January 2016 at St Michael’s

From New Year to Candlemas, we hope activities at St Michael’s will help you to continue to celebrate the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, Joy to the World.

The group of mainly students, led by Br Michael, who prayed and sang Matins most mornings from ~8.15-9am last Autumn are planning to resume this regular practice from mid-January on Mon, Tues, Thurs & Fridays; we are grateful to them for this strengthening of our prayer life and mission.

Click “Events” for more details of some of the following:-

Sunday 3rd January 2016, Christmas II, 10.45am. Mass for Four Voices by William Byrd. Motet: Lullay my Liking, by Gustav Holst. N.B. No Evensong today, but please come to…

Wednesday 6th January, Epiphany, 7.30pm. Mass in C & F by Stanford. Motet: Three Kings from Persian lands afar, by Cornelius. Please make this Event a priority in your diary. We shall be formally thanking Fr David Hastings for the gifts of his ministry among us at St Michael’s over several years, as he retires from his position as Honorary Assistant Priest.

Sunday 10th January, Baptism of Christ, 10.45am. Mass in F by William Harris. Motet: O for a Closer Walk with God, by C V Stanford. Thereafter we go a cappella for 3 Sundays.

Sunday 17th January, Epiphany II, 10.45am Sung Mass. Missa L’Hora Passa by Viadana and O Sacrum Convivium by Croce.

Sunday 24th January, Epiphany III, 10.45am. Mass for Five Voices and Sing Joyfully, by William Byrd.

Monday 25th January is the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul and end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. It is also the Year’s Mind, anniversary of death, of Canon John Thurmer.

Sunday 31st January, Epiphany IV, 10.45am. Missa “Lauda Sion” by Palestrina. Motet: If Ye Love Me, by Tallis.

We complete the Nativity narrative with the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, Candlemas, on Tuesday 2nd February at 7.30pm. Singing the Missa Brevis “Laetatus Sum” by Dr Nigel Browne, based on themes from Parry’s “I was Glad”, and a contemporary Motet, “Lux Aurumque” by Eric Whitacre.

The story of the old man Simeon & prophetess Anna recognising the light of the world in the Infant Jesus when Mary & Joseph brought him to the Temple contrasts with the scene in Holy Week. There Pilate’s wife is concerned, but the High Priest and the Roman Governor are trapped by the system; and the most just Man is condemned and deprived of dignity.

Candlemas is also perhaps the time when our thoughts move on to the spiritual meanings of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. And there through it all is Mary, Mother of God, pondering these things in her heart and representing our humanity, in its joys and sorrows.

Wishing you all the love, joy and peace that we so need this New Year.
Richard Barnes.

December Diary

“The bells of waiting Advent ring,” wrote Sir John Betjeman in his poem “Christmas”.

Fr David and the clergy, servers, choir and congregation extend a warm welcome each and all to come and join us at St Michael’s, Mount Dinham, for any or all of our Services over the Advent, Christmas and Epiphany seasons, as we celebrate the light of Jesus coming into the darkness of his world and ours.

And indeed, for those who might find Services at St Mike’s a little strange or too intense, there are also 3 pre-Xmas events where overt religion is kept to a minimum.

Wednesday 10th December sees the Choir in Concert at 7.30pm – Christmas by Candlelight will include the splendid Fantasia on Christmas Carols by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and we’ll Ding dong merrily, In dulci jubilo, with Shepherds and Kings and wish you a Merry Christmas! Admission £5 (£3).

Then on Saturday 13th December from 3-5pm there’s an Open Invitation to an Afternoon of Festive Food, Drink and Song at St Mike’s for friends, neighbours, families and passers-by. Do Drop In.

And on Saturday 20th Dec at 7.30pm, Exeter Chorale visit with a Concert of Christmas Music from 17th Century Venice & Saxony. The exciting sound of 8-part singing, brass and strings will echo around St Michael’s. And the Christmas Story will be re-told to the music of Heinrich Schutz, with guest soloist, Tony Yates, from Topsham. Tickets £7.50 on the door, with fine refreshments.

