Society of Saint Gregory

We have just had the Rite of Election this afternoon and it was curiously flat. I know it has not been too well organised this time round and was hastily put together by a couple of people.

Just wondering what other people do for this service.

I have to admit I was not too concerned that more posts weren't being made on this thread but hopefully if anyone else receives 'funny' relevant emails, then they will share them on here. Obviously, there are some mails that are only fit for deleting but every now and then one arrives which I am hap...

Every now and then I receive an email which actually makes me laugh. The following is one of them. --- The Bible A Catholic elementary school test : Pay special attention to the wording and spelling. It comes from a Catholic elementary school test. Kids were asked questions about the Old and New Tes...

I wonder if on a Sunday four organists play simultaneously to distribute the sound! LOL - my experience of old organs is that there are usually one or two notes 'missing'. Perhaps with four it would be a way of ensuring all notes are there and any additional whistles or stuck keys could be explaine...

Shame it had to get personal as I was enjoying reading the replies.

(Actually "organist carries on playing when priest is ready" because organist is card-carrying occasional inhabitant of planet Dopey.) Apart from being unkind - who gave him the job? And, why doesn't the choirmaster (i.e. you!) agree a signal with the organist to let him know when to stop? The spea...

But, but, but - it might come in useful one day!

Plus, let's face it, there is plenty of room in churches for storage these days! Ooops.

Excellent! I like that one and will definitely be repeating it. The wedding I mentioned was 'different' anyway. I had been to the rehearsal, talked to the priest, talked to the bride and groom, thought I had a good idea of how it would go. Had not reckoned on the priest inviting everyone to get up, ...

£80 for a choir sounds very cheap!! Our soloists charge £50 and a small choir charge more than that. Nothing is done about being recorded - yet. Mostly we ask that whoever is taking photographs or in charge of the video recorder does not actually knock down the soloist but ... One soloist started ...

The make of organ is one of those you mentioned but it will still outlive me. Unless anyone has any spare 6" nails? Bad design all round - the thing can only be opened up by someone strong and much taller than 5'3". There is no way of keeping music books open so it is common to see the organist play...

Let me tell you a story. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin. A new organ was needed because the old one had reached a stage where it was costing more to maintain than it would cost to buy new. Old one out - new one in. One of the reasons (supposedly) for getting rid of the old one was t...

This is a tough question. In theory, yes we should include as many people as possible. In practice, trying to find people who want to be on the committee to actually do some work is always difficult. Some want to be there in case they miss anything. Others because they want to be seen in meetings. I...

I used to be in a choir which always takes a break immediately after Christmas and again immediately after Easter. Barmy! We say carols should not be sung until Christmas but then the choir disappear when we should be rejoicing with full voice. Families get together over Christmas and there are more...

I know a few organists who don't like to hear the choir singing so insist on drowning them out!

It amuses me when organists think the most important part of a sung Mass is ... the organist!