Music Newsletter Article 8/14/06 for Saint
Philip's
Music at Saint Philip's
As the Summer wanes, we look back briefly. With the choir on vacation,
our offertories were distinctly different. There were four Sundays
with an instrumental offering, and the rest had an additional hymn. We
enjoyed a special moment on June 25th when Ariel Utgoff shared an
arrangement for violin of Massenet's `Meditation' from the opera Thaïs.
With Fall nearly upon us, we will soon welcome back our choir at the
10AM service on September 10th. Will we be able to celebrate a 10th
member? Thursday night rehearsals resumed August 31rst. These take
place most Thursday nights from 7:15-8:45 PM in the Parish Hall. Come
sing with us. We are blessed with seven female and two male voices. I
add my voice too from time to time. Several more male voices would be
especially helpful. All are welcome. We will be offering motets,
spirituals, classical choruses, and an eclectic collection of anthems
of different periods and styles.
Do you have any requests for the choir? Two of our anthems last season
were by request, with a third carrying over to this Fall. Speaking of
requests, are there any hymns that you would especially like to sing?
Only two such requests come to mind. With more than 700 hymns
available, it is possible that we have not gotten to your favorite
recently enough. Is there a piece for the organ that you would like to
hear? Would you like to make a musical offering yourself? Are their
other genres (musical styles and traditions) that you would enjoy?
The Fall season will include several larger preludes and postludes. We
will hear Bach's Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue in C major with
its long beautiful pedal solo, and his well known Toccata and Fugue in
D minor (often associated with the maniacal, not that Bach had that in
mind). We will also hear Lübeck's Prelude and Fugue in G minor, with
double pedal, and the Allegro from Widor's Sixth Organ Symphony
(postponed from May).
Paul Utgoff
Music Director
Last
Updated: June 8, 2007
128 Main Street (Rt 10), Easthampton, MA 01027
Tel: (413) 527-0862 Email: music@saintphilipseasthampton.org