Chant in Cambridge 22-23rd June

Wednesday 22 June - Thursday 23 June, 2011

St Catharine's College, Main Court and Chapel

THE HOURS: A 24-Hour Celebration of World Sacred Music

with Sound Installation by Jonathan Green and Edward Wickham

about THE HOURS:

The Hours is a 24-hour collage of sound and live performance devised by Jonathan Green and Edward Wickham, in association with award-winning vocal ensemble The Clerks.

The Hours celebrates the impulse to pray and to praise; an impulse shared by the faithful of all the world religions, and one which has inspired the finest art, literature and music.
Drawing on the universal poetry of the Psalms, The Hours presents multifarious sounds, voices and music in a tapestry which is at times abstract, and at times intensely direct and human.

The sound installation provides the backdrop for live performances by Cambridge-based groups; including a ‘Come and Sing’ event open to singers of all ages, ability and experience. In the final hour, the diverse elements of the collage coalesce into a live performance featuring Taverner’s sumptuous Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas, whose dense, polyphonic lines have previously been heard fragmentarily.

“one of the most inventive early music groups around” Musical Opinion

“a new side of early music'” Daily Telegraph

Main Events
• The Hours sound installation will run continuously in Main Court throughout the 24 hours.
• Performances by Chela/Buska (Georgian choir); Harmonia Alcorani (Muslim choir); chant from Jewish and Hindu traditions: details to be confirmed

Wednesday 22 June
1900-1930: The Hours launches with the office of Luminaria
sung by the St Catharine’s Girls’ Choir and Egyptian soprano Merit Ariane Stephanos;
featuring the World Premiere of a new work melding Western and Middle Eastern chant by Jonathan Green.

2100: Performance by Kol Echad (Jewish Community Choir)

2130: Performance by Chela (Georgian Choir)

2200-2245: Compline for the eve of Corpus Christi (Gregorian chant)

Thursday 23 June
0200-0330: Matins for Corpus Christi (Gregorian chant)

0700-0730: Lauds for Corpus Christi (Gregorian chant)

1630-1715: Global Harmony: a ‘Come and Sing’ session of sacred songs from different traditions
led by Rowena Whitehead and Talking in Tune Singers
Everyone is welcome, whatever your previous singing experience to add your voice to the rich and inspiring harmonies.

1800-1900: Final concert: Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas by John Taverner
sung by award-winning vocal ensemble The Clerks


Ticket information
Admission to all aspects of The Hours is free.
You can register your interest in the Come and Sing event in advance by contacting music@caths.cam.ac.uk;
you can also simply join in on the day.
Tickets for the final performance (limited) can be reserved by contacting music@caths.cam.ac.uk.

Portsmouth Chant Course concludes

From Neville McNally:

The Gregorian Chant Course concluded with a memorable final Workshop on Saturday last at St John’s Cathedral, Portsmouth.

The day followed a similar format to the previous 7 Workshops with participants dividing into 2 groups under the direction of Abbot Cuthbert Brogan OSB and Christopher Hodkinson. The participants prepared the chant for Mass of the Vigil of Pentecost which was celebrated by Abbot Cuthbert and sung to a very high standard.

At the beginning of the day everyone was given a Final Questionnaire, which was a follow-up to the Questionnaire issued at the first Workshop. For those who have participated in the Course and were unable to attend the final Workshop, but who would like to comment, I enclose a copy of the Final Questionnaire. Once completed, please return it to me as soon as you can.

The Workshop concluded with a discussion forum which gave an opportunity for questions and answers. Plenty of points were raised which included comments on the Course, ideas for continuing practice of the chant and how to reach a wider and younger audience. There was also a lot of interest in participating in a future course.

Finally, gratitude was expressed to Abbot Cuthbert and Christopher for their contributions to making the course such a success; and to the Cathedral Administrator, Canon Hopgood, for allowing us to use St John’s Cathedral and Hall.

If you would be interested in a similar course in the future, then please contact us:

gregorianchantnetwork@gmail.com

Chant day in York Sat 9th July

Church of St. Mary, Bishophill Junior, York. YO1 6EN

14.30 - 18.30

In this half-day workshop, in the oldest church in the City of York, we will learn and sing some of the most beautiful hymns, antiphons & psalms in the repertory of Gregorian Chant. We will immerse ourselves in the history, sound, technique and language of this ancient musical style, working toward an authentic and beautiful performance of Compline [The Night Office] at the end of the day.

