Society of Saint Gregory

organist wrote: ↑

Fri May 10, 2019 11:19 am

8.30 p.m. at the cathedral fire at the back inside, 3 readings...

Three? I wonder what grave pastoral necessity made them cut things back so far. Evidently not shortage of time, since there was time enough for the Vierne Messe Solenelle.

It looks as though this is an attempt to fix falling numbers: since not many parents want their seven-year olds to board full time, the change is aimed at widening access to the choir rather than restricting it. I sympathise with the predicament - any kind of change will meet with resistance, and in...

alan29 wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 28, 2019 12:41 pm

Easier to stick to hymn books.

Terrible idea, IMHO.

The fee needs to be viewed in perspective. Yes, it is trebling. But it's still very low - about £3 per week in the case quoted. Actually I don't think it is trebling. I think Nick was looking at the US rates, in dollars and then mentally converting to pounds (Baty, pers. comm. :) ) If you go here a...

quaeritor wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 06, 2019 12:50 pm

Deity - Dee-ity? or Day-ity?
Q

We've done this one!

A priest leading a retreat I was on (think it was 1983!) pronounced it em-mouse (ok, /eˈmaʊs/ ). He'd just come back from a sabbatical in the US, so maybe he caught it there.

alan29 wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 19, 2018 12:07 pm

Yeah .... a little bit of Latin sending someone down the wrong street.

Nope! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilates

...in early 2000 and an organ can be heard accompanying, albeit not very clearly. Was the pipe organ still in situ at this point? Yes, the pipe organ was still in action by that stage. (It bit the dust in early 2002.) I attended Mass at St Chad's Cathedral in Birmingham a few years ago and to my no...

I'm just asking if anyone has any vivid memories of playing the old pipe organ at Salford Cathedral, or of it being played? What were its main strengths and weaknesses? Was it heavy on the ears or a tame instrument? I can't find any old recordings of it on youtube unfortunately, although it is a fe...

Two outstanding opportunities for Catholic liturgical musicians: http://www.dioceseofsalford.org.uk/job-alert-director-of-music-and-music-advisor/ with the option to combine the two posts into a single full-time job, if the right person comes along. I'm delighted at the willingness to invest in musi...

Its a really good joyful setting. Alas there seem to be no simple, memorably and zingy setting for the new translation. Unless people know different ...... You might almost suspect that the new translation was deliberately constructed to impede memorableness and zinginess. And on earth peace to peo...

High Peak wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 07, 2018 10:43 pm

the Bishop of Wrexham also likes silence during the confirmations.

Ditto in Salford (I guess our Bishop picked up the idea in Westminster). A good move, if you ask me. I was against it at first, but it does seem to help in keeping the atmosphere prayerful and attentive.

I'm told the new appointee is Jonathan Schranz. Looks to me like a very strong appointment, and I wish him well.

Looks like the hymn originally only had six verses. It's an oddity of the seven-verse version that the final two verses are both trinitarian in character. Raniero Cantalamessa says (in Come, Creator Spirit: Meditations on the Veni Creator ): There are some who have tried to show that there is a para...

Sad news. Howard was an active member of CCDM (the Conference of Catholic Directors of Music, the body for cathedral and diocesan music directors and other musicians working professionally in the Catholic Church in this country). He was due to host the 2018 conference in Newcastle, and three days be...