Plus on Sunday 21st Dec, St Michael’s Choir is delighted to have the opportunity to go Carolling at Killerton House. We will be entertaining visitors to this National Trust property in the Music Room with Carols sacred and secular, old and new, from 2pm to 4pm. Supporters welcome.

Don’t forget the St Michael’s Lecture. On Wednesday 3rd December at 7.30pm, our own David Beadle, who is studying for a PhD on the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) at the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Exeter, and has done so much to reinvigorate the Lecture Series over the past few years, will talk about “Attitudes to Death and Dying in the Bible and Contemporary Europe.”

As for Services, this year the First Sunday in December is Advent 2, so the 6pm Evening Service will be our beautiful Advent Procession (and not Evensong). Thus:-

Thursday 4th December at 6pm, in place of Thursday Vespers, CBS Mass in commemoration of Nicholas Ferrar (1637) of the Little Gidding Community.

Sunday 7th Dec, Advent II, 10.45am Mass. Setting: Missa de Angelis, Plainsong. Motet: E’en so, Lord Jesus, quickly come, Paul Manz.

Sun 7 Dec at 6pm. St Michael’s candlelit Advent Procession,, from Darkness into Light, with Readings, Hymns and Carols, followed by Refreshments.

As well as 5 rousing Advent congregational hymns, music will include Palestrina’s well-known Matin Responsory and the traditional plainsong Advent Antiphons. Also the motet by Ramsey – O Sapientia (O Wisdom), Handel’s chorus – And the Glory of the Lord (from Messiah) and Gibbons’ dancelike Magnificat.

Sunday 14th Dec, Advent III, 10.45am Mass. We get out the Rose vestments for Gaudete Sunday – Rejoice in the Lord always. Setting: Mass in E flat, Bairstow. Motet: This is the record of John, Gibbons.

Thursday 18th Dec, 7:30pm at St Michael’s. Advent 3.571428 as Alex put it! A traditional Service of Nine Lessons & Carols. Hymns, Carols, Bidding Prayer and Readings telling the great story from Adam & Eve to Mary, Joseph and Jesus, the Shepherds and the Magi.

Sunday 21st Dec, Advent IV, 10.45am Mass. Setting: Missa “Dixit Maria”, Hans Leo Hassler. Motet: Hymne a la Vierge, Villette.

Wednesday 24th December, Eve of Christmas, 11.30pm Mass. Preceded by Carols from the Gallery at 11pm. Setting: See website nearer the date. Motet: A babe is born, I wys, Anon.
If someone said on Christmas Eve, “Come; see the oxen kneel.” I should go with him in the gloom,
Hoping it might be so. Thomas Hardy, The Oxen, Christmas Eve 1915.

Thursday 25th December, Christmas Day, N.B. 10.30am Mass. Setting: Missa “O magnum mysterium”, Victoria. Motet: O little one sweet, J S Bach.

Sunday 28th Dec, The Holy Innocents, 10.45am Mass. Setting: Missa L’Hora Passa, Viadana. Motet: The Coventry Carol, Trad. Whether the killing of infants in Bethlehem by King Herod is fact or myth, the Church and the World have abused and hurt the innocent and childlike for too long, and caused women to grieve. Only the just and gentle rule of Jesus Christ can give us hope to do better.

And for your new Diaries:-
Sunday 4th January 2015, Christmas II, 10.45am Mass.
Sunday 4th Jan, 6pm, Choral Evensong and Benediction.
Tuesday 6th Jan, Epiphany, 7.30pm Sung Mass.

The Recital Series is being re-launched in 2015 with a monthly Friday Evening slot. The January Recital on Friday 9th at 7.30pm will feature Eleanor Little and Ralf Ayling-Miller, the winners of our Young Organists’ Competition, so that promises to be a splendid start to the New Year. Admission £5 (£3).

Also, advanced notice that the St Michael’s Lectures for 2015 will commence on Wed 28th Jan with Dr Nigel Browne giving an Illustrated History of Church Music in Devon, helped by a diverse array of performers.