All materials (scores and helpful resources) are included in the cost of the day. Beginners and more advanced singers are welcome. Registration Fee: £6.50 – £5.00 for Students. It would be helpful if you could register in advance, as this will give us an idea how music & other source materials to prepare! To register please contact us at mike.4b@ntlworld.com or telephone (01904) 341853.

Pope Benedict: more on Sacred music

The Holy Father has written a letter to the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music on the occasion of its centenary. As well as reiterating the 'primacy of Gregorian Chant' he makes a point familiar to readers of his book 'The Spirit of the Liturgy':

[W]e always have to ask ourselves: Who is the true subject of the liturgy? The answer is simple: the Church. It is not the individual or the group that celebrates the liturgy, but it is primarily God's action through the Church with its history, its rich tradition, and its creativity. The liturgy, and thus sacred music, 'lives from a correct and constant relationship between healthy traditio and legitimate progressio'...

There is more on the Vatican Information Service blog; I can't find the letter on the Vatican website yet. It is frustrating not to be able to see the whole letter.

Pope Benedict, and St Bernard, on Sacred Music

I came across this section of a speech Pope Benedict made on September 12, 2008 at the Collège des Bernardins in Paris.

"For prayer that issues from the word of God, speech is not enough: music is required. Two chants from the Christian liturgy come from biblical texts in which they are placed on the lips of angels: the ‘Gloria,’ which is sung by the angels at the birth of Jesus, and the ‘Sanctus,’ which according to Isaiah 6 is the cry of the seraphim who stand directly before God. Christian worship is therefore an invitation to sing with the angels, and thus to lead the word to its highest destination.[...] From this perspective one can understand the seriousness of a remark by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, who used an expression from the Platonic tradition handed down by Augustine, to pass judgement on the poor singing of monks, which for him was evidently very far from being a mishap of only minor importance. He describes the confusion resulting from a poorly executed chant as a falling into the ‘regio dissimilitudinis,’ the ‘zone of dissimilarity’ [...], into a remoteness from God, in which man no longer reflects Him, and so has become dissimilar not only to God, but to himself, to what being human truly is. Bernard is certainly putting it strongly when he uses this phrase, which indicates man’s falling away from himself, to describe bad singing by monks. But it shows how seriously he viewed the matter. It shows that the culture of singing is also the culture of being, and that the monks have to pray and sing in a manner commensurate with the grandeur of the word handed down to them, with its claim on true beauty. This intrinsic requirement of speaking with God and singing of Him with words He Himself has given, [texts of Sacred Scripture] is what gave rise to the great tradition of Western music. It was not a form of private ‘creativity’, in which the individual leaves a memorial to himself and makes self-representation his essential criterion. Rather it is about vigilantly recognizing with the ‘ears of the heart’ the inner laws of the music of creation, the archetypes of music that the Creator built into his world and into men, and thus discovering music that is worthy of God, and at the same time truly worthy of man, music whose worthiness resounds in purity.”

It is an internal quotation from an article discussed by Fr John Zuhlsdorf, which notes, alas, that the Holy Father has not, so far, done much in the musical field as Pope, despite his evident interest in the matter and the powerful things he has said about it.

Colin Mawby on censorship of music for the new Missal translation

This is part of the talk he gave at the Gregorian Chant Network weekend course, 9th April this year.

Report on Spanish Place workshop

I was able to attend the 'advanced' parts of two days of the three-day workshop in St James' Spanish Place in London, led by Dom Yves-Marie Lelièvre, Choirmaster at the Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Solesmes, France.

A group of about 20 singers attended all or part of the advanced singers' sessions with Dom Lelièvre, in which he introduced propers for the Masses and Vespers which were to be sung. He approached it from the Graduale Triplex, but showed us photocopies of the manuscripts upon which the Triplex is based. He also discussed the history of the modern chant editions: the 1908 Vatican edition of the Graduale Romanum, and the Antiphonales of 1912 and 1932. New editions, based on the research which has built up over the last century, are now finally appearing.

