CGMS at the WCCM 2010 seminar in Canterbury

Friday 6^th August and Saturday 7^th August

University of Kent at Canterbury

9pm for 9.30pm

The World Community for Christian Meditation is holding its annual seminar in Canterbury this year at The University of Kent. They are keen for us to provide some appropriate music during their proceedings. They have asked us to sing Compline on the Friday and Saturday evenings of their seminar.

We will be using the chant that we sang as part of St. Anselm’s Compline in the Cathedral last year, but for those unfmailair with the music Helen will be running a workshop at 2-3pm on the afternoon of Friday 6^th August. This is aimed mainly at WCCM seminar participants though others are welcome too.

In addition there will be a (quick!) reminder session at 9pm on the Friday and Saturday prior to the service itself which will begin each evening at 9.30pm.

The exact location for the workshop and service has not been confirmed yet but we will be able to confirm this nearer the time.

Midsummer Chantness: 24th July at Greyfriars

Saturday 24^th July  11.30-12.30

Greyfriars, Stour Street, Canterbury

We have been asked to run the little service commemorating St. Mildred which we did last year. It is very short, beginning with the Angelus at the traditional midday hour. This event forms part of the Parish festivities celebrating St. Mildred close to her feast day. We will have a short practice at 11.30 at Greyfriars and then sing the service.

It would be most helpful if you could let us know if you are copming so that we can make sure we have enough copies of the music but all are welcome and there is no charge for this event.

Chant workshop on Saturday 1st May

At St. Mildred’s Church, Church Lane, Canterbury, CT1 2PP. Please arrive at 9.45 for a prompt 10am start!

This is a day long workshop for all levels of singer focusing on the different parts of sung Mass. The workshops will be led by Nick Gale, Director of Music at Southwark Cathedral so are a terriffic opportunity to work with an incredibly experienced and knowledgable tutor.

SESSION 1 (10am – 12.30pm): Workshop: Ordinary of the Mass

Are you baffled by Chant? Would you like to sing a confident Kyrie and a sonorous Sanctus? This workshop is open to everyone with an interest in Gregorian Chant, from absolute beginners to experienced singers.

 

This workshop will enable you to learn the parts of Mass which the congregation usually sings (also called the ‘Ordinary’). We will learn the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus, Our Father and so on.

 

Nick will also give an introductory talk about the history and evolution of the music we sing.

 

Price: Free to Members, £5 non-members

 

SESSION 2 (2pm till 5pm): Propers for Ascension

In preparation for Ascension Day, this session will tackle the more complicated parts of the Mass. Although aimed at those who have some experience of singing Chant, all are welcome!

 

We will rehearse the music particular to Ascension Day; the Introit, the Gospel Acclamation and the Communion Antiphon (known as the ‘Propers’).

 

Nick will give a talk about the composers of Gregorian Chant and the way they use music to enhance the emotional impact of the text.

Price: £5 Members, £10 non-members

 

Price for attending BOTH sessions: £5 Members, £12 non-members 

Contact us for more details and a booking form at: contact@gregoriansociety.org

Record labels just can’t kick the habit…

Interesting article on the BBC website today about Decca searching for the right group of nuns to hit the bigtime . According to one exec:

“When you hear the sound of nuns chanting, it’s like an immediate escape from the challenges, stresses, pace and noise of modern living. “

Decca is hoping to be as successful as this as they were with the monks from Stift-Heiliginkreuz - as reviewed by Helen – see our reviews section.

Well, Decca if you’re reading this, I can wholeheartedly recommend Mother Nikola and the community at Minster! They are all excellent singers AND serve great tea too! What’s not to like?

Ascension Day Mass at St. Peters, Canterbury

We will be singing Gregorian Chant Mass on the evening of Ascension Day in St. Peter’s, one of Canterbury’s mediaeval parish churches. Rev. Mark Ball has invited us to participate in this service. We hope to sing as much of the Ordinary of the Mass and the Propers as will fit in with Father Ball’s Order of Service.

We realise that a bit of practice may be needed! So we have organised a Workshop-practice day on Saturday 1^st May with Nick Gale, Director of Music at Southwark Catholic Cathedral.

