Making Music at All Saints

We are fortunate to have an abundance of music at All Saints’. The complementary offerings of the Church Choir and the Worship Group mean that a wide range of musical tastes are catered for and that both ensembles – supported by the congregation – can indeed Praise the Lord in his mighty firmament, according to his surpassing greatness, accompanied by (metaphorically speaking) trumpets, lutes, harps, tambourines and clashing cymbals! Here John Taylor describes the Choir’s busy autumn programme, and Ruth Seedell writes about the Worship Group.

CHORAL NOTES
The period from September to the end of December is probably the busiest time of the year for the Choir, with festivals and special services following one another in rapid succession, with the need for additional rehearsals. Back to Church Sunday at the end of September prompted the choir to arrange an evening service of nine lessons (and hymns) based on the seasons of the Christian year from Advent to Trinity. We are grateful to all those who read lessons and to Helen for an inspired and inspiring address on “Kayaking and Christianity”.
There followed in October the annual gathering of Oxfordshire church choirs, organised by the Royal School of Church Music, to rehearse and sing Choral Evensong, this year at Dorchester Abbey. Some 300 singers gathered under the baton of Matthew Owens, Organist and Master of the Choristers at Wells Cathedral, with Charlotte Phillips, Organ Scholar at The Queen’s College, at the console. Many choirs in the diocese are about the same size as ours and essentially adult choirs (although there was a pleasing increase in the number of trebles, boys and girls, this year) and the mass gathering permits us to undertake challenging music that we could not accomplish on our own. This year’s service included a modern Introit, Psalm 150 to a setting by Stanford and his Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in B flat, plus Parry’s soaring anthem “I was glad when they said unto me”, composed for the coronation of Edward VII. Following regional rehearsals (in our case at St Peter’s, Didcot), a two-hour rehearsal prior to Evensong itself enabled our conductor finally to lick us into good shape, and the result was a thrilling musical climax in which, in the words of the psalmist, “Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord”.
Next came our anthem at Harvest Festival, and this will be followed by the anthems “The Church Triumphant” on All Saints’ Day and “If there is to be peace” on Remembrance Sunday. In December it will be on to the service of Nine Lessons and Carols and the services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
As well as singing at morning or evening celebrations of Holy Communion, we also regularly sing responses, psalm, “mag and nunc” at Evensong, including, when Paul is officiating, a series of contemporary settings of the psalms by Michael Mizgailo-Cayton.
With such a full programme new recruits to the choir are always welcome – if you feel so inclined do have a word with our organist Joy, who apart from marshalling our musical forces also ensures that the choir enjoys a range of social activities by way of relaxation! Our thanks to her for all she does. We are also grateful to Michael Barron, our roving liaison officer, who keeps us in touch with the latest developments in church choral music. Recently on our behalf he has attended a meeting of the Church Music Society at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, the AGM of the RSCM at Salisbury Cathedral, and a workshop at St Andrew’s, Oxford.
Our service on Back to Church Sunday concluded with John Harper’s musical setting of the Choristers’ Prayer. We say this prayer at the conclusion of our Thursday evening rehearsals, and it is often used by the priest when he dismisses the choir in the Pye Chapel at the conclusion of a service. For those unfamiliar with it, here are the words, which admirably sum up what making music in church is all about:
Bless, O Lord, us thy servants who minister in thy temple: Grant that what we sing with our lips we may believe in our hearts, and what we believe in our hearts we may shew forth in our lives. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen


THE WORSHIP GROUP

Enjoying and making music is another wonderful gift from God. It stirs the soul. What words make clear, music makes even clearer somehow. We need to remember that God has no preference for the style of music we bring to Him. He accepts our offerings from our hearts and then ALL our music brings glory to Him.
The Worship Group has had a lovely year. We enjoy working together and feel very privileged to be part of shaping our weekly worship. From time to time we welcome other young people who join when they can. Our practices usually conclude with prayer time, based on whatever is in our hearts.
Our aim, after bringing glory to God, is to support worship by using music of a more contemporary style. The congregation is given the opportunity to share in reflective music for our communion services, if they wish. We support children’s ministry in the teaching and learning of good quality fun songs.
We have introduced a few Doug Horley songs this year – those we feel have modern catchy tunes and “sound” words. “Saints Alive” services give us the opportunity to learn and teach a new song with our young people in mind. Sometimes this is a challenge! – We are not a rock band but we do our best!
We always have something new we are working on and are slowly increasing our repertoire. We are always looking for new material, so if you have any ideas please tell us.