Philip Rushforth
Director of Music and Organist
12 Abbey Square
Chester CH1 2HU
01244 500974
RSCM Chester Area Festival Service – 30 September, 2017
Director’s Notes
Opening Hymn: A mighty fortress is our God (p 2)
All directions as given in the score.
Preces and Responses: Plainsong (p 138)
Almost in a conversational style. Always flowing.
Psalm 122 (p 43)
The overall mood of the psalm is joyous but there is plenty of opportunity for more reflective singing.
All second and third syllables sung lightly.
v 5 – judgement pronounced ‘judgemunt’.
v 7 – palaces pronounced ‘palacés’ not‘palace-is’.
v 8 – brethren pronounced ‘brethrun’.
Note the direction at the bottom of the page regarding the altos.
Lord of the church, we pray for our renewing ( p 112)
Unison, as directed, and full throughout.
Verse 1: mf
Verse 2: mp
Verse 3: mf first four lines with a crescendo to ff for the last four lines
Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis – Sarum Service in F – Malcolm Archer
Magnificat
Try to think 1 in a bar rather than 3.
p 143 no breath after ‘lowliness’;
p 144 breath after ‘blessed’.
p 144, bar 32, breath after ‘me’.
p 145, bar 42, no breath after ‘him’.
p 146, bar 62, breath after ‘seat’.
p 147, bar 71, breath after ‘things’.
p 148, bar 87, breath after ‘Israel’.
p 148, bar 91, breath after ‘forefathers’.
p 149, bar 99, breath after ‘ever’.
p 150, bar 110, no breath after ‘Father’ but breathe after ‘Son’ and ‘Ghost’.
p 152, bar 132, breath after ‘Amen’.
Nunc Dimittis
p 153, bar 14, breathe after ‘salvation’.
Breathing directions for the Gloria as before.
Though I speak with the tongues of men – Edward Bairstow (p 60)
p 61, bar 16, breath after ‘mysteries’.
p 62,bar 34, breath after ‘poor’ and ‘burned’ bar 37. p 63, bar 47, all parts quickly breathe after ‘kind’.
p 64, bar 51, all breathe after ‘itself’; bar 53, all parts breathe after ‘up’.
p 66, bar 66, no breath after ‘prophecies’ but breath after ‘fail’; bar 69, breath after ‘cease’.
p 67, bar 81, all breathe after ‘darkly’.
p 68, bar 83, all parts breathe after ‘face’. Bar 87, sopranos and altos breathe after ‘part’. All stagger the breathing until p 69, bar 93, all breathe after ‘known’.
p 70, bar 100, breath after ‘faith’. Bar 107, breath after ‘charity’.
Church of God, elect and glorious (p 130)
Verse 1: full unison. (f)
Verse 2: harmony. (mf) No breath after lines without punctuation.
Verse 3: tenors and basses first four lines(mf);sopranos and altos next four lines(mf). No breath after lines without punctuation.
Verse 4: turn over for last verse descant. (f)