evening at Iona Abbey many years ago).
St Mary’s is fortunate to have had a great succession of Organist/Choirmasters, and a history of music-making which is now recognised by the BBC as the Morning Service is quite often broadcast from there. It is also known for its peal of bells.
One extra wonderful thing about St Mary’s congregation is that even when the Choir is on holiday, the singing is still great…….this may be in no small part due to the fact that most of the Angelus Singers attend there!
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Vaughan Williams was born in 1872, in the Cotswold town of Down Ampney, and he gave its name to the well-known tune, which he wrote, to ‘Come Down O Love Divine’.
Whilst he is probably better-known for his orchestral works and the support he gave to local music societies etc, he did a lot of British singing. He was musical editor of the Church Hymnal and helped edit the Oxford Book of Carols.
He was much affected by his war-time experience in Flanders, and the death of his close friend George Butterworth (of ‘Banks of Green Willow’ fame). He would have been honoured with many awards, but he refused most of them, except the Order of Merit. He died in 1958, at this time of the year, and his remains are in Westminster Abbey, close to Henry Purcell.
Probably his most famous work……
Does it taste good?
There has always been a problem defining good taste….no less within Church language and music. If you look at the preface to the Book of Common Prayer there is this enlightened statement ‘There was never anything by the wit of man so well devised or so sure established, which in continuance of time has not been corrupted’.
So even they knew that the striving for quality in all we do is ‘tainted’ (at least as defined by someone else). We can always criticise words or music, or when or how they are used. This is an argument which will never end. Fortunately, as humans, we all come with different attitudes and experiences so we cannot expect two people to have exactly the same ideas as to what is ‘good taste’.
Having come from a Methodist background, we were very constrained in the music we would use in the Church, and Latin would not have formed a part of that. ‘Choruses’ were restricted to Sunday School use. Anything else would have not been considered ’suitable’. The use of the word ‘taste’ was rare. Hymns were of course based round great Methodists such as the Wesleys, and many other wonderful wordsmiths and musicians.
A move into the Episcopal tradition broadened my scope of experience and I was able to look at the liturgical framework and how Church musicians had produced a variety of wonderful music to fulfill the needs of the Liturgy. There was no feeling of good or bad ‘taste’, only an appreciation of quality.
Now, within a cathedral setting most Sundays, ‘eclectic’ is probably a good definition of the music and words we use….ancient to modern, complex to simple, profound to light-hearted, universal to parochial. Over-arching all this, however, is the feeling that the pieces chosen seem to be ‘right for me, for the occasion’.
So maybe, at least for me, this is the best definition I can find for taste…it works as a whole to add to an experience. What about you?
Rizza, Margaret
Margaret Rizza is one of my favourite composers. Strange to think, looking at the photo, that she is in her 70’s! Her compositions appear to come from a deep faith and regular daily prayer and meditation. (In fact she says that she can only compose after a period of meditation). She only came to her faith in her fifties, and only relatively recently did she become involved in composition. As Margaret Lensky she opera singer she sang on all the major stages, worked with Britten, Stravinsky, and Bernstein, and then became a teacher at Guildhall school of Music. Exploration of Buddhism meditation followed, before returning to Christian meditation, and she did voluntary work at Maidstone Prison, giving singing lessons. The The pieces we use are mostly short, and can be repeated over and over, a bit like a mantra, and are very suitable for small choirs or congregational singing. The harmonies of these little pieces are easy to learn but still rich and interesting. She admits that modulation (changing from one key to another) is not one of her strong points, but perhaps this simplicity is what makes her music so charming. Long may she keep composing!
Practise, practise….and then get dressed!
I love choir practices….I always have………………when people get together with a like mind, it can be great fun. An amazing amount of work can be achieved in a short time and the sheer comradeship we all get from trying to achieve a common goal is palpable.
Learning parts is often difficult. What looks easy on a manuscript page does not always give joy in the learning (as we all know to our cost)! There is firstly the physical reading of the notes, and getting them into the short-time memory….often a real slog! Then the quiet humming of your part in the background (to try to get them into the long-term memory(!), whilst others are learning theirs. This is probably when you do the spade-work and achieve most.
When two and three parts are tried together, and the troubles are seen and heard, the annoyance and frustration can put you off a piece.
But there is always a point when it begins to come together. The first successful run with full harmony and accompaniment is when the hard work is seen to be worthwhile. Only then can we begin to see the composer’s intention, and start enjoying it……as you can see from the photo!
Understanding comes to the altos......
But what is most astonishing and pleasurable, is when we gown-up for a Service, knowing that we can’t make mistakes and laugh them off. Something suddenly makes everything different. Whether it is the formality of the situation, or something within us which tells us to be serious, I don’t know, but it is most often true that ‘ It will be alright on the night’.
Thank goodness!
Glasgow’s musical!
Glasgow has just been awarded the status of City of Music by the United Nations cultural body, UNESCO. One of the interesting facts to come out that there are about 127 musical events each week! Seville and Bologna have been the only two previous cities to be awarded this title.
In the interest of balance, I have to admit that Edinburgh was awarded the first City of Literature in 2004.
So we’re up there with the best of them!
‘I can’t follow a tune!’
We all know someone who has a problem singing. They may love singing and being with other singers, but unfortunately the right notes just don’t come out! Next time you are at a Karaoke night out, just count the number of people who try, valiantly, to follow the ochestral accompaniment, unsuccessfully.
But why should this be, seeing that music seem to be inherent in our brain’s development? Well of course not everyone can play an instrument, learn a foreign language, or speak in public without stuttering, so perhaps it’s ‘just one of those things’.
Several theories have been put forward, including the absence of musical-training, or a difference in the ‘tuning’ of the two ears, where they hear diffent notes and can’t determine which is ‘correct’ to sing. If you know or suspect a different theory, let me know and we can maybe save a lot of potential singers from the grief which they must find when they can’t join-in the fun of singing in a choir.
Mozart at the Crucible?
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart loved playing ball-games, especially bowls and billiards, with friends or alone. He would often stop to make some brief musical notes, because, as he said, he did most composition ‘in his head’. His annoying habit was to tap the table as he worked out a theme, which would no doubt have put off his opponents!
Rutter’s Records
Anyone who knows my musical tastes will not be surprised at my interest in John Rutter. The following are the pieces he would like to have as his Desert island Discs.
- In the Bleak Midwinter…arranged by David Willcocks
- Morning…the introduction from part 3 of Haydn’s Creation
- Gloria in Excelsis from Bach’s B Minor Mass
- Epilogue from Shakespeare’s Henry Vth
- Mozart’s Piano Quartet in G Minor
- Almost Like Being in Love….Lerner and Loewe
- Rachmaninov’s Symph no 2 (opening of 3rd Movement)
- ‘Keep me as the Apple of an Eye’ from Compline (sung as plainchant)
That’s what I call eclectic!
For an example of his works click on the link below
