Sun 7 July, 11am Sung Mass with Bountiful Table in aid of Mission to Seafarers. Trinity III. Hymns: 137: 52: 467. Mass in A minor, Casciolini. Panis Angelicus, Casciolini.

6pm Choral Evensong & Benediction. Responses: Byrd Ps: 65 Hymn: 242. Canticles: Wood in E flat No 2. Anthem: They that go down to the sea in ships, Sumsion. O salutaris & Tantum Ergo.

Sun 14 July, TrinityIV /Sea Sunday. 11am Mass. Hymns: 354: 495: 461. Missa ‘Ave Maris Stella’, Victoria. Crossing the bar, Parry.

Wed 17 July, 7.30pm. St Michael’s Lecture. Dr Alun Williams (Dept of History, Univ of Exeter & Server at St Michael’s) will talk on “Islam & Iberia; the Struggle for Supremacy in the Early Middle Ages.”

Sun 21 July, Trinity V. 11am Mass. Hymns: 238: 338: 431. Mass in C, Jubilate in F, both by John Ireland.

Sat 27 July, 9am. Men’s Breakfast in the Orangery at The Imperial.

Sun 28 July Trinity VI. 11am Mass. Hymns: 390: 358: 64. Mass in F, Darke. Notre Père, Durufle.

Thurs 1 Aug, 12noon. Parish Lunch Club at the Farmers’ Union. Please sign up in Church or see Sue Wilson at Srt David’s

Wednesday 7th August at 7pm, we welcome Jean-René André, Director of Music at Rennes Cathedral, to give a Recital of popular European Organ pieces from across the centuries. The city of Rennes , Brittany in France, has been twinned with Exeter since the 1950s.

No Evensong on Sun 4 Aug, and no Vespers on Tuesdays & Thursdays in August.

11am Sung Masses in Sundays 4, 11, 18, 25 August will feature Congregational Mass Settings and simple Choir Motets on an ad hoc basis depending on resources on the day.

At St Michael’s, worship is traditional, music is excellent, people are friendly, and all are welcome. Please join us. Pray for our continuing life & mission, and support your church with time, talents and giving.
Follow us on Twitter @StMikes_Exeter /strong>

Richard Barnes

The post July & August 2019 at St Michael’s appeared first on St Michael & All Angels.

Regular times:- Choir Practice 7-8.30pm Tuesdays – new singers always welcome. Vespers is sung Tuesdays & Thursdays at 6pm. Matins & Low Mass take place Wednesdays at 9.30/10am.

Sat 29th Sept, 150th Anniversary Michaelmas Celebrations. Choir practice at St Michael’s at 2.30pm, visitors welcome to join us. Otherwise, please gather at 4pm at St David’s Church, if you wish. 4.30pm Procession with Hymns to St Michael’s Church. (Please do not park at St Michael’s if you don’t really need to.)
5pm Solemn High Mass for Michaelmas. Locus Iste a Deo factus est, Bruckner. The St Michael’s Hymn, 475, 478, 343. Mass in C&F, and Motet: And I saw another angel, C V Stanford. Guest Preacher is our former Music Director, Fr Steven Martin.

Sun 30th Sept, Michaelmas! Here we go again. 11am Solemn High Mass. Guest Preacher is our good friend Ven David Gunn-Johnson. Mass in F, Darke. Motet: O Glorious Prince St Michael, Graham Keitch (World première).

Fri 5th October, 11am. Funeral of Tim Hampshire. Please come and support Tim’s family and friends. (Practice for singers at 10am)

Sun 7th Oct, Harvest Festival. 11am Sung Mass & Bountiful Table. Hymns 259, 262, 493. Mass in F, Harris. Thou visitest the earth, Greene. Any Harvest gifts, foodstuffs etc. you may wish to donate will be distributed between Exeter Foodbank and the Esther Community.
6pm Choral Evensong & Benediction. Reading Responses. Psalms 125, 126. Hymn 260. Canticles: Tallis Short Service. Anthem: If ye love me, Tallis.

Thu 11th Oct, 7.30pm at Trinity School, Vernon Road, Newcourt, EX2 7GB. Deanery Synod will discuss pioneer evangelism and the Diocese’s Common Fund Review.

Sat 13th Oct, 7.30pm at St David’s Church. Concert by Exeter Chamber Choir, ft première of Requiem by Nigel Walsh (£10).

Sun 14th Oct, 11am Trinity XX. Hymns 366, 296, 318. Mass for 4 voices, Ave verum, both by Byrd.

Sun 21st Oct, 11am Trinity XXI. Hymns 358, 364, 372. Mass in F, Sumsion. Greater Love, John Ireland.

Wed 24th October, 7.30pm. John Hughes Memorial Lecture: Prof Alison Milbank (Dept of Theology & Religious Studies, University of Nottingham) asks: “Does the Parish have a future?” Please support this important talk; Prof Milbank is a renowned scholar and former colleague & friend of John Hughes.

