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St. Mary Magdalene

Ave Verum Corpus: a silver lining story

This is the true story of a little piece of music called ‘Ave Verum Corpus’. If you are a fan of choral music, you’ll probably be familiar with the text ‘Ave Verum Corpus’. If you sing in a choir, you might have performed settings by Mozart, William Byrd, or Elgar.  ‘Ave Verum Corpus’ was the first piece that I wrote for the Gallery Choir of the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene back in March 2007, and it’s a classic tale of ‘a cloud with a silver lining’. On a dark Thursday night, one of those monstrous March snowstorms descended on… Read More »Ave Verum Corpus: a silver lining story

Menno mosso: 60 years of singing

This afternoon in the sleepy, golden-leafed village of St. Jacob’s Ontario, Menno Singers presents the first concert in their anniversary season. This particular event will shine a spotlight on Abner Martin (my Dad) who founded this choir 60 years ago. In the early years of the choir’s formation, they sang renaissance polyphony. In those days it was common practice to sing Latin motets in English translation. (Even at St. Mary Magdalene’s the choral library is full of anglicized versions of the renaissance classics.) My Dad says one of the principal inspiration for him was in fact not recordings of choral music, but… Read More »Menno mosso: 60 years of singing

Drop slow tears

Since Easter is only 4 weeks away, I’ve changed the choral music “free download” button on this website. Fairbank Music is no longer going to be publishing general choral music . So the copyright has expired, and this piece is, for the time being “out of print.” So it’s my gift to you for this month. You can feel guilt free to download it and copy it for your choir. I’ve also included an MP3 recording of St. Mary Magdalene’s lovely choir singing this live in the church. I would love to know if you will be performing it with… Read More »Drop slow tears

Set it free

Several years ago UtReMi kindly published my piece for flute, oboe and choir – a setting of the well-known Biblical passage “God so loved the World.” I wrote the piece for Father Tay Moss who helped me settle in when I first came to St. Mary Magdalene’s and needed help understanding the rich and complex liturgical tradition there. This piece was for Holy Cross day, September 14, 2007. Since that time, UtReMi publishers have ceased operations. Rather than having the piece lost in the limbo between published and unpublished, I asked their permission to set it free and offer it… Read More »Set it free

Candlemas

Music for Candlemas: free score for you

You’ll know it as “Groundhog Day.” It’s a turning point in the year surrounded with Northern mythology, like the Celtic folk tale of the Blue Hag, or the more down-to-earth Canadian legend of the rodent who sees his shadow and returns to his lair for 40 days. The Church of St. Mary Magdalene celebrates Mary presenting her baby to Simeon in the temple. The service involves a beautiful procession with candles and lovely music like the Nunc Dimittis. It’s sort of the last remnant of the Christmas season, and you have to eat all your left over plum pudding by… Read More »Music for Candlemas: free score for you

blessing the door 2013

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

Sacred Feast

Sacred feast?

       We had just come from singing the morning service at the Anglican church in Picton, on Canada Day, 2012, when the Gallery Choir stopped at this sunlit restaurant at Huff Estate Winery in Prince Edward County. We continued on to the house of generous friends and swam in Lake Ontario before returning home to Toronto. This event was emblematic of  this group of people. We have worked fairly hard at singing marvelous choral music, but there has always been a more profound element to this group. We have formed friendships that are enriched by music-making and we… Read More »Sacred feast?