Feast of the Holy Family (2010)

 
Entrance O come, all ye faithful
Gloria Missa de Angelis
Psalm (read)
Gospel Acclamation Celtic Alleluia (Fintan O’Carroll)
Preparation of the Gifts In the bleak midwinter
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Gathering Mass (Paul Inwood)
Postcommunion Silent Night
Recessional Hark, the herald angels sing
 

The choir had a thoroughly well-deserved day off, even if many of us were present in the congregation. But as today’s rich bill of musical fare amply shows, who needs a choir anyway?

Christmas Morning (2010)

Saturday, 25 December 2010

 
Introit Hodie Christus natus est (chant)
Entrance O Come all ye faithful
Gloria Glory to God in the Highest (John Bell)
Psalm All the ends of the earth (Alan Johnson)
Gospel Acclamation Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of the Gifts See amid the winter’s snow
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Gathering Mass (Paul Inwood)
Agnus Dei Mass of the Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Communion Hodie Christus natus est (chant)
Come to the Manger
Postcommunion Child of the Poor / What Child is this (Scott Soper) – choir
Recessional Hark, the herald angels sing
 

For Christmas morning, as usual, we had the men of the choir – seven of us making a merry noise. We began with unaccompanied plainchant, the Magnificat antiphon from Second Vespers for Christmas Day, made famous in Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols. In fact we sang it twice – bold and declamatory for our Introit, and then more gentle and thoughtful at the start of Communion.

We tried out another piece by Scott Soper featuring a new tune to go with a famous old one (to follow last Sunday’s On the lips of an angel). This one features William Chatterton Dix’s What child is this to the familiar Greensleeves tune, plus new words to a tune of Soper’s own creation. On reflection, it’s a less successful combination than last week’s – the two busy sets of words cancel each other out, leaving the listener with nothing but the music. A nice combination of melody and counter-melody, all the same.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Christmas Vigil and Midnight Mass (2010)

Friday, 24 December 2010

 
Introit O Emmanuel (chant)
Opening Hymn O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Reading Isaiah 11:1-10 (A shoot springs from the stock of
Jesse)
Choir Benedicamus Domino (Peter Warlock)
Hymn In the bleak midwinter
Reading Luke 1:26-38 (The Annunciation)
Hymn Once in Royal David’s City
Reading John 1: 1-18 (In the Beginning was the Word)
Bishop’s entrance and procession to the crib Adeste Fideles
Gloria Gloria de Noël (Thomas Niel)
Reading Isaiah 9:2-7 (The people that walked in darkness)
Psalm Christmas Psalm (Bernadette Farrell)
Reading Titus 2:11-14 (God’s grace has been revealed)
Gospel Acclamation Celtic Alleluia (Fintan O’Carroll)
Reading Luke 2:1-14 (The Nativity)
Preparation of the gifts Still, Still, Still (trad. Austrian, arr. Janet Janzen)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Gathering Mass (Paul Inwood)
Agnus Dei from Mass of the Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Communion Lux Aurumque (Eric Whitacre)
Silent night
Postcommunion O little town of Bethlehem
Recessional Hark the herald angels sing
 

The continued sub-zero temperatures didn’t seem to deter people from attending, and the cathedral was packed for a celebration taking the form of Mass incorporating an extended vigil of Readings and Music. The people sang well too – notably in the colourful setting of the Gloria – aided and abetted by Celebration Brass. We had a solo oboe as well, ably played by Katy Cavanagh, in the choir piece at the Preparation of the Gifts.

For the Christmas Season we’ve turned to Paul Inwood’s Gathering Mass. Being so well-known, it’s ideal for a large gathering like tonight’s, when many present were not regular members of our worshipping community. The choral descants and brass arrangement made it sound just right for a special occasion too.

4th Sunday of Advent (Year A, 2010)

 
Entrance Rorate Caeli/Come Saviour, Come (chant)
Kyrie Kyrie Litany for Advent (Missa Ubi Caritas, Bob Hurd)
Psalm Let the Lord enter in (Chris O’Hara)
Gospel Acclamation Advent Gospel Acclamations (Alan Smith)
Preparation of the Gifts On the lips of an angel (Scott Soper)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass XVIII (in English) & Missal tones
Agnus Dei Mass of the Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Communion (i) O Clavis David (chant)
(ii) Veni Immanuel (John Bell) & Ps 32 (John Ainslie)
Recessional O come, O come Emmanuel
 

For our entrance song today we took the proper text from the Missal – Rorate caeli desuper – and sang it to its traditional chant melody, in the excellent free translation by Luke Connaughton. At the end we sang the refrain with the Latin text, with everyone repeating it a final time with the English text:

Come Saviour, come like dew on the grass,
Break through the clouds like gentle rain.

Greater Manchester Army Cadet Force Carol Service

Saturday, 18 December 2010

 
Choir Ding Dong Merrily
All O Come, All Ye Faithful
Choir    Benedicamus Domino (Peter Warlock)
All O Little Town of Bethlehem
All Once in Royal David’s City
Choir Still, Still, Still (Austrian traditional, arr. Janzen)
All Silent Night
All While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
All National Anthem
All Hark the Herald Angels Sing
 

If any group of people could be relied on to brave the elements, it had to be the army, and in spite of atrocious weather we had a good turnout of members of the Army Cadet Force for a festive celebration of Christmas in their 150th anniversary year. Bishop Terence presided, and there were a Lord Mayor and a Lord Lieutenant too, to say nothing of an MP and ex-minister serving the drinks afterwards.

