A new position

The Organist extraordinaire(literally as it goes as this is a Missa Cantata of which I speak,) decided to retire on Sat, after 65 years service.

That's worth repeating - 65 years.

She played at one of the Altar Server's Grandparent's Wedding (and he's a student so do the Math!), she played through my early childhood and First Holy Communion and now no more.

Her melancholic postludes of thirty years ago were still being heard until Saturday lunch-time. Amazing.

The replacement?

Me.

Gregorian Chant Network

Just launched and here.

Extreme or normal?

Going to Mass every Sunday
Going to Confession
Not eating meat on Fridays
Maybe going to Mass during the week....

A friend of mine once said that he didn't want to be labled a this or that Catholic he just wanted to be a normal one. Trouble is doing the above things in 2010, puts you in the extreme camp for most members of the general population and alas for some Catholics...

Since when did reading what the Pope's just said and trying to act on it make you extreme?

Viva il Papa

The trouble with dissent is that dissenters are very very bossy and they don't like silence, because we are all supposed to be listening to them.

Once you ignore legitimate authority, who do you believe? How do you decide what to do? How can the big questions get different answers in 2010 compared to 1510, 1010, 510...if we are dealing with eternity?

Random thought of the day 2

Have you noticed how modernist music is totally agin melody?
I wrote an essay on one of my finals papers on 'Melody in Boulez and Stockhausen,' where I basically went through their respective outputs describing the characteristics of melody and how their music does not possess them.

Schoenberg for all his serialism wrote some excellent books on composition and knew how to write a good tune. He just chose not to.

Where do we find melody par excellence? Plainsong. Funny that. Seems to be hardwired into human beings after all.

LMS Chant thingy tomorrow

at the London Oratory.

Anyone out there coming too?

PS I have officially broken my broadband at home and am therefore on a go slow bloggingwise, which is probably no bad thing.

Aid to Haiti

Just as lots (most, all) Parishes had collections for Haiti on Sunday, so it was in Blackfen. I was supposed to be singing when the collecting thing came round, so will have to make alternative arrangements.



Aid to the Church in Need

Auditions Auditions

Just spent a couple of days hearing small people playing things which is always interesting and occasionally very enjoyable. It is surprising how quickly you can tell whether someone is good or not. Finished the second day with a 10 year old playing a Prelude and Fugue from the Well-Tempered Clavier, which he carefully informed us was by JS Bach (Oh him). He played it beautifully too.

We always listen to all the pieces though as we have to be entirely fair No brilliant comic moments and I only had to engage the mute button in my head twice, which allows Music Teachers not to go mad whilst listening to notes of indeterminate pitch, rhythm.....