Advent Blog

Musical Advent Calendar: O Sapientia

At Evening Prayer in the week immediately before Christmas, we sing a special antiphon before and after the Magnificat each day. Each...

Musical Advent Calendar: Day 11

During the course of this Advent calendar project I have enjoyed encountering pieces of music new to me, and also those about which I'd...

Musical Advent Calendar: Day 12

Today in church we keep the memorial of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of Mexico. I have not chosen a piece of music from that place...

Musical Advent Calendar: Days 9&10

I've chosen today a rather longer work - Wachet Auf (BWV 140), a cantata for advent by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach composed cantatas for...

Musical Advent Calendar: Day 6

Later this week, on Saturday 8th December the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. At St Michael's that day we...

Musical Advent Calendar: Day 5

It wouldn't be Advent or Christmas without at least one reference to Handel's oratorio Messiah. Composed in 1741, this is perhaps...

Musical Advent Calendar: Day 4

We transport ourselves forward in time today by nearly four hundred years for our next piece, Ecce Concipies, by English composer Matthew...

Musical Advent Calendar: Day 3

Today I've chosen a piece by the English Renaissance composer William Byrd. He had a varied professional career and a huge output for the...

Musical Advent Calendar: Day 2

Today is Advent Sunday, the beginning of four weeks' preparation for Christmas. Our Advent Carol service (another plug!) is tonight at...

Musical Advent Calendar: Day 1

Strictly speaking, Advent does not begin until after sundown tonight. However, it would be remiss of me not to give another plug to our...

Advent Calendar: December 2018

The season of Advent is nearly upon us! It is a season where we are invited to prepare ourselves in heart and mind for the coming of...