Nick will give a two part workshop. In the morning we will run a session for absolutely anyone who wants to learn or revise the ‘Missa de Angelis’, the Gregorian Mass most often sung in parishes. This will include the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus that are used in all Masses. It could also include the Creed and the Our Father and some other responses which the Congregation use at Mass.

In the afternoon session ‘improvers’ will rehearse the Propers such as the Introit, the Offertory and the Communion Antiphon. We hope that CGMS Members with a little experience of singing will come along here and get to grips with the special music which is sung only on Ascension Day itself.

Details of timings, venues and the Ascension Day Mass itself will be finalised in the near future and will be published here on the site. As always, our members will receive advance notice.

If you aren’t already a CGMS member and would like to be one step ahead of the crowd when it comes to booking on our events, see our membership page for details of how to apply.

Chant but not as we know it!

A report on the Third CGMS Day of Chant by Helen Nattrass

A grey Saturday morning in January and our group gathered for the Byzantine Chant Day. Our teacher was Dr. Alexander Lingas, one of the leading Academics studying the music of the Eastern Christian Church. We began with a talk illustrating the antiquity of chant in the eastern Mediterranean, the links between Gregorian Chant and Byzantine Chant and the gradual divergence of the traditions.

Alexander showed that both Gregorian Chant and Eastern Chant were historic musical forms with a living tradition today. They both employ eight musical modes, which are named differently but work in the same way. The more recent divergences between them have been augmented by the insistence of the Roman Catholic Church on using an approved edition of Gregorian Chant whereas the Eastern Church relies much more on master-pupil teaching and the aural tradition; a wider variation in liturgical music performance is acceptable. Dr Lingas said that it is often possible to recognise a Cantor’s teacher by the decoration of the melody at cadences.

Then came the moment to begin the singing.  We had 40 pages of music to tackle! Our first discovery was that Eastern Chant goes in strict rhythm, completely unlike Gregorian Chant. The most difficult thing to accommodate was a flexible idea about tuning. The fundamental note never changes, but you can subtly sharpen or flatten any other note in the scale to add ‘spice’ to the line and text. We then discovered that some of the markings in our music indicated ‘drone-notes’ so while some of us continued singing the melody the rest of us sang the drone notes and… wow! Suddenly we were singing Byzantine Chant!

After lunch we heard another talk about the oldest traditions and sources of Eastern Chant, the traditions of Constantinople and Jerusalem, old liturgies of Hagia Sophia with their processions and the diverse modern sources for the music. Alexander said at times he needs to consult documents in old Armenian and Georgian, amongst others, where the original texts have been lost and only survived in translation! We continued with the singing and got through the whole lot before relocating to St. Mildred’s Church for a final run-through. Our great triumph was actually reading and singing the whole Orthodox Saturday Evening Vespers from start to finish. We had a great deal of help from Alexander keeping us right and singing the Cantor’s parts, but we did it! Our day ended with a group of us sharing a convivial Meze meal in Manoli’s Taverna.

All in all it was a day of the utmost interest led by a man of great learning, but who also had the practical skills to teach us and ultimately lead our good-intentioned, but amateur, rendition of the Vespers.

Third CGMS Day of Chant

Our third Day of Chant will focus on Byzantine Chant. The day will be led by Dr. Alexander Lingas, one of the leading academics in the field of Byzantine and Orthodox Chant. He is also a Cantor for the Orthodox Church as well as the founder and Artistic Director of the internationally acclaimed choral ensemble Capella Romana.

As many people will be new to this tradition of Chant the majority of the texts will be in English, and the day will mainly comprise practical sessions exploring the notation of the music and the nuances of singing it.

The lectures and workshop part of the day will be taking place at Canterbury Christ Church University’s Canterbury campus.

We will be aiming towards a Service of Byzantine Reader’s Vespers which will take place in St. Mildred’s Church at 5 o’clock.

Tea and coffee will be provided on arrival but you will need to make your own arrangements for lunch; do feel free to bring sandwiches or, if you prefer, take advantage of the many excellent restaurants in Canterbury City Centre. There is also a café close to the seminar room we will be using.

Please email us at contact@gregoriansociety.org if you are interested and we’ll send you details of the day including costs and timing.