Sat 27th Oct 9am Men’s Breakfast – Details in Church

Sun 28th Oct, 11am Simon & Jude Apostles. Hymns 477, 484(om*), 195. Mass in A minor, Casciolini. Gaudent in caelis, Tomás Luis de Victoria.

Thu 1st Nov, 12 noon @34 Restaurant, Exeter College. Parish Lunch – sign up in Church.

Sun 4th Nov, 11am All Saints’ Sunday. Hymns 224, 197, 84. Missa ‘O quam gloriosum’, Victoria. Give us the wings of faith, Bullock.
6pm All Souls’ Day (transf). Liturgical performance of Requiem by Gabriel Fauré, and reading of names from the Book of the Departed.

Advance Notice:- Friday 9th November, 7.30pm. (Please note the day/date.) John Thurmer Memorial Lecture: Seona Ford (Chair, The Dorothy L. Sayers Society) The Life and Work of Dorothy L. Sayers – a strong, life-long interest of Canon Thurmer.
Special thanks to Dr David Beadle, who for many years has planned and publicised the St Michael’s Lectures.

Wishing you a fruitful Harvest & a colourful Autumn from all at St Michael’s Mount Dinham.
As L.M.Montgomery’s ‘Anne of Green Gables’ says – “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”

The post October 2018 at St Michael’s appeared first on St Michael & All Angels.

Young VG was more cautious and spent a lot of time sitting in the trefoil and at least once fell out but clambered back in. She fledged at 5.05am on Fri 22 Jun and seemed to be doing okay. But next day Nick Dixon heard calls from the Choir Vestry gully. VG had come down there and got stuck. She was rescued and taken to the Vets; the RSPCA fed her for a week, and released her back here Tue 3 Jul. Both juveniles now seem to be doing fine.

For July we are mostly singing Mass Settings in F, but we end the month on another climax with Haydn’s Little Organ Mass.

With the current shortage of resources, numerical & financial, it seems wise to scale back a little over August. There will be no Tuesday Choir Practices from 31 July to 21 August, just as Tuesday & Thursday Vespers take a break in August. Choir will continue to meet at 10am on Sundays, to run through the Music for the Liturgy and polish up a Communion Motet from our repertoire. Mass Settings will be congregational (Merbecke, Martin Shaw and the like) so we can all join in.

Tuesday Choir Practice will resume on 28 August, as Sunday 2nd September has our monthly Choral Evensong at 6pm as well as Sung Mass at 11am.

A quick forewarning that September will be a busy and exciting month at St Michael’s with the Church Open all day on 8th for Devon Historic Churches Ride&Stride and the Deanery Prayer Walk, on 9th for Cream Teas, and 15th & 16th for Exeter Heritage Open Days. Then our 150th Anniversary Michaelmas Celebrations are on the weekend of 29th/30th September.

Other events in July…
Wed 18th July at 7.30pm. St Michael’s Lecture – Rev Dr David Nixon (St Thomas Church, Exeter, formerly Dean of Studies for South West Ministry Training Course) will ask the question: “What does God think about Brexit?”

Sat 28th July, 9am, Men’s Breakfast, see in churches for details.

Richard Barnes.

The post Summer at St Michael’s appeared first on St Michael & All Angels.

Thanks to all who journeyed with us through Holy Week & Easter, especially to Fr Christopher for such purposeful Liturgy & Sermons, to Fr Nigel for Spy Wednesday’s Stations of the Cross (one of my highlights with our Liszt Via Crucis) and to Amy Down for organising & conducting our dedicated choir in 7 varied & beautiful choral services that week.

May offers a whole host of Feasts, Processions & special events – please support what you can. We welcome back Nigel Browne as Organist and Neil Page as honorary Director of Music.

Regular weekday services continue with Tuesday & Thursday Vespers at 6pm, and Wednesday Matins & Low Mass at 9.30/10am.

Ascension Day, Thursday 10th May, begins a time of evangelistic prayer “#ThyKingdom_Come” called for by our Archbishops. In Devon this culminates in a Diocesan event at Exeter Cathedral starting at 6.30pm on Pentecost Sunday, 20th May.

Thurs 3 May, St David’s Church at 7.30pm, Exeter College Choral Society Concert.

Sun 6 May, Rogation Sunday. 11am Sung Mass & Procession. Lotti. If ye love me, Tallis.

Sun 6 May, 6pm Choral Evensong & Benediction. Responses: Sumsion. Psalm 45. Office Hymn: 126. Canticles: Sumsion in G. Anthem: Thou visitest the Earth, Greene. Tantum Ergo: Fauré.

Wed 9 May, 7.30pm. In association with Exeter Pride, we are screening Florence Browne’s documentary about LGBT people in the Church of England, “Just as I am”, with an introductory talk by Dr David Beadle. All welcome.

