I shall never understand sight rhymes or spelling rhymes. They only exist because of inconsistent English spelling and sound awful. The ones that rhymed when they were written are unfortunate; ones that already didn’t rhyme when pen was put to paper are inexcusable.
I let G&S off because I think they were ripping the piss.
No suplies on Sunday other than Evensong so was able to enjoy an 8am.
Evensong was of Holy Innocents
The hymn to cnquering martyrs raise (London aka Addisons)
Unto us a boy is born
When Christ was born in Bethlehem (Rodmell)
Hail the love and power amazing (Regent Square) from The Sheet
A weird collection to be honest, the first one (EH 35) was wildly obscure, Unto us was predictable and the last was a hymn about St Thomas Becket with a reference to a tyrant's rage, defiling the altar's sanctity and the murderer's weapon gleaming. Most unedifying lyrics for the Sunday after Christmas! The one delightful spot was "Rodmell" a beautiful English tune which I love, familiar to older chapel folk from "All things that live beneath the sky" I should think. These words (EH 611) by Laurence Housman are very lovely imho.
HNY to all on here from the freezing west country 🥶
I was singing Evensong at Rochester Cathedral for three days this week. This is what we did:
Responses every day - Peter Moorse in E Flat
Monday 29th
Introit: A Boy Was Born - Benjamin Britten
Office Hymn: Of the Father’s Heart Begotten
Canticles: Evening service in G - H Sumsion (All together now - ‘Ave a banana)
Anthem: The Sussex Carol - Arr David Willcocks
Tuesday 30th
Introit: The Infant King - Arr E Petmann
Hymn: See Amid the Winter’s Snow
Canticles: First Evening Service - T Weelkes
Anthem: A Spotless Rose - Herbert Howells
Wednesday 31st
Introit: The Blessed Son of God - R Vaughan-Williams
Hymn: Lord for the Years
Canticles: The Tewkesbury Service - Peter Moorse
Anthem: What Sweeter Music - John Rutter
I don’t know if this is a regular Rochester thing, but the office hymn was sung between the first set of responses and the psalm. I’ve never come across that before.
The responses are a little, erm, “complicated” and the Precentor (or whatever job title he goes by) was uncomfortable about sight reading them, so I had the honour of singing the office
I think I would have enjoyed a short break in Rochester his week. Most cathedrals seem to have minimal musical in the days after Christmas, understandably.
I think I would have enjoyed a short break in Rochester his week. Most cathedrals seem to have minimal musical in the days after Christmas, understandably.
A lot of cathedrals have visiting choirs covering services. That what the choir I’m with does
I think I would have enjoyed a short break in Rochester his week. Most cathedrals seem to have minimal musical in the days after Christmas, understandably.
A lot of cathedrals have visiting choirs covering services. That what the choir I’m with does
Yes, after a congregational Mass setting last Sunday we've had visiting choirs this week here in Chichester.
I think I would have enjoyed a short break in Rochester his week. Most cathedrals seem to have minimal musical in the days after Christmas, understandably.
A lot of cathedrals have visiting choirs covering services. That what the choir I’m with does
Yes, after a congregational Mass setting last Sunday we've had visiting choirs this week here in Chichester.
I think I would have enjoyed a short break in Rochester his week. Most cathedrals seem to have minimal musical in the days after Christmas, understandably.
A lot of cathedrals have visiting choirs covering services. That what the choir I’m with does
Yes, after a congregational Mass setting last Sunday we've had visiting choirs this week here in Chichester.
Epiphany Sunday at Our Place tomorrow, the first hymn being sung whilst the Three Kings and their Star-Carrier enter in procession:
We three kings of Orient are (Kings Of Orient)
Something from The Sheet (possibly the Ding! Dong! Gloria again) The first Nowell (The First Nowell)
Something from The Sheet (possibly the St Cliff Richard Lord's Prayer again) What child is this? (Greensleeves) Angels from the realms of glory (Iris)
“Behold! the mountain of the Lord” - Glasgow.
