A reflection from December 16, 2019 by John Rutter [Ken Gray] It is now ten years since the death of Sir David Wilcocks, organist, conductor, composer/arranger, and college administrator. One of my great pleasures as a student at the Royal College of Music from 1977-1979 was singing in the RCM chorus which Sir David conducted ... Continue Reading →
It is indeed ages since I have read or heard this poem. A marvellous presentation by Louis Armstrong (Sachmo). Not sure of the piano accompanist but might have been Marian McPartland. Brilliant and sensitive playing. Other great seasonal links in the Youtube comments and description. Happy Christmas to all. https://youtu.be/cmt2TZWGoO8
More original fiction from your humble scribe โI know weโre not all here yet, but letโs start anyway,โ Gladys announced. โThe others will arrive soon, I hope.โ Awkwardly spaced between uncomfortable pews, we gathered upstairs in the church sanctuary, an uncomfortable though convenient rehearsal space, huddled around the one-manual, four-stop pipe organ donated by someone,... Continue Reading →
It is hard to identify to which English carols Robert Herrick (1591-1674) refers in his nativity text, What Sweeter Music: What sweeter music can we bringThan a carol, for to singThe birth of this our heavenly King?Awake the voice! Awake the string! When children would reach for their stockingsAnd open the presents they foundThe lights... Continue Reading →
Pianist-composer Fazฤฑl Say premieres his 'Mother Earth' Piano Concerto with the Philharmonic Orchestra this weekend Days before itโs London premiere, Turkish pianist-composer Fazฤฑl Say talks about his powerful Piano Concerto 'Mother Earth' - a work inspired by the climate crisis and the urgent need to protect our planet. The work premieres Sunday 30 November with... Continue Reading →
Feel free to complete the phrase above with the response: โHere followeth the anthem.โ Since the Anglican Book of Common Prayer of 1549 the rubric welcomes and encourages musical creativity and ability in the public services of Morning and Evening Prayer. Visitors to Anglican cathedrals and larger parish churches throughout the Anglican Communion may find... Continue Reading →
Philip Oltermann writing in The Guardian, Mon 17 Nov 2025 -- Click the original article to hear a partial performance and to see other images. Two long-lost organ pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach have been performed in Germany, roughly 320 years after the composer wrote them as a teenage music teacher. Entitled Chaconne in D... Continue Reading →
Ray Fletcher and I go back a long way, to the winter of 1983. We had both gone north to the Anglican Diocese of Yukon, Ray as a parish priest first in Atlin and later Dawson City. I arrived to join the Yukon Apostolate, an informal order of laity keen to serve the Church in... Continue Reading →
The report below suggests that in the Church of England at least, a growing number of congregations are moving in a โcongregationalโ direction. This means โlow churchโ where the preaching of the word is prioritized over the sacramental engagement with that Word that is God. Congregationalism also indicates less tolerance for uniformity in practice and... Continue Reading →
I first discovered the Rev. Lucy Winkett when she joined the staff of St. Paulโs Cathedral in London UK in 1997. There for many years, first as a minor canon and later as canon precentor she blazed the way for female clergy through what was then a exclusively male enclave. Years later than me she... Continue Reading →
Take Note - Reflections on life, music, politics, retirement and more by Ken Gray 