Author: artsyhonker

Lost Link

Byartsyhonker September 8, 2011 0 Comments
Some time ago -- a year, two years? -- I came across an article on the technical demands of music. I think it might have been linked to from Elaine Fine's blog, Musical Assumptions (to which I commend you anyway), but I can't find it there.I remember quite clearly that it used a typing analogy, comparing playing music to copy-typing, but in a specific rhythm, in time with others, with precise...

Ssssssomething a little different

Byartsyhonker September 4, 2011 1 Comment
I'm trying to find more local teaching. Rather than having the same old boring poster for piano lessons I thought I'd advertise a bit differently... I've chopped off the bottom line for security reasons as I don't want my telephone number all over the internet, but please leave a comment or contact me via twitter if you are interested in lessons!

Song for October Ending

Byartsyhonker August 31, 2011 0 Comments
In around 2006 I wrote this SATB setting of a poem by my grandmother. The weather is a bit autumnal here today and a few people were talking about things they like about autumn, so I thought I'd post it even though it's two months early. SONG FOR OCTOBER ENDING For a season cold rain imprisons us; our lives circle around coffee cups, blue teapots, things simmering on the stove, baking in the...

Psalter Commons

Byartsyhonker August 18, 2011 7 Comments
I have a new project! It's called Psalter Commons and I would love your help with it. I'd like the words of the psalms to be freely available for liturgy and study, but copyright law means the only truly free translations are quite old. If you have translated or paraphrased a psalm or many psalms, please feel free to add the texts! They don't need to have music, though if you do have music that's...

Alive and well.

Byartsyhonker August 9, 2011 1 Comment
I'm not in London at the moment, and where I am is perfectly safe.St Andrew's Leytonstone will be open tomorrow from 11am to 3pm for prayer and for discussing concerns and responses to the London riots.I might do a more in-depth post later. In the meantime if you want to help please see for information on how to do so.

Multi-tracking chant experiment

Byartsyhonker July 17, 2011 0 Comments
This is a brief experiment with multi-tracking Creator lucis optime (English) by artsyhonkerYou see, I've got this hare-brained idea about podcasting a sung Compline online, possibly in some kind of Whitacre-style virtual choir. That's hard to coordinate, with chant: the pulse is directed by the words, so metronome markings are no help, for starters. But gathering together a little schola...

A little something for Canada Day

Byartsyhonker July 1, 2011 0 Comments
I had a horn teacher who had the custom, on Canada Day, of taking his canoe out to the middle of the lake and playing "O Canada" on the horn.I lack a boat, the nearest lake has rather a lot of traffic noise and I'm a bit disorganised. So instead, here is a recording of me playing "O Canada" on the O Canada by artsyhonker

Dances, not dirges

Byartsyhonker June 27, 2011 7 Comments
On Saturday I had the pleasure of conducting the <a href="http://www.lgq.org.uk">London Gallery Quire</a>, not once but twice. We started with a service of Mattins at St John's, Fulham, and then in the evening made our way to St Peter's in the Forest for a concert as part of their Flower Festival.Elsewhere there are conversations going on about music and liturgy, and as usual there is...

Big Hymn Sing 2011

Byartsyhonker June 6, 2011 1 Comment
This Saturday there will be a Big Hymn Sing at 1pm at St Andrew's Leytonstone. The congregation have sponsored about 30 hymns and I will add some more that I think are worth singing, for a total of about 48.The more people turn up the more fun we'll have! We'll sing for about twenty minutes at a time and then have a ten minute break; Café Refresh will be open, and I hope people will feel free to...

Obligatory Rapture Post

Byartsyhonker May 21, 2011 1 Comment
First of all, I don't really believe in this rapture stuff. I've mostly been ignoring it.But, just for the record: if the "righteous" or the elect or whatever are taken up into Heaven and everyone else (atheists, heretics, sinners, quarrelers, people who like "Jerusalem" and so on and so forth) is left on earth to await some final judgement day, I'd rather stay here.There'll be a lot of work to...