The Parish Magazine February 2024

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28 The Parish Magazine - February 2024 Please mention The Parish Magazine when responding to advertisements TAKE AWAY FISH AND CHIPS £10 BOOK A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT STAY WITH US. RECEIVE 15% OFF QUOTE THE CODE FST1845 The Bull Inn, Sonning on Thames Berkshire RG4 6UP, T: 0118 969 3901 e: bullinn@fullers.co.uk www.bullinnsonning.co.uk Gardiner’s Homecare is an established family business that has been serving the local community since 1968. Proudly supporting people to continue to enjoy living independent lives in their own homes for as long as possible. Our team of experienced care workers can provide help with personal care, medication, overnight stays, housework, companionship and much more. You will be assigned your own Care Manager who will work closely with you to ensure you receive the care and support that is tailored to your personal wishes and needs. For more information, contact us on 0118 334 7474 Empowering Each Individual Senior Open Morning 22 February 2024 from 09:15 - 11:30 Visit our Senior Open Morning to see for yourself what makes Crosfields School such a vibrant and nurturing educational environment. Learn more about the rich academic opportunities we offer, meet with current pupils, explore our facilities, ask questions — and even get involved in a class or sport! www.crosfields.com/events Crosfields School, Shinfield Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG2 9BL
THE ARTS — 1 The Parish Magazine - February 2024 29 Music helps us to see God's glorious salvation Rev Michael Burgess continues his series looking at great works of music. This month he writes about Nunc Dimittis — ‘Glorious the song when God’s the theme’ St Luke tells us in his Gospel that the angels sang praises to God at the birth of Jesus, and he has given us three poems that have become part of Christian song: The Magnificat, Benedictus, and Nunc Dimittis. REJOICING The first two are full of praise and rejoicing. The last comes as Mary and Joseph fulfil the Law of Moses and take the child Jesus to Jerusalem. In the Temple they meet Simeon, and Anna. Simeon represents each of us who can look back over life with gratitude in the face of death as he says: ‘Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.’ It is a story that has inspired preachers and artists, and also composers. In the Christian Church the words of the Nunc Dimittis have become part of worship at the end of each day, not just the end of life. Cathedral and parish church choirs have sung settings of these words in that great tradition of Anglican choral music at Evensong. They are settings that have captured the sense of quiet resignation, but also conveyed the glory of the light that is Jesus shining for all people. GREAT SPEED Rachmaninov’s setting is part of his Vespers, the night-long vigil sung in the Russian Orthodox Church on the eve of great feasts. Rachmaninov composed the work — which comprises of 15 pieces — at great speed, but even so, the Vespers are now seen as one of the great masterpieces of religious music. This was no more so than in his beautiful setting of the 5th canticle, the Nunc Dimittis. Just 36 bars long, it begins with a rocking, undulating figure in the upper voices. A solo tenor enters as the voice of Simeon, and it ends with the basses moving down to a low B flat: ‘a sigh of wonder and resignation Jesus Angels Painting Ceiling Interior Church Saint Nicholas Askold s Grave Kiev Ukraine. Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church created 1810. Askold s Graveyard has many famous Ukrainians buried there. This 1810 ceiling painting of Jesus and the Angels is in Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church of St Nicholas Askod in Kyiv. Its graveyard has many famous Ukrainians buried there. William Perry, dreamstime.com on the threshold of eternal rest and peace,’ one critic has called it. Rachmaninov later recalled, 'After I played the passage at the end of the 5th canticle where the basses slowly descend to that low note, the conductor shook his head, saying, now where on earth will we find such basses? They are as rare as asparagus at Christmas!’ Nevertheless, he did find them. It was one of the composer’s favourite pieces, and he asked for it to be sung at his funeral in the hope that it would send his ‘ship of death gently towards the unknown region.' MOVING On 2 February we shall hear these words as part of the Gospel on the feast of Candlemas. Simeon prays them because his cup is now overflowing. He has looked on the salvation of God. Music allows us to look on that glory and salvation also, and Rachmaninov, in his moving setting, has captured the calm trust of that moment, which shines out like the brightness of the light of Jesus.
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