Hymns Old & New

I dislike Hymns Old & New. It has some crass arrangements in it. I am due to play one tomorrow. Some of these arrangements were made by a composer who I would have thought knew better.

Will this continue in 2023

Exhausted as Christmas makes one feel, I woke at 10:56 this morning. Yesterday was not a great day for me personally, although the Communion service I played for went well and there was some strong singing from a particular family.

I am wondering if I shall continue this blog next year; perhaps I will, but with far less regular posts.

Seasonal greetings to my reader.

Global Majority Heritage

I have recently seen an advert for musicians in a church in London which carried this text. I admit I had to check that I fully understood some of the terms.

"... We actively welcome applications from people who are currently underrepresented in our community including people with global majority heritage, people with lived experience of poverty and people who identify as LGBTQ+.

Candidates do not have to identify as Christian or belong to a religious faith, however we are looking for candidates who connect with our ethos and values."

So there you are.

POV

I have watched many of these 'Point of View' videos this year. It is the one Christmas pleasure I allow myself. It is great to see young people playing.

Christmas Organ Music

Organists are traditionally very busy at Christmas but, oddly, I do not have a very large Christmas repertoire. That said, I have recently bought a couple of Christmas books and single items from online retailers. One composer I am following is Phil Lehenbauer and, as I write, I am listening to the piece below.

Carol Service

From a note in the tuner's book, it turns out that the 4 foot flute stop is broken at the slider end and is a difficult repair which needs pipes to be removed. I managed to find a good deal of variety in my registrations because the swell has a 16' stop which, when combined with 8' and/or 4' stops and played up an octave, gave a very satisfactory selection of sounds which I shall use more.

The choir sang their carol but, as I suspected, it ought to have been transposed down a tone. Nobody ever listens to me.

Far too cold

As I suspected in a previous post, it was very cold this morning and the organ bench was like a block on ice. The church heating had gone on at 0900 for a 0930 service which is not really sufficient. The rising cost of fuel must be a factor. A long sermon was not really appropriate.

No 4 foot flute stop

In a previous post I mentioned an organ problem. The usual technician was not available to fix it but suggested another tuner. This chap came and has reported that the repair will need a dedicated visit. Hang on - was this not a dedicated visit?

He apparently tuned the organ and fixed another small problem which ought to have been dealt with long ago but the Great 4' flute is still out of action.

I suppose I shall get through the carol service but it does mean the 4' principal will get used more than I should like.

Emotions

I cannot help who I am and I feel various emotions as situations evolve. I feel annoyed when a person who (I feel) ought to be in touch more frequently simply ignores me. I am likely to be jealous when the same person spends more time with a 'rival' than they do with me.

If I dare to say anything about our relationship being a case of this person merely ticking a box every now and then (birthday, Christmas etc.), I am accused of being passive aggressive: I suppose I get that from my parents. I should, I think, be able to express my feelings for if one cannot express them to family, what is the point of anything?

People can hurt you when they may not mean to do so but the hurt is real. It can develop into resentment.

Religion tells us that we are wicked to feel certain things and jealousy. We're told that jealousy is a fruit of the flesh (Galatians 5:21), an antonym of love (1 Corinthians 13:4), a symptom of pride (1 Timothy 6:4), a catalyst for conflict (James 3:16), and a mark of unbelievers (Romans 1:29).

Well, I'm sorry, but do I not have a right to feel wronged?

Apparently religion helps us to control our feelings. It is an article worth a read.

The Buddha said: ‘All life is suffering’ and most of us past a certain age can only agree. See also what the article says about sorrow.

I don't feel any better really.

Cold

It is extremely cold in the UK at present. Churches had better have their heating on over Christmas!

Luceat

Last year I was sent this CD and I played it again a couple of days ago whilst I was tidying up. Superb singing and a lovely collection of pieces. Do visit the Luceat site and buy it.

St Typo and All Angels

It is the season of Carol Services. Many places use the Bethlehem Carol Sheet but some use hymn books. Woe betide any church which tries to combine the two as they will probably end up with chaos or at least a mention on the Church Service Sheet Typo Group.

A new hymn for me

This hymn was on yesterday's list. A new one for me and a nice tune.

Deputy work

Today I played at a church where the organist has Covid. He phoned me on Thursday asking if I could stand in, and it turned out I was available. I have played there before.

Blowing my own trumpet for a moment, I do not think there are many folk around here who could learn an anthem and a new communion setting (Rawsthorne) in 2 days and then go and sight-read a really bizarre arrangement of "Personent Hodie" which would win no prizes from me.

It was very cold too and I set off early in case I hit a problem on the road: I didn't. By the time I got home I had been out for over 3 hours and driven 36 miles (@46p/mile) so those who think a fee of £50 is steep (and this is the fee the church pays, not what I charge) may need to think again.

