We have now arrived at the season of Lent, a time that is full of rich, liturgical music to foster our hearts and minds towards God. COVID-19 has been a massive disrupter to our lives in so many ways, and I know that many of you have been feeling grateful that we have been able to start attending Mass again and that there is music at Mass once more.
We were optimistically hoping to start liturgies with the choirs again at both the Basilica and Our Lady of Good Counsel. However, right after our first rehearsal with the Basilica Choir, the last snap lockdown happened. After careful consideration, we have decided to resume choir as normal after Easter. We are still endeavouring to bring you music every week with a cantor. During Holy Week, the Parishes of Camberwell, Balwyn and Deepdene will have a small group of 2 – 4 experienced singers per parish.
Our reason for making this decision is for minimal disruption to our liturgical music planning. This will allow us to have less rehearsal time with the musicians, and we will be able to provide some choral music in a covid-safe way. This scenario should survive any potential snap lockdowns in the future, and also minimise aerosol transmission as it will be a small group of singers – an important thing to consider given the ease of transmission of the new strain.
To our volunteer choristers, thank you for your patience during this time. I am looking forward to meeting everyone properly, and resuming choir once more, I know some of you miss making music with each other very much.
I’ve attached here a video of the Byrd Festival Consort singing Thomas Tallis’s “O Nata Lux” – a hymn sung for at Lauds on Feast of Transfiguration, but also appropriate for the secondnd Sunday of Lent as the Gospel of Mark tells the transfiguration story. This video includes a short talk by Kerry McCarthy, a musician and author known for her work on early English music. I found her words particularly encouraging as she speaks on the composer Tallis, and the various disruptions he had to face in the middle of his life as a church musician during the 16th century English Reformation.
“We are not the first musicians to live through something like this, …and musicians are incredibly resilient and creative, even in terrible circumstances“. In this spirit, we will move forward with hope and anticipation of the time that we can all sing safely together again.
| O nata lux de lumine,
Jesu Redemptor saeculi, Qui carne quondam contegi |
O light from light begotten,
Jesus, redeemer of the world, You who once deigned to clothe yourself |
19 Brenbeal Street, Balwyn VIC 3103
Telephone: 03 9816 9291
Email: [email protected]
Office Hours:
Tue - Fri 9:00am – 5:00pm
Denise Mulcahy says:
It was a joy to see the title ‘Music Making during Covid’ appear on the screen and to read your article, Shanti. Thank you for the update re music in Lent in the parishes, and more specifically for the Easter Triduum. I appreciate the inclusion of the youtube clip. The motet is absolutely beautiful and what a bonus to hear Kerry McCarthy speak with feeling about William Byrd and how he, too, coped with ‘adverse’ circumstances in his life!