artsyhonker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
artsyhonker) wrote2017-02-06 10:28 pm
artsyhonker) wrote2017-02-06 10:28 pm
Entry tags:
Worklog
Sunday, 5th February:
Slept late, eventually dragged myself out of bed in time for the Eucharist at St Paul's Cathedral (11.30am, the last morning Eucharist on a Sunday that I can get to). Nice Mass setting (I forget the composer) with lots of plainchant-y motifs; lovely Finzi anthem setting words definitely old enough for me to set, too; a Collect that is probably still in copyright but that I might be able to find an out-of-copyright version of, somewhere. I have the order of service in a pocket, so will have to transfer the various texts to appropriate places, and listen to the Mass setting with a score in front of me if possible.
I missed the psalm though. Services without any psalms feel incomplete to me; especially when there are only two readings and the one that isn't the Gospel is an Epistle. This was especially ironic given that the Gospel reading had Jesus telling the disciples that not one letter or stroke of a letter of the Law would pass away "until all is accomplished". So, yes, reasons I am an Anglo-Catholic: I want more scripture in my church services than I tend to find elsewhere. But I digress; I mentioned the psalm because I'm wondering if, specifically, psalms of lament might be a good area for me to explore as part of the PhD.
After that, off to St Mary's Rotherhithe for an Accession service with the London Gallery Quire. Because of the way the church is ordered, we almost never end up with enough space; it's really very odd. Yesterday was no exception, and I think we had some trouble with timing which could have been alleviated had the band been able to sit together, but the service on the whole went reasonably well and there were certainly some good moments.
Today (Monday 6th Feb):
Personal stuff until evening, then off to Southwark Cathedral with CLESO to learn about and play the organ there. I'm fond of the cathedral, and the organ is a T.C. Lewis which is not entirely dissimilar to the one I played at St Andrew's, though of course it's bigger and in better repair. As there were considerable numbers of us we didn't each get a long time to play each, but I did get to chat with the Director of Music a bit. I mentioned my supervisor's relative fluency composing in just about any style, and he pointed out that Rutter is like that, too -- he "makes his living from the sweet stuff" but is actually an incredible craftsman. And that in turn is interesting to me; maybe instead of learning about various bits of the 20th-century Western academic musical canon by reading books about them, I should be reading as little as possible and just attempting to write in each style, even if only for a few bars. It might be fun to do this almost as a sort of abecedarium... "A is for Adams, a rhythmic minimalist, B is for Boulez," etc -- just as an exercise, you understand -- though if I do it well enough it could also be a didactic tool for others.
Tomorrow I'm hoping will be full of composing and reading, at least in the daytime.
Slept late, eventually dragged myself out of bed in time for the Eucharist at St Paul's Cathedral (11.30am, the last morning Eucharist on a Sunday that I can get to). Nice Mass setting (I forget the composer) with lots of plainchant-y motifs; lovely Finzi anthem setting words definitely old enough for me to set, too; a Collect that is probably still in copyright but that I might be able to find an out-of-copyright version of, somewhere. I have the order of service in a pocket, so will have to transfer the various texts to appropriate places, and listen to the Mass setting with a score in front of me if possible.
I missed the psalm though. Services without any psalms feel incomplete to me; especially when there are only two readings and the one that isn't the Gospel is an Epistle. This was especially ironic given that the Gospel reading had Jesus telling the disciples that not one letter or stroke of a letter of the Law would pass away "until all is accomplished". So, yes, reasons I am an Anglo-Catholic: I want more scripture in my church services than I tend to find elsewhere. But I digress; I mentioned the psalm because I'm wondering if, specifically, psalms of lament might be a good area for me to explore as part of the PhD.
After that, off to St Mary's Rotherhithe for an Accession service with the London Gallery Quire. Because of the way the church is ordered, we almost never end up with enough space; it's really very odd. Yesterday was no exception, and I think we had some trouble with timing which could have been alleviated had the band been able to sit together, but the service on the whole went reasonably well and there were certainly some good moments.
Today (Monday 6th Feb):
Personal stuff until evening, then off to Southwark Cathedral with CLESO to learn about and play the organ there. I'm fond of the cathedral, and the organ is a T.C. Lewis which is not entirely dissimilar to the one I played at St Andrew's, though of course it's bigger and in better repair. As there were considerable numbers of us we didn't each get a long time to play each, but I did get to chat with the Director of Music a bit. I mentioned my supervisor's relative fluency composing in just about any style, and he pointed out that Rutter is like that, too -- he "makes his living from the sweet stuff" but is actually an incredible craftsman. And that in turn is interesting to me; maybe instead of learning about various bits of the 20th-century Western academic musical canon by reading books about them, I should be reading as little as possible and just attempting to write in each style, even if only for a few bars. It might be fun to do this almost as a sort of abecedarium... "A is for Adams, a rhythmic minimalist, B is for Boulez," etc -- just as an exercise, you understand -- though if I do it well enough it could also be a didactic tool for others.
Tomorrow I'm hoping will be full of composing and reading, at least in the daytime.
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