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July 2009 Newsletter Read inside about - the next ‘Singing the Mass’ event - at St John Ogilvie’s in Bourtreehill, Irvine on 26 September - plans for Sung Vespers at St Margaret’s Cathedral two or three times a year Remember - the tenth Galloway Music Festival Mass is at Smithstone House at 2.30 pm on Sunday 16 August - to have a good summer! PAST AND FUTURE EVENTS Vespers for Pentecost Members of the Galloway Music Network committee led the music for Sung Vespers in St Margaret’s Cathedral on Sunday 31 May. A good number of people attended, and it was an uplifting end to the Easter season. Given the success of this, we hope to arrange Sung Vespers on a Sunday evening two or three times a year. If you would like to be involved in this, please contact us. More information will be contained in later newsletters. Singing the Mass Another ‘Singing the Mass’ event is planned for Saturday 26 September in St John Ogilvie’s, Bourtreehill, Irvine, and it will follow the same format as previous events. For those of you who haven’t been to one yet, this means that we meet for lunch at 1 pm, spend the afternoon rehearsing, and then lead the music for the Vigil Mass at 6 pm. You can expect to learn some new music, try some four part harmony, and even experiment with new descants! (Please note this date is a week later than suggested in the last newsletter.) Galloway Music Festival Mass If you would like a copy of the music list please contact Nicola. We will be rehearsing from 1 pm (on 16 August) so that everyone who can be there early will have had the opportunity to try out anything unfamiliar. NEWS FROM OTHER ORGANISATIONS In brief, and in no particular order . . . . The RSCM are organising a young voices festival on Saturday 19 September in Dunblane Cathedral, entitled ‘Let it shine!’ The RSCM now send out a free e-mail newsletter - visit www.rscm.com for more information. Forth in Praise, the music advisory group of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh e-mail regular organists’ newsletters, as well as more general newsletters for parish musicians. They have a new website at www.forthinpraise.co.uk. The Edinburgh Schola is taking part in Solemn Sung Latin Vespers and Benediction on Thursday 6 August at 6.45 pm (the Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord) and Solemn Sung Latin Vespers on Saturday 15 August at 4 pm (the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary) - both these events are in St Mary’s Cathedral, Broughton Street. For more information visit www.edinburghschola.blogspot.com. The Liturgy Office (for England and Wales) publish regular liturgy newsletters - for more information visit their web site at www.liturgyoffice.org.uk. This web site also contains much other useful information relevant for parish musicians and other ministers involved in liturgy. THE REALLY BIG CHORUS If you enjoy singing in choirs, this may be just the thing for you! The Really Big Chorus (organised by Concerts from Scratch) claims to be Britain’s largest choral society with 9,500 people on its mailing list, representing an estimated 30,000 singing members. Concerts from Scratch Ltd The next major event is ‘Messiah from Scratch®’ at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday 15 November at 7 pm. This will be conducted by Sir David Willcocks and accompanied by the English Festival Orchestra. This annual event usually attracts over 3000 singers. All proceeds from programmes, collections and sponsorship at this concert will benefit the British Heart Foundation. Also at the Royal Albert Hall, there will be a performance of Vivaldi’s Gloria on 15 May 2010 and music by Fauré and Karl Jenkins on 11 July 2010. If you prefer something a little more relaxing, the Scratch® Iberian Cruise leaves on Sunday 18 October 2009 . . . . For more information visit their website at www.trbs.co.uk or write to The Really Big Chorus, PO Box 4211, Bath, BA1 0HJ. YOUR FAVOURITE HYMNS 1 The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended; 2 We thank thee that thy Church unsleeping, 3 As o’er each continent and island 4 The sun that bids us rest is waking 5 So be it, Lord! thy throne shall never, This hymn is popular with just about everyone (probably as much as anything because of the tune). It is a common choice at funerals, which is perhaps a little strange, as it is a Victorian ‘mission’ hymn, written to be used at Missionary meetings which people attended to hear about Christianity in far away parts of the world. However, many like to think of it as about the ‘evening’ of life. The words were written by John Ellerton (1826 - 1893) in 1870 for the publication ‘A liturgy for Missionary Meetings’. The tune, ‘St Clement’, was composed for these words by Clement C Scholefield (1839 - 1904). Ellerton was a clergyman who was involved in the development and compilation of several Victorian hymn books. Scholefield was also a clergyman and composed many hymn tunes. The tune can be used for other hymns with a 9898 metre (ie 9 syllables in the first line, 8 in the second etc) but the slurring of notes in the melody means you have to think a bit about how the words fit. Queen Victoria chose this hymn at the celebrations for her diamond jubilee in 1897; it was also sung at the ceremony when Britian returned control of Hong Kong to China in 1997. MUSIC (AND OTHER) SNIPPETS . . . . J S Bach is considered by many to be the greatest church musician of all time, so here are some quotes to encourage us and help us on our way . . . . Once, when his skills as an organist were praised, he replied, ‘There is nothing very wonderful about it. You have only to hit the right notes at the right moment and the instrument does the rest’. He told a student, ‘Just practise diligently, and it will go very well. You have five fingers on each hand just as healthy as mine.’ On another occasion he said, ‘I was made to work; if you are equally industrious you will be equally successful’. During his lifetime, Bach was known more as an organist than a composer, with only a handful of compositions being published in his lifetime, and it was not until the nineteenth century that his genius as a composer was fully recognised. In his biblical commentary on 1 Chronicles 25 (where David sets aside musicians for temple worship) he wrote ‘This chapter is the true foundation for all God-pleasing music’. Everything in life had religious significance; Bach ended a humourous poem with the words ‘On land, on sea, at home, abroad, I smoke my pipe and worship God.’ His last composition, from his deathbed, was a chorale, ‘Before thy throne I come’. At the end of his compositions, Bach routinely wrote the letters SDG. (Soli Deo Gloria - ‘To God alone, the glory’) His belief was that, ‘Music’s only purpose should be for the glory of God and the recreation of the human spirit.’ Marguerite Crolla, 43 Darnley Crescent, Sheila Ford, 33b North Shore Road, Rosina Gordon, 109 Sophia Crescent, Les Hendren, 21 Gigha Crescent, Broomlands, Nicola Lawrence, 26 Louisa Drive, Michael McCulloch, 17 George Aitken Court, Park View, Father Stephen McGrattan, Our Lady and St Cuthbert, Father Stephen Motroni, Smithstone House, Dalry Road, Margaret Sharkey, 12 Murray Avenue, |
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