Wishing you a blessed Advent, a joyful Christmas and a peaceful New Year from all at St Michael’s.

October Highlights

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it?” Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.

So here are a few highlights from October at St Michael’s.

Sunday 5th October; new singers especially welcome. Music for Mass at 10.45am (practice at 10am) is 2 old favourites from our a cappella repertoire, Missa Aeterna Christi Munera (the eternal gifts of Christ) by Palestrina and Locus Iste (this place is made by God) by Bruckner.

The Come&Sing Choral Evensong at 6pm (practice at 4.45pm) on Sun 5th will be our Curate Fr Andy’s final Evensong at St Michael’s before he moves to Milton Abbot. We will sing many musical styles; plainsong, Anglican chant, 16th century Polyphony, Restoration Baroque and some Victorian Stanford romanticism. Check the new music list to work out which is which.

Sunday 12th October is Vision Day at St Michael’s. Bring some Lunch to share after Mass, or return at 1.30pm. Fr David writes, “This is an opportunity for the whole congregation of St Michael’s to come together, reflect and create an action plan for the church’s future.” The afternoon’s discussions will be facilitated by Sabrina Groeschel, experienced friend of St Michael’s.

Wednesday 15th October at 7.30pm. Ed Pawson, Head of Religion, Philosophy and Ethics at the King’s School, Ottery St Mary, asks in our St Michael’s Lecture, “What is the rationale for the teaching of RE in our schools today? Why does it continue to be a relevant subject within the school curriculum? What challenges do teachers of RE face in twenty-first century?” Please advertise this widely.

Owing perhaps to the height of Mount Dinham, Harvest comes a whole 4 weeks later at St Michael’s than at St David’s! Sunday 19th October sees our Harvest Thanksgiving Mass at 10.45am. Gifts suitable for the Food Bank collection would be especially welcome.

At 7.30pm on Wednesday 22nd October, Recitals @ St Michael’s continue with mezzo Margaret Thomson accompanied by John Draisey in a programme of Victorian & Edwardian Songs. Please support this. Tickets £5 (£3 concessions).

Good contemporary music also features at St Mike’s, as well as the best from the past. On Sunday 26th, Grayston Ives’ version of “O for a closer walk with God” is the Motet.

This month’s CBS Mass takes place on Tuesday 28th Ocober at 6pm, the Feast of Saints Simon & Jude Apostles.

Saturday 1st November from 10am onwards, sees our Coffee Morning and Sale in St Stephen’s Church on the High Street, in aid of St Michael’s. Visit St Stephens for a browse and a break, coffee & cake; open till 1.30pm.

Looking forward to Sunday 2nd November, the Calendar this year means we mark both All Saints at 10.45am and All Souls at 6pm. In place of Evensong we will give a full liturgical performance of the Requiem by Gabriel Faure. Any singers who would like to join us for this are invited to rehearse with us beforehand at 4.30pm, and if possible at the preceding choir practice on Tuesday 28 October.

Finally, October is also a month to remember William Barnes (22 Feb 1801 – 7 Oct 1886) the Dorset poet, priest and philologist. His Autumnal lines:-
“When leaves that leately wer a-springen
Now do feade ‘ithin the copse,
An’ painted birds do hush ther zingen
Up upon the timber’s tops;
An’ brown-leav’d fruit’s a-turnen red,
In cloudless zunsheen, auver head,
Wi’ fruit vor me the apple tree
Do lean down low in Linden Lea.”
made famous in the song Linden Lea by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Vacancy – Assistant Director of Music

Assistant Director of Music

The Music Team is seeking a Student Assistant Director of Music for the year 2014-15. This part-time post would be ideal for a young choral singer with limited (or no) conducting experience who would like to improve their choral direction skills. A facility for organ or piano playing may be helpful but is by no means essential. The holder of the post will receive an honorarium of £1,000 per annum.
The duties will be as follows:
• Assisting with the conducting and directing of the choir in rehearsals and services, as required
• Assisting the Music Director with administration, including music planning, communications and organising events
• Singing with the choir when not conducting (or sometimes accompanying, if able)
The Student Assistant Director of Music will be expected to attend choir rehearsals on Tuesday evenings (7-8.30pm), and on average 4 services out of every 5 at which the choir is required. Choral services at St Michael’s include Mass at 10.45am each Sunday, 6pm Evensong on the 1st Sunday of each month, and occasional Feast days. Christmas and Holy Week/Easter duties by mutual agreement.

