This article was written for the August 2023 issue of our parish magazine, as part of a series about coronatoin anthems. Based on Psalm 34:8, this anthem was composed for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. It was also sung at her funeral last year. The text is: This motet is considered short … More O Taste and See – Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
What is a “chant”? From football terraces to political demonstrations to playground rhymes and perhaps even ancient plainchant, we have all chanted in one form or another. But the questions stands: what is “chant”? The Latin cantare means “to sing”, with cantus being a song, or singing. The French chanter means “to sing”, with chant … More The Sound of Prayer: Chant in Worship
This article was written for the July 2023 issue of our parish magazine. Parry wrote this setting of Psalm 122 for the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902 and revised it for King George V in 1911. It has been used at the coronation of every British monarch ever since. Prior to that, “Laetatus … More I was Glad – Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1948-1918)
St Margaret’s and St George’s churches both have pipe organs. St Margaret’s also has a grand piano, a choir, and full sets of two types of hymn books. We are not given to singing worship songs. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that kind of music in worship, but they are better suited to churches with … More Come All You Vagabonds – Stuart Townend (b. 1963)
This article was written for the Juje 2023 issue of our parish magazine. Here it is for you again. Last month saw the coronation of King Charles III in Westminster Abbey – over 70 years since the last time such an event happened on our shores. The music was fabulous, and got me thinking about … More Zadok the Priest – G F Handel (1685-1759)
Formerly known as Maggie’s Music Makers, the time has come to rebrand and relaunch our parish choir, in a way that reflects the group’s evolution over the past nine years, and that readies the group for future development. The existing name was perfect for the group when it was first formed, but it is time … More St Margaret’s Voices
This article was written for the May issue of our parish magazine. Here it is for you again. As Rev Christine pointed out in her May letter to the parish, this year, Ascension Day, Pentecost and Trinity all fall within May. It’s an extraordinarily busy time for musicians – with no space for respite after … More I Will Sing to the Spirit– John Rutter (b. 1945)
June’s letter to the parish comes from the keboard of Rev Steve: Digital media has many benefits. There were 18,000 views of the Simister Festival on our online platforms. Yet our mobile phones and laptops can also make us impatient. Give our favourite search-engine a difficult question, or set our calculator a complicated bit of … More Letter from the Clergy to the Parish
On Sunday 10th May the parish held its Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM). During this meeting, Wardens, Officers and PCC members for the coming year were elected. They are: The full make-up of our PCC and Ministry teams is given on our website here. Statutory reports to the APCM follow over the coming days. Non-statutory … More Annual Parochial Church Meeting
This article first appeared in the May 2023 edition of our parish magazine. Tom and I are always open to suggestions of music – instrumental or vocal, hymns or anthems – that could be incorporated into our services at St Margaret’s. Sometimes, the suggestions are not seasonally appropriate, so they have to wait until later … More Build Your Kingdom Here – Rend Collective
St Margaret's Church Prestwich 