Super Suppé

On By Pam SmithIn Blogging, MusicLeave a comment

Today, 18th April, is the anniversary of Franz von Suppé’s birth. He was born in 1819 in the Kingdom of Dalmatia, which sounds a bit like a country from a Disney film but was actually part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. If you visited his hometown today you would find yourself in modern day Croatia.

He was a prolific composer and a conductor, writing dozens of operettas and a whole plethora of church music and overtures. His music was and still is immensely popular, and lots of his music is still played in concerts around the world and on the radio here in the UK. If you listen to Classic FM for any length of time you will surely hear one of his overtures played at some point in the day.

I was lucky to be in a local brass band growing up which had an extensive library in a very wide ranging taste in music, and so I grew up playing some of Suppé’s works. We used to call it “yellow paper” music because a lot of it was printed on velum it was that old, but it was absolutely fantastic, and is a direct link to the music that our forebears in the early brass bands were playing in the mid-19th century. Bands back then were seen not just as the local town band who played on parades or at church fetes and things, but serious alternatives to the highbrow symphonic and philharmonic stuff that that the middle and upper classes were enjoying by ensembles such as the Halle Orchestra. It was pretty normal for brass bands – the domain of the working classes – to include transcribed orchestral stuff in their concert programmes, and it was a great way for the more serious works to be accessed by all classes of people. We have somehow lost that over the last generation or so and the brass band repertoire has moved away from straight-up classical music so much that it’s fairly unusual now for anything more than 40 or 50 years old to be played in concert programmes. Well, apart from Last Night of the Proms concerts but don’t get me started on that…

As a young player, one of my favourite pieces of Suppé’s to play was Light Cavalry because it has quite a tricky, technical ending for the cornets and I loved the challenge of mastering it. You might not understand it if I say that it is double and triple tonguing at speed on the open notes of C, G, and top E, but if you listen to it sometime, you will be able to pick out what I mean when the trumpets suddenly sound like cavalry horns (hence the title!).

Conductor’s score in Concert pitch. My favourite bit is at letter F which would be played on open notes on a cornet or trumpet

My other favourite piece of Suppé’s was (and still is) Poet and Peasant for similar technical reasons. I love the way the music flows anyway, and I love the melodies in it, but there are two bars in particular that once I’d mastered them were a joy to play. They are semiquavers (at speed) in the top register of F#, F, F#, G#, A, G#, F#, F repeated which should be played on valves 2, 1, 2, 2/3, 1/2, 2/3, 2, 1 repeated, and it’s blooming hard to do. Who can move their ring finger that quick and get it in the right sequence anyway?? There’s a shortcut though, and once I’d sussed out that I can play a G# on the 1st valve and an A on the 2nd, it made life VERY easy, and I whistled through it just going 21212121212121212 haha (smug face Pamster).

I told you it was technical, so sorry if I lost you a bit. But the music stands for itself, and Suppé will forever be one of my favourite Romantic composers because I have actually played his music. It makes me sad to know that very soon these chances for ordinary people – children in schools, music centres, brass bands and such – will lose the chance to access music like this because of cuts in funding to the Arts generally, but in teaching music specifically. It’s criminal what is happening to organisations such as the Welsh National Opera where musicians are being cut left right and centre, and orchestras such as the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra are losing 100% of their musicians. Without music being taught in schools, and with funding withdrawn at all levels of the Arts we are going to be left pretty bereft of anything that offers the deep connection to creativity that I was so fortunate to enjoy from childhood.

I wonder what Franz von Suppe and the other composers that we used to enjoy so freely would think of the state of things today? I bet they would love to send a cavalry charge right into the heart of government to get them to reconsider. If they do, I’d be on the lead horse waving a flag and shouting “CHAAAAAAARGE!”

Wednesday Hodgepodge – 17th April

On By Pam SmithIn Blogging1 Comment

I’m joining in with Joyce’s weekly blog prompt today on the Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you want to have a go yourself, please click the picture above and follow Joyce’s instructions.

1. What’s a skill you think everyone should have? 

I think everyone should have a couple of basic skills like being able to cook from scratch, mend minor repairs in clothes, know how to take care of basic hygiene and things like that, but there are also other things that we seem to be lacking in our society too. Things like empathy, putting others’ needs first/being courteous, a certain degree of critical thinking, and basic common sense. The world can be filled with highly skilled marketeers or money makers, but these basic things are what make us compassionate human beings and what the world needs more of in my opinion.

2. Do you have a special place or organizational system for gift wrapping? Do you still buy ‘real’ cards to send for birthdays, anniversaries, get-well, etc? 

