Byrd at the BBC: Composer of the Week Podcast

When the series is no longer available to listen to in full, this Podcast includes Byrd's life and times including at Stondon Massey: BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, William Byrd (1543-1623)

Byrd at the BBC: Record Review Podcast

 

This version of 'Record Review', first broadcast on 1 July 2023, is available for over a year: Record Review Podcast - The essential works by English composer William Byrd. - BBC Sounds

Keyboard music by Byrd on You Tube - with familiar pictures

 Returning the compliment to RosemaryThomas1 for use of the You Tube video: William Byrd 400th Anniversary 2023 Celebration of Englands' greatest composer - YouTube

Repeat of 'The Life and Times of William Byrd: A Local History'. Thursday 27 July 2023.

There will be another opportunity to hear 'The Life and Times of William Byrd: A Local History'. Andrew Smith will be giving a PowerPoint version of the talk at the High Country History Group.

The meeting will be held on Thursday 27 July 2023, beginning at 8pm at Toot Hill Village Hall, Toot Hill Road, Toot Hill, Ongar. CM5 9SD.

Visitors are very welcome. The entrance fee is £5.00 and will include after-talk refreshments.

For more information on the High Country History Group visit High Country History Group

The talk is available for booking. Use contact form on this site.

Byrd at the BBC Today

 BBC Radio 3 In Concert

Wednesday 12 July. 7.30-10.00pm

BBC Radio 3 - Radio 3 in Concert, The Sixteen at York Minster

The Sixteen Choir under their director Harry Christophers sing Byrd as part of their Choral Pilgrimage.

Music Workshop

 Read and listen to Byrd here: William Byrd 400 years on: celebrating the ‘father of music’ (music-workshop.co.uk)

Father Edmund Campion

An extract from the new book ‘The Life and Times of William Byrd: A Local History’ now available.  The image is from the ceiling of the English Martyrs' Chapel in Westminster Cathedral, London.

 In the early 1580s men who had been trained abroad as Jesuit priests were entering England as missionaries. One of the most high-profile was Edmund Campion, originally ordained in the Church of England. The other was Father Robert Persons (or Parsons) who we encountered earlier. These “two Jesuits strengthened the resolve of many lay Catholics to refuse conformity” through the printing and circulation of books by using “a roving press”[1]. The authorities seized many copies. Campion travels the country and is welcomed, in his own words, “to hear their confessions … [say] Mass, I preach; they hear with exceeding greediness and often receive the sacrament”[2]. But this is a dangerous course of action. From 1581, celebrating mass was punishable by death.

 A network of spies engaged by the authorities would secretly join invited congregations at recusant country houses. Campion made an ill-judged return visit to Lyford Grange in Berkshire two days following his first visit. It was there that George Eliot, a professional priest-hunter, heard Campion preach on the text ‘Jerusalem thou killest the prophets’. Jerusalem then, as in the later setting of William Blake’s poem and ‘Last Night at The Proms’ song, was reference to England: ‘England thou killest the prophets’ was an incendiary speech. Later that day the house was surrounded, and the following morning intruders discovered Campion hiding in the ‘priest’s hole’.

 John Stow’s ‘Annals of England’ was published in 1605. He records the recent events: “1581. Campion and others executed. The first of December, Edmond Campion Jesuit, Ralfe Sherwine, and Alexander Brian seminarie priests, were drawne from the Tower of London to Tiborne, and there hanged bowelled & quartered.”

 Edmund Campion, born 25^th January 1540, was the same age as Byrd and as a boy had connections with St Paul’s Cathedral where Byrd’s brothers also sang. They grew up together: “A boyhood friendship between them might explain the intensity of Byrd’s musical reaction to Campion’s martyrdom”[3].

 Roy Hattersley reveals “Among the silent Catholics, who were emboldened by the execution of Edmund Campion, was the wife of William Byrd, the composer and organist in the Elizabethan Chapel Royal. She, at least according to folklore, was in the crowd that witnessed his disembowelling, and dipped her handkerchief in the martyr’s blood”. This is a souvenir or, more appropriately, a relic of the occasion.

