I set off to drive to St German's this morning at half past nine, to be sure to arrive early enough to let the RWCMD choir inro rhw hall for an hour's rehearsal before singing the Byrd four part Mass setting and Ave Verum Corpus motet at Mass. Together with the choir there were forty five in the congregation. The whole serve went off without a hitch, and the choir sang remarkably well considering how little rehearsal time they's had. It was wonderful to see their eyes sparkle with achievement when it was over. It was a festive day which everyone took great pleasure in, despite going for for twenty minutes longer than usual. This particular Byrd Mass setting and Motet I recall from Geneva days, and found it very moving to hear sung in an English Victorian Gothic church with the perfect acoustic for renaissance polyphony.
I recorded the whole service on my little digital dictating machine. It wasn't placed in the best position, and when I heard the playback I didn't think it was going to be of any use, but after editing it in 'Audacity' it was adequate for sharing with the musicians. With me learning by doing, getting the edit done took up a couple of hours in the afternoon. I'll probably have another go at it before turning it into a YouTube video.
A mother and her five year old boy were in church. They came while I was away, asking about Baptism for the boy, and came today to fix a date with me. I'm pleased that as the family group is small, they want the christening to be during the Sunday Mass rather than after it. That's a first for me at St German's, and it will be the four I've done since the summer. The little boy was very calm, attentive and well. We went and looked at the font and discussed how Baptism would be done.
He began to talk with understanding about what was going to be done to him - he told me that Jesus was baptised and he wanted the same. He knew the basic Gospel story learned in school, but also from watching videos of the life of Jesus at home, and spoke simply about Jesus being put on a cross, dying, buried and rising again. It seemed clear that he had taken to heart what he learned and identified with the story. I was amazed by this. Clearly his knowledge was not acquired parrot fashion. This christening will be far from routine, because of the child and his parents, who have nurtured him well.
I got home for lunch a half past one, and after editing the sound file from the service, went for a walk around the park at four. It was dark by the time I got back. The Taff is swollen and with the amont of rain we're getting, plus wind, it's likely to get higher still.
Clare made a special effort to get some sweets in for 'trick-or-treaters', and we had two visitors doing the evening, utterly charming and polite. Somehow I expected more, and we have several young families in our neighbourhood these days, with the changing demographic.
After supper, we watched a fascinating David Attenborough wildlife programme called 'The Mating Game', then it was time to reflect and wind down after a marvellous day, moving in many ways. Ziwei Gao has finished her course, and goes home next week. This morning was her first and only opportunity for a non-concert liturgical performance of a Mass setting in the way it was intended to be used. I just wish that I'd made better preparations to record it.
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