Christmas Morning (2011)

Sunday, 25 December 2011

 

Entrance	(i) Hodie Christus natus est (chant) (ii) O Come all ye faithful
Gloria	Psallite Mass
Psalm	All the ends of the earth (Alan Johnson)
Gospel Acclamation	St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts	God rest ye merry Gentlemen
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei	Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion	Bread of Life (Bernadette Farrell)
Postcommunion	Love came down at Christmas (Christina Rossetti/Malcolm Archer)
Recessional	Hark, the herald angels sing

 

Seven men of the choir made our usual merry noise in three and four part harmony. Malcolm Archer’s setting of Christina Rossetti’s poem, and Bernadette Farrell’s thoughtful Communion song, made for moments of tranquility among all the festive cheer.

A happy Christmas to everyone!

Christmas Vigil and Midnight Mass (2011)

Saturday, 24 December 2011

 

Introit	O Emmanuel (chant)
Opening Hymn	O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Reading	Isaiah 11:1-10 (A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse)
Choir	Angels we have heard on high (trad. arr Eric Paździora)
Hymn	It came upon the midnight clear
Reading	Luke 1:26-38 (The Annunciation)
Hymn	In the bleak midwinter (Holst)
Reading	John 1: 1-18 (In the Beginning was the Word)
Choir	Coventry Carol (trad., arr Martin Shaw)
Bishop’s entrance and procession to the crib	Adeste Fideles
Gloria	Gloria de Noël (Thomas Niel)
Reading	Isaiah 9:2-7 (The people that walked in darkness)
Psalm	Christmas Psalm (Bernadette Farrell)
Reading	Titus 2:11-14 (God’s grace has been revealed)
Gospel Acclamation	St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Reading	Luke 2:1-14 (The Nativity)
Preparation of the gifts	What sweeter music (John Rutter)
Sanctus, Acclamation	Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Agnus Dei	Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion	O Magnum Mysterium (T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611) Silent night
Postcommunion	While shepherds watched their flocks
Recessional	Hark the herald angels sing

 

A bigger congregation than usual joined us for Midnight Mass; perhaps it was the mild weather, or an end at last to the Chapel Street road works. Celebration Brass were there too, and Deacon Liam Bradley from the diocese of Menevia, nearly at the end of his year’s placement in Salford diocese, sang the Gospel beautifully. Our musical banquet had, as usual, something for everyone.

4th Sunday of Advent (Year B, 2011)

Sunday, 18 December 2011

 

Entrance	The Angel Gabriel
Kyrie	Missal Chant
Psalm	Ps 88 (mcb)
Gospel Acclamation	Advent Gospel Acclamations (Alan Smith)
Prayers of Intercession	Through our lives (John Bell)
Preparation of the Gifts	Ave Maria (Franz Schubert, 1797-1828, arr. Richard Proulx)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen	Missal Chant
Agnus Dei	Missal Chant
Communion	Veni Immanuel (John Bell) & Ps 79(80)
Postcommunion	Rorate Caeli (Francisco Guerrero, 1528-1599)
Recessional	O come, O come Emmanuel

 

Ave Maria is today’s Offertory antiphon. We had rehearsed settings by Elgar and Rachmaninov, in anticipation of a celebration of the feast of the Immaculate Conception that wasn’t to be, but I’m glad we settled on Schubert for today’s Annunciation-themed celebration. Richard Proulx's arrangement gives the first stanza (so to speak) to a solo soprano, sung today with luminous serenity by Gwen Leech, with the second section set for four-part choir.

The name Emmanuel appears in today’s Communion antiphon, and we echoed it in our Communion processional song, and in our jubilant final hymn.

Celebration of Christmas in aid of Age Concern

Sunday, 11 December 2011

 