I am absolutely hopeless at wrapping gifts so they tend to go in an envelope or a gift-bag. I can’t be doing with the faff and I don’t have the artistic skill to make any package look good so I tend to go for the easy options. And no, I don’t tend to buy cards any more. I might send the odd one on very special occasions like Mothering Sunday, but I just don’t ever remember to buy birthday cards in time to send them. Bad Pamster!

3. It’s National Banana Day…are you a fan? What’s your favourite thing to make with bananas or, if you’re not a cook, your favourite thing to eat that contains banana? 

I do like bananas, but I am very particular about the state they are in before I can eat them. I can’t stand them if they have started to go brown on the skin, and I absolutely can’t abide them once they have gone over the edge of ripeness and start to go dry in texture. I like them underripe if possible, and very cold. Urgh… ripe, warm bananas are the stuff that nightmares are made of.

4. Do you believe in second chances? Elaborate.

I do, I do, I do. None of us are perfect and we all make mistakes. As a Christian, I believe that by the grace of God we are given endless second chances when we repent. Who am I to deny that same grace to my fellow human being when they cause offence to me? That said, I do give second chances (and I would hope people would give them to me as well), but I won’t allow anyone to make a monkey out of me. I will mark your card, but I will let you have another go. Forgiveness is different. I only follow Jesus’ teaching; I am not him and don’t have the capacity to let things go and forgive as he does.

5. What is your idea of fun? 

I find the fun in most things, it’s just my nature. I enjoy being creative, and I enjoy being with other people for the most part. I do enjoy time alone as well where I can recharge my social batteries.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

A little visual joke for you today:

An Alphabetical Story

On By Pam SmithIn WritingLeave a comment

Something a bit different for today’s post, just for fun

A beautiful day in Spring, with birdsong and sunshine, is about to go downhill fast.
Because, just as everyone knows in April, you can never trust the weather to behave itself long enough for you to do what you want to do outdoors.
Consider this, my friend, as you lean on the spade to catch your breath, have you really thought this thing through?
Digging the garden is normal at this time of the year, but for this?
Everyone knows that this is just wrong.
Farmers and gardeners plant vegetables, and you are no farmer my friend.
Gardening looks easier on the TV, but this is more like Midsomer Murders than Ground Force.
How about you put the spade down, wait for this shower to pass over, and come inside for a little bit?
I’ll put the kettle on and we can talk about it all.
Just put the spade down on the grass, and leave that package there on the path.
Keeping quiet about all this will be no problem at all, there’s no need to look at me like that.
Last time I saw you digging like didn’t I keep schtum for you?
Many people would have lost the plot completely and run away after they’d seen you do what I saw.
Not me though.
Oh, you can be sure of my silence because let’s face it, you have stuff on me that I’d rather didn’t get out, so we’re even.
Perhaps you should pay attention to the weather and what it’s trying to stop you doing.
Quite soon that package will start to smell a bit and you’ll have the foxes trying to dig it up again.
Remember what happened the last time you tried to do this?
Sloppy remains leaking out of the bag, and you really upset the kids by what came up as well.
Time to give this up  as a bad job and just let the bad weather pass over.
Usually you do this in the middle of the May and I can’t understand why you’re even attempting this so early.
Vicky won’t be happy you have dug up the garden for this again.
We both know her famous temper and what that looks like when she’s in full flow.
Xenophobic to the last is our Vicky, to the very last.
You know what she’s like about Americanisms in the English language and how angry it makes her.
Zucchinis in the vegetable plot in an English garden – should be COURGETTES my dear boy instead!

Women’s Ministry? Or Simply, “Ministry”?

On By Pam SmithIn Ministry1 Comment

I received an interesting email today from one of my colleagues, Rev Jenni Beaumont who ministers in the neighbouring parish to me. She is the Bishop’s Advisor for Women’s Ministry here in Manchester and she is coordinating an art project to celebrate the work of women priests in the diocese. As she explains, it is in response to Eva’s Call, which is an art project that explores some of the negative things that women have had to face in ministry. This original project was in 2018, and I found it fascinating reading through the comments on it today, because I recognise so many of these comments said to me personally or that I have witnessed being said to my colleagues. What is disappointing is that in the 6 years or so since this original artwork was created, things haven’t really changed all that much and there is still so much negativity about women’s ministry.