Essential qualities – Willingness to learn; Friendly and outgoing attitude; A good musical ear; Reasonable sight-reading ability.

St Michael’s Choir has around 20 singers of all ages, male and female. Its main duties are singing for weekly Mass and monthly Evensong at St Michael’s Church, with occasional duties on festival days. The choir also visits nearby churches regularly to give concerts and services, and tours each summer.

Please contact Alex West ( music@stmichaelsmountdinham.org.uk ) for further details or to express an interest.

Also:- Choral Scholarship Vacancy

For a Student or Graduate Choral Scholar, with good sight-reading, looking to contribute to a friendly and active liturgical choir with possibly the widest musical repertoire outside the Cathedral.

Honorarium typically £200 per term plus extra for out-of-term Festivals.

August Weekend – September Services

It was an excellent mid-August weekend, with three dozen communicants at the Feast of the Assumption on Friday 15th, about 40 for Sunday Mass, and a congregation and choir totalling 40 for our extra Evensong at St Martin’s Church on Cathedral Yard. All the music was sung well and with enjoyment.

I particularly liked our Sunday morning motet “O Lord increase our faith” by Henry Loosemore (brother of John Loosemore, builder of the 1665 post-Restoration Exeter Organ), a youthful little piece written in 1627 when he was about 25.

St Michael’s Choir at St Martin’s Exeter

Our singing of the Gibbons Short Service Canticles at Evensong was “cheeky”, as requested by Alex. The congregation joined in the unaccompanied hymns strongly, and passing tourists were attracted in too. Thanks to Revd Sheila Swarbrick for the music-themed Readings and moving Sermon and Prayers. Evensong – over 450 years old and going strong.

Now that the new Website at  www.stmichaelsmountdinham.org.uk  has been launched, with a Blog integral to it, this old WordPress blog may become a bit superfluous going forward. We will try to keep the 2 in step for a few weeks, but thereafter this old blog will remain as an archive of our HLF Project activities over the 18 months or so since February 2013. Please try our new website and consider moving over to it.

St Martin’s, Exeter – C17 Monument

We now look forward to September’s Music List, and hopefully to some new voices and faces joining us, in the choir or in the congregation, in enjoyment of the great church music which enlivens our worship.

Sunday, 7 September Trinity XII, 10.45am Mass
Hymns: 390: 449: 366, Setting: Mass in F, Sumsion, Motet: Cantate Domino, Pitoni

Sunday, 7 September, 6pm Evensong and Benediction
Responses: Reading, Psalm: 105 1-15, Office Hymn: 248ii
Canticles: Noble in B minor, Anthem: O Lorde the maker of al thing, Joubert, Tantum Ergo & O Salutaris: Liszt

Sunday, 14 September Holy Cross Day, 10.45am Mass
Hymns: 338: 439: 79, Setting: Missa “L’hora passa” Viadana, Motet: Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen, Brahms (from Ein deutsches Requiem)

Sunday, 21 September St Matthew Apostle & Evangelist, 10.45am Mass
Hymns: 224t178: 189: 374, Setting: Missa “Lauda Sion” Palestrina, Motet: Almighty and everlasting God, Gibbons

Sunday, 28 September Trinity XV, 10.45am Mass
Hymns: 335: 74: 443, Setting: Wood in F, Motet: O thou the central orb, Wood

Monday, 29 September St Michael & All Angels, 7:30pm Mass
Hymns: 205: 296: 206, Setting: Missa “O quam gloriosum” Victoria, Motet: And I saw another angel, Stanford.

