Sacred Miscellany

Back from Chicago

Getting home from conferences is never easy – especially if you decide to travel on Friday evening. Every road warrior is out there. Flights are cancelled; small children are wailing; folks are missing connections. Nonetheless, I made it back to Florida and I am eternally grateful to the person who picked me up at 12:30 a.m. in Jacksonville.

The capstone of our Chant Intensive was a Mass celebrated in the Madonna della Strada Church at Loyola. Fr. Haines from the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius was the celebrant and he brought along a pile of brothers to serve. After I get the recording cleaned up, I will put up the various propers that we sang. Admittedly, it was an ad hoc recording, so the balance isn't perfect. (The perfect place for the mic would have been behind the altar facing out – I bet Father would have loved that.) Fortunately, the two voices that come through the strongest are Scott Turkington's and Janet Gorbitz's (Vox Feminae).

Yes, the Intensive was hard work. However, the joy of being surrounded by that much music and by a group of people who love chant outweighed any fatigue. Thank you, CMAA!

Grass-Roots Chant

One of the good reasons to attend conferences is "intelligence gathering."  What I'm learning here at the CMAA Chant Intensive is more than just technique and piles of neums.  It's about people.  There are scholas popping up everywhere.  Some of these are adjuncts to existing music programs.  Some of them are "garage scholas," individual initiatives put into motion by people who simply love Gregorian chant.  They sing where they can and when they can, but importantly these folks aren't waiting for everything to be perfect.  And they aren't waiting for permission to do what they love.

Oh, and did I mention that chant lovers are very entertaining?  They are definitely good company.  So there's another reason to take up chant.  The quality of your co-singers.

That's all for now.  I have another eight hours of theory and singing today.

Chant Intensive

After the labors of automobiles, planes and the Chicago subway, it was a pleasure to find myself at Loyola, surrounded by other chant fanatics and many friends from the blogosphere.

As usual, the CMAA has done a great job - and we even have very good (AND COPIOUS) food.

If you couldn't make this summer's events - Intensive or Colloquium, I suggest you start a savings account for next year. It's nice to come in out of the wilderness and be surrounded by folks who are on the same page musically and liturgically.  Even if only for a little while.

Convoluted Spam

This arrived in my junk mail today:

This is Mrs. Joyce Suzan William from Croatia but presently in Japan for my operation.

I have a donation to make which I will need your assistance to carry it out for me, I will be 79 years old this coming May 17, a widow and a servant of the Lord for the past 38 years in Ivory Coast, Africa.

 

Right – Croatia, Japan, and Cote d'Ivoire. I think I'll give this one a pass – along with all the solicitations I get from Nigeria to teach banjo lessons.

Map Your Schola or Find Your Desire

If you have a schola or a chant choir in your church, parish, backyard, whatever, let everyone know about it! Remember what was said about putting lights under bushels!

The Frapper map of the International Registry of Gregorian Scholas is your chance to let the world know you exist. And if you're looking for a chant opportunity or perhaps a boost for your own desire to start something, here's a place to reassure yourself that you aren't the only person in the world who loves monophonic sacred music.

And besides, it's fun!

I’m Psyched for Chicago

I'm going on the road to Chicago. To the CMAA Chant Intensive at Loyola, if you want to be more precise about it. I am so ready to be able to study and sing chant. I'll see old musical friends and make new ones. There will be a five-day separation from my harps and salterio, but it will probably do all of us good. While I wish I could do the Summer Colloquium the following week, it would probably overwhelm me and I would be carried away in a Bernini-style ecstasy.

Right now, I'm ripping tracks for travel. You know – James Taylor, Leonard Cohen, Esteban Salas, some 13^th century Franciscan songs, Pink Martini, Tracy Chapman, and the Convent of St. Elizabeth the Grand Duchess of Russia's Christmas album. Throw that in with the chant and harp already on my iPod – and I'm ready for anything.

New Music at mjballou.com

Feel like some "get you moving" music this morning?

Then trot over to www.mjballou.com and listen to the new tune. "Fromajadas" is a preview of my new album, Ancient City Harp, which features the diverse cultures that have made St. Augustine, Florida the city it is today.

And what would we be without our Minorcans? They arrived in the city in 1777 during the English occupation, having come to Florida as part of a plantation scheme. In fact, they were the Spanish presence in St. Augustine during those years. The earlier Spanish residents had decamped to Cuba and Mexico when the Spanish Crown ceded Florida to England in order to hang on to Cuba at the end of the Seven Years' War.

This Minorcan folk tune was traditionally sung on Easter Eve by groups going from door to door. Friendly householders would reward the singers with a cheese pastry (a "fromajada").

Great Site in the UK – Family Choices

I usually stay out of the pro-life/chastity arena (other than the occasional check) because I believe in "sticking to my knitting."

However, please go visit this site – Family Choices has a great message. And some fantastic downloads. Clean graphics and focused text. Not preachy, not too long. And perfectly willing to take the approach that works best with the young (and with most of us, if we're honest) – "it's all about me."

Thanks to The Hermaneutic of Continuity for pointing me in that direction.

More on the Chant CD

You'll also find a nifty video about the making the CD on the Amazon website.

There is also a link on the abbey's website. Along with lots of other information. But the video's great for "us visual learners."

Chant: Music for Paradise

 

I received my copy of this new CD yesterday. And it was definitely worth the extra expense of getting my paws on it prior to the July 1^st US release. (Patience has never been my long suit.) Here's the CD's website

Done by the monks of Stift Heiligenkreuz, this is a well-produced CD from Universal's Classics and Jazz folks. There are 29 tracks, including a requiem and compline. And one lovely snippet of the monastery's bells. I'm a sucker for bells.

It's thoroughly enjoyable. (And I know there are people who find that attitude toward chant annoying, so I apologize to them right now.) Just the right amount of reverb and a wonderful sense of movement. It topped the pop charts in the UK on its release there.

Why not buy a copy here when it releases? Better yet, buy two and give one to someone else.