Thurs 10 May, we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into Heaven. Plainsong Matins is sung at 7.30am from the West Gallery, followed by breakfast.

Thurs 10 May at 7.30pm, Sung Mass for Ascension Day. Stanford in C&F. Ascendens Christus, by Jacob Handl. Please support.

Sat 12 May – Exeter Pride. We welcome all who wish to show solidarity with Exeter’s LGBT+ communities to join us at St Michael’s for Sung Matins at 9.30am, followed by brunch. Join the Christian group in the Pride Parade from the St Sidwell’s Centre at 12noon.

Sat 12 May, 7-10pm at Exeter Cathedral. UPLOAD! A free Event for 13-18 year olds.

Sun 13 May, Easter 7. 11am Sung Mass. Darke in E. O God the King of Glory, Purcell. This is also the start of Christian Aid Week.

Pentecost/Whitsunday, 20 May, 11am Sung Mass. The lovely Wood in F. Come Holy Ghost, Attwood.

Sun 20 May, 6.30pm in Exeter Cathedral, “Thy Kingdom Come”, a diocesan service of prayer & thanksgiving.

Wed 23 May, 7.30pm. St Michael’s Lectures welcome Nicola Field, founding member of Lesbians & Gays Support the Miners, as featured in the 2014 film “Pride”.

Thurs 24 May 12noon, Parish Lunch at Exeter College’s @34 Restaurant – sign up in church.

Sat 26 May, 9am Men’s Breakfast jointly with St David’s in the Orangery at The Imperial.

Sun 27 May, Trinity Sunday. 11am. Sung Mass. Missa Brevis, Lotti. Hymn to the Trinity, Tchaikovsky.

Thurs 31 May at 7.30pm, Corpus Christi Procession & Sung Mass. Casciolini in A minor. Ave verum corpus, Byrd.

Sun 3 June, Trinity I, 11am Sung Mass, and 6pm Choral Evensong & Benediction.

And finally, our nest box camera is online on the Peregrine page. Donations welcome.

Richard Barnes

The post May 2018 at St Michael’s appeared first on St Michael & All Angels.

As we reach the end of the University year, we say thanks to Ouseley Scholar Miranda, Scholar Saffron, Michael who goes to SOAS and Lina moving to Bristol, for all they have given to us, and wish them well.

Erika will be auditioning for new Choral Scholars in September; both University students and 16-18 year olds who want experience before applying for University Scholarships are welcome. If you know someone who may be interested, contact Erika.

Sunday, 2nd July, Trinity III. Also Disability Sunday. 10.45am Sung Mass. Setting: Mass in C&F: Motet: Beati quorum via, both by CVStanford. Blessed, whose way is integrity.
Also please remember and support the Bountiful Table Produce Stall after Mass.

Sun 2 July, 6pm Evensong and Benediction. Responses: Keitch. Psalm 50. Office Hymn 244. Canticles: Sumsion in G. Anthem: Abendlied by Rheinberger. Luke 24:29 Abide with us: for it is toward evening.

Sun 9 July, Trinity IV. 10.45am. Mass in E, by Harold Darke. Lead Me Lord, by SSWesley.

Tue 11 July at 6pm. CBS Mass. St Benedict, Abbot of Monte Cassino, Father of Western Monasticism (c.550).

Thu 13, Fri 14 July at 5.30pm. N.B. 5.30pm (not 6.30 as I mistyped in the Parish Magazine). The Hillwood Singers with members of St Mike’s Choir are singing Evensong in Exeter Cathedral.
Also Sat 15 & Sun 16 July at 4pm.

Sun 16 July, Trinity V. 10.45am. Plainsong Setting & Hymns. Most of the Choir are singing the Services at Exeter Cathedral today.

Wed 19 July at 7.30pm. St Michael’s Lecture. Revd Glen Graham, Minister of Cullompton Baptist Church on attitudes to disability & blindness. “Building the body Beautiful, a vision of a perfectly imperfect Church.”

Thu 20 July at 7.30pm. Concert by the Choir of St James the Greater, Leicester. Free with retiring collection. Please support.

Sat 22 July, Parish Quiet Day, 10am-4pm. Led by Bishop Martin Shaw. Details/sign up elsewhere and in churches. (list now closed?)

Sun 23 July, Trinity VI. 10.45am. Mass in the Dorian Mode, by Thomas Tallis. View Me Lord a work of Thine, Lloyd.

Thu 27 July at 12 noon. Parish Lunch Club at the Farmer’s Union, Queens Terrace, this month. Please sign up in our Churches.

Sun 30 July, Trinity VII. 10.45am. Mass for 5 voices, by Byrd. Jesu the very thought of Thee, by Bairstow.

Sun 6 August, Feast of the Transfiguration. 10.45am. Missa Brevissima, by Casciolini. O Nata Lux de Lumine, by Tallis.
And please remember the Bountiful Table Produce Stall after Mass.