 

---

[1] Trimble, 1964, 103

[2] Hattersley, 2017, 142

[3] Harley, 2010, 10

Byrd at Harlington

 

 

Researching William Byrd, in March 2023 I took a trip along the new Elizabeth Line to Zone 6 in West London to visit Harlington and on the way home called at Westminster Roman Catholic Cathedral to attend a service which included the great composer’s music. Harlington has not been mentioned during the Byrd celebrations on the BBC so now I make amends.

 There is little to be seen at Harlington other than the Church of St Peter & St Paul which Byrd did not attend but a school nearby is named after Byrd.

 

The following are extracts from the new book ‘The Life and Times of William Byrd: A Local History’ now available.

 

The Byrd family moved to Harlington, near Uxbridge, in 1577 where they are named by the churchwardens of the parish church for non-attendance. From 1581 fines of £20 per month were imposed for non-attendance, but it is unclear whether he actually paid any fines[1].

 “It was probably on account of his religion that he lived all his life some way out of London where he would be less likely to attract attention. His name occurs as living at Harlington in 1581, … in another entry he is described as “a friend and abettor of those beyond the seas”, and as living at Draighton”[2].

 

The final entry for non-attendance at Harlington is dated 7^th April 1592, covering the period between 31^st August 1591 and 31^st March 1592. These presentations name William’s wife as Julian. At Stondon, Byrd’s wife is named Ellen, but she is the same person[3].

(During Byrd’s time at Harlington he falls under suspicion with involvement in the Throckmorton Plot then the Babington Plot to overthrow the Queen.)

In closing the net on the conspirators, Francis Walsingham, chief spymaster, and interrogator, discovered letters from Byrd to the Pagets. By February 1584 Byrd had been questioned and was expected not to stray too far from his home at Harlington.

Investigators into the Babington Plot find a letter on the person of John Reason[4], Byrd’s servant, to “m[aste]r Fyton”. Walsingham’s office diary notes: “’To seek out matters against Bryde’, ‘to sende to Fra[nci]s Mylls m[aste]r Brydes note’ and ‘To sende for M[aste]r Byrde’”[5].

 On 21^st August 1586[6], Byrd’s home in Harlington is searched[7].

 

---

[1] In ‘The Elizabethans’ (2011), A.N. Wilson suggests that the Byrd family was always short of money because they were required to pay “stiff fines” for non-attendance at Church. There is no evidence to suggest that the Byrds paid any fines. Another historian suggests that the Queen personally intervened to prevent the family paying fines. Wilson also suggests that the exclusive right to print music was in some way compensation for a poorly paid job and that “the Anglo-Catholic Queen” effectively authorised the setting of Latin Masses by Byrd (Wilson, 2011, 195). Whilst there is evidence that The Queen preferred more ritual in worship authorisation of Latin Masses would be politically undesirable. Byrd though interprets the remit widely. Wilson adds elsewhere that there were many Catholic sympathisers in the legal profession, and this was acceptable “so long as they kept quiet about it and did not attempt to proselytise” (Wilson, 2011, 196). Keeping quiet about something does not necessarily mean the behaviour is acceptable. Finally, Wilson says that the government “would have deemed itself irresponsible not to suppress Jesuit missionaries” who “in most cases rightly [were] actively engaged in treason … [plotting] the murder of the head of state and overthrow of the system” (Wilson, 2011, 196). This is explored later in the text. Other historians suggest Catholic suppression was widespread – fearful of being caught.

