Category: Music
-
New life – new beginning
This photo of the moon rising in Nazareth was taken by nellm (the pen name of one of our community’s composers). In this post she is kindly sharing a free download of her song “New life – new beginning” and giving us some personal insight into the song. It’s another of the songs stemming from…
-
Secretary of your praise
In describing how music is a gift from God, Jeremy Begbie says that music as we know it is not the sound of God, but is “the sound of the created order praising God.” Music is the gift given to creatures “for created reality to perform its true vocation in praising the Creator.”[1] George Herbert’s…
-
Glory in the highest
Here is a moment in the liturgy in which we are joining with the song of angels! “Glory to God in the highest,” Gloria in excelsis, or Gloria for short (for another example of earthly and angelic song combining, see Holy, holy, holy). The first two lines of the Gloria are called the angelic hymn, because…
-
Free agents
Today Rev. James Douglas is generously sharing his new song, “Free agents” (download the sheet music at the end of this post). I interviewed James about “Free agents” and songwriting vs preaching: Tell me about “Free agents.” Where does the title come from? One reason for the title is that it’s about an expression of…
-
Holy, holy, holy
When we sing in the liturgy, the tradition is that we are joining in a heavenly song that is usually inaudible to our mortal ears but that is sung perpetually. In the choir book illumination below, the cross-beam of the initial A separates the earthly singing of monks from that of their heavenly counterparts, the…
-
Thinking in circles
I might be the only one. Often when I see a circle, it makes me think of medieval music and then medieval music makes me think of the Trinity. Perhaps I’d better explain… There’s a long and complex history to Western musical notation and both the practice and the thinking it reflects, but I’ll jump…
-
Moving on the waters
In honour of the oceans, let’s listen to a beautiful spatial evocation of push and pull between different states of matter: Beatriz Ferreyra’s Demeures aquatiques (1967). In both Demeures aquatiques and the instruments it calls upon, the imagination is informed by its past but not bound by it. The music itself and its means (Baschet…
-
A place in heaven
I expected it to be unsure. The song starts with a question: “Do I have a place in heaven?” We’re singing it on Good Friday. I expected it to leave us hanging. I was thinking more of blues than gospel, though. Because it is drawn from blues (as well as from spirituals), gospel recognises all…
-
Welcome to this table
In this post we’re privileged to offer free downloads of lyrics, MIDI and sheet music by one of our local composers (and yes, we are planning another Local Voices songwriting workshop series in September-October 2016 – see details at the end of the post). Michael Watkins writes about his new hymn “Welcome to this table”: “Welcome to this…
-
Laughter is a holy thing
I did the funny thing recently of doing some serious research into laughter. A particular kind of laughter. Not the kind that responds to humour, nor mocking; but a sort of bubbling-up of gladness. When “ha ha ha ha” is the heart’s expression for “hallelujah.” The kind of laughter I imagine the rose is laughing…