.
I bet I'm not the only Catholic over whom a red mist descended this morning when the priest's final sermon - the one before the blessing - took as its theme the football scores from yesterday and his predictions for today's games. But there is a certain irony in the fact that as the liturgical life of the average parish in England and Wales declines, and fewer and fewer Catholics are being exposed to the numinous; and as the now forty and fifty year old hymns are wearily strummed out each Sunday; the necessary tools needed to beat them back into the obscurity from which they should never have been released are being assembled, ready for the day when a reverent liturgy, freed from the personality of the priest becomes once more part of our liturgical cycle.
I am drawn to write by my discovery of another young English composer, Nicholas Wilton, who has turned his attention to serious Church music. On his website there are plenty of samples of his music, and on his homepage there are mp3s ofpart of his Missa Brevis which show how much of the music and mindset of Renaissance polyphonic music he has absorbed.
Let me offer you this extract from YouTube - and make sure you listen to the sublime Kyrie at 7:45.
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1 comment:
True,not in the anglosphere that often , and in any case I ve long been antiANY emphasis on hymns at all...thats prod .. etc etc.
But all that aside its a long long time since I heard or heard of
"Empires rise and fall like billows
Vanish and are seen no more....../..."
Ttony s in the right of it: Mass first , sung mass , great, hymns as hymns never been as good as nor as forcefully sung as at self
-confidently prod school assembly ; coz its all they ve got ... (and praise God BTw for the christian Behaviour of so many fellow baptized ...but Id rather see all the world baptized , those baptized in one fold every last one, and proud of said fold as opposed to apologizing for existing.
Personal Christian Humility is different kettle of fish.)
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