[2] Reeve, 1900, 33

[3] John Harley (1997) says that this is an error on the part of the ecclesiastical court in Essex, assuming Byrd’s wife to be Ellen or Helena, and claims Byrd did not remarry. This is supported by Byrd’s family tree contained in Visitations of Essex dated 1634: ERO D/DQs/43

[4] Philip Brett (2007) notes that Julian Byrd and John Reason were cited for recusancy in 1577 (Brett, 2007,126)

[5] Harley, 2010, 129

[6] Morris, 1875, 142 The troubles of our Catholic forefathers related by themselves. First [--third] series (archive.org) accessed 15 February 2023

[7] Caraman, 1964, 41

Byrd at the BBC Today

Sunday Worship

Sunday 9 July. 8.10-8.45am.  BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 - Sunday Worship, Psalmes, Songs and Sonnets

-

 Choral Evensong

Wednesday 5 July. 4.00-5.00pm (repeated Sunday 9 July. 3.00-4.00pm)

BBC Radio 3 - Choral Evensong, Lincoln Cathedral

Live from Lincoln Cathedral to mark the 400^th anniversary of the death of William Byrd.

 

Sunday Feature

Sunday 9 July. 6.45-7.30pm

BBC Radio 3 - Sunday Feature, Byrd and Beyond: Challenged by Faith

Harry Christophers, conductor of The Sixteen, examines the powerful relationship between faith and music, both in Byrd’s time and the present day.

Renaissance Singers at Ingatestone Hall: Saturday 21 October 2023

 Book quickly if you want to attend one of these Concerts to be held at Ingatestone Hall: The Renaissance Singers - specialist London chamber choir

'Sunday Worship' on BBC Radio 4 recorded at Stondon Massey Church

William Byrd is regarded as one of England's greatest composers. He lived through turbulent times through the Sixteenth and early-Seventeenth Centuries, witnessing both significant religious and political change. Despite this, he composed some of the finest music of his time for both the Catholic and Anglican Church.

  In the week of the 400th anniversary of his death, The Revd Dr Jonathan Arnold reflects on William Byrd's contribution to Christian music and worship. Jonathan visits the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Stondon Massey in rural Essex - where Byrd is thought to be buried - and also the nearby Ingatestone Hall, the home of the composer's patron, Lord Petre. Jonathan speaks to the current Lord Petre about the connection between Byrd and his patron through their Catholic faith.

  

Harry Christophers, founder and director of The Sixteen, reflects on the sense of longing and faith in Byrd's music, expressed in the composer's particular attention to the texts he set from scripture, and there are contributions from Byrd scholar Professor Kerry McCarthy, music historian Dr Katie Bank, and singer and conductor Dr David Allinson.

  

Byrd remained a Catholic throughout his life, which for many at the time was a dangerous thing to do, but his contribution to music for the Anglican church remains central to music and worship in many churches today.

  

The readings are Isaiah 64 vv.9-10 - read by our Vicar, Revd. Sam Brazier-Gibbs - (the Latin text of which Byrd set in his motet Ne irascaris, Domine), and Colossians 3 vv.12-17, in which St Paul encourages his readers to 'sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God'.

  

Byrd's music featured includes Ne irascaris Domine, Tribue Domine, the Nunc dimittis from the Second Service, and movements from his three Masses.

 

The programme was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Sunday 9 July 2023, 8.10-8.48am. Available on BBC Sounds for 30 days: BBC Radio 4 - Sunday Worship, Psalmes, Songs and Sonnets

Byrd Bike Ride

Members of Ingatestone Pedallers social cycling group called in at Stondon Massey Church last Sunday (2 July) in celebration of William Byrd. 

The 'William Byrd Fantasia' cycle ride was created a few years ago by local historian Robert Fletcher visiting two places strongly associated with the great composer: Ingatestone Hall, the home of the Petre family, and the churchyard at Stondon Massey, where Byrd is believed to have been buried in 1623. 

The 16-mile route passes Stondon Place, Byrd's home, and calls in at Byrd Mead near the Bricklayers Arms which are council homes for elderly residents built in 1985.

The group was shown around the church and viewed Byrd's Will and engraving which hang in the Vestry.

Somewhere in Stondon Massey Churchyard

 Find the grave of William Byrd.  Alas not located. William Byrd (1540-1623) - Find a Grave Memorial

Byrd at the BBC Today

 

Composer of the Week

BBC Radio 3

Friday 7 July. 12.00-1.00pm.