Question: Where would you find the above depiction of St Michael? Answer next post.

Requiem – August Services

A warm invitation to all, and especially those who knew John Hughes, to come to St Michael’s for a Memorial Requiem Mass on Wednesday 6th August at 7.30pm.

The Preacher will be Fr John Henton, who was John’s training priest for his curacy at St David’s & St Michael’s here in Exeter. The Service will include the Requiem by Gabriel Fauré sung in its liturgical context.

There will be drinks and time for conversation afterwards.

St Michael’s other Services and Music for August are listed below.
N.B. No Tuesday or Thursday Vespers during August, but Wednesday Morning Prayer & Said Mass continue.

Last Sunday, there was strong congregational singing, while the holiday-depleted choir of 9, with Alex doubling as conductor and organist, enjoyed singing William Byrd’s sublime 4-part Mass from 1592, and William Sterndale Bennett’s best known anthem, God is a Spirit, from his 1867 Cantata, The Woman of Samaria.

Sunday 3rd August, Trinity VII, 10.45am Mass. NEH:436:295:368
Setting: Anglican Folk Mass, Shaw. Motet: O taste and see, Vaughan-Williams.

Sunday 3rd August. NO Evensong.

Wednesday 6th August, 7.30pm, Requiem Mass in memory of Fr John Hughes. Music will include the Requiem by Gabriel Fauré and the Preacher will be Fr John Henton.

Sunday 10th August, Trinity VIII, 10.45am Mass. NEH:338:353:464
Setting: Mass in the Dorian mode, Tallis. Motet: How beauteous are their feet, Stanford.

Fulda Cathedral – Assumption of Mary
Dom zu Fulda – Mariä Himmelfahrt

Friday 15th August, Feast of the Assumption, 7:30pm Mass. NEH:188ii:161t385:185
Setting: Missa “Dixit Maria”, Hassler. Motet: Ave Maria, Arcadelt.

Sunday 17th August, Trinity IX, 10.45am Mass. NEH:332:324:480
Setting: Mass in F, Sumsion. Motet: O Lord, increase our faith, Loosemore.

Also Sunday 17th August, 6.30pm Evensong at St Martin’s in the Cathedral Close, EX1 1EZ.
Canticles: Stanford in B flat or Gibbons Short Service, depending on organ availability. Anthem: Ave Maria, by Arcadelt.

Sunday 24th August, St Bartholomew the Apostle, 10.45am Mass. NEH:333:216t433:179t357
Setting: Sarum Mass, Plainsong. Motet: Give us the wings of faith, Bullock.

Sunday 31st August, Trinity XI, 10.45am Mass. NEH:452:408:449
Setting: Mass in A minor, Casciolini. Motet: Christus factus est, Bruckner.

Young Organists’ Competition Results

First some “Notices” – St Michael’s has twitter! Find us @StMikes_Exeter https://twitter.com/StMikes_Exeter . Also with little activity now in the Peregrine nest box, the live streaming has been switched off; it will resume with the next breeding season at the end of February 2015. The photo gallery is still there, and we plan to make videos from the 2014 season available on YouTube when time allows.

The main result of the YOC on Monday 14th July was a feast of music making on our new pipe organ from the 9 talented competitors for some 70 people gathered in St Michael’s. Thank you all.

Young Organists

In the Open category, Eleanor Little, Joseph Gooddy, Josh Hughes, Katherine Whitcher, Laurie Kirkcaldy and Nick Tall, each played 10 minute programmes. They showed the full range of dynamics and tonal colours our new instrument can produce, both in what I as an amateur would term the classical German repertoire and a variety of more recent pieces, and each organist produced many moments of musical delight for us.

I particularly enjoyed the works by Rinck, Seeger, S S Wesley, Franck, Mathias and Boellmann. The judges were looking for choice of programme, as well as technique and musicality.

It was good to welcome the Chairman of Budleigh Music Festival, one of the sponsors of the YOC along with Exeter School and Exeter Festival Chorus. In a short interval, members of St Michael’s church choir sang familiar motets by Tallis, Pitoni and Parsons. New choir members are always welcome.