Sun 6 Aug, 6pm Choral Evensong and Benediction. Responses: Smith or Keitch. Psalm 80. Office Hymn 248. Canticles: Gibbons Short Service. Anthem: Lux Aurumque, by Whitacre.

Sun 13 Aug, Feast of the Assumption. 10.45am. Missa Ave Maris Stella, by Victoria. Ave Maria, by Parsons.

Sun 20 Aug, Trinity X. 10.45am. Missa Aeterna Christi Munera, by Palestrina. O Lord increase our Faith, by Loosemore.

Sun 27 Aug, Trinity XI. 10.45am. Mass in F, and Holy is the True Light, both by William Harris.

Richard Barnes.

The post July/August 2017 at St Michael’s appeared first on St Michael & All Angels.

This is Incarnation, the messy humanity of it all, for Mary & Joseph, the Shepherds and their families, ruthless Herod and his clever advisers, the Magi with their expectations; explored in our words & music, as we ponder the selfishness, sadness and sinfulness of 2016.

There is a strange symmetry in the life of Jesus, sometimes picked up in poems or paintings – stable cave and rock-hewn tomb, the wood of crib and cross, swaddling-bands and grave-clothes, the spices of the Wise men and the Women, Angel’s words to the Shepherds and the Women, the cruel pragmatism of politicians and zealots.

We hope our worship & fellowship at St Michael’s and St David’s will help us all to delight in the Season of Incarnation, Jesus Son of God, born in humility, Joy to the World.

Sunday 4th December, Advent II, 10.45am Sung Mass. Missa Brevis by Lotti; Motet “Canite Tuba” by Guerrero. …Veni, Domine, et noli tardare. Sound the trumpet …Come, Lord, and do not delay.

Our beautiful candlelit Advent Procession at St Michael’s is on Sunday 4th December at 6pm. Prayers, Readings, Hymns and Carols illuminate the 7 Great O Antiphons of the Advent Hymn “O come, O come Emmanuel”. The choir will sing the Pergolesi/Durante setting of the Magnificat. The service is followed by mulled wine and mince pies.

Thursday 8th Dec at 6pm. Vespers for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. All are welcome.

Sunday 11th Dec, Advent III, Gaudete Sunday with Rose Red Vestments. 10.45am. Mass in A minor by Casciolini; E’en so Lord Jesus, by Manz.

Sunday 11th Dec at 2pm, the Choir will sing Carols in the Chapel at Killerton House. National Trust admission applies. Please come and support us.

Sunday 11th Dec at 4.30pm, Exeter Chorale, conducted by Dr Nigel Browne, presents a Tea-time Concert with a “watery” theme. Music includes Stanford “The Blue Bird”, Tippett “Deep River”, a couple of stormy Baroque Motets, plus Drunken Sailors and a Mermaid! Admission £8 (children free) including refreshments.

Tuesday 13th Dec at 6pm, this month’s CBS Plainsong Mass celebrated by Fr David Hastings on St Lucy’s Day. All welcome.

Saturday 17th Dec at 5pm – Carol Concert with St Michael’s Choir in aid of the charity Refugee Support Devon.

Sunday 18th Dec, Advent IV, 10.45am. Mass in Phrygian Mode, by Wood. The Motet is “Anna mater Matris Christi” by John Plummer, a 15th century piece on the worthiness of St Anne to be the grandmother of Jesus.

Sunday 18th Dec, at St David’s Church at 6pm – Carol Service and Farewell to Canon Tom Honey & Jeanie at 7pm.

Saturday 24th December Christmas Eve, 11pm Carols from the West Gallery, 11.30pm, Midnight Mass. A “Victoria” Christmas, Missa “O Quam Gloriosum” & Motet “O Magnum Mysterium”.

Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock. “Now they are all on their knees,” An elder said as we sat in a flock By the embers in hearthside ease.
We pictured the meek mild creatures where They dwelt in their strawy pen, Nor did it occur to one of us there To doubt they were kneeling then.
So fair a fancy few would weave In these years! Yet, I feel, If someone said on Christmas Eve, “Come; see the oxen kneel,
“In the lonely barton by yonder coomb Our childhood used to know,” I should go with him in the gloom, Hoping it might be so.
“The Oxen” by Thomas Hardy, was published in The Times on Christmas Eve 1915. On the face of it, a pastoral idyll of worshipping animals and simple country folk, but below the surface are Hardy’s growing doubts and the irony of such a myth ‘in these years’ of war raging in the mud of the trenches. Yet still hope lingers for peace on earth, upon the midnight clear.

Sunday 25th Dec, Christmas Day, 10.45am Mass in F & In the Bleak Midwinter, both by Harold Darke.