Only yesterday, a parishioner pulled me in for a kiss at the peace with the words “I’ve been looking forward to this – it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to do this” (I’d not been at this particular church for a number of weeks). Last week whilst visiting a bereaved family I was asked “is it really like Dibley then?” (I work in an inner city parish of high deprivation markers in the majority of households, so that would be a no then…). Quite often I get remarks about me not being what they expected, but “you’re as good as a man though”, as if that’s some sort of consolation to me.

I’m over 50 now and pretty much all my adult working life I’ve had to put up with misogynistic abuse in the workplace in the name of “banter”, or “fun” or “supervision”, and it makes me so sad to know that for my younger colleagues, things are not that much better for them in their 20s and 30s. At least I don’t have to face the comments about my ability to juggle childcare and ministry like some of them do, and I don’t get asked whether my husband is a vicar as well because I’m well known in my community and they know he is most definitely NOT a vicar. I can’t help wonder what it will be like if and when I move parish or diocese at some point though. Would new people look over my head and address him as vicar instead of me as happens to so many other female vicars.

Surely in this day and age, especially given the heat around identity politics and the sensitivities around gender issues it is not beyond people to just call us “priests” is it? I yearn for the day when we don’t have to have special women’s advisors to the Bishop, and where it is normal practice to just assume that the minister at your wedding/funeral/baptism is more than likely going to be a woman and it not be a huge surprise.

We can’t be far off just calling us ministers, can we? Female or otherwise, just recognise me as a minister in God’s church doing my best for His people. My womanhood may give me a slightly different perspective on things because I know what it’s like to be on the fringes, overlooked, passed over, put down and ignored, and so it helps me see those who are there and to encourage them in. It also gives me a different set of skills like multi-tasking and an inability to pack my boot very well. But when it comes to loving God’s people and serving Him, it makes no difference whatsoever. It’s as Paul says,

27 for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3: 27-29

We all belong to Christ, so why do we keep trying to separate each other?

I do look forward to the response that Rev Jenni and team are pulling together, and it will be interesting to see how things have changed or developed since the original Eva’s Call project. I’m interested to see if some of those negative comments still pervade women’s ministry and how my sisters (and brothers!) tackle it in their ministry day by day. The event will be on 2nd May in Manchester Cathedral and will culminate in a special eucharist to celebrate 30 years since women were first ordained as priests.

I’ll report back and let you know what transpires.

God’s Orchestra

On By Pam SmithIn BloggingLeave a comment

This was offered as my sermon this morning in St Chad’s, New Moston and St Paul’s, Blackley Churches. There may or may not have been some embellishments in the delivery of each, but here is the main text of what was said. Readings: Acts 3. 12 – 19 and Luke 24. 36b – 48 (Third Sunday of Easter, RCL Year B).

Everybody has a different viewpoint on things, and everybody experiences the world differently, which goes a long way in shaping that viewpoint.

I want to try a little experiment here, and play you an excerpt from a famous piece of music:

From within this piece of music, there are five different viewpoints and experiences.

The conductor – he’s the one who sets the tempo and counts them all in so they play together. He has this wonderful view of all the musicians in front of him, from the lead violin on his left to the bass singers on the back row of the chorus. He wields mighty power in that little fibreglass baton, and around 150 singers and players all breathe at the same time to produce wonderful music under it.

The brass section – best section in the world – gets to make a lot of bright noises that put the sparkling edge on the music (I may be biased here), who wouldn’t want to be sitting in this wonderful section for this performance??

The timpanist – very important, without him we don’t hear those immense hammer blows that tell us something of God’s wrath. But this is a hard job – to time the strike to within a nanosecond of perfection, with both hands on a bouncy surface that can resound and cause percussive shock to travel up your arms if you get it wrong.

The chorus – a beautiful and massive blend of voices who all sing together to support the orchestra singing to the limits of their lungs.

And the soloists, who in this excerpt just sit there while the rest of them get on with it. They have a special part to play at key moments through this whole piece of music… but not at this moment they don’t.

But what about those sat in the audience?

There will be people in the audience on this clip who had never heard this music before, who maybe leapt out of their seats when those first crashing big sounds are heard; there will be those who know what to expect and lean forward eagerly; those who know what to expect, but cover their ears…

And there will be people watching the recording of it saying “oh isn’t that from… that film/advert etc”

Others still will be saying – “It’s not fast enough!” “It’s too slow!” “Urgh, this is classical music and it’s BORING”

And then there were the people who were listening to this on its opening performance (22nd May 1874 – see this Wikipedia entry for more details).

The purists among them – “this is a monstrosity! Cacophony!. How dare he (Verdi) turn this religious sacred text into such horrible noise!”, and the more open-minded, receptive people – “I like the way he has brought the whole tone of the wrath of God into such dramatic, rich sounds that paint a soundscape to immerse yourself in. It’s about time we had something new to celebrate”.