“Riding out across the desert” - The Camel Shuffle.
"The people who in darkness walked” - Dundee.
“Brightest and best of the sons of the morning” - Epiphany Hymn.
“There’s a light upon the mountains” - Mount Holyoke.
"We Three Kings" and "As With Gladness" are notably absent. The first because I can't stand it after over-exposure as a child (and they weren't kings), the second because I find "Dix" dreary (YMMV).
In my (North American, Presbyterian) experience, DIX is primarily associated with “For the Beauty of the Earth,” though “As with Gladness Men of Old” (written by William Chatterton Dix) is also sung to it.
Our hymnal has little tidbits of information with every hymn, and interestingly this is the note for “As with Gladness”:
The first three stanzas here use an as/so structure to draw parallels between the coming of the Magi and the spiritual lives of the singers, summed up in the prayer of the fourth stanza. Even though this adapted German tune was named for him, the author did not care for it.
I actually suspect tunes in the meter of DIX (7.7.7.7.7.7) are perhaps more prone to being, shall we say, less interesting than tunes in other meters might be.
Good Christian Men, Rejoice - IN DULCE JUBILO
See, Amid the Winter's Snow - HUMILITY
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen - GOD REST YOU MERRY
It was on a starry night - A STARRY NIGHT
*O Jesus, I have promised - DAY OF REST
*Today was billed as "commitment Sunday", and this was sung after we had been invited to reaffirm the C of E Confirmation promises.
Our offerings for Epiphany were nicely predictable; another day with no "worship songs" is always a Good Thing:
We three kings of Orient are - Kings of Orient Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire - Veni Creator Spiritus God of mercy, God of grace - Heathlands What child is this? - Greensleeves Jesus shall reign - Truro
Should have been: O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. But that service was cancelled. Was (in the other church) We Three Kings. Grrr on so many levels!
Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire - Veni Creator Spiritus
We had that one at our wedding .
This morning we had:
I raise a hallelujah Who am I that the highest king would welcome me? I love you, Lord, for your mercy never fails me Higher than the mountains that we face (Your love never fails, never gives up, never runs out on me)
I was a little surprised that Our Place didn't have O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness - it's one of Madam Sacristan's favourites.
Earth has many a noble city is another good Epiphany hymn, but they didn't have that, either.
The Somethings from the Sheet were, as I feared, the Ding! Dong! Gloria (which is OK), but also the wretched St Biff Pritchard Lord's Prayer (which Is Outrage).
Despite that, there was an unusually large turn-out (30 adults and 12 under-16s), which meant that the Procession of the Kings could include a servant, or page, for each monarch, as well as one Star-Carrier to lead the lot. Not terribly scriptural, but hey...
@Baptist Trainfan another very good and suitable collection. It is rare that I get the chance to play Glasgow a tune of which I am very fond. Is Epiphany Hymn the usual tune for B&B in your circles? In Methodist ones (and quite a few Anglican) Spean has been the requested tune. In churches of the English Hymnal tradition Epiphany Hymn is the status quo which is good as it is a lovely bright tune and always goes very well.
No Epiphany for me today as I have a supply for a high church on the feast itself on which there will be a report next week. So today was 2nd Sunday after Christmas with a nod to the new year, unusually no sung Eucharistic booking so went early. No Evensong either so a night off.
Mattins
Conquering kings their titles take (Innocents)
usual canticles
Through all the changing scenes (Wiltshire)
For thy mercy thy grace (Culbach) 😕
O Christ the same (Londonderry Air) off The Sheet 🤮
Two foul offerings there, the penultimate one is dreary and drab and is a marriage of words and tune as trite as any in the book imho. Like some of you I hate the last tune with a perfect hatred (although the words by Timothy D-S were excellent) and the cats chorus I endured only reinforced my opinion 🤣
Brightest and best- Epiphany
Joy to the world - Antioch
As with gladness- Dix
In the bleak midwinter- Cranham
The first Nowell- The First Nowell
The visiting priest is an NSM. He was properly prepared and preached intelligently ( a rarity these days, in both cases, it seems).