Holy Communion/Low Mass will be said at 10am at St Michael’s Church by Canon Tom Honey on the 3 Feast Days following Christmas.
Monday 26th Dec, St Stephen, Deacon & First Martyr, 10am.
Tuesday 27th Dec, St John, Apostle &Evangelist, 10am.
Wednesday 28th Dec, Holy Innocents Day, Childermas, 10am.

Sunday 1st January 2017, Holy Name of Jesus, 10.45am. This will be Fr Tom Honey’s final service at St Michael’s before moving. Mass in F by Sir William Harris. Carol: Infant Holy, Infant Lowly, trad. arr. Willcocks. N.B. No Evensong today, but please come to…

Friday 6th January, Epiphany, 7.30pm. Mass in F by Sumsion; O God who by the leading of a star, by Attwood. Celebrant & Preacher Fr Christopher Durrant. Please support the first Feast of 2017.
Richard Barnes.

The post December 2016 at St Michael’s appeared first on St Michael & All Angels.

Wed 2nd Nov, 7.30pm, All Souls’ Day, Sung Requiem Mass. Victoria, Stanford.
Sun 6th Nov, 10.45am, Trinity XXIV, Advent-3. Viadana, Gibbons.
Sun 6th Nov, 6pm, Choral Evensong & Benediction. Stanford, Bainton, Rossini, Fauré.
Wed 9th Nov, 7.30pm, Exeter College Concert. Cello & Piano.
Sun 13th Nov, 10.45am, Remembrance Sunday. Sumsion, Noble.
Sat 19th Nov, 3pm at St David’s Church – Holy Land Pilgrimage Preliminary Meeting.
Sun 20th Nov, 10.45am, Christ the King, Stir-Up, Confirmation. Casciolini, Parker.
Tue 22nd Nov, 6pm. CBS Plainsong Mass – St Cecilia (c.230), Patroness of Musicians.
Sat 26th Nov, 11am – 3pm. An Unusually Good Book Sale.
Sun 27th Nov, 10.45am, Advent Sunday. Wood x2.
Sun 27th Nov, 1pm, at Digger’s Rest, Woodbury Salterton. Advent Lunch.
Wed 30th Nov, 7.30pm, St Michael’s Lecture. Theology & Vegetarianism – Dr Matthew Barton.

Advance Notice:-
Sun 4th Dec. 6pm, Advent Procession – Readings, Candles, Carols, Hymns.
Sun 11th Dec, 4pm, Exeter Chorale Tea-time Concert. “Aqua Musicale”
Sat 17th Dec, late afternoon, Charity Carol Concert given by St Michael’s Choir.

Other Regular Services:-
Tuesdays & Thursdays, 6pm Plainsong Vespers & Meditation.
Wednesdays, 9.30am Morning Prayer, 10am Low Mass.
See the Website & Twitter for Music List & Service details.

Book Sale, Advent Lunch, Lecture & Concert
BOOK_SALE_poster
Please support the “Unusually Good Book Sale” on Sat 26th Nov from 11am-3pm organised with St David’s Creates. As well as books & other media, there will be Piano music from Matthew Wright, Organ demonstration by Nigel Browne, and a guided tour of the Church given by Richard Parker. All-in-all, a day not to miss.

Please contact Chris & Lis Heaven in Church or via Facebook to sign up (by 20th at latest,please) for the St Mike’s Advent Lunch at the Digger’s Rest, Woodbury Salterton, EX5 1PQ. Cost £17.50 or £21.00.

On Wed 30th Nov we conclude our Autumn “isms” lectures with Dr Matthew Barton considering religious and theological aspects of Vegetarianism. Free & all welcome.

We are pleased to host a Concert on Wed 9th Nov in support of the Exeter College Chris Wilson Music Award; Jan Skrdlik, Cello & Petra Besa, Piano, play Saint-Saens, Kodaly, Dvorak. £15.

Please Note also:- Fr Christopher has asked his father-in-law Preb. Alistair Wheeler to organise a parish pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the month after Easter 2018! Alistair is a retired priest from Bath & Wells Diocese, who has led Holy Land pilgrimages over many decades. He will be making a short informal presentation about the Holy Land at St. David’s Church at 3pm on Saturday 19th November.

Choir Music

Our traditional All Souls’ Day Requiem, Wed 2nd Nov at 7.30pm, uses the Missa Pro Defunctis a 4, by Victoria, with Stanford’s motet “Justorum animae”, the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God. All are welcome to this moving Service when the list of names of the Faithful Departed is prayed.

On Sun 6th Nov at 6pm, our Evensong Anthem “And I saw a new heaven” by Edgar Bainton continues the Remembrance-tide theme. The Benediction hymns are Romantic settings by Rossini & Fauré, as Jesus, lifted up, draws us to himself.

For Remembrance Sunday on the 13th the music is the Communion Service in F by Herbert Sumsion (1899-1995), who was at Gloucester Cathedral, Chorister and Organist, for 60 years. From 1917 to 1919 Sumsion served in the Queen’s Westminster Rifles and spent time in the trenches in Flanders. The Motet by Tertius Noble uses a versified form of Wisdom 3.

