How shall I keep from singing?

The celebration of Easter cannot truly be appreciated unless one has gone through Holy Week and the Triduum. Devotions and Compline, a devotional evening of seasonal music – by an Exeter chamber choir, so I could enjoy sitting back and listening for a change; the glimmer of light at Maundy Thursday – ‘A new commandment I give unto you’, the bare altar and wooden cross of Good Friday – ‘We glory in your cross O Lord’, and the gradual lighting of the church with candles from the New Fire and the Paschal candle, followed by the Exsultet and a blaze of Glorious light on the Saturday. Easter Day was a sense of achievement, of having come on a long journey, at the end of which was ‘This Joyful Eastertide’ and a basket full of cream eggs.

Having sung ‘This joyful Eastertide’ twice already by Easter Evensong, the choirmaster decided to spare us and had us sing Wesley’s ‘Blessed be the God and Father’ instead. To a slightly fuller church than hear our normal evensong offerings. Perhaps some of the augmented Easter congregation might come along again a few times more before Christmas……

Another beautiful Palm Sunday morning! One year it will actually rain, but so far God – or Lady Luck – has smiled on us. For the first time ever, the two processional hymns were next door to each other in the hymn book – ‘Common Praise’ has been put together with some intelligence, obviously. The anthem, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’ by Moore was very appropriate as the words were exactly the same as the opening sentence of the service. It was also much liked by the congregation, as much for the lively tune as the words, I suspect.

The evening devotion was the S. Luke Passion, attributed to Bach. It was fun to sing again, with several new soloists, and the organ behaved beautifully. Obviously the warm day suited it well. And those of us who had also sung Stainer’s ‘Crucifixion’ the day before in Buckfast Abbey still had enough voice left to do it justice.

The local prep school boarders were at church today, swelling the ranks. A few of them read the lesson and the prayers and politely answered all the vicar’s questions. I thought the others might be cardboard cutouts, they were so quiet. Even during the marathon gospel reading for today.

We sang ‘God so loved the World’ by Stainer during the administration, an anthem so well known that the Choirmaster didn’t bother to rehearse it at all until about 10 minutes before the start of the service. We sang it well, but the last minute rehearsal lost some of the polish which could have made it special, I can’t help thinking.

Up early on Mothering Sunday as there was a breakfast in the Church hall before the service. Lots of yummy dutch-style food, I ate far too much and hoped I wouldn’t feel ill in the service. Either from the effects of the food or from the youth group play – some of them do have that effect on me: The theological ramifications of ‘Old Mother Hubbard and what she did to her dog’. Hmmmmm……..
The morning anthem was ‘Take this moment’ by John Bell, rather wordy so we had to enunciate clearly, but a pleasant little tune. I like the odd interlude of Iona, but too much of it would be rather depressing.
It pays to get changed quickly when you are in the choir – although I got my posy, courtesy of my two sons, by the time I got to the back of the church the simnel cake had all disappeared.

‘O Thou the Central Orb’ byWood was given as much welly as 16 voices could muster, in the evening, unaided and unabetted by a rather sick organ, alternately letting out a ghostly moan and seizing up altogether due to the unusually frosty weather. If the Ship of Fools wants an organ to spend its Organ Fund on, I can point them in the right direction…..