Choral Union
It has been another busy term for the Choral Union, with lots of new repertoire to be learned, and old favourites to be revised, for the upcoming end-of-year service on Sunday 26 May and the end-of-term concert on Thursday 30 May. We recently had a visit from filmmaker Neasa Ní Chianáin, who is making a film about the Irish government’s climate action plan, and recorded part of our rehearsal as we sang John Rutter’s ‘Look at the world’ (a choir favourite, which was the anthem for Morning Prayer on Rogation Sunday 5 May).
After our very successful visit to sing Stainer’s Crucifixion in St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny, on Palm Sunday, we are looking forward to a return visit to sing a joint service with the cathedral choir on Sunday 16 June.
Organ Scholar
Our new parish Organ Scholar, Eoghan MacMuiris, played in church for the first time earlier this term at Messy Church in St Philip’s. Eoghan continues his lessons on Year 1 of the Archbishop’s Certificate in Church Music, and will hopefully play at his first Sunday service in the autumn.
Choral Evensong
With the change of hour and the bright evenings, the somnolent language of Compline seemed somewhat jarring, so until the evenings begin to draw in in the autumn our Friday evening services in Sandford take the form of Choral Evensong, rather than Choral Compline. Evensong, as many of you will know, was devised as an amalgamation of the pre-Reformation services of Vespers and Compline, and is one of the most well-loved parts of Anglican liturgy. Our service is sung by a small but dedicated band of singers from the Choral Union. We will return to Compline in the autumn as the shadows lengthen. David O’Shea