Somehow we missed giving you this beautiful anthem by Ralph Vaughan Williams on Passion Sunday! we’re truly in the Easter season now, but the revelatory words of Revelation 22 are still appropriate: St Margaret’s Church Prestwich holds CCLI licences CCL 79250, MRL 775231 and 466111 for music streaming and One Licence M-40120 for music streaming. … More Lenten Anthems
Hallelujah! He is risen! Our parish choir sings for you the words of James F Rickley, setting the Easter story to Leonard Cohen’s timeless classic, “Hallelujah” St Margaret’s Church Prestwich holds CCLI licences CCL 79250, MRL 775231 and 466111 for music streaming and One Licence M-40120 for music streaming. • Hallelujah (Easter lyrics) © 1985 … More Music for Easter Monday
Back in the autumn of 2024 I was trawling the music filing cabinet drawers looking for inspiration for anthems to take us through Advent. That’s when I rediscovered “Dance, Little Lady”, written by our very own Rev Debby Plummer, and perfect for the third Sunday, on which we remember Mary. Jeremy had introduced this song … More Dance, Little Lady (D Plummer)
Many commercial traders consider February to be the month in which we celebrate romantic love – although records show that the story of the real St Valentine have little to do with the chocolates, flowers and soppy greetings cards we are encouraged to buy. St Valentine lived in the third century, and as well as … More Love is the Touch of Intangible Joy – Words Alison Robertson (b. 1940), Music John Bell (b. 1949)
Today is Ash Wednesday, and so Carol and Tom sing for you the Lent hymn “Forty Days and Forty Nights”: St Margaret’s Church Prestwich holds CCLI licences CCL 79250, MRL 775231 and 466111 for music streaming and One Licence M-40120 for music streaming.
Did you know that carols, like puppies, are not just for Christmas? According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, a carol is a song characteristically of religious joy, associated with a given season, with uniform stanzas or verses that may alternate with a refrain. The musical emphasis is on melody and rhythm rather than harmony. Interestingly, the … More The Crown of Roses – words Pleshcheev (1825-93) tr. Drearmer, music Tchaikovsky (1840-93)
Musicians planning repertoire for their ensembles are usually considerably ahead of the calendar. It was no surprise then that all the students on a conducting training weekend in June 2024 were set Christmas carols from a new publication, “Carols for Choirs 6”. We learned some fabulous new Christmas music that weekend, and most students programmed these carols for their choirs this Christmas – including Notability, the Whitefield choir that I practiced with ahead of the course … More The Owl – Toby Young (b. 1990), text by Jennifer Thorpe (b. 1988)
Originally a hit for Little Peggy March in 1963, this song was made popular once more in 1992 when it was included in Sister Act, as Whoopi Goldberg led a chorus of singing nuns … More I Will Follow Him
This is one of the most challenging pieces of music I sing in the liturgical year (the other being the Lent Prose, for all the same reasons). It’s an ancient plainsong chant, using text from Isaiah, in which the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament express their longings for the coming of the Messiah and cleansing of human sins. It is sung through Advent, building the number of verses Sunday by Sunday … More The Advent Prose (Rorate Coeli)
We hope you’ve enjoyed our daily Digital Advent Calendar and musical gifts for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas. We finish now with a cheeky little extra gift from Tom and Carol … More The 13th Day of Christmas?
St Margaret's Church Prestwich 