Tag Archives: Mathias

Coronation pieces

I watched the Coronation ceremony with a keen ear for the music performed. I wonder which of the various new pieces I’ll be asked to sing first? (My money’s on Tarik O’Regan’s.) British coronations have been over recent centuries been … Continue reading

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the rise of the carol service

Time was when a carol service meant Christmas carols. (It has a sister in the ‘carol concert’, a format I’ve never really enjoyed because it feels wrong to pay for something that is often very similar to a service.) Advent … Continue reading

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a weekend with Mathias

I had a busy weekend with two extra services, both of which included anthems by William Mathias. On Saturday I revisited St Mary Redcliffe for the first time in several years, to join a visiting choir for the first Evensong … Continue reading

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Peterborough pitch

There is a proposal to re-tune the organ at Peterborough Cathedral down to A=440. About a third of the necessary money had been raised when Robert Quinney landed the job at New College Oxford earlier this year, but when the … Continue reading

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comfy cushions at Exeter

My recent excursions to sing at Exeter Cathedral have involved rehearsing in the Chapter House, in one case while people were noisily setting up lunch next to us. I’m happy to say those days are now over, and there is … Continue reading

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no complaining in our streets

I thought I knew my psalter pretty well, but Ps. 144 seems to have passed me by altogether as I had no memory of the words at all. The Erleigh Cantors sang it at Sunday evensong in Bristol Cathedral (it … Continue reading

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A Royal Wedding anthem

Today I joined the choir of St. Peter’s Church, Caversham, for evensong at Bristol Cathedral. Our anthem was Let the people praise thee O God by Mathias, and this set some of us wondering who might be writing music for … Continue reading

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At last! Lætentur Cœli!

The Erleigh Cantors were visiting Winchester Cathedral last weekend, arriving as the Knights of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Equestrian Division) were holding a service of their own in the Cathedral. This time, there was no music I hadn’t … Continue reading

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more on Mags and Nuncs

A quick calculation shows that the 21-CD Priory Records Mag and Nunc set (see my previous posting) contains some 188 different settings of the canticles (including a few instances of free-standing Mags or Nuncs). A few settings appear more than … Continue reading

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