The Music This Week: June 28th 2014

I'm delighted that Alysha and Michelle Harris will be singing a duet for us tomorrow. Scott's sermon is on diversity and the two will be singing a beautiful piece called Al Shlosham D'Varim by Allan E. Naplan. They are very talented singers (as you will have heard last week in the Youth Choir musical interlude!) and sound great together because they are sisters.

For the prelude, offertory, and postlude I essentially chose random pieces to try to get as much variety, or diversity, as possible. The titles will not be the bulletin tomorrow, so they are listed below.

Prelude: Only Hope - By Jonathan Foreman, arr. Carol Tornquist
Offertory: He's Got the Whole World in His Hands - Traditional Spiritual, arr. Carol Tornquist
Postlude: Marche Royale - By Jean Baptiste Lully, arr. S. Drummond Wolff

The Music This Week: June 22nd, 2014

We have a very special treat this week. The topic of Scott's sermon is beauty and the Youth Choir has put together a musical interlude about the creation story and God's beautiful creation. They've been working hard for weeks. The choral pieces are sounding lovely, we have some great soloists, and one song and the script are original creations by our youth. A number of songs will illustrate different aspect of the creation story.

For the prelude, offertory, and postlude I've chosen three piece from the movie Pride and Prejudice (2005 version) purely because of the beauty of the music from that film. I've listed the pieces below because the didn't make it into the bulletin.

Prelude: Dawn - by Dario Marianelli
Offertory: The Living Sculptures of Pemberley - by Dario Marianelli
Postlude: Leaving Netherfield - by Dario Marianelli

The Music This Week: June 15th, 2014

We're into our summer season now, so the adult choir is finished for the year and most weeks we will have soloists or small ensembles.

This week Margaret McKenzie-Leighton is going to sing for us. One of her pieces is accompanied by organ and I thought it had been a little while since we had organ music for preludes and offertories, so I chose to focus on organ music this week.

The piece I am most excited about is a 20th-century piece by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Margaret is going to be singing "Come, My Way, My Truth, My Life." It's very different from anything I've done since I arrived at St. Andrew's. It has a folk-like melody with lush 20th-century harmonies. It won't be to everyone's tastes, but it is a beautiful piece.

The Music Last Week, The Music This Week: June 1st, 2014 and June 8th 2014 (Plus a Side Note)

Alas! My life has felt very unorganized recently!

The Music Last Week: 

I really enjoyed the music last week, and I hope you did to. This was the last Sunday the choir was singing until September and I was really pleased with the work they did. It was an arrangement of Vivaldi's "Come and Be Joyful," not necessarily the easiest piece around and they rose to the challenge. I'm am looking forward to the fall when we can continue to improve our skills and bring life to the music we are singing.

The Music This Week:

Movies! Movies! Movies!

A little bit of our departure from our normal pieces. After the service this Sunday we will be having the Academy Awards for our St. Andrew's Stars and I wanted to celebrate that by playing some movie classics during the service. I've chosen both new and old favourites, so hopefully there is something for everyone.

I am delighted that the Youth Group will be joining us to sing "When You Believe" from The Prince of Egypt. It ties in well with the movie theme and Scott's sermon on discernment, so I want to thank them for making such a stellar choice.

Side Note: I am sure the good old rumour mill has gotten the news around by now, but if you haven't heard: Greg and I will be having a baby mid-October, so I will most likely have to leave you for a couple weeks (give you a break!) but I will certainly be back after that.