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, William Byrd (1543-1623), Stondon Massey

BBC Music Magazine, July 2023, regards this programme as ‘Choice’ listening.

 

Unclassified

Thursday 6 July. 11.30pm-12.30am

BBC Radio 3 - Unclassified, Byrd Reworked

Elizabeth Alker shares original unclassifiable sonic creations made especially for the programme, as three contemporary composers offer new takes on the music of William Byrd to mark four hundred years since the Renaissance man’s death.

 

The Listening Service

Sunday 2 July. 5.00-5.30pm (repeated Friday 7 July 4.30-5.00pm)

BBC Radio 3 - The Listening Service, Secret Music: Byrd's Masses

Tom Service explores the three mass settings of William Byrd during dangerous times for Catholics.

Byrd at the BBC Today

 Composer of the Week

BBC Radio 3

Thursday 6 July. 12.00-1.00pm.

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, William Byrd (1543-1623), Recusant

BBC Music Magazine, July 2023, regards this programme as ‘Choice’ listening.

Byrd at the BBC Today

 Composer of the Week

BBC Radio 3

Wednesday 5 July. 11.40-12.40pm.

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, William Byrd (1543-1623), The Chapel Royal

BBC Music Magazine, July 2023, regards this programme as ‘Choice’ listening.

 

Choral Evensong

Wednesday 5 July. 4.00-5.00pm (repeated Sunday 9 July. 3.00-4.00pm)

BBC Radio 3 - Choral Evensong, Lincoln Cathedral

Live from Lincoln Cathedral to mark the 400^th anniversary of the death of William Byrd.

 

Crowds Flock to William Byrd 400th Anniversary Concert

 The Stondon Singers held a special concert at St Peter and St Paul Church, Stondon Massey last night (Tuesday 4 July) to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of William Byrd (c1540-1623) in the parish where he lived. The calendar seemed coincidentally arranged because the singers, formed in 1968 to sing the great composer's work, always have the first Tuesday in July for the Anniversary Concert.

Hilary Punnett is now their conductor having now led for a season, and this was her first at Stondon Massey.

The programme, entitled 'Patronage and Persecution' considered the theme of royal patronage throughout the ages as well as pieces which reflected the persecution Byrd faced as a recusant Catholic.

The pieces performed were:

Byrd: Vigilate

Thomas Tallis (1505-1585): Miserere nostri

Judith Weir (b. 1954): Love bade me welcome

Andrew Balfour (b. 1967): Ambe

Byrd: In winter cold (prima pars), and Whereat an ant (secunda pars)

Byrd: Tristitia et anxietas

Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625): O clap your hands together

interval

Byrd: Sing Joyfully

J.F. Woolley: Rest

Byrd: Miserere mei

Andrew Balfour: Vision Chant

Robert Carver (1485-1570): Missa dum sacrum mysterium - Sanctus

Robert Parsons (1535-1572): Ave Maria

Byrd: Haec dies

Sunday Worship on BBC Radio 4 comes to Stondon Massey

 

Sunday Worship

BBC Radio 4

Sunday 9 July 2023

Psalmes, Songs and Sonnets

BBC Radio 4 - Sunday Worship, Psalmes, Songs and Sonnets

William Byrd is regarded as one of England's greatest composers. He lived through turbulent times through the Sixteenth and early-Seventeenth Centuries, witnessing both significant religious and political change. Despite this, he composed some of the finest music of his time for both the Catholic and Anglican Church.

In the week of the 400th anniversary of his death, The Revd Dr Jonathan Arnold reflects on William Byrd's contribution to Christian music and worship. Jonathan visits the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Stondon Massey in rural Essex - where Byrd is thought to be buried - and also the nearby Ingatestone Hall, the home of the composer's patron, Lord Petre. Jonathan speaks to the current Lord Petre about the connection between Byrd and his patron through their Catholic faith.

Harry Christophers, founder and director of The Sixteen, reflects on the sense of longing and faith in Byrd's music, expressed in the composer's particular attention to the texts he set from scripture.