In the Advanced category, Jack Oades, Ralf Ayling-Millar and Rory Moules, each played a substantial Bach work and contrasting pieces by Langlais & Fletcher, Jeanne Demessieux and Edward Elgar respectively. All gave the organ a thorough work-out and the judges a very difficult task.

Alex and the Judges

While we enjoyed refreshments (thanks Sophie and team), our guest judges, Andrew Daldorph, Simon Honeyball and Jonathan Watts, deliberated at length. They rightly commended all the competitors, reminded us that each had had only one hour’s practice on this particular instrument, and highlighted several excellent individual performances.

Young Organists & Judges

In the Open category they declared Eleanor Little as winner, with Nick Tall as runner-up, while in the Advanced category they judged Ralf Ayling-Millar as winner, but could not split Jack Oades and Rory Moules.

Young Organists and Judges

Congratulations to these, and many thanks to all the competitors, their parents and supporters for travelling to St Michael’s, to the judges for their work and feedback, and especially to Alex West, our assistant conductor and organist, for all his hard work in setting up the event and making it so successful.

On the evidence of Monday evening, the future of organ playing, and hopefully its place in the musical life of our churches, is in good hands.

Services & Music List, July-August 2014

Please Note – Two Services originally listed for early August have been cancelled/postponed to give priority to the Requiem in memory of Fr John Hughes on Wednesday 6th August.

St Michael’s is a community of diverse Christians with with a friendly, inclusive fellowship. While our worship is at the Catholic end of the Anglican spectrum, our members and visitors span a surprising range of ages and beliefs and come from both Exeter and much farther afield. All are welcome.

A reminder that our regular services at St Michael’s, Mount Dinham, Exeter, EX4 4EB, are:-
Sunday 10.45 am • Solemn Mass; Sung with Plainsong Propers, a wide repertoire of Settings for Kyrie, Sanctus/Benedictus, Angus Dei, and Motet; Congregational Hymns, Gloria, Creed and Lord’s Prayer (Shaw/Merbecke).
Sunday 6.00 pm • Choral Evensong & Benediction (First Sunday of each month)
Tuesday 6.00 pm • Plainsong Vespers & Meditation (not August)
Tuesday 7.00 pm • Choir Practice
Wednesday 9.30 am • Morning Prayer
Wednesday 10.00 am • Said Low Mass
Thursday 6.00 pm • Plainsong Vespers & Meditation (not August)

Chandel window – 3 angels

As Prof Oliver Nicholson comments,“Worship at St Michael’s follows formal patterns; this formality frees the private prayer of individuals so that it may be offered in a communal context.
It helps to form intimate habits of devotion – and much of life is, after all, lived by habit.
It connects us to the worship of past generations of Christians, so freeing us from the illusion that Christianity was invented yesterday – by us. And we enjoy it!”

Music List for Choral Services. (NEH = New English Hymnal numbers)

The Choir’s repertoire spans six centuries and more; its music characterised by the use of Plainsong, English and European Renaissance polyphony and music of the Anglican choral revival from the past 150 years.

Sunday 6th July, Trinity III, 10.45am Mass. NEH:63:271:376
Setting: Mass in F, Darke. Motet: O for a closer walk with God, Stanford.

Sunday 6th July, 6pm Evensong and Benediction. Responses: Byrd, Office Hymn: 242,
Canticles: Dyson in F, Anthem: How beauteous are their feet, Stanford.
Tantum Ergo & O Salutaris Hostia: Plainsong.

Sunday 13th July, Trinity IV, 10.45am Mass. NEH:415:495:486
Setting: Bairstow in E flat. Motet: If ye love me, Tallis.

Monday 14th July, Young Organists’ Competition, 7.30-9.45pm. Our 9 competitors play approx 12 minute programmes on our new pipe organ to 3 distinguished judges. Prizes and refreshments around 9.20pm.

