Saturday 27 June 2015

Nidaros ordo

Sunday 28 June. Fourth Sunday after Trinity. Commemoration of Saint Leo, pope and confessor. Anthem after Compline: Ave regina celorum.
Monday 29. SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, apostles, greater double. Sub tuum presidium.
Tuesday 30. Commemoration of St Paul, apostle, semidouble. O florens rosa.
Wednesday 1 July. Octave day of St John the Baptist. Alma redemptoris mater.
Thursday 2. VISITATION OF MARY, summum. Ave stella matutina.
Friday 3. Feria VI. Com. Ss Processus and Martinian. Mundi domina.
Saturday 4. Sabbath. Com. Translation of St Martin, bishop and confessor. Salve regina.

The Feast of Ss Peter & Paul has a Vigil, which I wasn't sure what to do with. Probably it was anticipated on Saturday (27 June).

Friday 26 June 2015

Radio epiphanies

How many of your most electrifying listening experiences came from the radio, and especially from the BBC? I think immediately of Ian Holm and Bill Nighy in the Tower of Cirith Ungol; of my first encounters with St Hildegard of Bingen, Kate Bush and Anaïs Mitchell; of a great session by Richard Thompson around 1991; of the 'Habemus Papam' in 2005; of Vent, of Crisp and Even Brightly, of Genghis Khan was a Cowboy too (award yourself five points if you remember any of those!); of all those Festive Fifties and Radio Ballads and Desert Islands.

And how rarely does one get the opportunity to thank the authors of these airwave epiphanies?

Well, some years ago (six, if the BBC website is to be believed), Choral Evensong was broadcast from Manchester Cathedral, and the anthem was Haydn's Salve regina. I wouldn't call myself the world's biggest Haydn fan (even if, heretically, I do prefer him to Mozart), but this was a spectacular performance, not least by the soprano soloist, and I made a mental note of the singer's name before filing it wherever it is mental notes get filed.

Then on Wednesday evening I went along to St Magnus Cathedral for a concert by the Marian Consort. Why do I know that name? I wondered; why do I know that voice? Then the penny dropped. One member of that magnificent ensemble was the Haydn soloist: Ruth Provost. It was a really marvellous concert: all Latin texts in honour of the BVM, interleaving Spanish Renaissance settings with contemporary compositions. Often these programmes can end up with a final score along the lines of Renaissance 12 Modernity 0, but in this case, with wonderful works by Andreas Panufnik and Judith Weir inter alia, it came out as a high scoring draw. I'd say it was one of the best concerts I've heard in the Cathedral, comparable with the Cardinall's Musick and Trio Medieval.

And I got a chance to say thank you for one of my radio epiphanies.

Saturday 20 June 2015

Nidaros ordo

Sunday 21 June. Third Sunday after Trinity. Commemoration of Saint Leofred, abbot. Anthem after Compline: Ave regina celorum.
Monday 22. St Alban, martyr, three lessons. Sub tuum presidium.
Tuesday 23. VIGIL OF THE NATIVITY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST. At Mass, com. St Etheldreda, virgin not a martyr. Alma redemptoris mater.
Wednesday 24. NATIVITY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST, summum. Rogamus te.
Thursday 25. Feria V. Ave stella matutina.
Friday 26. Ss John and Paul, martyrs, three lessons. Mundi domina.
Saturday 27. Sabbath. Salve regina.

Saint Leofred (Leufroy), Abbot of St-Croix, is not terribly well known, but Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira found him to be a man after his own heart. Is that a good thing? You decide.

Sorry to be so slow in catching up with these posts. I have been (among other places) here:

Sunday 14 June 2015

Nidaros ordo

Sunday 14 June. Second Sunday after Trinity. Commemoration of Saint Basil, bishop and confessor. Anthem after Compline: Ave regina celorum.
Monday 15. Ss Vitus and Modestus, martyrs, three lessons. Sub tuum presidium.
Tuesday 16. Feria III. O florens rosa.
Wednesday 17. St Botolph, abbot, single. Rogamus te.
Thursday 18. Ss Marcellian and Mark, martyrs, three lessons. Ave stella matutina.
Friday 19. Ss Gervase and Prothase, martyrs, three lessons. Mundi domina.
Saturday 20. Sabbath. Salve regina.

Last week I numbered the Sunday 'after Pentecost', but in fact the Nidaros Breviary numbers them 'after Trinity'.

Saturday 6 June 2015

Nidaros ordo

Sunday 7 June. Sunday in the Octave of Corpus Christi. Commemoration of Second Sunday after Pentecost. Anthem after Compline: Ave regina celorum.
Monday 8. Saints Medard and Gildard, bishops, three lessons. Com. Oct. Corp. Sub tuum presidium.
Tuesday 9. Ss Primus and Felician, martyrs, three lessons. Com. Oct. Corp. O florens rosa.
Wednesday 10. Feria IV in Oct. Corp. Rogamus te.
Thursday 11. St Barnabas, apostle, semidouble. Com. Oct. Corp. Ave stella matutina.
Friday 12. St Basilides and his companions, martyrs, three lessons. Mundi domina.
Saturday 13. Sabbath. Salve regina.

St Barnabas and the Octave day of Corpus Christi are both semidoubles. I tossed a coin. There may be a rubric somewhere to cover this occurrence, but I have yet to find it.