Christmas grows increasingly closer!

As planning the music for Christmas starts, for me, in the summer holidays each year it's good to see the plans slowly becoming reality! We've quite a lot on our plates once again and I cannot stress how important it is to attend our Tuesday evening practices between now and Midnight Mass and the concert. All of us play a part in what is very much a team effort when it comes to the occasions when we sing. Please do your utmost to ensure that you know, and are comfortable with, the music that you will be singing. Over to you. Tony

Christmas Concert - posters and tickets

For the second year running I have had a small quantity of posters professionally produced to advertise our Christmas Concert. Are you in a position to put one or two up in local places of reasonable foot-fall? It is always good to encourage people to attend and participate in our endeavours - it's also a great form of outreach for our church. Proceeds to our SVP group again.

Tickets, as in 2011, will only be £2 each and include mulled wine and a mince pie in the hall afterwards. Jeannette will handle ticket sales with you, and you will once again receive five tickets each to sell. We'll also place some in the Repository, and make them available to parishioners after the Saturday vigil and Sunday Masses over the weekend of 8th/9th December.

Poly Choir pre-Christmas Offer

After ten years of support for the Polyphony Choir and its Website Jupp Fine Jewellery are delighted to offer a 10% discount on all pre-Christmas orders. Click HERE for your Voucher Code Coupon details

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor 1875-1912

As we approach the end of the centenary of our famous local composer's death, HERE is a link to YouTube with organist Monty Bennett playing his Impromptu No.1, one of a very small number of delightful works from Coleridge-Taylor's œuvre that he composed specifically for the organ.

We will be singing Coleridge-Taylor's fine anthem O ye that love the Lord on the 1st Sunday of Advent.

Daniel Battle

As some of you may know, Daniel and Amie are expecting their third (a brother or sister to William and Aoife) this month. Daniel is currently seeking a new post in Ireland, and I'm sure you will join me in wishing them well on both counts.

This month's quiz question

In what year was the Choir Gallery that we sing from built? Answers in an email to Tony to go into the hat at the end of November.

Before our Gallery there was an organ loft that extended about as far from the back wall as the front pillars supporting the current organ pipe-work, and it was accessed by a spiral staircase from the porch!! The little organ (which supported our singing in those very early years) had one keyboard, no pedals and very little sound, and stood with its back to the wall where the current music archive is housed. Believe it or not I am still in touch with people who not only remember the old loft but also sung from it! At least one member of our Choir........

Last month's picture-quiz question was only answered by two people by email: both of them were correct in identifying the statue as being one of St. Bartholomew, but Richard was first out of the hand!

Continue your prayers please.....

.. for Jeannette SR, Maria and Mary E and also Anne Rowntree.

Hymns for 2013

Does anyone have any favourite traditional Catholic hymns that they feel we either don't sing, or don't sing enough? O bread of heaven comes to my mind immediately, and perhaps in this Year of Faith we might dig out Full in the panting heart of Rome? Do let Tony know if you think of any other hymns that may be worthy of revival.

The Vatican has a Web site dedicated to the Year of Faith HERE.

2014 Venture

I had just one reply to my request for thoughts about a short overseas trip in 2014 - fortunately it came from a Tenor!!................ Any more? See last month's issue for a reminder.

And finally.....

A 'thank you' to David for happily augmenting our group of Cantors.

A huge thank you to everyone for continuing to arrive in time for a very prompt 8pm start on Tuesdays. Frantic from here on.......!!!

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