Sunday 20th July, Trinity V, 10.45am Mass. NEH:379:440:369
Setting: Leighton in D. Motet: Verily, verily I say unto you, Tallis.

Sunday 27th July, Trinity VI, 10.45am Mass. NEH:339:413:367
Setting: Mass for 4 voices, Byrd. Motet: God is a spirit, Sterndale Bennett.

Sanctuary Window – Eucharist and Passion

Sunday 3rd August, Trinity VII, 10.45am Mass. NEH:436:295:368
Setting: Anglican Folk Mass, Shaw. Motet: O taste and see, Vaughan-Williams.

Cancelled; Sunday 3rd August. Owing to Holidays and extra services, there will be NO 6pm Evensong and Benediction on this occasion.

Postponed Monday 4th August Owing to the Requiem Mass on Wednesday, the service to commemorate the beginning of the First World War has been postponed.

Wednesday 6th August, 7.30pm, Requiem Mass in memory of Fr John Hughes. Music will include the Requiem by Gabriel Fauré and the Preacher will be Fr John Henton.

Sunday 10th August, Trinity VIII, 10.45am Mass. NEH:338:353:464
Setting: Mass in the Dorian mode, Tallis. Motet: How beauteous are their feet, Stanford.

Madonna and Child

Friday 15th August, Feast of the Assumption, 7:30pm Mass. NEH:188ii:161t385:185
Setting: Missa “Dixit Maria”, Hassler. Motet: Ave Maria, Arcadelt.

Sunday 17th August, Trinity IX, 10.45am Mass. NEH:332:324:480
Setting: Mass in F, Sumsion. Motet: O Lord, increase our faith, Loosemore.

In planning for Sunday 17th August, ?6pm/6.30pm Evensong at St Martin’s in the Cathedral Close, EX1 1EZ.

Sunday 24th August, St Bartholomew the Apostle, 10.45am Mass. NEH:333:216t433:179t357
Setting: Sarum Mass, Plainsong. Motet: Give us the wings of faith, Bullock.

Sunday 31st August, Trinity XI, 10.45am Mass. NEH:452:408:449
Setting: Mass in A minor, Casciolini. Motet: Christus factus est, Bruckner.

Young Organists’ Competition Update

With just a fortnight till the Competition. thanks to organiser Alex West for this update.

As a final flourish of our Music & Heritage Festival, celebrating 150 years of the legacy of Exeter philanthropist John Dinham, we are holding a competition for young organists at St Michael’s at 7.30pm on Monday 14^th July, first publicised back in March. We are delighted to announce that nine people have entered the competition.

Advanced category:-  Ralf Ayling-Millar, 19, Devon;  Rory Moules, 18, Somerset;  Jack Oades, 19, Devon.

Open category:-  Joseph Gooddy, 17, Devon;  Josh Hughes, 15, Cornwall;  Laurie Kirkcaldy, 18, Devon;  Eleanor Little, 16, Somerset;  Nick Tall, 16, Devon;  Katherine Whitcher, 11, Somerset.

The contestants will each play for 15 minutes (Advanced) or 10 minutes (Open) in an open, public event that will last around two hours. The judges of the competition are:-

Andrew Daldorph FRCO, director of East Devon Choral Society and Exeter Chamber Choir

Neil Page ARCM, LRAM, Director of Music at St Michael’s, and St Boniface, Sarasota, Florida, USA

Jonathan Watts, artistic director of Devon Baroque, Music Director of Devon Opera and Dartington Community Choir

We thank the judges and the contestants for taking part in this event, which promises to offer a rich variety of music for the organ, and which it is hoped will prove an exciting and memorable experience for participants and audience alike.

The winners of the respective categories will each be offered a date in the St Michael’s Recital Series as part of their prize. It is intended that the new HLF funded St Michael’s instrument (click that link for specification and brief history) should be used for the benefit of all, but especially by young musicians and for the advancement of the organ in musical education.

