A Talk about Polyphony

I gave a talk at the Church of St Mary of the Rosary, Forest Hall at 7.30pm on Tuesday 26 February. The title was "More than One Voice - the Development of Polyphony in Liturgical Music 1300-1600".

I illustrated the talk with recordings of music by Machaut, Dufay, Josquin, Palestrina and Victoria and even included an extract from Pftizner's opera "Palestrina".

Sunday Mass at Longbenton

I am very happy that we now have a regular slot singing for the monthly Latin Mass (Missal of Blessed John XXIII) at the Church of SS Peter and Paul Longbenton. This Mass started in December and there were one or two teething problems (lack of a choir gallery; noisy heating v no heating) but they seem to be being ironed out.

The Church is a bit of a barn dating from the 1960s but it does still look like a Church and has a usable High Altar with a Tabernacle behind it. The acoustics are good for singing. There is an organ, which although electronic, has two manuals and pedals and both our organists are happy with it.

The attendance, whilst not large, has been steady and has included not only regular Latin Mass people but also people from the parish, which is very gratifying to see.

On Sunday (Quinquagesima) we sang the Mass "Orbis Factor" and the Rossini Propers apart from the Offertory, which I sang to the Chant from the Liber Usualis. Peter Locke played the organ, accompanying the Ordinary of the Mass and providing organ interludes.