And finally, there were the critics, the reviewers, those whose job it was to go out and tell other people about it. Those people have the responsibility of either encouraging those who haven’t heard it before, or putting them off from ever engaging with it by the words they use.

Those early critics may well have trashed this work completely, and if they had it would not only not be heard by the public again, but there wouldn’t be any musicians today to perform it, whether as a conductor, or in the brass section or the chorus, let alone specialise and become a soloist.

So what has all this got to do with the church and scripture?

Think of these people in the orchestra as like the people in our scripture reading today.

The composer – or the orchestrator (Verdi) – is Jesus in my metaphor. This wonderful new work, the church, has been created through his death and resurrection, bringing forgiveness and new life for all. He is the author if this, and it is other people who bring the story of it to life.

The orchestra and the chorus are the church, and it is made up of lots of different people all with different skills, experiences, abilities, contributions to make. Not everyone can (or wants to) play the trumpet, or the timpani. Not everyone has a voice that take the demands of the chorus, and not everyone has the desire or the skillset to become a soloist or a conductor. But… there is always room for people to join in and to learn these things.

Sadly though, some people in our church don’t want to be, or feel they are not good enough to be, part of this particular orchestra or choir, and they sit in the audience instead. And like some in the audience who heard this first-hand, this can be for many reasons.

Going back to the opening night metaphor with the purists in the audience, it was a bit like the people who wanted Jesus crucified. “It’s not proper!” they said to Pilate. “It’s blasphemy!”. They are like the critic who pans the performance, because they were there at the moment, they SAW Jesus for themselves, they WITNESSED him dying on the cross, the HEARD about him being seen – on the road to Emmaus, in the upper room, on the lakeside… – and yet they rejected it all outright.

Then there were those who were in the orchestra right from the start. The ones who Jesus hand-picked to be in the band, the players who were there on opening night.

Peter, Andrew, James, John… the OG band members who in turn went out to tell people about his great and wonderful new work, and how it was going to transform the world for EVERYONE.

But even they needed a bit of persuading. When Jesus stood among them and ate the piece of fish to assure them that he really was alive, not simply a ghost or an apparition, it was like the morning after a big gig, and the orchestra were spent. “We don’t know what just happened”, they gasped.

But Jesus says – do it again. And again. And again.

The orchestra was ready, and they did go and do it again, and again, and again, telling the story how God’s salvation plan was satisfied on the cross, and how Jesus’ death reconciled everyone to God, one sacrifice for all. The Apostles spread the word, they began to build the basis of the church today.

But just as Luke records, not everyone had their hearts and minds opened to understand all that, even though it had been prophesied for centuries. That the Messiah must suffer, die and rise again on the third day. Many simply didn’t understand… many didn’t want to believe.

So the Apostles’ job was to share the news far and wide, handing it on generation to generation

teaching

sharing

witnessing

believing

appreciating the events of Jesus’ passion and how it fundamentally changed our relationship with God.

So where does that leave us today? The Requiem music stands as a musical masterpiece, just as the church does as the living body of Jesus.

And it takes hundreds, thousands, millions of Christians/musicians to make it all work.

Where are you?

Are you in the orchestra or choir making a big noise for Jesus? Or are you in the audience perhaps thinking – I don’t know that I’m good enough to join in…

Maybe you’ve been in the orchestra for so long that you still enjoy the music, but you grumble because we don’t wear the right uniform or costume any more, or the brass section never takes it seriously, or the violas are ALWAYS behind everyone else, or the conductor’s hair isn’t floppy enough and he is FAR too young and can’t possibly know how to shape this thing…

Wherever you are in this, it’s your job alongside everyone else in the church/orchestra to teach the next generation and those who haven’t heard this music before how the music goes, to remember the composer – Jesus – to silence the critics who try to say that it doesn’t matter any more and the world has moved on…

Jesus – the composer – stood among his friends, ate some fish and said “peace be with you”.

I wonder if his follow-up statement was something like – “AND NOW GO AND MAKE A BIG NOISE!”

Amen

Friday on the Mushy Cloud

On By Pam SmithIn BloggingLeave a comment

It’s been a really busy day today on the Mushy Cloud, with two church funerals (in the same church), some service prep, and a visit to the theatre to see Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap”.

The two funerals were as different from one another as two funerals can be. The first was for a retired Fire Officer with a long association with this particular church, the other was a devoted Nanna who lived for her children and grandchildren. One had a standard bearer, the other had a horse-drawn carriage and doves. One was very tricky to negotiate because of family members pushing in on the arrangements, and the other was a delight and a dream despite the large number of people involved in organising things.

