St Barnabas with Christ's Chapel
This Sunday, our Harvest Festival Family Communion Service will be sung by the St Barnabas choristers:
253, For the beauty of the earth, tune i (England’s Lane) – Introit
270, Come, ye thankful people, come – Gradual
John Bell, I will sing a song of love – Anthem after the sermon
Hubbard, O Holy Spirit – During communion
273, We plough the fields and scatter- Final hymn
For this Sunday I bring you two works to celebrate the Ascension, one more familiar to you as a congregation and one which is not (yet) in the church’s repertoire. I will be performing the Philips at the morning service.
Peter Philips (1560-1628) – Ascendit Deus
Peter Philips is one of the greatest composers, alongside William Byrd, of the Counter Reformation. He was born and educated in Britain (he was a chorister at St. Paul’s Cathedral
For this Sunday’s musical offering we return to the world of Tudor England, and to one of its most famous sons, Thomas Tallis.
Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585) – If ye love me)
Thomas Tallis is one of England’s most successful composers. He began his career as a jobbing organist, a career which took
For this Sunday’s anthem we travel to northern France, to a composer who is often overlooked in favour of the two musical giants of his era, Josquin and Palestrina.
Jean L’Heritier (c.1488-1552) – Surrexit Pastor Bonus (The good shepherd has arisen)
L’Heritier was born in northern France, in the Pas-de-Calais, in the late 15th century. Little is known about his upbringing, aside from him being a pupil of the famous composer Josquin
Holy Saturday is a difficult day for which to choose music. We are between the drama of the Crucifixion and the Vigil service, where we celebrate the light of Christ once again. For me, the message in this short space of time is one of hope: we return to a similar place to where we were in Advent, waiting for the coming of Christ to bring his glory and healing to us. In these unusual times we need hope, courage, and faith more than ever.
For today’s music list we have two contrasting works, each showing the horror of the crucifixion in their own way.
Antonio Lotti (1667-1740) – Crucifixus
A staple of music lists of many Cathedrals and churches up and down the country, Lotti’s famous setting of the Crucifixus is not actually a stand-alone setting. It is from a larger work, Credo in F, which in turn was placed by Lotti into a full mass setting, his Missa Sancti Christophori. The piece has
We are offering two pieces of music for Maundy Thursday, an Offertory motet and a Communion motet.
Offertory motet: Maurice Duruflé – Ubi Caritas
Maurice Duruflé’s (1902-1986) oeuvre is relatively limited: he was, as many musicians are, a perfectionist, and one who frequently scrapped many of his compositions due to them not being good enough in his eyes.
Thomas Tallis – The Lamentations of Jeremiah
We begin our musical Holy Week with the service of Tenebrae (darkness). It is the most austere of the services of Holy Week, made up of Psalms, readings, and responsories. The readings are based around the liturgy of one of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, or Holy Saturday, with the service held the day before. For today’s Music List we will use the
As the choir would have sung two pieces in church for this week’s Palm Sunday festivities, I have chosen two works for today’s Music List.
Arr. Shaw – Ride on King Jesus
We begin with a piece which our choir have sung every Palm Sunday in recent times, an arrangement of the Negro Spiritual “Ride on, King Jesus”.
My choice for this morning’s music list is one which may not be familiar to you: it is a piece I have performed many times, and one which never fails to enthrall audiences, congregations, and performers alike: James MacMillan’s Miserere mei, Deus.
I have had the privilege of working closely with James on a number of occasions over the past few years. He is an
Given the difficulty with using music in church services at the present time, I shall draw up a weekly ‘music list’, drawing on the liturgy to choose one piece of music suitable for each Sunday and major festival. We begin this Sunday with one of my favourite pieces of music. It is a work which means a lot to me personally, and also encapsulates the joy of celebrating Mothering Sunday: Ave Maria, by Robert Parsons.