Waving

The past week has been a little less silly than some, but still busy. The West Gallery course at Benslow last weekend was great fun, but hard work: we really could have done with another four or six singers, which would have resulted in me singing less and being able to pay more attention to conducting clearly; at times, I felt like I was a bit "wave arms around until music stops" rather than...

Double Chant in C Major

Last Sunday one of my psalm chants was sung in Guildford Cathedral, by the University of London Church Choir. I wrote it for Psalm 119 vv 1-16, but as Anglican chant is meant to be flexible you could use whatever words you like. Accordingly, the copy over on CPDL doesn't include the text. If you can't read the PDF there is a midi file, though it's a bit slow. As usual, this is under a Creative...

“Moses saw a burning bush while he was out tending sheep and you won’t believe what happened next!”

Sermon at Evensong, St Paul's Woldingham, Sunday next before Lent Exodus 3:1-6 John 12:27-36 “Walk while you have the light.” What does it mean to walk in light? What does it mean to stand on holy ground? It was the light that Moses would have seen first, so bright, and unending as the burning bush didn't burn. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition it's called the “unburnt bush”: and the...

Pied Beauty — recording

@pmphillips suggested this text to me when I was looking for something a bit creation-y for a unison/2-part community songbook. I didn't set it for that project, but instead in SATB. It's short and sweet, and might be suitable for an introit at a Harvest Evensong or similar. I'm pleased to be able to offer a demo recording of this, both at Soundcloud (where you can download the recording) and,...

Evensong at St Paul’s — from the inside

This week I am singing with the Ontario Cathedral Singers as they are doing a "cathedral week", singing services in cathedrals while the regular choristers are away. I met their director, and had an organ lesson with him, this past summer while visiting my parents in Canada. We've sung two services in St Paul's so far. Tomorrow (Wednesday) we'll be at Southwark Cathedral for Evensong at 5.30pm,...

Wednesday: St Paul’s-in-the-Camp Flashmob Evensong

On Wednesday we will have Evensong outside St Paul's -- unless the cathedral has opened for worship again, of course, in which case we may as well join them inside.Meet at 5pm for 5.15; outside M&S seems to be a reasonable place for it, although we may need to move (especially if there are enough of us to obstruct the walkway).You can print a copy of the liturgy from here ON THE DAY or from...

St Paul’s Evensong at OccupyLSX

I didn't think, when I got up this morning, that I would somehow wind up leading a BCP Evensong at St Paul's Cathedral.The cathedral has had Occupy LSX, a protest camp, on their doorstep for the past week. Last weekend the Canon Chancellor, Revd Dr Giles Fraser, told the police to leave the protesters alone. As the week has worn on and the tents have stayed up, the cathedral has been operating on...

A nice afternoon out

If you're thinking about coming to Evensong tomorrow (St Mary's Rotherhithe, SE16 4JE at 6pm on Sunday) why not stop by the Brunel Museum first? They open until 5pm, leaving just enough time for a quick half pint at The Mayflower before the service starts.I certainly fancy a wander around the museum. I wonder if I can convince someone to carry the serpent so I'm not too knackered to play it...

London Gallery Quire Evensong

London Gallery Quire will be singing an Evensong at St Mary's Rotherhithe this Sunday, 8th May, at 6pm. I'm really looking forward to it!Here's a very rough sample of one of the pieces. This is just me singing the parts, one take each, so the tuning isn't amazing, the timing is ragged and some of the words aren't very clear. But it's such a wonderful little piece I wanted people to be able to...

The Volunteer Organist

Last Sunday I rolled along to Christ Church Wanstead as I often do for Evensong; it's usually quite a small service and I enjoy turning up, singing, and going away again without having to worry about messing anything up. Evensong doesn't have to be all cathedrals and choirboys and processions and Stanford; it can be an intimate, quiet occasion, comfortable like an old coat -- even if, for me,...