Not a bad selection - Brightest and best is another of the excellent Epiphany hymns Our Place didn't have today...
Still, at least we had the customary Mass/Eucharist. Our Deanery is so short of priests that there are six Places (one a two-church benefice, the other a four-church Team Parish) without any stipendiary or NSM clergy. A neighbouring Deanery has two two-church benefices vacant, again with no NSMs handy.
Our local 'retired' (ha!) clergy are very busy at the moment, along with some of the Cathedral canons, and even with their help the Licensed Lay Ministers (none of whom are youngsters) are hard put to it to maintain some sort of service in each church every Sunday. In fact, they don't, and one or two churches were CLOSED on the Sunday after Christmas. This may be common in rural areas, but this is an urban/suburban area.
“On This Day Earth Shall Ring”/PERSONENT HODIE
“We Three Kings of Orient Are” (the last verse only as a response)
“How Brightly Shines the Morning Star”/WIE SCHÖN LEUCHTET, a.k.a. “the Queen of Chorales”
“Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” (“Jesus, the Light of the World”)/WE’LL WALK IN THE LIGHT*
“Arise, Your Light Is Come”/FESTAL SONG
* Technically, the choir sang André Thomas’s arrangement of this hymn (titled “Walk in the Light”), but since at least half of the congregation was singing along on the refrain before it was over with—not at all inappropriate in this case—and since it is in our hymnal, I’ll count it as a congregational hymn.
@Baptist Trainfan another very good and suitable collection. It is rare that I get the chance to play Glasgow a tune of which I am very fond. Is Epiphany Hymn the usual tune for B&B in your circles?
As it was the first Sunday in the month we had Evensong. There were only three of us; the organist also sang the office, I read the lessons and the other lady from the choir who was there read the intercessions. It was actually rather nice, and we sang:
Brightest and best- Epiphany
Joy to the world - Antioch
As with gladness- Dix
In the bleak midwinter- Cranham
The first Nowell- The First Nowell
The visiting priest is an NSM. He was properly prepared and preached intelligently ( a rarity these days, in both cases, it seems).
Not a bad selection - Brightest and best is another of the excellent Epiphany hymns Our Place didn't have today...
Still, at least we had the customary Mass/Eucharist. Our Deanery is so short of priests that there are six Places (one a two-church benefice, the other a four-church Team Parish) without any stipendiary or NSM clergy. A neighbouring Deanery has two two-church benefices vacant, again with no NSMs handy.
Our local 'retired' (ha!) clergy are very busy at the moment, along with some of the Cathedral canons, and even with their help the Licensed Lay Ministers (none of whom are youngsters) are hard put to it to maintain some sort of service in each church every Sunday. In fact, they don't, and one or two churches were CLOSED on the Sunday after Christmas. This may be common in rural areas, but this is an urban/suburban area.
Much the same around here. Three adjacent parishes/ groups are in vacancy, 13 churches in all. Rural except one, which has a Curate ( a Deacon). Another parish has two LLMs.
Ours has a Family Worker who leads the dreaded Pancakes and Praise. There are a number of retired clergy, but today’s NSM lives outside the deanery. He is a good singer and usually leads our monthly Evensong.
We get one service a Sunday usually, in one of the churches, plus P&P and Evensong, though that doesn’t necessarily lead to people travelling from surrounding villages.
I know I often grumble about what they sing at Our Place, but we are at least blessed with a dedicated and hard-working priest. He may well be retiring this Spring (he's 78!), after which we, too, might be in vacancy for a long while...
'The Baptism of Jesus' at Our Place tomorrow - as FatherInCharge drily remarked in his weekly bulletin, how quickly Our Lord has grown up...
