This Triduum has been a bit more stressful than usual for me. I found myself worrying about stuff in the wee early hours this morning. Laying in bed I realized that I had told the rector some incorrect information regarding the Easter Sunday bulletin to be printed this morning. I also decided I would call the pianist who consented to accompany the anthem on Easter Sun morning and ask her if she had time for a last minute rehearsal with the two of us before this evening’s post service rehearsal of same.
Good grief. I have already emailed people about this stuff.
Interestingly, I find myself a bit disappointed in my choice of choral music for this week and also my preparation of the singers. Last night we did an arrangement of mine of “Humbly I adore Thee.” I originally wrote the arrangement as a compromise anthem to utilize scant resources. The choir liked it, so I thought I would schedule it.
In retrospect I think it would have been better to schedule an anthem more about the theology of service linked to Eucharist than devotion.
It’s amusing I even care, since right about now my personal faith is dwarfed by any mustard seed I’ve ever seen.
The anthems we have scheduled for this evening, Sat and Sun are all anthems from the choral library at church. The choir likes them and they are fun. But I don’t know if I’m going to be able to pull together as fine a performance as I usually attempt with choral music.
This is probably just Good Friday morning blues when your elderly mom is in the hospital. (See previous posts)
On the upside, I do feel like the organ music I am playing is slightly redeeming. This evening even though the boss pulled the hymn from the service at the last minute, I am playing a lovely set of pieces by Ernst Pepping on “O Sacred Head.” I didn’t protest when she changed things earlier in the week. My reasoning is that now is the time for survival not leisurely discussion about choices.
I did ask her yesterday why she did it. She replied that using a hymn before and after the sermon felt long to her last year. So she dropped a hymn. Makes sense I guess. If I had known that she was going to do this I would have suggested singing “O Sacred Head” this past Sunday.
Ay yi yi. I know, I know. It just doesn’t matter.
On Easter Sun morning I am performing a lovely little piece by Gerald Near. It’s based on snippets of chant and hymn.
Also doing Widor’s Toccata as the Vigil and East Sun postlude. This is more like the choral music. But I tell myself it’s respectable enough and am practicing it diligently so I can do a decent job of it.
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Ex-New Orleans Officers Sentenced in Post-Katrina Shootings – NYTimes.com
This tragic story (the shooting of innocent people and the cover-up) keeps emerging in the news.
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Maureen Dowd gets a bit serious in her takedown of our nakedly political current Supreme Court. Couldn’t agree more. Favorite quote: Could the dream of expanded health care die at the hands of a Kennedy?
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Holder: Obama administration respects the Supreme Court
Interesting interaction between government branches. The letter that the judge ordered the president’s office produce is linked to this article in a PDF. I admit I didn’t click on it.
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Use of Strip Searches – NYTimes.com
Here’s the entire letter to the editor at this link:
The Supreme Court’s latest 5-to-4 ruling debases morality, repudiates privacy and transgresses the sanctity of the Fourth Amendment. The flaw in the majority’s perception of justice lies in the blanket applicability of the decision to arrestees (not convicts), who are clothed in a presumption of innocence.
See the previous indictment of this court by Dowd. What a mess.
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Calling Radicalism by Its Name – NYTimes.com
Since I’m being all partisan, I second this editorial that supports Obama in calling out the extreme nature of his opposition.
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