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
This article was written for the April 2026 issue of our parish magazine: I have never seen the 1998 film “Saving Private Ryan”. Wikipedia tells me that it’s a war epic, set in Normandy in 1944 and follows a group of solders on a mission to locate Private Ryan, whose three brothers have already perished … More Hymn to the Fallen (from Saving Private Ryan) – John Williams (b. 1932)
This article first appreared in the April 2023 issue of our parish magazine. At St Margaret’s we are blessed to welcome highly talented musicians to perform concerts for us. One of the more recent groups to do this is HeartEdge Manchester. This is a group of choral scholars from across Greater Manchester, led by Andrew … More The Lord is my Light and my Salvation – Brad Nix
St Margaret's Church Prestwich 