Archive for January, 2022
When to the temple Mary went: the music from my youth
That first piece, When to the temple Mary went by Johannes Eccard was a favourite of mine when I sang in the parish choir of my home parish church of St Patrick, Kilconriola (Ballymena). This evening, I did not expect to be listening to it, let alone writing a blog piece about the music at all. How did this come about?
Well, earlier today I was contacted by a contact with whom I have had no contact for at least eleven years. However, as a result of the contact made on Facebook earlier, this evening I have been exploring some music on Youtube.
The first piece was Roger Quilter’s Where the Rainbow Ends, played on the piano by John Kersey.
From there, I moved on to Roger Quilter’s Non nobis Domine, which I know I sang but once, but it brought back so many memories.
And then Greater love hath no man by John Ireland. This was a great favourite when I sang in my home parish choir from the age of seven until my early twenties. In my time, I had sung the Treble, Bass, and Tenor parts. Each of them came back to me as I heard the music.
Sumsion’s They that go down to the sea in ships came to mind as well, having sung it on a Royal School of Church Music Choristers’ Course, and then whilst at school, having attempted to learn the organ part.
Church music has been part of my life since the age of seven. In recent years, I have not had the opportunity to sing any of it as there is no choir in the parish here, and even before that, I was not singing in any choir at all. I must admit that I do miss singing these great pieces, and I wonder if they are still sung in my home parish church, however, I fear that with the current incumbent, this is most unlikely.
More music that I remember singing in that choir includes:
Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in G, by C.V. Stanford
Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in Bb, by C.V. Stanford
Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in C, by C.V. Stanford
Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis Collegium Regale, by Herbert Howells
Communion Service in F by Herbert Sumsion
Communion Service plainsong by John Merbecke
A Celtic Eucharist by Martin White
Communion Service by William Matthias
Anthems included:
A Gaelic Blessing, John Rutter
Above all praise, Felix Mendelssohn
Ave verum corpus, William Byrd
Ave verum corpus, Edward Elgar
Ave verum corpus, W.A. Mozart
Awake, thou wintry earth, J.S. Bach
Blessed be the God and Father, S.S. Wesley
Call tor remembrance, Richard Farrant
Cantate Domino, Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni, ed. R.R. Terry
Come, Holy Ghost, Thomas Attwood, ed. Lionel Dakers
Come, ye faithful raise the strain, R.S. Thatcher
Evening Hymn, H. Balfour Gardiner
God be in my head, H. Walford Davies
God be in my head, John Rutter
God so loved the world, John Goss
If we believe, John Goss
If ye love me, Thomas Tallis
Jesu, joy of man’s desiring, J.S. Bach
King of glory, King of peace, J.S. Bach
Lead me, Lord, S.S. Wesley
Let thy merciful ears, O Lord, [? Thomas] Mudd
Let us now praise famous men, R. Vaughan Williams
Locus iste, Anton Bruckner
Lord, for thy tender mercy’s sake, Farrant
My eyes for beauty pine, Herbert Howells
My shepherd is Lord, Harrison Oxley
My soul, there is a country, C. Hubert H. Parry
Never weather-beaten sail, Charles Wood
O gladsome light, O grace, Louis Bourgeois, set by Claude Goudimel, ed. Henry G. Ley
O how amiable, R. Vaughan Williams
O Lord, increase our faith, Henry Loosemore
O Lord, the maker of all things, William Mundy
O Lorde, the maker of al thing, John Joubert
O Saviour of the world, John Goss
O thou, the central orb, Charles Wood
Praise, O praise, Martin How
Pray that Jerusalem, C.V. Stanford
Rejoice in the Lord alway, Henry Purcell
So they gave their bodies, Peter Aston
The strife is o’er, Henry G. Ley
This is the record of John, Orlando Gibbons
Thou visitest the earth, Maurice Greene
Turn back O Man, arranged by Gustav Holst
Turn thy face from my sins, Thomas Attwood
Wash me throughly, S.S. Wesley
When to the temple Mary went, Johannes Eccard
Zadok the Priest, G.F. Handel
Do gay people celebrate Christmas?
Having not yet sourced a new emporium from which to acquire the food necessary to feed the three felines with whom I share the house with Andrew, I returned to our old town to buy the requisite bag of cat food from the veterinary surgeon there as we have for the last three-and-a-half years. As I walked from the station to the vet’s, I ran into a former neighbour, who greeted me with:
Happy Christmas, if you celebrate it as I don’t know if gay people do.
I must admit that I was somewhat taken aback at this strange greeting, but managed to respond with:
We celebrate everything as normal. Had you taken the time to get to speak to us properly in the three-and-a-half years we had lived next door, you would know.
Two things can be learned from this exchange. First of all, at least the exchange began with “Happy Christmas”. That is a positive greeting. The latter part may have been that she wanted to learn. Secondly, I can manage to keep a straight face when giving an answer to such a question!