It’s hard work doing back to back , but as ever, I have a fantastic pit crew in my corner, bringing emergency rations, looking after me and my equipment so I can look after my grieving families. Thank you Ma and Pa!

And then after an hour on service prep, it was time for some down time. Me and Kevin went to the Lowry to see “The Mousetrap”, which was fabulous. We don’t often get the chance to go out, and it was well worth the trip. A couple of famous names in there, but it didn’t matter that we didn’t know the rest of the cast because they were all brilliant. It’s the longest running play in the world, and it is very much of its time and style, it feels very modern and was great to watch.

A long day at the end of a long week ending on a high.  And no, I won’t tell you whodunnit.

In 10 years, I…

On By Pam SmithIn Blogging1 Comment

Daily writing prompt
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
View all responses

This is one of those interview type questions isn’t it? You know the ones, where they leave you torn between wanting to say “retired”, or “doing your job” to the interviewer.

It has been a long time since I had a job interview though, and if I was doing any other job than the one I’m doing now as a church minister, I would be terrified of that question. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have a 10 year vision though, and in 10 years from now I would love to still be a parish priest doing what I’m doing now, but maybe with a curate or two to guide and shape along the way.

The only changes I would make between now and then is that maybe, just maybe, I would be living in a purpose built ministry house (vicarage, rectory, parsonage or something) with an actual study that will hold all my books on proper shelves, not the little cupboard I have now where my books and papers are all in a strata-like formation. Honestly, I need a hard hat and a hi-vis jacket just to get in here some days, so yeah, a bigger study would be nice.

Apart from that, doing the same thing would be nice, but I’d be thinner, of course.

Owl Progress

On By Pam SmithIn Art and Craft2 Comments

I’ve been back at “work” this week and having had a week off due to sickness, I didn’t want to overwhelm myself too much too quickly and wanted to pace myself a bit.  But I’m a church minister, so that’s not possible and I’m as busy as ever, and have worked 14 hours a day for the last 3 days.

That kind of working pattern isn’t sustainable, I know that, so tomorrow is going to be an easier day, so please don’t shout at me! But one of the things I’ve been doing to try and loosen the grip of “work” is to pray and sew for a bit each day. I’m making good progress on my owl cross stitch tapestry picture, and I think I’m probably about 80% done.

Here’s a progress picture with the comparison from where I was at this time last week.

I love this project, and can’t wait to get out framed and on my study wall.

Accidental Discovery

On By Pam SmithIn Blogging1 Comment

So… here’s the thing. The clocks went forward 10 days ago here in the UK, and for the first 6 or 7 days in the new time zone I was confined to barracks and not out in my little Basil (see post yesterday for who/what Basil is).

Today was the first time since Good Friday that I have been out and I noticed that my car was on the “old” time within a nanosecond of getting in the car. Now, I know from previous time zone adjustments that it’s something to do with the little fiddly knobby things on the instrument panel. Basil isn’t very technologically advanced and there’s nothing automatic about any of the operations in that car, including the clock adjustments.

As you can see from this (very dusty) picture, there are two stalks at either end of the speedo dial. (I love the fact that the clock goes up to 140mph. I think I managed to push Basil to 72mph once, but that was downhill in a wind).

I know from filling it up with fuel that the one on the right zero’s the counter, and you might be able to tell from the photo that it looks like I’ve done 1.2 miles since fuelling up. Nope, dear reader. I did 1.2 miles since I started to fiddle with the knobs at the lights and I accidentally zeroed it. I pressed the left hand one a couple of times but nothing noticeably happened to begin with. But I was convinced that one of these things was the one I was after so I didn’t give up, until I noticed that the dashboard lights were getting brighter each time I pressed the left one in.

What is this magic??! I had obviously made an accidental discovery in that there are three settings to the dimness/brightness of the dashboard lights and I only found out because I was trying to change the clock. Well, there’s a lesson in life for you right there! Who knew that there are three functions contained within these two little magic buttons, and who knew that one of them was to brighten up the lights?

I did eventually find out how to change the clock and that was to twizz the right hand stalk to the left to change the hour and to the right to change the minutes. Took me ages to work it out and no doubt I will forget about it by October, but I’m quite pleased with my little self today. My clock is telling the right time, my mileage is only about 70 miles out (oops) and I have managed to dim the lights so they don’t blind me on the dashboard in the dark.

Win win. Accidental or otherwise, I’m taking that.