The Artsy Honker – Page 9 – Adventures in faithful musicianship

Seeking an Accompanist/Assistant Organist

Byartsyhonker May 27, 2015 0 Comments

St. Andrew's Leytonstone is looking for an Accompanist/Assistant Organist who will play the piano for choir rehearsals for one hour on Thursday nights and play the organ for at least one Sunday service per month, working closely with the current Director of Music. The successful applicant will be a competent musician with an imaginative approach to accompanying choral liturgy. S/he will be able,...

Jubilate Amen — recording

Byartsyhonker May 8, 2015 0 Comments

Here's a recording of one I wrote earlier. It's just a simple little thing, not too taxing; not quite a hymn, and not quite a lullabye. If YouTube isn't working, you might try Soundcloud: Words by Thomas Moore: Hark! the vesper hymn is stealing o'er the waters soft and clear; nearer yet and nearer pealing and now bursts upon the ear: Jubilate amen! Farther now, now farther stealing soft it fades...

Copyright, Creativity and Culture

Byartsyhonker April 23, 2015 5 Comments

I got up this morning to see much hand-wringing on Twitter over Green policy on copyright. The policy in question states: EC1011 On cultural products (literature, music, film, paintings etc), our general policy is to expand the area of cultural activity, that is ways that culture can be consumed, produced, and shared, reduce the role of the market and encourage smaller and more local cultural...

The Contrite Heart

Byartsyhonker March 6, 2015 1 Comment

Looking for texts to set (I am always looking for texts to set) I stumbled over this one by William Cowper. It looks to me to be a response to Psalm 51: The Lord will happiness divine On contrite hearts bestow; Then tell me, gracious God, is mine A contrite heart or no? I hear, but seem to hear in vain, Insensible as steel; If aught is felt, ‘tis only pain, To find I cannot feel. I sometimes...

Patreon — a sort of milestone

Byartsyhonker March 3, 2015 0 Comments

I've had a couple of new patrons over on Patreon this week. Hurrah! Hurray! Why is having 19 patrons a milestone? Well, after Patreon's fee, and banking fees, and exchange rates, I've just gone over the £100 per new piece mark. I'm making some modifications to the page there: adding pictures to some of the rewards, changing the video from the demo of "Christ has no body now on earth but ours" to...

Sermon: Second Sunday of Lent

Byartsyhonker March 1, 2015 0 Comments

Sermon for 1st March 2015 St Paul's Woldingham, Evensong Second Sunday of Lent Psalm 135:1-14 Genesis 12:1-9 Hebrews 11:1-3,8-16 "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." All three of tonight's readings are about faith, in one way or another. The Psalm starts, telling us to praise God -- not only because God has power over wind and rain, oceans and...

Patreon, one year on

Byartsyhonker February 9, 2015 0 Comments

It's a little over a year since I first set up a page on Patreon, with a view to getting paid for some of my composing. I've been promising to write a post about my experiences, and I'm finding the "what" and the "why" aren't easy to consider separately. But I'll have a go at discussing the "what" in this post, and the "why" in the next. Patreon is a platform for distributed, or crowd-funded,...

Nunc dimittis

Byartsyhonker February 2, 2015 0 Comments

Today is Candlemas. Yesterday I preached at Christ Church Wanstead for the occasion; today I put the finishing touches on my setting of the Nunc dimittis. It's SATB a capella, and a bit crunchy in places; being a bit calmer than some settings, it would be particularly appropriate for use during a service of sung Compline. I've put it up at CPDL as usual but it won't be visible there for another...

Sermon for Candlemas

Byartsyhonker February 1, 2015 1 Comment

Candlemas 2015 Christchurch Wanstead, 8am Malachi 3:1-5 Luke 2:22-40 Candlemas is a sort of pivot or turning point in the church calendar. On this day, we look back to the birth of Christ, giving thanks, and we look ahead: to his death and passion, and ultimately to his resurrection. It's time to remove any remaining Christmas decorations, and start thinking about how we might endeavour to have a...