This article was written for the November 2025 issue of our parish magazine. We began learning this 8-part song in Manchester Chorale rehearsals back in the summer of 2019. For very obvious reasons, we didn’t get to perform it until June 2022. The Chorale was on a concert tour to Kilkenny in Ireland, and I … More Listen to the Lambs – Robert Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943)
This article was written for the November 2022 issue of our parish magazine. Sarah Quartel is a Canadian composer and educator, known for her fresh and exciting approach to choral music, and I was first introduced to her work in August 2021. I was at the Sing for Pleasure summer school for choral conductors, where … More I Remember (Sarah Quartel)
I enjoy my visits across the Pennines to visit Rev Debby, and on my summer visit this year, she introduced me to a beautiful picture book called “The Lost Words”. It’s an over-sized picture book by Robert Macfarland and Jackie Morris, and was written as a response to the removal of everyday nature words from … More Lost Words Blessing – Jim Molynexy & Kate Howard
This article first appeared in the September 2025 issue of our parish magazine. Here it is for you again: Many readers will know that I attend Sing for Pleasure (SfP) conductor training events regularly, and it was as an Advanced student at the 2025 summer school that I was introduced to a set of utterly … More Gran Miracol d’Amore – Maddalena Casulana (c.1544-c.1590)
This summer, once again, I had the opportunity to visit a number of places of worship, beginning with the Victoria Hall, Bolton. As a member of Bolton Symphony Orchestra, I am a regular visitor to the Victoria Hall, using it as a rehearsal and performance space. The building is deceptively extensive, with an underground network … More Summer Visits 2025
This article was written for the August edition of our parish magazine: Church of England ordinations for priests and deacons are held at St Peter’s tide, the Sunday (and Saturday) nearest to St Peter’s Day on 29 June. St Peter was of course Jesus’ “rock” upon which the early church was founded, and he is … More Tu Es Petrus – Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)
This is the first of a series of four motets written by Maurice Duruflé in 1960, based on motifs of Gregorian plainsong. The others are Tota Pulchra Es (see last month’s magazine), Tu es Petrus (Thou art Peter) and Tantum Ergo (Only Then). Ubi Caritas (where there is charity) is an antiphon for use on … More Ubi Caritas – Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)
This article was written for the June 2025 issue of our parish magazine. This is the second of a series of four motets written by Maurice Duruflé in 1960, based on motifs of Gregorian plainsong. The others are Ubi Caritas (Wherever there is Charity), Tu es Petrus (Thou art Peter) and Tantum Ergo (Only Then). … More Tota Pulchra Es – Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)
This article first appeared in the July 2022 issue of our parish magazine: At first glance, this may seem to be an odd choice for this month’s article. Taken from the musical Sweet Charity, the scene featuring this song is widely thought to be a pastiche on west-coast American hippie pseudo-religious cults of the mid-sixties. … More Rhythm of Life – Coleman & Fields
Each year, midway through the Easter season, we celebrate Jesus as the Good Shepherd. You’ll know when it’s Good Shepherd Sunday as the hymns all have a distinctly sheepy theme. There are a few “go to” anthems for that day too, including various settings of Psalm 23, as well as “He Shall Feed His Flock”. … More He Shall Feed His Flock – G F Handel (1685-1759)
St Margaret's Church Prestwich 