cornetdeschats

It's enormously interesting to read the replies to this topic - I note that the original brief was a strict 8 stop maximum. For my part, in a 150-seater church, I would be happy with: Swell Oboe 8' Fifteenth 2' Principal 4' Open Diapason 8' Octave Suboctave Great Flute 4' Stopped Diapason 8' Gamba 8' Octave Pedal Bourdon 16' Voicing is everything of course ...

That would be fantastic, Nigel! The church is a fairly large one, and she will be entering through the west door, so I could start when she arrives in the porch and have her set off down the aisle a page or so later I suppose.

Dear all, I've had a request for something like Zadok the Priest for the bridal entrance - sadly there's no choir, so I need something similar perhaps in period/texture, building towards a similar climax ... I rather ran out of ideas Much appreciated as ever

I've never understood how "Gloria in excelsis Deo" could become "Glory to God in the highest," but now we have the further imposition of, "and on earth peace to Wh of good will." What has 'good will' got to do with it?' I don't know personally, perhaps one day you can give the heavenly host a talking to about clarity of expression, but this is exactly what it says at Luke 2.14. The original Greek has Δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις θεῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς εἰρήνη ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκίας - that last word eudokia is in the genitive, it is accurate to translate 'among men of good will', hence the Latin translation Gloria in excelsis/altissimis deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. Latin had to resort to the adjective bonus - good and voluntas for will to translate eudokia, but once again it is very clearly in the genitive - to men of good will. Quite what this expression means is subject to endless debate - whose goodwill exactly, God's?, their own? hence translations like 'peace, goodwill towards men' - but it seems perverse to criticise its inclusion in the mass as it is a better rendering of the original scripture.

Dear all, I have just been asked whether any of our chapels and cathedrals have different traditions for Matins and Evensong - and I half remember being told that certain colleges leave out canticles etc, but can't for the life of me remember whether this is true, or which ones if it is.

I'm just starting to play again after a period of absence, and reviewing my old hoping to learn from reactions I have received from members of the congregation as I rejuvenate my repertoire and look for new pieces to add. I have always had excellent reactions to Mendelssohn - hence I'm currently beavering away at the Preludes and Fugues, but fairly frosty ones to Karg Elert. What pieces or composers have your congregations loved and hated? (hoping to pick up some tips here)

So, I've got an audition for a post on Saturday, and it suddenly occurred to me that it's been a very long time since I auditioned for anything. The brief is to choose two contrasting pieces, and I was planning on a Bach prelude, to contrast with which I was thinking of a lush romantic elegy - any thoughts on this? My supposition had been that candidates would generally choose the most technically advanced pieces they could play, and that it would perhaps be striking to hear a simpler piece, none the less offering a substantial contrast to the Bach ... Would very much appreciate advice - particularly if you have been in the position of auditioning candidates.

Dear all, Does anyone know how to get hold of a copy of this piece arranged for organ? There are plenty of recordings out there so I must just be being a little dense. I would very much appreciate any pointers ... Ta

Once again an attempt to keep the English translation as close as possible to the original language ("Nun danket alle Gott") and keep to the same tune.

Of course, in order to prove that this argument was actually invented by Classicists, one would need at least one reference comparing English usage to Latin grammar on this particular point. As you say in Latin and Greek the infinitive cannot possibly be split, so I would be intrigued to find such an argument. In German, where there is a similar "full infinitive" with zu, and so it would be in theory possible to have a split infinitive, these have always been considered completely ungrammatical. It does seem more likely to me that the 19th Century reappraisal of the split infinitive may have been influenced as much by German as by Romance languages. Apparently the KJ does not contain a single example, and Shakespeare only one ...

Now I can't resist wading in here (being a lowly teacher). The use of 'And ...' here is in an attempt to render the original Greek which features the particle 'de' (and/but ... pretty difficult to translate faithfully) at the start (always second word) of most new sentences viz. Ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις ἐξῆλθεν δόγμα παρὰ Καίσαρος Αὐγούστου ἀπογράφεσθαι πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην. In the vulgate, in this particular example, it appears as 'autem' (however) viz. factum est autem in diebus illis exiit edictum a Caesare Augusto ut describeretur universus orbis. The King James plumps for 'And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.' More modern translations use 'Now ...'. I notice French translations render this 'Or ...' and German ones generally '... aber ...' Greek is also enormously fond of beginning sentences with kai (and/even ... this time without an implication of contrast), such as in the next couple of verses of Luke 2.3 καὶ ἐπορεύοντο πάντες ἀπογράφεσθαι, ἔκαστος εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ πόλιν. 4 Ἀνέβη δὲ καὶ Ἰωσὴφ ἀπὸ τῆς Γαλιλαίας ἐκ πόλεως Ναζαρὲτ εἰς τὴν Ἰουδαίαν εἰς πόλιν Δαυεὶδ ἥτις καλεῖται Βηθλεἐμ, διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν ἐξ οἴκου καὶ πατριᾶς Δαυείδ, which the KJ faithfully translates: And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) The King James tries very hard to be faithful to the original Greek (which is why NT Greek is such a pleasure to read if you've enough KJ floating around your head). Consequently it might be unwise to cite the KJ as an example of English grammar - although it may well have shaped many generations' understanding of correct usage.

Which one of us could resist this beautiful "Antique Regency Mahogany Music Cabinet with Pipe Organs". Have a close look at the pipes ... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Antique-Regency-Maho...#ht_2566wt_1141

I was just wondering whether anyone has experience of this instrument. It certainly looks impressive on npor ...

Lots of nice pieces therein, although come to think of it, there is, surely, absolutely no way any of them could be played on an instrument such as the one used for the cover illustration ...

Dear all, Many thanks for the last set of suggestions. Now a new one for you. I've been asked to suggest an easy and fun-to-sing Latin christmas carol. Any suggestions? It would have to be suitable for a whole class - I found that il est ne was a fantastic solution, with the drone 'il est ne, il est ne' for, well, the droners. All suggestions very much appreciated. C-d-C