Fires of Faith: Catholic England under Mary Tudor

After the tip off from Ttony (Ttip off, in fact, ) I happened upon it in a book shop yesterday. Everyone else should be clever and get it from amazon 'cos they've knocked off £6...

Anyway, it is an excellent read. Bara brith says yes to revisionist histories of the Deformation.

To wet your appetites.

Duffy on the sixteen Bishops inherited or appointed by Queen Mary.

'The Henrican survivors included... and one classic timeserver who would doubtless have become a Hindu if required, provided he was allowed to hold on to the See of Llandaff: Anthony Kitchin was the only Marian bishop to willing to swallow the Royal Supremacy and serve under Elizabeth as well.' p.23

Duffy contrasts this with things under Henry VIII when we all know who was the only one not to go along with Henry's interesting take on religious authority in England and Wales.

At the moment he is waxing lyrical on Cardinal Pole.

An aside. When my Mother was at school Cardinal Heenan visited. Apart from the moment their Music Teacher was doing the final final final run thro' and His Eminence walked in, only she couldn't see as she had her back to him, but the choir could... and you wonder why Music Teachers have nervous breakdowns. Thankless is putting it kindly.

Later that same day he was speaking to a group of girls and said that if anyone could name the person who originally owned his ring, he would give it to them. One Mother Ethelburga, a descendent of St John Rigby, kept murmuring 'Cardinal Pole,' but Cardinal Heenan apparently didn't hear.... and then announced 'Cardinal Pole!'

The parallels with today are ... interesting. The need to re-educate the laity. The episcopate packed with university educated theologians. Laity given the opportunity to discuss their scruples with experts in their deanery and finally the bishop, so that all could be brought back to Catholicism.

Colloquium Tomorrow?

Anyone going to The Oratory School tomorrow?

See you there.

Back Home

Arrived back on Fri from Lourdes.


For photos, an an explanation of our itinerary, you know where to go.


Had the usual array of surreal experiences, usually at the procession.


Walked over to the Middlesboro' banner looking for a someone who knew a Priest we were looking for and got the reply, 'Italiano,' when I asked after him, which was very funny. Said Priest was in fact on the bridge. You just had to be there, I guess.


When Mac and I got the bus up to the Parish Church, the driver stopped halfway up the town, got out of his cab and lifted a lady's case off. We carried on chatting and he stopped and pointed out the Church to us, all done with great care and a smile.


Having had a slight experience of hospitals etc over the past few weeks, I was very struck by the care given in the baths, which was second to none.

Everyone in the group seemed to have a very good stay there. How lucky we are.

My favourite bit was the walking tour, because the guide, who was I think the same as two years ago, is just excellent.


A group of Italians summed up the place one night after the procession,' Tutto. Uno.'

Lourdes

To Lourdes today. Back Friday. No remote blogging.

Prayers for all merry readers.

Totus Tuus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3qOBQ1ZkQM

Used not to like Gorecki too much. Heard his Harpsichord Concerto as a student and lumped him in the sub Arvo Part minimalist slot, then heard this.... and changed my mind whilst the first chord was sounding. Some music doesn't wait to work its magic.

You get a hint of just how highly charged the first performance must have been.

I think with a little tinkering it would be performable by a church choir, a little discreet doubling here and there. It's just too long to be put in a Mass.

PS If you don't like the audience noise, there's another recording with Harry Christophers and The Sixteen.

Graduale Triplex

Having baulked at amazon uk's £135. How did I read that? Do they go to France on the train to get it for you? Does it cover an overnight stay in that nice looking hotel we're staying in?

I went to the Solesmes site where you can have it sent quickly for E66 (sorry UKIP computer, clearly, no Euro sign.) I'd prefer to buy it from them anyway. Let's hope it arrives on Sat and that I'm in. Then I can take it to Lourdes and be all geeky. (Not that I need a book help me, mind.)


I also received this charming e mail in reply to my order.


'Les Editions de Solesmes has indeed received your order and thanks you for it.'

Hall of fame

9 998 She who bakes amazingly and works in IT
9 999 me (How sad!)
10 000 someone in Northolt. Heathrow?

The winner Mr/Mrs/Miss Northolt on ntl.

Edging Towards Five Figures

Well, being somewhat numerical, not many people on ordering Bach's Keyboard Concerto No5, BWV 1056, think, '1056, is that not a 2 to a power....?' 2 4 8 16 32 64 128 256 512 1024, so no, but I knew 56 was in there somewhere. Someone else, can 'chime in' with what 1024 is, one of the violin concertos? Why aren't they chronological? They are useless. Kochel got it right with Mozart. Plus I always think of them as the BMW numbers and have to stop myself saying the wrong thing. The best cataloguing numbers are the WoO numbers for Beethoven. Werke ohne Opus. Numbers for works without numbers and don't get me started on Dvorak 9 or is it 5 and Bruckner's Symphonies 0 and -1 or 0 and 00.

But I digress, for bara brith is approaching 10 to the power 4.

Other people may get to 100 000 or 1 000 000, but this is not a megablog, merely a microblog.

Will the 10 000th visitor be some lonesome expat googling bara brith, the food?
Or someone in search of Stockhausen's Mother?
Or one of the select, merry band of regulars?
We shall see.

Solesmes 2009

Myself and the Maestra di cappella of StMary Magdalen, Brighton are heading off to Solesmes to hear how to do it properly in the Summer.


I love the directions. Upon leaving the nearest station follow the river for an hour (add 20 mins for me, dragging suitcase behind whilst slapping on sunscreen,) in the direction of Solesmes and there you are. The 21stC left far behind already.


I'm beginning to think that it may be like one of those masterclasses where I leave my horn in its case and just listen.

Fortunately, Puella P has sent me a link, with lots of useful insights.