The second group of people who could be relied on to get themselves there was the was the choir, all of whom (magnificently) made it from far and wide and (though I say so myself) were in thoroughly good voice.

In between the musical items there were readings, prayers, and a homily. There was also a reflection on the Christmas truce in the trenches of 1914, during which we sang Silent Night and prayed for peace. Plenty for the young trainee soldiers to think about.

Celebration of Christmas in aid of Age Concern

Sunday, 12 December 2010

 
Cathedral Choir & Notability: Lux Aurumque (Eric Whitacre)
All: O Come all ye Faithful
Cathedral Choir Benedicamus Domino (Peter Warlock)
All: Once in Royal David’s City
Notability: Good News! (Jay Althouse)
Mary’s Boy Child (Jester Hairston)
All: While shepherds watched their flocks
Anthony Hunt, organ: Von Himmel Hoch (Garth Edmundson)
Cathedral Choir: Still, still, still (Austrian traditional, arr. Janzen)
All: O little town of Bethlehem
Notability: Silent Night (Franz Gruber)
All: God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
Cathedral Choir: On the lips of an angel (Charles Gounod, Scott Soper)
Notability: Jingle Bells (J Pierpoint, Arr. Ralph Allwood)
Cathedral Choir & Notability Bogoroditse Devo (Rachmaninov)
All: Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Organ Voluntary: Von Himmel Hoch (J.S. Bach) – Anthony Hunt
 

For our annual Christmas celebration for Age Concern we teamed up as usual with ace chamber choir Notability. The partnership made for an eclectic mix of music, including a chance to sing Eric Whitacre’s scrumptious setting in Latin of Edward Esch’s glimpse of the Nativity:

Light,
warm and heavy as pure gold
and angels sing softly
to the new-born babe.
Scott Soper’s On the lips of an angel is the musical equivalent of adding another blade to the twin-blade razor. It takes Gounod’s famous Ave Maria (based on J.S. Bach’s Prelude no. 1 in C from The Well-tempered Clavier) and adds a counter-melody, sung first by the male voices, and then in conjunction with Gounod’s much-loved tune. The audience, to judge from appreciative comments afterwards, were enraptured. We’re treating the regular Sunday congregation to it next Sunday, when Ave Maria is the Missal text for the Offertory Antiphon.

There were readings and reminiscences from sundry celebrities and dignitaries, and Fr Tony led us in prayer at the end. He encouraged us to be bold about Christmas: celebrating our Lord’s birth is a public proclamation of our faith in God’s existence, and his presence in the world.

3rd Sunday of Advent (Year A, 2010)

Sunday, 12 December 2010

 
Entrance Rejoice for ever (mcb)
Kyrie Dinah Reindorf
Psalm Ps 145 (Rees/Bévenot)
Gospel Acclamation Advent Gospel Acclamations (Alan Smith)
Preparation of the Gifts Rejoice in the Lord Alway (anon, c. 1600)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass XVIII (in English)
Agnus Dei Mass of the Angels and Saints (Steven R. Janco)
Communion (i) O Radix Jesse
(ii) Be strong, our God has come (Psallite)
Recessional Come, thou long-expected Jesus
 

We had two contrasting settings of today's Entrance Antiphon Rejoice in the Lord always, the well-known anonymous polyphonic setting, and my own setting in contemporary style.

My version was originally conceived as a setting of the whole of Philippians 4:4-9, written for unison voices with piano, guitar and saxophone accompaniment. By the time it got into print the saxophone part had morphed (at the publisher’s suggestion) into a choral descant with the Latin text Gaudete in Domino (Rejoice in the Lord). The verses got chopped about a bit too. We found today that in its revised form it all works quite nicely as a ‘choir and organ’ piece; to my surprise, given how far it had come from the version I originally thought of.

We were treated beforehand to a masterful improvised toccata on the two themes from our inimitable organist Anthony. I tell him he should write it all down, but then, he rightly retorts, it wouldn't be improvised any more.

2nd Sunday of Advent (Year A, 2010)

Sunday, 5 December 2010

 
Entrance Song of Consolation (Peter Jones)
Kyrie Kyrie Litany for Advent (Missa Ubi Caritas, Bob Hurd)
Psalm In His Days (David Ogden)
Gospel Acclamation Advent Gospel Acclamations (Alan Smith)
Preparation of the Gifts Conditor alme siderum (T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass XVIII (in English) & Missal tones
Agnus Dei Mass of the Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Communion (i) O Adonai
(ii) Bread of Life (Bernadette Farrell)
Recessional Hark! a herald voice is calling
 

The Agnus Dei from Steven Janco’s Mass has the option of a troped middle verse (i.e. following the medieval custom of amplifying the text, in this instance with other titles for our Lord). Since this Advent we’re following the Agnus almost immediately with one of the O Antiphons, for the troped verse we’re using the title given in the first line of each antiphon. So last week our second repetition of the Agnus began Wisdom of God, you take away the sin of the world, and today’s was Adonai (Lord), you take away.... I thought it made a neat connection, without taking an unwarranted liberty with the Missal text. Rod of Jesse and Key of David are still to come.