“Souls of the righteous in the hand of God,
Nor hurt nor torment cometh them anigh;
O holy hope of immortality.
Souls of the righteous in the hand of God,
to eyes of men unwise, they seem to die;
They are at peace, O fairest liberty.
On earth as children chasten’d by Love’s rod,
As gold in furnace tried, so now on high
they shine like stars, a golden galaxy:
Souls of the righteous in the hand of God.”

Please support a special service on 20th Nov – as well as being Stir-up Sunday and Christ the King, we will welcome Bishop Martin Shaw to our Sung Mass to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation on Amy Down. We will sing “Te Deum laudamus”, the great 4th century credal hymn in a setting by the American composer Horatio Parker, learned on our summer visit to Winchester.

On Sun 27th Nov we joyously celebrate the traditional start of the New Liturgical Year, Advent Sunday, with music by Charles Wood, his Mass in F and “O Thou the central Orb”.

“Let Thy bright beams disperse the gloom of sin, Our nature all shall feel eternal day
In fellowship with thee, transforming clay To souls erewhile unclean; now pure within.”

Richard Barnes

The post November 2016 at St Michael’s appeared first on St Michael & All Angels.

Michaelmas was celebrated in style with about 60 at Sung Mass followed by Drinks & Nibbles. Our Guest Preacher, Ven David Gunn-Johnson, told us of the Archangels of God from their Hebrew names in the Bible and Apocrypha, Gabriel (strength), Uriel (light), Raphael (healing) and our Michael (who is like God?) . The Mass Setting was by Josef Rheinberger – Liechtenstein’s famous contemporary of Queen Victoria. The Motet: Faire is the Heaven, by Sir William Harris – A high point of 20th century Anglican music from an Organist of St George’s Chapel, Windsor, setting a 16th century poem by Edmund Spenser.

September was a month of Welcome with our new Bishop of Crediton installed in the Cathedral and our new Curate ordained deacon. I’m sure every Church says it is “welcoming” in its website and notices, but we need to make sure we are in practice too…

Recently on the Ship of Fools website, a “Mystery Worshipper” made a telling report on Holy Trinity Brompton, home of the Alpha Course, finding it so full of its own success and activity that there was no welcome, no help with their pushchair, and the Worship Group was so loud and dominant that it seemed to be the focus of the congregation’s worship (and applause!) rather than God. See http://shipoffools.com/mystery/2015/2906.html

Indeed, it’s a feature of most reviews that the quality of Welcome counts more to a visitor than Sermon, Music, style of Worship, and even Heating. The ministry of welcome, both before and after our services, is really important, so thanks to those who do it so well at our churches.

Both our welcome and our music serve the Liturgy and help us all to worship God. We hope to welcome new and returning choir members and congregation at this time; during October we have:-

Sunday 4 October, we will keep the Feast of St Francis of Assisi. 10.45am Sung Mass with Missa L’Hora Passa by Ludovico da Viadana (1560-1627) and the Motet “Laudans Exsultet Gaudio” by Giovanni Croce (1557-1609). Plus “All creatures of our God and King” and “Make Me a Channel of Your Peace”.

Also, being 1st Sunday, 6pm Choral Evensong and Benediction – Smith Responses: Psalms 125, 126; Office Hymn: 242. Canticles: Walmisley in D minor, a Victorian take on the Faux-bourdon with unison T/B alternating with SSA trio. Anthem: O Lord the Maker of All Thing, music by Mundy, a prayer attributed to King Henry VIII. We might use the Elgar and Fauré settings of the Benediction Hymns.

Remember also Tues 6 Oct, William Tyndale, Translator of the Scriptures, Reformation Martyr, 1536.

Sunday 11 October, Trinity XIX, 10.45am Sung Mass. Missa Aeterna Christi Munera by Palestrina. Motet: Lead Me Lord, by SSWesley.

Tuesday 13 October at 6pm. CBS Mass for the Feast of St Edward the Confessor, King of England (June 1042 – January 1066). All are welcome. Plainsong Mass with Propers and Hymns for the day.

Saturday 17th October at 7pm in St James’ Church Hall – a Food & Quiz Evening for all from St David’s, St Michael’s and St James’ and friends to get together. Tickets, £7, from Tony Pugh.

Sunday 18 October, Harvest takes precedent over St Luke today, 10.45am, Sung Mass. Missa Brevis, by Lotti. Motet: God Looks on Nature, by Graham Keitch from a poem by John Clare. Gifts suitable for the Food Bank collection would be especially welcome.

In the afternoon of Sun 18, the Choir heads out into rural West Devon to sing Choral Evensong & Benediction at 6.30pm at St Peter’s Church, Lamerton, one of the churches now ministered to by Fr Andy Atkins, our former Curate, a few miles north-west of Tavistock. You are welcome to join us.

