Back to normal? We'll see!

I've just spent the best part of the last month gradually restoring my data, music and photo files which went AWOL when my External Hard Drive crashed. [That's in excess of 40,000 files!] Unfortunately, some have been lost, including a chant responsory arranged by yours truly - the first time I'd ever arranged a piece of music for public performance, and now you'll never know how good it was. ;-) Also lost is all the work I'd done so far for Ushaw next year. :-( Very frustrating, but as most of this years files actually survived, I've got the foundations, as it were, to rebuild what I'd done, making the necessary changes to reflect the different dates in April next year, as the conference is a week earlier. It helps that the first day is going to be exactly the same!

Depending on numbers in the choir, we may even introduce some polyphony in the first 3 days. We certainly hope to have a polyphonic Requiem on the Thursday if enough Rudgates can be persuaded to take a days leave to sing the Victoria Requiem a 6 which went down so well in Scunthorpe.

The final Mass will definitely be polyphony, as we'll be booking a choir from the local area to sing. (We'll still have the Proper to to...) Palestrina's Missa Aeterna Christi Munera is the favourite at this stage. It's all looking very good planning wise. I just need to recreate the lost Orders of Service and add Thursday & Friday. Simple to write about, but I know there'll be much slaving away over a hot computer before it's finished. It took over 60 hours to do last time - and then I noticed the mistakes I'd failed to spot in the preparation... With the benefit of experience, there shouldn't be any this time! Famous last words. ;-) I'm tempted to say that't I'll buy drinks for the first person to spot one, but that might be a tad too risky. Can't wait for next April though. It'll be wonderful!

Ushaw apart, life is as hectic as ever. I've been involved with my sister's choir, taking photographs of their last concert for the choir website - yet to be launched, and have temporarily joined another choir to help them out with their major Christmas Concert, as they're short of Basses.

As if that wasn't enough, there are plans for the first sung Extraordinary Form Mass in York for a year. It will be our priests first sung Mass, so we hope it will be a success. We also have our Annual Carol Service to look forward to on 21st December.

Planning all this keeps me out of mischief I suppose!

Victoria's Requiem a 6

One of my favourite pieces ever is Victoria's Requiem for 6 voices. We were

privileged to sing this last Saturday at Holy Souls' Church, Scunthorpe.

Apart from the repeat of 'Quam Olim' in the Offertory - which very few people seem

to have been prepared for, despite the rehearsal, it went very well. It's a shame that

more people weren't there though. We now hope to repeat this for Remembrance

Sunday next year. I'm also hoping that it will be sung, either by us, or some other

group during the next LMS Priestly Training Conference at Ushaw, next April. It will

sound glorious in St Cutbert's Chapel! Here's an excerpt purloined from Youtube.

If you don't know the piece, then I recommend you check Amazon, or your favourite

supplier and get yourself a recording!

Our next fully choral service will be our Annual Carol Service @ Bishophill, always

well attended. We're looking forward to it even more this year, as it will be followed

by out first organised Christmas Party!