As with gladness men of old (Dix) Songs of thankfulness and praise (St Edmund) Lord's Prayer (Caribbean tune) Lord of our life, and God of our salvation (Cloisters or Iste Confessor*) Hail to the Lord's anointed (Crueger)
*I only know Cloisters - although IIRC I haven't sung it since I was in the choir of The Tin Tabernacle Of My Youth!
We're back to our series on Hebrews: looking at chapters 10 and 11 with the title "Unswerving Confidence"
The God of Abraham Praise (Leoni)
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (Lobe Den Herren)
Only by Grace can we Enter (Gerrit Gustafson)
Great is Thy Faithfulness (Faithfulness)
“My heart and voice I raise” - Ascalon.
"I do not know what lies ahead” - I know who holds the future.
“Jesus, hope of every nation” - Stuttgart.
"God of freedom, God of justice” - Rhuddlan.
“You servants of God” - Laudate Dominum.
Hail to the lord's anointed - Crüger Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you - Do Not Be Afraid Hills of the north, rejoice - Little Cornard (that's more like it) O let the Son of God enfold you - Spirit Song Lord, the light of your love is shining - Shine, Jesus, Shine (ugh!)
Hail to the lord's anointed - Crüger Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you - Do Not Be Afraid Hills of the north, rejoice - Little Cornard (that's more like it) O let the Son of God enfold you - Spirit Song Lord, the light of your love is shining - Shine, Jesus, Shine (ugh!)
Oh well, it was nice while it lasted ...
FWIW, I actually quite like both Do not be afraid and O let the Son of God... but having the two of them in the same service is IMHO rather over-egging the pudding. My choice would be to leave out the Gradual, and have DNBA as the Communion Motet.
Comments
If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it! 🙃
I shall never understand sight rhymes or spelling rhymes. They only exist because of inconsistent English spelling and sound awful. The ones that rhymed when they were written are unfortunate; ones that already didn’t rhyme when pen was put to paper are inexcusable.
I let G&S off because I think they were ripping the piss.
Evensong was of Holy Innocents
The hymn to cnquering martyrs raise (London aka Addisons)
Unto us a boy is born
When Christ was born in Bethlehem (Rodmell)
Hail the love and power amazing (Regent Square) from The Sheet
A weird collection to be honest, the first one (EH 35) was wildly obscure, Unto us was predictable and the last was a hymn about St Thomas Becket with a reference to a tyrant's rage, defiling the altar's sanctity and the murderer's weapon gleaming. Most unedifying lyrics for the Sunday after Christmas! The one delightful spot was "Rodmell" a beautiful English tune which I love, familiar to older chapel folk from "All things that live beneath the sky" I should think. These words (EH 611) by Laurence Housman are very lovely imho.
HNY to all on here from the freezing west country 🥶
And actually rhyme
I think rhyming "Harvard" with "discovered" was a bit of a stretch.
Responses every day - Peter Moorse in E Flat
Monday 29th
Introit: A Boy Was Born - Benjamin Britten
Office Hymn: Of the Father’s Heart Begotten
Canticles: Evening service in G - H Sumsion (All together now - ‘Ave a banana)
Anthem: The Sussex Carol - Arr David Willcocks
Tuesday 30th
Introit: The Infant King - Arr E Petmann
Hymn: See Amid the Winter’s Snow
Canticles: First Evening Service - T Weelkes
Anthem: A Spotless Rose - Herbert Howells
Wednesday 31st
Introit: The Blessed Son of God - R Vaughan-Williams
Hymn: Lord for the Years
Canticles: The Tewkesbury Service - Peter Moorse
Anthem: What Sweeter Music - John Rutter
I don’t know if this is a regular Rochester thing, but the office hymn was sung between the first set of responses and the psalm. I’ve never come across that before.
The responses are a little, erm, “complicated” and the Precentor (or whatever job title he goes by) was uncomfortable about sight reading them, so I had the honour of singing the office
Glad you enjoyed your visit!