Byrd remained a Catholic throughout his life, which for many at the time was a dangerous thing to do, but his contribution to music for the Anglican church remains central to music and worship in many churches today.

Byrd's music featured includes Ne irascaris Domine, Tribue Domine, the Nunc dimittis from the Second Service, and movements from his three Masses.

Stondon Singers: William Byrd 400th Anniversary Concert

 

Happy Byrd Day to you!

We welcome the Stondon Singers for their annual Concert remembering William Byrd who died this day in 1623.

The sell out Concert is about to begin!

Byrd at the BBC Today

 Composer of the Week

BBC Radio 3

Tuesday 4 July. 12.00-1.00pm.

Composer of the Week - William Byrd (1543-1623) - Lincoln - BBC Sounds

BBC Music Magazine, July 2023, regards this programme as ‘Choice’ listening.

Byrd Masses for Three, Four and Five Voices

The Cardinal’s Musick under their director Andrew Carwood celebrated Byrd’s 400^th anniversary on 4 July 2023 with three one-hour concerts at The Wigmore Hall, London, performing the Three, Four and, Five Part Masses. 

The choir completed recordings of all Byrd’s Latin music in 2010 across 13 discs, and came to Stondon Massey as part of their ‘Byrd Tour’ concerts in September 2012.

The Mass for Four Voices was composed in 1592, with the others completed in 1595 probably in Stondon Massey where Byrd was living.

The big question I ask is how speedily should they be performed?  

Taking the Agnus Dei from the Mass for Voices and probably best loved of Byrd’s pieces by way of example, there seem wide variations in performance.

The Cardinall’s Musick recording of 2000 stands as the benchmark, beautifully sung and coming in at 3’19.

‘Singing in Secret’ (2020) is The Marian Consort’s album recorded under director Rory McCleery. Seeing the choir live at the Roman River Festival last autumn was wonderful and McCleery engages with the audience between pieces.  The disc explores the clandestine Catholic music of William Byrd which includes Justorium animae, Infelix ego, Miserere mei and a complete performance of the Mass spread through the programme. The Agnus dei is a speedy 2’51 which I find a little disappointing in an otherwise lovely disc.

Also interspersed across the programme is The King’s Singers and Concordia’s offering ‘1605. Treason and Dischord. William Byrd and the Gunpowder Plot’.  Byrd knew the plotters but was not involved in the treasonable activity.  Always good, the choir bring home the Agnus dei in 3’30.

Finally, ‘Naked Byrd Two’ is the sequel to a first disc performed by the Armonico Consort, which I heard at Great Tey as part of the Roman River Festival a few years ago.  It is a mixed programme of spell binding singing the only Byrd track being the Agnus dei.  At 3’56 it is by far the most expansive reading with every note and every part being so clearly heard. The final line ‘dona nobis pacem’ almost aches in the need to be granted peace. It is a stunning recording.   Unfortunately, the choir have not recorded the entire Mass but if I was attending Church I would happily let dinner wait and the roasties get overdone to hear it. This is the favourite recording of my favourite Byrd piece.

The Listening Service

Sunday 2 July. 5.00-5.30pm (repeated Friday 7 July 4.30-5.00pm)

BBC Radio 3 - The Listening Service, Secret Music: Byrd's Masses

Tom Service explores the three mass settings of William Byrd during dangerous times for Catholics.

Available for over a year.

 The Essay

First broadcast Tuesday 1 March 2016

BBC Radio 3 - The Essay, Music in Its Time, Music in Its Time - Byrd: Mass for Four Voices

 

BCP Evensong - "A Vote of Thanks"

 

Centre: Lord Petre, Martin Stuchfield Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Essex, and Revd. Sam Brazier Gibbs Vicar of Stondon Massey following the special service to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of William Byrd.

A Vote of Thanks (concluding the Service).

"Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you for coming today - and thank you to the Stondon Singers for performing some of William Byrd's greatest hits.