We would also like to take the opportunity to thank again our sponsors, without whom this event would not be possible:

Exeter Festival Chorus

 

“EFC has a reputation as one of the liveliest and most adventurous choirs in the South West. Our programmes aim to offer a stimulating mix of works from the established choral repertoire together with music from the less well-known and the contemporary choral scene. Our repertoire ranges from renaissance to present-day choral music and covers a variety of genres.”  www.exeterfestivalchorus.org.uk

“Exeter School is an independent day school for boys and girls aged 7-18 set in beautiful grounds in the heart of Exeter. With our newly refurbished music school, 500 individual instrumental music lessons each week and over 30 choirs, ensembles and orchestras, music flourishes at Exeter School. Well-established pastoral care systems and excellent teaching enable us to get the best out of our pupils; our balanced programme of subjects, cultural pursuits and outdoor activities is designed to challenge and inspire our young people.”

St Michael’s Lecture

We welcome an informed and authoritative speaker on an important current topic.

Wednesday 2nd July, 7.30 pm St Michael’s Lecture.  The regular programme of lectures returns with Professor Emma Loosely speaking on “Christianity in Syria: Glorious Past, Uncertain Future.” Emma Loosely is Associate Professor in the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Exeter.  After graduating from a PhD in Late Antique Syria at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), she spent three years living and working as an archaeologist, fund-raiser, secretary and potato-peeler for the Community of Al-Khalil at Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi in Syria. The Community is dedicated to hospitality and Christian-Islamic dialogue.  She spent the summers directing an archaeological excavation for the Community at their other monastery, Deir Mar Elian in Qaryatayn. (Image)

She also worked for the Abu Dhabi Ministry of Information as an archaeologist studying the artefacts found at a sixth-century monastery on the island of Sir Bani Yas. She has taught Oriental Christian and Islamic Art at the University of Manchester, where she was appointed Senior Lecturer.  Since 2012, she  has been working on a five-year European Research Council funded project entitled Architecture and Asceticism: Cultural Interaction between Syria and Georgia in Late Antiquity.

All are warmly welcomed to the St Michael’s Lectures and admission is FREE (with a voluntary retiring collection).  They are followed by discussion and light refreshments.  The lectures are held in St. Michael’s Church (Mount Dinham, Dinham Road, Exeter, EX4 4EB) which has a tall spire and is located by the Iron Bridge on St. David’s Hill.  For further information, or to discuss disabled access, contact David Beadle atdnb201@ex.ac.uk

Also thank you to everyone involved in and/or attending the Heritage & Music Festival. A few thoughts and pictures from the last week.

Bp Richard Hawkins dedicates the new Organ

Bp Richard Hawkins blesses the new Organ

Sunday 22nd June, 6pm Evensong & Dedication of the new Organ. Thanks to Bishop Richard Hawkins and Fr David Hastings for this special service, and to Alex, Nigel & Neil for the Organ music. Also to visitors who swelled the choir for Balfour-Gardner’s Evening Hymn and the Stanfordfest; come again. We are again grateful to Heritage Lottery Fund, Viridor Credits and our many generous donors who have made installing this splendid organ possible.

Carillon de Westminster – Neil Page

Wednesday 25th June, 7.30pm Heritage Lecture. Paul Morgan (Exeter Cathedral Organist Emeritus) gave an entertaining and moving talk on the difficult life and lasting achievements of Samuel Sebastian Wesley. Having left a promising career in London to find Hereford Cathedral in dire musical straits, repeated clashes with difficult clergy meant that Exeter, Leeds, Winchester and Gloucester also had the benefit of the most talented organist and composer of his generation.

Prayers at the Tomb of John Dinham

Friday 27th June, 7.30pm Requiem Mass. In a simple Sung Mass with the Requiem Propers, two dozen or so gathered to honour the memory of John Dinham, Exeter Tea Merchant, Philanthropist and Founder of the Mount Dinham development on the 150th Anniversary of his death . After the service we processed over the Iron Bridge to offer our prayers at the tomb of John Dinham and his wife Susanna in the cemetery above Exe Street.

At the Tomb of John and Susanna Dinham