A lot of cathedrals have visiting choirs covering services. That what the choir I’m with does
Yes, after a congregational Mass setting last Sunday we've had visiting choirs this week here in Chichester.
We’re in Chichester in February 😀
Excellent!
Good! That's one of our nicest locals, though it's been some years since I last crossed its threshold.
Glad you had a good week!
We three kings of Orient are (Kings Of Orient)
Something from The Sheet (possibly the Ding! Dong! Gloria again)
The first Nowell (The First Nowell)
Something from The Sheet (possibly the St Cliff Richard Lord's Prayer again)
What child is this? (Greensleeves)
Angels from the realms of glory (Iris)
No As with gladness men of old (Dix)? Is Outrage!
“Behold! the mountain of the Lord” - Glasgow.
“Riding out across the desert” - The Camel Shuffle.
"The people who in darkness walked” - Dundee.
“Brightest and best of the sons of the morning” - Epiphany Hymn.
“There’s a light upon the mountains” - Mount Holyoke.
"We Three Kings" and "As With Gladness" are notably absent. The first because I can't stand it after over-exposure as a child (and they weren't kings), the second because I find "Dix" dreary (YMMV).
I find Dix a bit dreary too, but that's probably because I'm an alto, and for most of it we only have three notes.
I think England's Lane is more often used (in the church circles to which I'm accustomed) as the tune to For the beauty of the earth.
Our hymnal has little tidbits of information with every hymn, and interestingly this is the note for “As with Gladness”:
I actually suspect tunes in the meter of DIX (7.7.7.7.7.7) are perhaps more prone to being, shall we say, less interesting than tunes in other meters might be.
True for me, certainly, although I prefer Lucerna Laudinae.
Rev 1: 5b-6
We Are A Chosen People (David Hadden)
Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! (Nicea)
And Can It Be (Sagina)
God Is Working His Purpose Out (Benson)
See, Amid the Winter's Snow - HUMILITY
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen - GOD REST YOU MERRY
It was on a starry night - A STARRY NIGHT
*O Jesus, I have promised - DAY OF REST
*Today was billed as "commitment Sunday", and this was sung after we had been invited to reaffirm the C of E Confirmation promises.
We three kings of Orient are - Kings of Orient
Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire - Veni Creator Spiritus
God of mercy, God of grace - Heathlands
What child is this? - Greensleeves
Jesus shall reign - Truro
This morning we had:
I raise a hallelujah
Who am I that the highest king would welcome me?
I love you, Lord, for your mercy never fails me
Higher than the mountains that we face (Your love never fails, never gives up, never runs out on me)
Earth has many a noble city is another good Epiphany hymn, but they didn't have that, either.
The Somethings from the Sheet were, as I feared, the Ding! Dong! Gloria (which is OK), but also the wretched St Biff Pritchard Lord's Prayer (which Is Outrage).
Despite that, there was an unusually large turn-out (30 adults and 12 under-16s), which meant that the Procession of the Kings could include a servant, or page, for each monarch, as well as one Star-Carrier to lead the lot. Not terribly scriptural, but hey...
Brightest and best- Epiphany
Joy to the world - Antioch
As with gladness- Dix
In the bleak midwinter- Cranham
The first Nowell- The First Nowell
The visiting priest is an NSM. He was properly prepared and preached intelligently ( a rarity these days, in both cases, it seems).
No Epiphany for me today as I have a supply for a high church on the feast itself on which there will be a report next week. So today was 2nd Sunday after Christmas with a nod to the new year, unusually no sung Eucharistic booking so went early. No Evensong either so a night off.
Mattins
Conquering kings their titles take (Innocents)
usual canticles
Through all the changing scenes (Wiltshire)
For thy mercy thy grace (Culbach) 😕
O Christ the same (Londonderry Air) off The Sheet 🤮
Two foul offerings there, the penultimate one is dreary and drab and is a marriage of words and tune as trite as any in the book imho. Like some of you I hate the last tune with a perfect hatred (although the words by Timothy D-S were excellent) and the cats chorus I endured only reinforced my opinion 🤣
Not a bad selection - Brightest and best is another of the excellent Epiphany hymns Our Place didn't have today...