Wednesday 21 October at 7.30pm, St Michael’s Lecture. Idir Ouahes, a PhD student in the History Department of the University of Exeter, researching the French Mandate rule in Lebanon & Syria, will discuss “Christians in Syria”. All welcome.

Saturday 24 October, St Michael’s is hosting “YOUR FAITH, YOUR FINANCE AND THE COMMON GOOD”, a conference taking place from 10.30am to 4pm. It is being run by the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility and will look at the role of money in our personal life, our churches, our society and the wider world. Tickets can be booked online at Eventbrite, visit: www.bit.ly/1JuEyay for details.

Sunday 25 October, Trinity XXI, 10.45am Sung Mass. Mass in F, by Harold Darke. Motet: O Lord Increase Our Faith, by Loosemore.

Remember also Sat 31 Oct, not just Hallowe’en, but Martin Luther, Translator of the Scriptures, Reformer, 1546.

Sunday 1 November is All Saints’ Day, 10.45am, Sung Mass. Missa Brevissima, Casciolini. Motet: O Quam Gloriosum, Victoria.

And at 6pm Choral Evensong and Benediction, featuring Dyson in F Canticles. Anthem: And I Saw a New Heaven, Bainton.

Please note. Monday 2 November there will be our All Souls’ Day Sung Requiem Mass at 7.30pm featuring the Missa Pro Defunctis a 4, by Tomas Luis da Victoria. This beautiful a cappella setting of the Requiem texts alternates Plainsong Cantor with 4-part polyphonic Choir.

Congratulations to Paula who visited 25 churches in Exeter, very few of which were actually open, for the Devon Historic Churches Trust sponsored walk. Thanks to Richard Parker for arranging our Exhibition, and to all who spent long hours manning the church during the Heritage Open Days. There was a small but steady stream of visitors with about 40 on Saturday. All admired the beauty and presence of the church, and several tried the organ under Nigel Browne’s supervision. Thanks also to all who made our Parish Mass with Combined Choir to welcome Fr Christopher Durrant so enjoyable.

Richard Barnes.

The post October at St Michael’s appeared first on St Michael & All Angels.

So, here’s a summary of Music for August, and a few saints to remember. Firstly an all 16th century Sunday, and just a sprinkling of Bruckner, Darke & Sumsion later in the month.

Sun 2 August, Trinity IX, Sung Mass, 10.45am. Missa O Quam Gloriosum by Victoria. Ave Verum Corpus by Byrd.

Sun 2 Aug, 6pm, Choral Evensong & Benediction. Byrd Responses, Morley Fauxbourdon Canticles, Te Lucis Ante Terminum by Tallis.

Fri 7 Aug. John Mason Neale, Priest, Hymn Writer, 1866, best known for enriching our worship with many ancient and medieval hymns translated from Greek and Latin.

Sun 9 August, Trinity X, Sung Mass, 10.45am. Mass in F Darke. Verily, verily I say unto you, Tallis.

Fulda Cathedral High Altar – Assumption of Mary
Dom zu Fulda Hochaltar – Mariä Himmelfahrt

Sun 23 August, Trinity XII, Mass, 10.45am. Mass in the Dorian Mode and If Ye Love Me, both by Thomas Tallis.

Mon 24 Aug. Bartholomew the Apostle, worth a mention for the street and cemetery named after him across the valley from St Michael’s.

Thurs 27 and Fri 28 Aug. Monica, 387, and her son Augustine of Hippo, 420, a great thinker and teacher of the faith.

Sun 30 August, Trinity XIII, Mass, 10.45am. Mass in F Sumsion. Locus Iste Bruckner.

Tues 1 September, at 6pm, CBS Mass for St Giles of Provence, Hermit, c.710, with Hymns and Plainsong Propers.

Richard Barnes.

The post August at St Michael’s appeared first on St Michael & All Angels.

Noch ein Update aus Wolfenbüttel – Montag 27 Juli.
So, technology and time were not as easy as hoped – pictures had to arrive later like postcards.
Now with pictures. But we have a wunderbar Tour und holiday here in Lower Saxony been having. We have since the last update two Services and another Concert sung.

Search for “wolfenbüttteler zeitung konzert exeter chor” and look under “images” to find a photo from the well-reviewed concert in Groß Denkte, translated by Chris Heaven.

Saturday afternoon we met at the Hauptkirche Wolfenbüttel, rehearsing in a splendid church hall as there was a wedding in the church. (With most Germans still paying a “church tax” directly, their churches, both Lutheran and Catholic, are really well funded, allowing them to have excellent facilities which they can hopefully use for the whole community.)