"As a Byrd nerd if I was exiled to a desert island with eight Byrd records and could save only one it would be the 'Agnus Dei' from the Four Part Mass. The final words "Dona nobis pacem" - "grant us peace" invoke the pain of persecution which rescusants faced and a plea for peace in an uncertain time.  The music is timeless.

"Byrd composed the Four Part Mass in 1592, and two other settings in 1595 - and they were sung illegally in Catholic households such as the Petre family of Ingatestone Hall where they may have been used for the first time.

"After three centuries of Catholic suppression following the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 Byrd's work is better known now than it was a hundred years ago when the memorial which you see to the Tercentenary was erected.

"Byrd was a keen musician, tutor and composer. These were his gifts.

"He was also a man of great faith at a time when his beliefs and traditions were suppressed.

"Byrd though composed not only religious music but for a variety of settings: songs, sonnets, and keyboard work.  In the preface of his 1588 'Psalmes and Songs of sadnes and piety' he wrote, "Since singing is so good a thing I wish all men [and women] would learn to sing".

"I hope that you will wish to learn more about this great composer.  Please buy a book to support the church's project. I this way you will be killing to Byrds with one stone."

A New Memorial to Byrd at Stondon Massey? Celebrating his 400th anniversary

 

William Byrd Memorial 2023

We have experienced such delight in celebrating the life and music of William Byrd in this 400^th year since his death.

The long connection between William Byrd and St. Peter and St. Paul Church Stondon Massey is one we hope to continue to celebrate in the years to come. In light of this, we have plans to erect a memorial to William Byrd on the outside of the church.

The proposed plan is for a slate memorial with free-flowing script to be situated on the wall to the left (west) of the porch. We hope that this will become a draw and delight for those interested in William Byrd, in history, in church music and in the local area. We hope to have this memorial in place during this anniversary year.

We would very much appreciate your support in fundraising for this work of art. You can contribute with a gift at one of our William Byrd events during July 2023 or you can give online by bank transfer using the details below. Thank you for your support.

Reverend Sam Brazier-Gibbs, and Jan Mackintosh churchwarden.

Bank Transfer

Go to our benefice website: Priory Church of St Laurence, Blackmore |  William Byrd 400 Year Anniversary (blackmorechurch.org.uk)

Please use BYRDMEM in the reference field.

Stondon Massey Church

Sort Code: 40-35-22

Account: 91097415

Byrd at the BBC Today

Composer of the Week

BBC Radio 3

Monday 3 July. 12.00-1.00pm. 

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, William Byrd (1543-1623), A Man of Many Parts

BBC Music Magazine, July 2023, regards this programme as ‘Choice’ listening.

 

Music Matters

Saturday 1 July. 11.45am-12.30pm (repeated Monday 3 July. 10.00-10.45pm)

BBC Radio 3 - Music Matters, Four hundred years of William Byrd

Tom Service visits Lincoln Cathedral on the 400^th anniversary.

Stondon Singers William Byrd 400th Anniversary Concert

 The Concert is sold out. Returns only.

Byrd at the BBC Today

 The Listening Service

Sunday 2 July. 5.00-5.30pm (repeated Friday 7 July 4.30-5.00pm)

BBC Radio 3 - The Listening Service, Secret Music: Byrd's Masses

Tom Service explores the three mass settings of William Byrd during dangerous times for Catholics.

 

Record Review Extra

Sunday 2 July. 9.00-11.00pm

BBC Radio 3 - Record Review Extra, Kirsten Gibson's Byrd

Hannah French offers listeners the opportunity to hear in greater length the pieces discussed in Record Review.  A Byrd fest!

A Service of Evensong celebrating William Byrd on the 400th anniversary of his death.

 

A Service of Evensong celebrating

William Byrd

on the 400^th anniversary of his death

Sunday 2^nd July 2023

St. Peter St. Paul

Stondon Massey 3pm

 

Please stand, as you are able, at the entrance of the ministers.