Funeral 2

So I went to play for the funeral yesterday. The organ is very small and up on a gallery which will seat 25 people. The deceased was only 50 and a popular person in the village, so the church was packed.

I arrived 40 minutes before the service to get used to the organ which had been unlocked. There were four people in church. Soon, a couple* in their late 40s came up to the gallery (the nave being reserved for close family and friends) and the man* was quite the comedian. Indeed, his wife said she hoped I would not be too loud. They started checking their phones and, each time new people arrived, the man used the same greeting line, "It's 'ticket only' up here".

'Oh dear', I thought. This guy is going to be noisy and behave inappropriately. Luckily, once he had greeted everyone in turn he shut up and I heard no more from him. He certainly didn't sing in the hymns.

The service passed off without incident although I think the pall bearers were family and friends and rather untrained so they took a long time to bring the coffin in and to remove it afterwards.

*It strikes me that, in this day and age, a couple could be a same-sex couple: this was one lady and one man who I presume were together.

Funeral

I will be playing at a funeral later today. I doubt I shall enjoy it because the organ is small and I will not feel that I am giving the congregation a good lead. Volume is not everything and rhythmic playing is important. However, I have not played this instrument for a few months and it is very old: I hope it all works. There is also a big Confirmation service there on Sunday but I am not playing for that. We are having a cold snap and defrosting the car is a chore I dislike so I am glad.

Not allowed to say

People do not like the truth but Katie Hopkins tells it as it is. I don't hear any of this from pulpits.

Meeting people

I made myself go out ringing on Monday evening at the tower to which I had gone on Saturday but hadn't rung. It turned out that several of the usual ringers were unable to come that evening so it was quite useful that I had turned up.

Although I had revised both Cambridge and Yorkshire Major we actually only rang Doubles methods, with a cover. However, they were nice bells and the company was good.

On Friday I am playing at a funeral and it happened that one of the ringers is due to toll the half-muffled tenor at the nearby church where the service will be held.

It is a small world.

Broken Stop

Yesterday the organ was playing up during the service. Afterwards, I investigated and found that the Great 4' flute stop could be pulled out, but was having no effect. As it is a mechanical action organ something in the linkage has broken. I think, that during the service it was starting to go and only pulling on half way; thus I heard out of tune pipes.

Saturday and Sunday

I happened to go to a branch ringing meeting yesterday (not my branch) which - as usual - started late (this time due to a partial 'lockout') and at which there was much chatter and not as much ringing as there could have been. I popped along to the next tower, where there was tea and cake, but didn't stop for the ringing as I was getting bored. The gap between the 2 towers is too long IMHO. I needed to get home and cook and hadn't actually planned to go to tower 2.

It made a pleasant change for someone actually to engage me in conversation and also to have a brief chat with 2 other people: this does not happen in my branch. I do not think my branch have even noticed I have stopped going.

I arrived at church today for the 0930 service and the bells were ringing. They had taken (oddly) to ringing from 0830 - 0900 because some ringers wanted to get on with other things on Sundays! Annoyingly, they did not stop ringing until one minute before the service and I was not going to compete with the bells by playing pre-service music. Grrr!

Younger Clergy

As a man of a certain age it has just struck me that most of the clergy I interact with are younger than I am: sometimes by a few years but sometimes by many years.

Reflecting on this I felt that my introduction to church was under the guidance of older (male) clergy and that I am probably not as willing to be taught and preached to by younger people. This is very reverse-ageist of me. I admit that, in the past, some older clergy have banged on in their sermons and I have thought them to be past their sell-by dates. Unfortunately, young clergy are full of new ideas. They are still enthusiastic about their beliefs and I am set in my ways.

Religion and brain wiring

Religion is all very well and I have spent my life in and around churches. Where it all goes wrong for me is that it is a 'one size fits all' concept. "Take your problems to the altar in prayer" and all that.

The idea that we are all imperfect (sinners) and probably going to hell - thus we are in need of a saviour - tells us that the cards are stacked against us to start with. Supposedly it was Adam and Eve who let evil into the world ('Since by Adam came death') but as I do not actually believe in Adam (and who exactly was there to record the conversation between Eve and the Serpent?) it does not follow that Adam is the cause of all our woes.

For those people whose minds are not 'wired up' correctly - for whatever medical reason - I do not see how religion is going to help. (Yes, I know I have posted on this before: I'm just having a hard time at present)

Comedy

It has been a hard day. Nothing much to say on any topic today expect that a "Dinner Ladies" sketch popped up on Facebook about a person in authority questioning the ethnic background of a character and it raised a laugh, not a resignation.