Palestrina - Missa aeternae Christi munera

Something different today - a Palestrina mass.

Our church choir were due to sing this on Sunday, the Ladies and Soprano Choral Scholars singing the top section. We have an awesome group of Sop. Choral Scholars (actually ALL our Choral Scholars are awesome!) who juggle increasing demands at school and continue to sing services. Many are currently reeling from the cancellation of public exams with their futures put on hold, but I know they will all rise to the challenge.

One of the tricky things about being a choral scholar at St. Mary le Tower is the sudden leap into a new set of music, much of which we Ladies and Gents know well. This Palestrina mass is a good example - they rock up and rehearse once and then join us in the service. I therefore thought it would be good to feature a "stock item" from our repertoire just for them, after all they would have been singing it on Sunday anyway!

Adrian Batten c.1591-c.1637

So today I was supposed to be singing Evensong in Cranford, Heathrow. Amongst other music we were due to sing Batten's Fourth Service, which most of us know. Adrian Batten is a really interesting composer, not least because of his dedication to preserving the works of his contemporaries, whilst much of his own is sadly lost. I felt he was an excellent example of working for the common good which so many people are currently dedicating themselves to during this difficult time.

Adrian Batten was Organist and Vicar-Choral of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul's, London between the Reformation and the Civil War in the 1640s. As an Anglican church composer he was active during an important period of English church music which saw the birth of the "verse anthem" where music was predominantly in English.

Biography
Batten was born in Salisbury, and was a chorister and then organ scholar at Winchester Cathedral. Batten remained with the cathedral choir after his voice had changed, as evidenced by graffiti carved into the wall of Bishop Gardiner's chantry that reads "Adrian Battin: 1608". (Don't get any ideas Choral Scholars!!) In 1614, he moved to London to become a Vicar Choral of Westminster Abbey, and was apparently still at Westminster in 1625; The Lord Chamberlain's Records for 1625 show that at the funeral of James I (at which Orlando Gibbons was organist and master of the music) Batten is described as a "singingman of Westminster".

Mothering Sunday

Mothering Sunday has been celebrated on the fourth Sunday in Lent in the UK and Ireland since the 16th century. People returned to their "mother church" for a service which was held on Laetare Sunday - Laetare Sunday is exactly 21 days before Easter Sunday, a moveable feast based on the cycles of the moon. The earliest occurrence of Laetare Sunday in the twenty-first century was on 2 March 2008 and the latest will be on 4 April 2038. Your "mother church" was either the church where you were baptised or the nearest cathedral (the latter being the mother church of all the parish churches in a diocese). Anyone who did this was commonly said to have gone "a-mothering".

Mothering Sunday became a day when domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mother church, usually with their own mothers and other family members. Those who were in service were given a day off so they could visit their families, and the children often picked wildflowers along the way either to place in the church or to give to their mothers. 

The day is also referred to sometimes as Mid-Lent Sunday or Refreshment Sunday and seen as a day when the austerity of Lent is temporarily put aside. Clergy wear rose robes in some churches as in Advent, when Refreshment Sunday is known as Gaudete Sunday. (Gaudete means "rejoice".) Both days provide a break from the penitential nature of the season and signify the nearness of the Lord's coming.

Mothering Sunday is sometimes known as "Simnel Sunday", in addition to the cake's association with Easter.  Simnel cakes celebrate the reuniting of the family, as does the the custom of "clipping the church" where the congregation join hands and circle the church. (Not something we are able to do currently!)

In my copy of "Sunday by Sunday" from the RSCM, the comment for Sunday 22nd March says 
"It is very often hard to accept that the triumph of good is never plain sailing" and that we should "pray for the grace to share Mary's pain and suffering for the good of all". This seemed quite pertinent with all that is currently playing out around us; as mothers and as children of God we should trust and struggle together for the ultimate good of all.

On to the music!

If you fancy singing something appropriate there are numerous options - indeed any Magnificat would be ideal! My current favourite is Howells in G, one of his early settings and less well known. Listen here on Youtube. (More on Howells another day, you all know he's a favourite of mine!!)


You can download the music as a PDF here on Choral Wiki and sing along! (Perhaps a setting for next year if we all learn it?!)

Other options are Rutter's "For the Beauty of the Earth" - praising Mother Earth. Another favourite of mine! Listen to it here  . Remember the earth and the world outside is still accessible to us. I suspect we might just come to appreciate it a little more over the coming few months. If you are not currently in isolation the National Trust have opened all their parks and gardens for free.

If you don't have Spotify Premium or prefer a CD them this album is available here on Amazon. (Just make sure you select the right option for you as the default is streaming.)

One hymn for this Sunday which leapt off the page was "Let all the world in every corner sing". In the light of current restrictions on movement and interaction, we mustn't stop singing, music is what keeps so many people going and singing is powerful medicine. Music is such a fundamentally joyous part of worship and is so good for the soul. It is praise in its purest form. Please do check out some of the links on the home page for online singing groups, sing along on Spotify or YouTube - do keep singing!

Stay well everyone, look after your mental as well as your physical health. Below is a prayer released by the Church of England for Mothering Sunday:-