All people that on earth do dwell,

William Kethe (d. 1594)

 DEARLY beloved brethren, the Scripture moveth us in sundry places to acknowledge and confess our manifold sins and wickedness; and that we should not dissemble nor cloke them before the face of Almighty God our heavenly Father; but confess them with an humble, lowly, penitent, and obedient heart; to the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the same …Wherefore I pray and beseech you, as many as are here present, to accompany me with a pure heart and humble voice unto the throne of the heavenly grace, saying after me:

 A general Confession to be said of the whole Congregation after the Minister, all sitting or kneeling.

 ALMIGHTY and most merciful Father, We have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep, We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts, We have offended against thy holy laws, We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, And we have done those things which we ought not to have done  … Amen.

 The Absolution or Remission of sins to be pronounced by the Priest

 ALMIGHTY God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who desireth not the death of a sinner … that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure, and holy; so that at the last we may come to his eternal joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Then the Minister lead the people in the Lord’s prayer

 OUR Father, which art in heaven …

Priest.     O Lord, open thou our lips.

Answer. And our mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

 

Priest.     O God, make speed to save us.

Answer O Lord, make haste to help us.

 Here, all standing up, the Priest shall say,

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;

Answer. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

 Priest.     Praise ye the Lord.

Answer. The Lord's Name be praised.

 

PSALM 8

 

The Stondon Singers - William Byrd: Kyrie. Mass for 4 voices.

 

The first reading                                                    

Isaiah 64:1-12

 

Reader    This is the Word of the Lord.

All         Thanks be to God.

 

The Second reading

Matthew 6: 25-34

 

Reader    This is the Word of the Lord.

All         Thanks be to God.

 

Stondon Singers - William Byrd: Agnus Dei: Mass for 4 voices

 

I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth …

 

 

Minister.  The Lord be with you.
Answer   And with thy spirit.

Then the Priest standing up shall say,

Priest.      O Lord, shew thy mercy upon us.
Answer.  And grant us thy salvation

Priest.      O Lord, save the King.
Answer    And mercifully hear us when we call upon  thee.

Priest.      Endue thy Ministers with righteousness.
Answer.  And make thy chosen people joyful.

Priest.      O Lord, save thy people.
Answer   .And bless thine inheritance.

Priest.      Give peace in our time, O Lord.
Answer.  Because there is none other that fighteth for us, but only thou, O God.

Priest.      O God, make clean our hearts within us.
Answer.    And take not thy Holy Spirit from us.

Then shall follow three Collects: The first of the day: The second for Peace: The third for Aid against all Perils, as hereafter followeth: which two last Collects shall be daily said at Evening Prayer without alteration.

The Second Collect at Evening Prayer

The Third Collect, for Aid against all Perils

A Prayer for the King's Majesty.

A Prayer for the Royal Family.

A Prayer for the Clergy and People.

A Prayer of Saint Chrysostom.

 

Care for thy soul as thing of greatest price,

      Made to the end to taste of power divine,

Devoid of guilt, abhorring sin and vice,

      Apt by God’s grace to virtue to incline.

Care for it so as by thy retchless train

It be not brought to taste eternal pain.

 

Care for thy corse, but chiefly for soul’s sake;

      Cut off excess, sustaining food is best;

To vanquish pride but comely clothing take;

      Seek after skill, deep ignorance detest.

Care so, I say, the flesh to feed and clothe

That thou harm not thy soul and body both.

 

Care for the world to do thy body right;

      Rack not thy wit to win thy wicked ways;

Seek not to oppress the weak by wrongful might;

      To pay thy due do banish all delays.

Care to dispend according to thy store,

And in like sort be mindful of the poor.

 

Care for thy soul, as for thy chiefest stay;

      Care for thy body for thy soul’s avail;

Care for the world for body’s help alway;

      Care yet but so as virtue may prevail.

Care in such sort that thou be sure of this:

Care keep thee not from heaven and heavenly bliss.

William Byrd

 

The Stondon Singers - William Byrd: Ave Verum Corpus

 

2 Corinthians 13.
THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.

 

 For all the saints who from their labours rest …

William Walsham Howe 1823-1897

 

Andrew Smith – A “vote of thanks”

 

The Service will be followed by resfreshments.