Still, at least we had the customary Mass/Eucharist. Our Deanery is so short of priests that there are six Places (one a two-church benefice, the other a four-church Team Parish) without any stipendiary or NSM clergy. A neighbouring Deanery has two two-church benefices vacant, again with no NSMs handy.
Our local 'retired' (ha!) clergy are very busy at the moment, along with some of the Cathedral canons, and even with their help the Licensed Lay Ministers (none of whom are youngsters) are hard put to it to maintain some sort of service in each church every Sunday. In fact, they don't, and one or two churches were CLOSED on the Sunday after Christmas. This may be common in rural areas, but this is an urban/suburban area.
“On This Day Earth Shall Ring”/PERSONENT HODIE
“We Three Kings of Orient Are” (the last verse only as a response)
“How Brightly Shines the Morning Star”/WIE SCHÖN LEUCHTET, a.k.a. “the Queen of Chorales”
“Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” (“Jesus, the Light of the World”)/WE’LL WALK IN THE LIGHT*
“Arise, Your Light Is Come”/FESTAL SONG
* Technically, the choir sang André Thomas’s arrangement of this hymn (titled “Walk in the Light”), but since at least half of the congregation was singing along on the refrain before it was over with—not at all inappropriate in this case—and since it is in our hymnal, I’ll count it as a congregational hymn.
Lord for the years your love has kept and guided
One more step along the road I go
Look forward in faith
Ferial responses
Mag & Nunc - usual chants
Psalm 96 - Edwards
Hymns:
Brightest and best - Epiphany
Earth has many a noble city - Stuttgart
The day thou gavest - St Clement
Much the same around here. Three adjacent parishes/ groups are in vacancy, 13 churches in all. Rural except one, which has a Curate ( a Deacon). Another parish has two LLMs.
Ours has a Family Worker who leads the dreaded Pancakes and Praise. There are a number of retired clergy, but today’s NSM lives outside the deanery. He is a good singer and usually leads our monthly Evensong.
We get one service a Sunday usually, in one of the churches, plus P&P and Evensong, though that doesn’t necessarily lead to people travelling from surrounding villages.
As with gladness men of old (Dix)
Songs of thankfulness and praise (St Edmund)
Lord's Prayer (Caribbean tune)
Lord of our life, and God of our salvation (Cloisters or Iste Confessor*)
Hail to the Lord's anointed (Crueger)
*I only know Cloisters - although IIRC I haven't sung it since I was in the choir of The Tin Tabernacle Of My Youth!
The God of Abraham Praise (Leoni)
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (Lobe Den Herren)
Only by Grace can we Enter (Gerrit Gustafson)
Great is Thy Faithfulness (Faithfulness)
“My heart and voice I raise” - Ascalon.
"I do not know what lies ahead” - I know who holds the future.
“Jesus, hope of every nation” - Stuttgart.
"God of freedom, God of justice” - Rhuddlan.
“You servants of God” - Laudate Dominum.
The People that in Darkness Sat - DUNDEE
There is a Hope - own tune (Townend)
We Rest On Thee - FINLANDIA
Hail to the lord's anointed - Crüger
Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you - Do Not Be Afraid
Hills of the north, rejoice - Little Cornard (that's more like it)
O let the Son of God enfold you - Spirit Song
Lord, the light of your love is shining - Shine, Jesus, Shine (ugh!)
Oh well, it was nice while it lasted ...
FWIW, I actually quite like both Do not be afraid and O let the Son of God...
As for the Shiny Song, well...
On Jordan's bank (for Baptism of Christ)*
We have a gospel to proclaim
* for which my mind will now forever supply the naughty parody encountered on this very site. Thus have I been led astray by coming aboard.