Anyone else going?

Time to start making my communting count, methinks.

A knotty problem

Presumably to relieve the boredom induced by the MPs' expenses claims saga, yawn, the news this am had a story about school ties.

I teach in a boys' school where there are lots of different ties ranging through bog standard, sixth form, head boy, junior colours, half colours and full colours and a few more, prefect and senior prefect, I think.

Suffice to say, they matter a great deal to the boys. We've had boys in tears when we didn't award them junior colours for Music at the end of term. 'There, there, one more big concert for Second Orchestra and you can be differently striped.' Only the little boys, you understand. The big ones are more stoic in the face of such adversity. I tell you it's a great thing to have over them, when they don't show for a rehearsal. It's never actually articulated, but they know and we know what's at stake. A hand shake from HM and, a tie.

To me, a mere person of the female persuasion, however, it's all very masculine and I don't register any difference. They are all stripy. The boys meantime must be moving round the school clocking what to me is an invisible pecking order...

Contrary motion scales

can be put to good use in the rehabilitation of poorly shoulders.

Feel sorry for next door, but not too sorry, cos the piano has a practice pedal, unlike the horn....

I've just played C major about 15 times and can do the full two octaves, putting my hands a cool four octaves apart. Impressive eh? 3 days ago I could only go down a twelfth with the left hand and found putting the keys down an effort and couldn't have done it 15 times in a row. Even turned the pages with my left hand whilst conducting this morning.

I also played the horn for about 10 minutes today. The school production merely requires five tootles through two hours of music on successive days in a month's time, but I can build up to it. It is, as they say, 'a serious smack in the gob.' In fact, flicking through the part it's like wind band music, no rests and no tacet numbers.

Back to wafting a broom handle around, all part of my physio programme from the hospital. I want to progress onto the seemingly impossible exercises next week and, after an unfortunate incident on Wed involving a tired Leutgeb and a full watering can, leading to painkillers and a swollen arm on Thurs, I have ground to make up.

Friday

To finish the sorry story of last Friday. I consulted with the Deputy Head and another member of staff and then we emailed the offended parent. Whilst in the process of typing the e mail, there was a boo-boo, you know the sound, and into my inbox plopped a message, saying that perhaps the original email had sounded ungrateful. Actually, it was one level below, 'Dear Headmaster, that Miss Leutgeb ....' On Tuesday Mrs Friday pm polemic send me a message thanking the school for all its efforts on their son's behalf....

A happy ending. Ha, teaching, never a dull moment...well apart from marking exam papers.

Happy Jubilee Fr Ray

Happy Silver Jubilee to Fr Ray.

Friday afternoons

I have a rule to avoid e mail and phone calls on Friday afternoons.
If people are unhappy about anything, that's when they get in touch and then I spend the weekend or holiday feeling rubbish, well used to, I'm a recovering worrier. After all, I'm not living in a war zone and my shoulder is getting better.

There was the Friday afternoon before a half term where a Father berated me for the fact that his son's blazer had gone missing - remind me not to hide the pupils' stuff.... shouted at me for a goodly length of time and then put the phone down on me. That was a few years ago.

The Friday afternoon when someone complained that the walkman (see how long I've been teaching,) that should not have been in school got broken in my lesson. Not me guv'.

Then today. So I went and had a chat with the Deputy Head and that should get sorted out as much as it can on Monday, because the underlying problem is out of the school's hands. This sidetracked me from the real task of the day, pressing submit on the Associated Board entry, closing time midnight tonight. I was just about to do it when I read the e mail. Fortunately, I can get at the entry at home and the 38 candidates are now entered. This was all in between being part of the audience for an A2 candidate's recital, overseeing an AS Composition recording, doing a timed techniques exercise with another AS Candidate, ordering some music after checking the BWV number in Grove and doing a String Orch rehearsal. Not all bad, by any means.

Oh yes and someone had a spare ticket for a Dress Rehearsal at Covent Garden tomorrow morning, so I shall be enjoying my slightly restricted view by looking at the orchestra. OK I am very lucky, all things considered. :-)

PS My cure for waking up at 4, 3, 2am worrying about stupid things that will in all likelyhood will resolve in due course, is to say the rosary for anyone else who could possibly be being kept awake by something serious
ie dying, in terrible pain, on death row, in fear of violence, hungry.....the list is endless.
That is not to say it's a case of ...other people...zzzzz, just the need for a bit of perspective.
The crazy thing is when something serious actually happens, I sleep fine and get on with it.

First Holy Communions

Had a lovely day at the First Holy Communions on Saturday.

The last First Holy Communion Mass I went to was a few years ago for my God daughter. It was filled with well intentioned complications. The Bride and Groom don't have to read their own Bidding Prayers (ah Bidding Prayers-sadly cannot actually remember the last time I heard any, sigh and Paulinus has forever made me think of skate boarding ducks, so that's just as well,) so why get seven year olds, some of whom have only recently got the hang of reading to do it? Why not have them only concentrating on the task in hand? Grandma RIP summed it up by saying, 'It's not like it used to be,' and that's all she said. That was the strongest comment possible in her lexicon. Of the first 20 years of her life, 15 were spent in convents, so bitchy comments, just didn't happen.

Blah, blah etc. Which is all to say, if you are making you First Holy Communion, that's all you should be concentrating on and we could probably apply that to the rest of us too. Fussing over other stuff, is ...fussing.

Marge Simpson

walked by my house yesterday evening, on her way, presumably, to a party. She carried it off very well and didn't really look very self conscious, all things considered. I wonder if she had to duck to get through the front door.

Spent a 'flu free day, (well as far as one can tell,) going for a walkies with my folks and then having lunch at my brother's place. Discovered that he has a DVD of James Bond car chases....scary.