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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> - <strong>July</strong>/<strong>August</strong> <strong>2023</strong> 5 <strong>The</strong> associate vicar's letter Dear Friends, You may be aware of the phrase ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks!’ Despite referring to the training of dogs, it is also a phrase that people use too to describe themselves. Well, I am not sure this phrase is entirely true of dogs – my own dog doesn’t know many tricks but she is still able to learn some things at the age of 8 – but it certainly isn’t true of people. I am not suggesting I am old, but I am a lot older than my son who can often learn new things a lot more quickly than I can. However, over half term I learnt a lot of new things <strong>and</strong> I even sat an exam; my first exam since 2002. My son <strong>and</strong> I have needed to do the Grade 5 Music <strong>The</strong>ory exam for a while in order to do a singing exam at a higher grade, but we couldn’t seem to motivate ourselves. So in May, I booked us on a ‘Grade 0-5 in 2 days’ course which we enjoyed so much that we are also attempting our Grade 8 theory exams along with our singing in November! <strong>The</strong> experience was a positive one for me, partly because I love to learn <strong>and</strong> also because it has been a long time since I studied music. Music can be incredibly powerful <strong>and</strong> is important to many people. It could be a certain piece of music reminds you of an event or period in your life, such as a first dance at a wedding, a childhood favourite, or a piece played at the funeral of a loved one. It can affect our mood <strong>and</strong> we may listen to different music depending on how we feel at the time. Whether it makes us laugh or cry, whether it energises us or relaxes us, I think most of us will be able to recognise the special place music has in our lives. STRONG MUSIC TRADITION At St Andrew’s we are blessed with a strong musical tradition <strong>and</strong> music is still a central part of our worship. Hannah, our music director, leads our adult <strong>and</strong> junior choirs as well as teaching our organ scholar. We sing hymns, we sometimes sing parts of the liturgy, <strong>and</strong> music is woven into the fibre of our worship. We also worship with more modern music at our Family Service <strong>and</strong> Sunday at Six where there is a worship b<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> sing less formally at Messy Church <strong>and</strong> in school collective worship. <strong>The</strong> words are important of course, but so is the music itself <strong>and</strong> has been composed with worshipping God in mind. Using music in worship is something that has occurred for millennia. In the Psalms in the Old Testament we see a series of songs, many accredited to King David, which tell of the glory of God <strong>and</strong> the wonder of creation. We also see references to playing various musical instruments. In the early church there appears to have been some debate about the place of musical instruments in churches, but over the years a strong musical tradition developed in Eucharistic services (also known as Mass or Holy Communion), as well as other choral services such as Evensong which is still widely held at cathedrals <strong>and</strong> churches, including St Andrew’s. Alongside this, there is the tradition of chanting which developed in monasteries <strong>and</strong> other religious communities, which again is still used today. If you are interested in church music, I would encourage you to look at our church website at the variety of services we have, although do bear in mind that in <strong>August</strong> we have a reduced choir <strong>and</strong> usual sung services resume in September. A DEEP JOY This summer I would like to encourage us all to reflect on the music that means a lot to us. <strong>The</strong> songs we turn to when we are happy, sad or afraid. Perhaps the songs we avoid or switch off if they come on the radio. In the covid restrictions, when we couldn’t sing in church, there was a tangible change in atmosphere <strong>and</strong>, for most, a deep joy when we could finally raise our voices again in song. Let’s not take the power of music for granted <strong>and</strong> be more mindful of how it affects us <strong>and</strong> what it means to us <strong>and</strong> our relationships; with God, if you have a faith, <strong>and</strong> with one another. With love <strong>and</strong> prayers Kate