An organ recital in progress: part 71

Dear SMM Community,
 

The next part of my online organ recital is here, and I hope that you enjoy it. I offer up these musical meditations as part of our parish efforts to find ways to keep you connected at this time. Recorded on my house organ, the instrument is a musical facsimile of the great 'Father' Willis organ at Salisbury Cathedral.

Today, I present Samuel Barber's Adagio for strings.


American composer, conductor, pianist, and music educator Samuel Barber (1910-1981) was educated at the Curtis Institute, and by his uncle and composer Sidney Homer. Barber’s Adagio for strings was written in 1935 as the second movement of his String quartet, and reworked a year later by the composer for orchestra. Reworked as a choral Agnus Dei  by the composer in 1967, the arrangement heard here was prepared by William Strickland in 1949.



With best wishes,
Andrew Adair
Director of Music

Ash Wednesday - 17 February 2021

We keep Ash Wednesday with a livestreamed mass at 6.30 pm.

You can find the service HERE.

You can find the leaflet HERE.

The Last Sunday after Epiphany - 14 February 2021

We celebrate the Last Sunday after Epiphany (Transfiguration Sunday) with a livestreamed mass (traditional language) at 10.00 am .

You can find the service HERE.

You can find the leaflet HERE.

An organ recital in progress: part 70

Dear SMM Community,
 

The next part of my online organ recital is here, and I hope that you enjoy it. I offer up these musical meditations as part of our parish efforts to find ways to keep you connected at this time. Recorded on my house organ, the instrument is a musical facsimile of the great 'Father' Willis organ at Salisbury Cathedral.

Today, I present Johann Sebastian Bach’s Fugue in G major.


Johann Sebastian Bach’s (1685-1750) Fugue in G major BWV 577, often called ‘the gigue’, may have gained inspiration from the North German school of organ literature. 



With best wishes,
Andrew Adair
Director of Music

Epiphany V - 7 February 2021

We celebrate the Fifth Sunday of Epiphany with a livestreamed modern language mass.

10.00 am Livestreamed Mass (modern language)

You can find the service HERE.

You can find the leaflet HERE.

The image at the top of this post is by Lynn Easton, of Bristol, Virginia, who created a series of biblical scenes in potter. Take a look! They’re beautiful.

An organ recital in progress: part 69

Dear SMM Community,
 

The next part of my online organ recital is here, and I hope that you enjoy it. I offer up these musical meditations as part of our parish efforts to find ways to keep you connected at this time. Recorded on my house organ, the instrument is a musical facsimile of the great 'Father' Willis organ at Salisbury Cathedral.

Today, I present Ralph Vaughan Williams's Rhosymedre.


The nineteenth-century Welsh Anglican priest and hymnist John Edwards (1805-1885) named his hymn tune Rhosymedre after the village of Rhosymedre in the County Borough of Wrexham in Wales, where he served as vicar from 1843 until his death. Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) used the hymn tune for the second of his Three preludes on Welsh hymn tunes. Originally for solo organ, he later set the work in an orchestral arrangement.



With best wishes,
Andrew Adair
Director of Music