But above all we sang the pieces. Dom Lelièvre is an engaging teacher, with a complete mastery of the Gregorian canon and great sensitivity to its interpretation. His approach places the text first: he urged us to understand the text and pray it from our hearts as we sang. The melodies serve the text, and not the other way round. His interpretation was the opposite of mechanical and rigid; some issues simply depend on the accoustics of the church, for example. We had to watch his marvellously expressive hands while we sang - ideally, he said, we should know the piece by heart.

Not only was it a very interesting two days from a musical point of view, but it was a great gathering of singers from all over the South East of England and even overseas. It was organised with great efficiency by Candy Bartoldus who directs the choir at Spanish Place.

See more photos here.

Canterbury Chant workshop

See www.gregoriansociety.org or email contact@gregoriansociety.org

1. Saturday 21st May: 12.00 St Dunstan's Church, St Dunstan's Street, Canterbury CT2 8LS
'The Angelus, the Ave and the Salve' for St. Dunstan. rehearse in the church at 11.30, sing at 12.00. The service lasts about 10 minutes. Cost: free

2. Saturday 28th May: Workshop day with Philip Duffy (Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge) on the First Vespers for the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary from English sources the 13th century Worcester Antiphoner and the Hereford Breviary. 10-5.30 at St. Thomas's Church, Burgate, Canterbury CT1 2HJ; includes a visit to Canterbury Cathedral Archives for a talk on mediaeval music manuscripts and a small exhibition of documents.

We will sing the Vespers in St. Thomas's Church at 5pm.

Cost members £15, non-members £30.

Further information on website www.gregoriansociety.org. or email contact@gregoriansociety.org

Workshops with Dom Yves-Marie Lelièvre

Dom Yves-Marie Lelièvre is the Choirmaster at the famous Monatery of Solesmes; this is an opportunity to hear what he has to say about chant, based on the latest scholarship, in workshops at St James' Spanish Place.

Gregorian Chant with

Dom Yves-Marie Lelièvre, Choirmaster

Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Solesmes, France

St. James’s Roman Catholic Church, Spanish Place

Dom Yves-Marie Lelièvre will be lead instructor of a Gregorian Chant Workshop at St. James’s 5-8 May 2011. Participants will be singing under his direction.

Everyone is welcome to attend the following:

5 May (Thursday): 5.00 pm Vespers and 8.30 pm Compline

7 May (Friday): 8.30 am Mass, 5.15 pm Vespers, and

8.30 pm Compline

8 May (Saturday): 1.15 Sext , 4.30 pm Vespers and

6.00 pm Mass

Advanced workshop sessions are full, but spaces may be available for the Friday (10 am-12 pm) class on singing Liturgy of Hours and Saturday beginners class.

For more information: Contact Candy Bartoldus (cbartold@gmu.edu) or call the Rectory at 020 7935 0943.

GCN Weekend Course

The course took place last weekend and was a great success, with about 20 participants, under the direction of Colin Mawby. For more on the Family Retreat which runs alongside the Chant Course see LMS Chairman blog.






At the final Mass all the singers sang some of the Mass propers, and most of them sang all of them.

During the course, we sang at all the liturgies of the St Catherine's Trust Family Retreat: three Sung Masses, Compline twice, one Vespers and Benediction, and a Marian procession, during which we sang the Litany of the Saints, the Litany of Loreto, and the Stabat Mater.


Benediction after Vespers.


Compline, with the cantors pre-intoning the hymn Te Lucis to Fr Andrew Southwell, who presided.

Last call for the Chant Weekend

We have a good number of people signed up for the Gregorian Chant Network Chant Weekend with Colin Mawby, but there are still places available. Please don't delay: book now!

The course runs from 8-10th April, that is Friday to Sunday.

It starts on Friday afternoon, with Mass at 5pm, followed by dinner at 6.30. You can register either before Mass or after Mass, if you can't make the earlier time. It ends with lunch on Sunday. Here is the application form.


This is a unique opportunity to be taught by Colin Mawby, the distinguished composer and former Director of Music at Westminster Cathedral, in the context of the Traditional Mass (EF). As well as sung Mass each day, there will also be Vespers, Compline and Benediction. The course runs alongside the St Catherine's Trust Family Retreat, so we will have an audience for our singing!

The full cost of £90 is discounted as low as £30 for groups from the same schola, so come along and bring your friends!

Two people from one choir: £60 each
Three or more people from one choir: £40
An additional £10 off for Latin Mass Society members.

