Society of Saint Gregory

Sorry to prolong this agony, what about the A in "O and A and A and O" in the last verse of 'Unto Us is Born a Son'. Is it 'Ay' or 'Ah'? Possibly it depends whether you say Aymen or Ahmen at the end of a prayer - is there anything laid down on this? And while I'm on a roll, I've always won...

Do I sense a power struggle going on here? If there is, the parish priests will win because they are the parish priests. There have always been battles between certain priest and musicians, and now the technology has come along, they can extend their control to the music. Mind you, the way things ar...

Hmmm... Teachers are teachers, not music ministers. If you, as a primary teacher, had to teach Maths, English, Science, Art, History, Music, Design Technology, Geography, Citizenship, RE and PE to achieve better results than other local schools - plus manage a department and do several hours of plan...

I thought it was time to give a thank you to all the churches that I've had the priviledge of visiting on my travels over the past few months. It's easy to spend time criticising, we don't seem to do encouragement too often; so, focusing on the good things: St. Austell, Cornwall - I love the archite...

The ignorance of many posters to blogs, including DT's does worry me. As far as criticisms of music in the liturgy are concerned, do these people have any liturgical or musical training? Do they attend their parishes' liturgy meetings / raise these issues with their priests? Attendance at church is ...

It's a difficult question - servers, readers and choir members don't charge. However, they don't have to turn up week after week. The other organist in our church and I don't charge - but we don't need the money. One way of charging a fee is not to contribute to the collection (though, again, I cont...

Walsingham seem to have the best of both worlds - a good digital with speakers well placed, and a pipe organ. But the digital was used when I attended a Mass there - anyone know why? Is there something wrong with the pipe organ - it looks like a small tracker so may not fill the church adequately?

The final set of suggestions! Thanks for all the contributions which have made this a useful resource on the subject. Some of the topics discussed are dealt with in more depth in RSCM Handbook No. 9 "The Liturgical Use of the Organ Voluntary". A vast library of more advanced suggestions fo...

Thanks for the reminders about Feasts of Our Lord (& Lateran Basilica) replacing Sundays. Here are some suggestions for October: Sunday 27 Start: Couperin, Benedictus from Messe des Paroisses Score: http://icking-music-archive.org/scores/couperin/Paroisses_Gouin/F.Couperin_Paroisses_18.pdf : Lis...

Sunday 24 CH Trevor: Old English Organ Music, 6 Start: Voluntary in D, William Croft, (p.21) Communion: Diapason Movement, George Green (p. 20) End: Voluntary in G, Henry Heron, (p.4) Sunday 25 CH Trevor: Organ Music for Manuals, Book 4 Start: Chorale "Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Her", Geor...

For fans of Taize music:
Another little improvisatory gem on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AVRtgmyqto&NR=1
and a scary organ improvisation from the same performer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue7jHGluT5Y

Organist - your comment about the Vaughan Williams Centenary (I assume you intended 50th) had me hunting for his dates, especially as HONR gives 1872 to 1952! According to Wikipedia et al he died in 1958 - so thanks for the reminder about the anniversary - I wasn't aware. It will be worth including ...

Sunday 23: The piece by Cabezon is a Renaissance gem. Pachalbel wrote more than a Canon. It's also worth looking at the work of Baroque Italian composers from Arresti to Zipoli. Enjoy! Start: Tiento del Segundo Tono, Antonio de Cabezon See p.46, 47, 48 here: http://imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/9/9...

I wasn't aware that we're starting the Year of St Paul. I can't see anything in the Southwark Directory and haven't heard anything about it at Mass (though I've been on holiday - but nothing was mentioned in the church I attended in Cornwall last week). How was this promulgated? What are the objecti...

August - if you are not on Summer Holidays. Again, I've kept suggestions simple but many of these pieces have a pedal part to keep the feet entertained and trained. This music is not so well known, so there are fewer links in this post. Sunday 18: From Short & Easy Organ Collection (Mayhew): Sta...