blog.sinden.org

So many people think that Lent is about giving something up rather than taking something on to go deeper into the faith.

I have so many wonderful, thoughtful readers of this blog. I wonder if you might be willing to team up to create an online Lenten devotional? I was thinking especially about hymns.

This can really take any form you want. I don't have any guidelines, but here are some thoughts to get you started.

Here's the plan: use the voice memo app on your phone to record a thought or two about your chosen hymn and send it to me at dsinden@gmail.com

• What's your favorite hymn, and why?
• What do you wish other people knew about this hymn?
• what words do you think we should notice?
• what's a hymn that you really like, or find interesting, that not many people know about
• in a hymn that has fallen out of favor (e.g. "Onward Christian soldiers") what have we lost by not singing it?
• what hymn makes you weep?
• what hymn makes you laugh?
• if there is a particular passage that speaks to you, feel free to read that as part of your recording

Finally, don't forget to say who you are, where you live, and what you do so we can add that in.

You can speak informally, or write out a script first. It doesn't matter to me. You can talk for as long as you like, but I'll probably edit it down to about 2-3 minutes or so.

My plan is to edit these together with some music and then push them out during Lent.

Labels: hymns, Songs in the Desert

Every detail of today's Composers Datebook is fascinating. It's about Leonard Bernstein conducting the premiere of Ives' Symphony No. 2 many years after Ives wrote it.

Labels: Bernstein, Charles Ives

Was reminded of this poem in reading "Bringing back the ’Gesimas: A liturgical proposal" by Mark Michael at the Living Church's Covenant blog, an article we commend to you.

Labels: Gesimas, John Betjeman, liturgy, poetry

“I finally said Kevin [Bowyer], this Sorabji thing... this is just a stunt, right? And he took offense to that,” says [Greg] Hand. “He told me with a, just a straight face that it had changed his life completely and that everyone who had come to the concert and stayed for the concert, it had changed their lives completely.

Pemble, John. "Eight-Hour Work Introduces A New Organ In Iowa City". Iowa Public Radio, 9 Feb 2017.

Labels: Kevin Bowyer, Sorabji, University of Iowa

Today the Episcopal Church celebrates the Feast of Martin Luther, theologian and reformer.

Labels: Martin Luther

Hereford Cathedral has begun webcasting via Soundcloud.

At the time of this writing the current webcast is an organ transcription of Elgar's Enigma Variations, and five services are available on their "Webcast archive" page.

If you are of the mind to do so, you can directly follow Hereford Cathedral on Soundcloud.

Labels: Evensong, Hereford, webcasting