Cathedral Choir & Notability	What sweeter music (John Rutter)
All	O Come all ye Faithful
Notability	Simeon’s Song (Robin Stevens) Just another Star (Karl Jenkins and Carol Barratt, arr. Peter Gritton)
All	O little town of Bethlehem
Jon Christos & Jenny Williams	O Holy Night (Adolphe Adam) Panis Angelicus (César Franck)
All	Good King Wenceslas
Cathedral Choir	Angels we have heard on high (trad. arr Eric Paździora)
All	Once in Royal David’s City
Notability	Sweet was the Song (Andrew Goff) God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen (John Neal Koudelka)
Anthony Hunt (Organ)	Prelude on ‘Forest Green’ (Philip Marshall)
Cathedral Choir	O Magnum Mysterium (T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611)
Jon Christos & Jenny Williams	In the Bleak Midwinter (Harold Darke) – with Notability & Cathedral Choir Silent Night (Franz Grüber)
Singalong led by Jon & Jenny	Winter Wonderland The Christmas Song Have yourself a merry little Christmas I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
All	Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Anthony Hunt	Vom Himmel Hoch, Da Komm Ich Herr (Friedrich Wilhelm Zachau)

 

Musically speaking, there was something for everyone: choirs, soloists Jon, Jenny and Anthony, and audience; plus readings and talks from local dignitaries, and a prayer and blessing led by Bishop Brain.

It was fun to join forces with the excellent Notability to sing Rutter’s What sweeter music: singing in the sumptuous acoustic of the Cathedral chancel, we took it slowly and left plenty of room at the pauses, all to let Robert Herrick’s words speak as beautifully as the music.

3rd Sunday of Advent (Year B, 2011)

Sunday, 11 December 2011

 

Entrance	Rejoice for ever (mcb)
Kyrie	Missal Chant
Psalm	My Soul Rejoices (Owen Alstott)
Gospel Acclamation	Advent Gospel Acclamation (Alan Smith)
Prayers of Intercession	Through our lives (John Bell)
Preparation of the Gifts	O Rex Gentium (chant) & Magnificat Octavi Toni (Orlande de Lassus, 1532-1594)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen	Missal Chant
Agnus Dei	Missal Chant
Communion	Bread of Life (Bernadette Farrell)
Postcommunion	Rejoice in the Lord Alway (Henry Purcell, 1659-1695)
Recessional	Lo, he comes with clouds desending

 

With the Magnificat taking the place of a Responsorial Psalm today, we took the opportunity to sing one of the great O Antiphons in its proper context, so to speak. The antiphons precede and follow the Magnificat at Vespers in the final week of Advent, so at the Preparation of the Gifts we sang Lassus’s simple setting of the canticle, alternating chant and polyphony, flanked by repetitions of the antiphon O Rex Gentium.

Taken together with pieces by Bernadette Farrell, John Bell and co., as well as the chant Mass setting and (a truncated version of) Purcell’s jubilant anthem, it made for a good mix of music.

2nd Sunday of Advent (Year B, 2011)

Sunday, 4 December 2011

 

Entrance	Song of Consolation (Peter Jones)
Kyrie	Missal Chant
Psalm	Ps 84 (Elsie Wright)
Gospel Acclamation	Advent Gospel Acclamation (Alan Smith)
Prayers of Intercession	Through our lives (John Bell)
Preparation of the Gifts	Conditor Alme Siderum (T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen	Missal Chant
Agnus Dei	Missal Chant
Communion	Wait for the Lord (Taizé)
Postcommunion	Hierusalem Surge (Heinrich Isaac, c. 1450-1517)
Recessional	Come, thou long-expected Jesus

 

Our trademark mix of music, from Peter Jones and Jacques Berthier to Victoria, still in his quatercentenary year, and Heinrich Isaac. Isaac was a new name for us, and it was illuminating to set his music side by side with that of Victoria from a hundred years later. Isaac’s setting of the communion antiphon felt plain and brightly lit, compared with the light-and-shade subtleties of Victoria’s polyphony, alternating with chant verses. But both, I thought, were beautiful and prayerful.

Greater Manchester Army Cadet Force Carol Service 2011

Saturday, 3 December 2011

 

Choir	Gaudete (trad., arr. Craig Kingsbury)
All	O Come, All Ye Faithful
Choir	Angels we have heard on high (trad., arr. Eric Paździora)
All	O Little Town of Bethlehem
All	Once in Royal David’s City
Choir	The Coventry Carol (trad., arr Martin Shaw)
All	Silent Night
All	While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
All	National Anthem
All	Hark the Herald Angels Sing

 

Celebration Brass joined us for an early celebration of Christmas with the Army Cadets, their chaplains and sundry assembled dignitaries. The continuing road works in Chapel Street were evidently a more formidable obstacle than last year’s blizzards, so we started later than planned, once the last of the coaches had negotiated the queues and diversions.