In the Hauptkirche, Alex had to content himself with a little chamber organ, but it had beautiful tone, and, as we had had no practice in the church and it was a Taize-style Service with added Anglican music, it was better suited. The congregation of about 80 heard Byrd, Wesley, Gilbert and Rutter. Navigating the Evangelische Gesangbuch was interesting; all the Taize songs are grouped together, stardate-style, as 798.1, 798.2 etc.

The Pastor was very friendly and appreciative, and the church Custodian explained that this was one of the first built, in 1608, as a specifically Protestant church, after Luther’s Reformation. Nevertheless, as reflected in the extensive decoration in this church, Luther himself and his followers had no problem with paintings, statues or music, so long as they were Bible-based. Küster Herr Gerhard Finck also showed us the Crypt with its 30 metal or stone coffins, of members of the mediaeval ducal family, recently restored in Berlin, and which feature many embossed biblical texts, such as “I know that my Redeemer liveth” and “The souls of the righteous”.

Then choir and hosts repaired to the Park Hotel for a meal together.

On Sontag 26 Juli, we met at 9Uhr at St Trinitatis Kirche, another church in the Wolfenbüttel Lutheran parish, built in 1719 with a much plainer and brighter interior and a lofty pulpit set several metres above the Table. Here Alex could get his hands and feet on the main Organ set above the West Doors, sharing the playing with a visiting organ student who introduced all the hymns with short improvisations.

Within the Communion service, again all conducted by Erika, we sang from Wood in F, as well as Tallis “If Ye Love Me”, Wood “Central Orb”, Chilcott “Be Thou My Vision” (another lovely solo from Vicki) and Rutter “The Lord bless you and keep you”. Again, lots of appreciation over jam & scones after the service.

Sunday afternoon, we visited Braunschweig (Brunswick) for a leisurely cruise on the River Oker before our Concert in the beautiful acoustic of the St Katharinen Kirche. Here Alex had a bright free-standing modern organ to play as we processed up to our singing position. The concert went very well again, with the a cappella first half conducted by Alex and the accompanied second half directed by Erika. The audience was rather more St Michael’s sized, though very appreciative, and Adam sold several more of our CDs.

The singing programme completed, we relaxed with another meal together at the Rheinische Republik restaurant in Braunschweig, where several of the plates turned up not quite as expected, but very tasty and enjoyable. Heartfelt thanks were expressed to our hosts and to our visiting guest singers, and also to Sabrina for organising the whole trip (herding cats as Alex put it) and to Alex and Erika for expertly rehearsing and conducting us all. Vielen Dank!

And now Montag ist ein frei Tag, for excursions and relaxation, before tomorrow’s day in Hannover and an evening flight back to Heathrow.
Richard Barnes.

Eine Kleine Update aus Wolfenbüttel – Samstag 25 Juli.
So some of us had an early start at 1.30am on Thursday at Exeter Bus Station for the overnight coach to Heathrow. With the M4 being closed, we had the “bonus” of a rural ride through royal Berkshire and a “Tellytubbies” sunrise, but were only 10 minutes late into Heathrow.

The whole party assembled, we checked in for the 7.55 flight to Hannover Flughafen; a really beautiful flight over fluffy clouds. Then trains via Braunschweig to Wolfenbüttel, meeting Chris & Lis who were already there.

We got to know the beautiful half-timbered Altstadt, and saw the baroque-faced ducal palace and the recently excavated mediaeval defence works with a guided tour. Also the world famous Herzog August Library founded in 1572, whose noted Librarians include Leibnitz and Lessing. Very tired but happy and excited, we met our hosts at 6 and went off to settle in, talk and rest.

No rest on Friday, by bus to Groß Denkte, Sabrina´s home village, for a 2 hour walk through the woods of the Asse and a climb of the 120 steps of the Bismarckturm. Strengthened with excellent Suppe und Brot, it was time to get down to some singing, running through the Konzerte Program in the beautiful little Lutheran Kirche across from the well-equipped church hall – a benefit of the German Church Tax system.

Our Concert in Groß Denkte went very well, with 50-60 in the audience, who enjoyed a traditional Devon cream tea in the Interval and commented on the clarity of diction and variety of music. Alex’s half of the programme was introduced by Sabrina, while Erika used her good German to talk about the second half including the sehr laut of “I was Glad” & “Central Orb”. Solos by Sabrina, Rebecca & Vicki were also much appreciated.

Verily, deep in the Hundred Acre Wood, Pooh, Piglet and Tigger were glad to be on an Expotition to find the Central Orb.

St Michael’s Choir are looking forward to visiting Wolfenbüttel and Braunschweig in Lower Saxony, Germany, over the coming weekend, singing 2 Concerts, an Evening Meditation and joining a Sunday morning Service. See what we are up to by following this Blog, which we hope to update each day.

But first we had a busy day on Sat 18th July in the Chapel at St Luke’s Campus brushing up some of our 20 Concert pieces with Erika & Alex,

until it all got too much…

The post Choir Tour Blog appeared first on St Michael & All Angels.