Happy Easter
Just in time for Easter, here is our Pax Christi video. Two previous blogs refer to this, so I am very pleased to present it to you, hot off the press, with best wishes for a happy and healthy Eastertide. Now the Queen of Seasons
composition performed
Passion and Peace: Q and A with Susan Mahoney
Pax Christi Chorale is putting the finishing touches on our Spring concert “Passion and Peace” coming up on April 26 in Kitchener and April 27 in Toronto. We’re performing Jean Langlais’ Missa Salve Regina, Faure’s Messe Basse and Randall Thompson’s Peaceable KIngdom. Here’s a short interview with Susan Mahoney about the repertoire. Q – All of the music in this concert was composed in the 20th century. Why did you want to move away from the Bach-Mozart-Handel canon? There’s room on the dance floor for everyone. Not every choir will take musical chances like Pax Christi does. That’s why… Read More »Passion and Peace: Q and A with Susan Mahoney
Adieu 2013
2013 was a step up from annus horribilis 2012. My annual New Year’s Eve party usually involves Haggis and pagan rituals: a dark stranger, coins, whisky and coal. This year Fr Tay Moss blessed my house with the works, holy water and all. During the infamous Toronto ice storm I lost power for two days. Thank goodness for Bruce Hill’s stubbornness! He insisted on installing a gas stove when we moved here in 1998, not for heating mind you, but for efficient cooking. Boiling up cinnamon spiced water filled the house with Christmas fragrance throughout the dark and chilly episode,… Read More »Adieu 2013
Composer’s craft
Voces Capituli, a men’s choir in Antwerp, have been singing my music for a while in their beautiful church in Belgium. They took some of my liturgical music on tour to Rome this summer. I have never met any of them, but I correspond with their conductor, Dirk Maes, and he sent me this photo of St. Laurence church where they sing regularly, on the other side of the world. Many of the men in the choir are former choirboys at the cathedral in Antwerp. Needless to say they are all grown up now and have their own website. Click… Read More »Composer’s craft
What is a hymn?
I suppose you cannot really understand what a hymn is all about unless you’ve had a personal encounter with a hymn, maybe singing with hundreds of people in a vast cathedral to the visceral accompaniment of a mighty organ, or maybe picking out the notes on your ancient piano on a quiet Sunday evening with your sister singing alto to your soprano. If you’ve ever been singing a hymn and had a moment where the music just gets to you, and a few of the notes choke your voice just a bit, and you have to pretend nothing happened but… Read More »What is a hymn?
Free Christmas download
Yes, it is a bit absurd that I’m posting a free Christmas piece on August 17, but leaders of choral organizations all over the musical world need to plan their repertoire far ahead of time. They have to choose music far in advance to plan thematic programmes, to provide material for press releases, to order music in time to rehearse and perform concerts and church services. I’m giving you “Portinari Nativity” four months ahead of time since I figure it will not be published, and you can really only sing it once a year, and I want you to have… Read More »Free Christmas download
No place like home
This summer in Britain offered up many profound delights: walking the ancient pilgrim road to Canterbury with my sister; hearing Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius performed magnificently in Gloucester cathedral; listening to Arvo Part in the dark at the tomb of Edward II; standing in the yard for Shakespeare at The Globe Theatre; standing in the gallery in the Royal Albert Hall for Wagner’s Die Walkure; meeting up with choir friends from Ottawa and Toronto; travelling to Tewkesbury for the Jongen Mass; seeing Vermeer at the National Gallery; hiking the Malverns with Shawn and Dave; experiencing Billy Budd at Glyndebourne with… Read More »No place like home
The blog days of summer
Out of the blue, while holidaying in the fabulous fresh air of friendly British Columbia, I received an email from England. Tomorrow I’ll be going down to a Toronto studio to be interviewed for a BBC 4 radio show about Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius. That’s all because of this blog and my posts about that composer. So, I keep on blogging, even though here, on a weekend break with my parents, the Ontario summer is so hot and humid one can barely summon the strength to lift a cold beer. Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to hearing a couple of my… Read More »The blog days of summer
April update
Now that Easter is past I want to update you on some musical adventures in April. It’s a busy month, so if you’re interested in keeping in touch, here are some highlights for you. I’m always pleased to know when people are performing my music. I was particularly pleased to learn that St. Michael’s Choir school will be singing my little devotional anthem “Tantum Ergo” in Rome, and maybe even for the Pope if he isn’t too busy to hear the boys sing a concert for him in the Sistine chapel. My friend Teri Dunn conducts the choir and she’ll… Read More »April update
Schola goes modern
What do Emily Walker, Meghan Bunce, Maurice Durufle, Perotin and Hildegard have in common? Honestly I can not say for sure, but on February 7 and 8 we are going to perform works by these diverse composers that span a thousand years, thousands of miles and many generations of musical ideas and styles. It’s an interesting experiment, and it was Glen Buhr’s idea to bring us together with some young composers who would write new music for us. We (Schola Magdalena,that is) are a group of women who sing a lot of Gregorian chant, polyphonic music written in the middle… Read More »Schola goes modern
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