Kevin Donovan SJ Memorial Lecture 2012 Nov 9th

[andrewcm1]

I am delighted to inform forum readers of the next Kevin Donovan Memorial Lecture. It takes place at Heythrop College at 6pm on Friday November 9th, so it could be a good companion to the Crichton Memorial Lecture on the next day at Clifton Cathedral with Mgr Wadsworth. The speaker is Australian Jesuit Composer Fr Chris Willcock SJ.
Best wishes to all members and other readers, Andrew Cameron-Mowat SJ
http://www.heythrop.ac.uk/about-us/alle ... cture.html

[musicus]

Thank you very much for this, Andrew.

(I can't get to Clifton on the 10th, but I am very tempted to attempt Heythrop on the 9th!)

[organist]

I was a little disappointed by this talk. What was the purpose of it? Fr Willcock played recordings of his works which are fine and pegged it to a narrative about a 1978 meeting which very few can now remember at which Gelineau and Huijbers were present. Surely things have moved on a lot since those days? How many still sing Gelineau psalms? Who sings any works by Huijbers now? There were some interesting questions. I liked the lively psalm with brass accompaniment - it would suit a youth event very much. I do agree that protest especially in the psalms does need to be addressed in our liturgies but I suspect that the Iona community do this rather better?

[HallamPhil]

I was also dissappointed by this lecture which did not seem to relate to what I expected from the title.

I would expect that my congregation would find the psalm setting a challenge if a little awkward. The passacaglia piece was interesting but how much of what was presented could be deployed in a liturgical setting with congregations?

The whole thing took me back to what I rebelled against as a teacher. The idea that you can expect people to sit and listen to 5 musical extracts without offering any real way into the presumed depths is questionable.

Despite the fact that OCP have published several collections of Christopher Willcock's liturgical music I left Heythrop College that evening with the conclusion that it suffered a similar liturgical disconnect as has been attributed to an esteemed composer north of the border.

I'd be interested to hear how the premiere of his Mass went the following day.

[Peter]

How many still sing Gelineau psalms?

My church does, for one, and like John Ainslie (see http://www.ssg.org.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1593&p=22271&hilit=Gelineau#p22271) I have a treasured and well-used copy of the Collins Fontana collection of Grail Psalms with Gelineau tones in the back. I was therefore very disappointed to read that the Revised Grail Psalms no longer offer this facility.

[organist]

It would have been interesting to hear what is really going on musically in the average Australian parish (not that such a thing exists!). I suspect it might equate in some ways to the British experience. Certainly the Masses I have attended in Australia in ordinary parishes have been rather dull and almost casual. The same cannot be said of the cathedrals where there are high standards.

[Southern Comfort]

How many still sing Gelineau psalms?

Anyone using Geoffrey Boulton Smith's A Responsorial Psalm Book, for a start. And the Americans continue to use a lot of Gelineau psalmody — the latest edition of the hymn book Worship is still full of it.

Who sings any works by Huijbers now?

You'll still find people singing some of the standard pieces, such as Hold me in life, Home from our exile, In the midst of you (a great Advent hymn), This is the day, You fathom my heart, and of course occasionally the Great Litany. There are others, too.

[Nick Baty]

Who sings any works by Huijbers now?

Just had our first rehearsal of How Far is the Night? ready for Advent.

[Southern Comfort]

Who sings any works by Huijbers now?

Just had our first rehearsal of How Far is the Night? ready for Advent.

Yes, I meant to mention that one, too. Something that even small choirs can handle, and a wonderful piece.

[Nick Baty]

We give the top line of the refrain to the assembly so our small choir can sing the lower parts.