Sound from the Portsmouth chant course

You can hear it here.

The Gregorian Chant Course continues at St John's Cathedral Portsmouth until June 2011. The next Workshop in the series takes place this Saturday 19 March, running from 1000 to 1600, when the participants will have the opportunity to put their skills into practice in the Cathedral at Vespers and Benediction.

If you have not previously registered it is not too late to do so, please contact me. Reductions are available for students, children and groups. Bursaries are also available on application. Please pass the word.

This Saturday's Workshop will include a continuation of the organ accompaniment practicum led by Neil Wright.

If you can play a melody instrument (strings, brass, woodwind etc.) you are invited to bring your instrument to this Workshop. Players of low-register instruments

(cellos, trombones, bassoons etc.) are especially welcome. Instrumentalists are requested to bring a music stand. Please contact me if you plan to bring an instrument.

Some pictures and recordings from the last Workshop are at our blog page - thanks to Liz Masebo for arranging. Do have a look, and especially a listen as it sounds very good:

http://gregorianchantportsmouth.wikispaces.com


Remaining Course dates are: 16 April and 11 June

The Choir of St Mary Magdalen's, Brighton

have got a new blog!

http://stmarymagdalenchoir.wordpress.com/

New Chant initiative at Maryvale

An interesting snippet from the Catholic Herald, about the Birmingham Oratory. The Maryvale Institute is, of course, located in Birmingham.

“It also announced that Fr Anton Guziel would become parish priest, replacing Fr Guy Nicholls, who has been in the post for 10 years.

The statement said that Fr Nicholls would be setting up a school for liturgical music in partnership with the Maryvale Institute.

Fr Richard Duffield, provost at the Oratory, said its focus initially would be to teach Gregorian chant to clergy who want to set up choirs in their parishes. He said it aimed to “implement the Holy Father’s desire to have more plainchant and Latin in the liturgy”.”

Catholic Herald, 11 Feb 2011

Report on Portsmouth Chant Days

(Chris Hodkinson leading a Chant workshop in Portsmouth Cathedral).

More than 100 different people have attended one of the current series of Chant Workshops organised at St John’s Cathedral in Portsmouth by the Schola Gregoriana Sancti Nicolai (chant choir in Portsmouth). The Workshops are part of a pioneering Course in Gregorian Chant which continues at the Cathedral until June 2011.

(Chris and Abbot Cuthbert Brogan with the singers.)

Each Workshop introduces a new theme. At the January Workshop, Abbot Cuthbert Brogan, the Benedictine Abbot of St Michael’s Abbey in Farnborough - who co-directs the Course with Christopher Hodkinson of the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge - gave a fascinating introduction to the Divine Office (the daily prayer of the Church) and Vespers. This was followed by practical instruction in singing Vespers which the participants then sang together with Benediction in the Cathedral.

Up until now, participants have learned to sing the Chant without any accompaniment. At the next workshop on Saturday 19 February we will welcome the organist Neil Wright, who will introduce us to the organ and its use in conjunction with Gregorian chant. There will also be an opportunity for a small group of participants with keyboard skills to study chant accompaniment with Neil in more detail, beginning at this workshop and continuing in March (please contact me if you are interested).

(Some of the singers.)

The March workshop, on 19^th, will see a further exploration of the use of instruments in plainchant performance, as we celebrate the feast of St Joseph. Players of melody instruments (strings, brass, woodwind etc.) are invited to bring their instruments to both February and March workshops to participate in this. Players of low-register instruments (cellos, trombones, bassoons etc.) are especially welcome. Instrumentalists are requested to bring a music stand. (Please contact me if you plan to bring an instrument or if you have any questions).

Every effort has been made to keep the Course fee as low as possible. For those who haven’t yet signed up, the individual Workshop fee is £15 and the course book (Parish Book of Chant) is available at discounted price of £10. Reductions on the Workshop fee are available for students, children and groups. Bursaries are also available on application.

(Abbot Cuthbert presiding at Vespers in a cope.)

Please contact the organisers, the Schola Gregoriana Sancti Nicolai, as soon as possible, as follows:

E-mail: chantnetwork@gmail.com or Telephone: 023 92862384

Next Workshop is on Saturday 19 February, starts 1000.

Remaining Course dates are: 19 February, 19 March, 16 April and 11 June

There are a couple more photos here.