A Scandal in Bohemia

The acclaimed period-instrument ensemble The Harmonious Society of Tickle-Fiddle Gentlemen announce a new London concert.

June 29 (Sunday), 7:00pm at the Grosvenor Chapel in Mayfair, South Audley Street. Tickets are £10 or £7.50 concession.

Have some fun with this:

http://www.elsewhere.org/pomo

Each time you load the page it generates a new post-modern academic article.

I honestly believe that you could get some of these published...

C.

I will certainly try to do my bit as part of the Wilberforce rememberance events.  The best way to start seems to be enjoying some ‘William Wilberforce Freedom Ale'. Check out this site: http://www.westerhambrewery.co.uk/

Naturally, it's fair trade too! A great way to liven up your pastorate!

I can't wait to try it.

Among countless other things, I'm ever so grateful to Nicky Gumbel for his talk and booklet about the Da Vinci code. As best I could, I've tried to commit it to memory - and that has come in handy many times. As many of you know, once people find out you're a Christian, they often drag out some story about some rather bizarre and/or obscure Christian theories, and as we were reminded in that talk, we need to 'be prepared'.

This tacky and oafish practice now seems to be de rigeur when singing the national anthem at football matches. Leaving aside any technical merits of the anthem itself, replacing the final diatonic descent of 3-2-1 (over I-V-I) with the clumsy ascent of 3-5-8 ruins the arch-like overall shape of the melody. Instead of the descending conjunct resolution, singers are replacing it with two awkward ascending intervals - a minor third and then a perfect fourth.

What do you think of this very German and very modern church building?


More photos here:
http://figure-ground.com/travel/ image.php?herz-jesu-kirche

Website (in German) here: http://www.herzjesu-muenchen.de/

Who is Judee Sill?

In this age of shallow and plastic pop music with a lifespan of the common housefly (X factor anyone?), it might be hard to think back to the golden age when homely and even ugly people (at least in the eyes of the music-industry moguls) could start successful careers in pop music. One of the forgotten jewels of the popular-music scene in California at the end of the 60s and in the early 70s is Judee Sill. All songs mentioned here can be heard and downloaded legally and free here: < http://www.webnoir.com/bob/music/ >. These are live recordings.

My motivation for writing this a curious article that recently appeared in Harper's magazine [http://www.harpers.org/ ScaredStraight.html]. The article is about highly-controversial organsiation called 'Refuge' (which has already fallen foul of Cultwatch).

Among their catalogue of alarming tactics is that they forbid music that is 'not expressly Christian'. The shocker is that they include 'Bach, Beethoven, etc' in this category. Now, if Bach is not the most expressly Christian composer of all time (and he's certainly the best), then who is?

No, not those awful books that skilfully combine bad theology with fervent nationalism; I am one of those left behind from Home Focus! Missus Comenius is there soaking up the seaside vibe and feeding herself on, er, the finest cuisine Pontin's has to offer.  Soon I'll be heading off to Poland and the to the Czech Republic for matters musical. 
My version of 'Out of Focus' will be either watching the under-19 footie championship or Porridge reruns.  Either way, the forecast is bleak when you are 'left behind'; alas!

This Holy Week some people may wish to hear any one of the many performances of one (or both!) of J. S. Bach's two surviving Passion settings. Try to if you can, or at least add some to your iPod or home listening. If you don't know these works, you might try to start with St John (my personal favourite). Many scholars and other 'Bach experts' prefer St Matthew because it is more operatic in style and scope. St John, however, strikes me as more personal and, for it's worth, more beautiful. Don't be put off by the German language, it's a piece of cake to follow with a good translation. Below are a few listening ideas for a single aria from Bach's St John Passion.