Thaxted is a lovely little market town
(or village depending on who you ask) near the Essex / Suffolk
border. It is the sort of place that could have its own Radio 4 soap
opera and the harp I teamed up with four members of Walden Winds to
provide music for the Taize elements of their Candlemas service.
Music is central to Taize worship which was developed in Taize,
France during the 50s and 60s. As candles are lit and brought to the
front of the church, and during the Meditation and other points in
the service chants are sung. They are very simple but as they are
repeated singers or players develop and embellish providing
harmonies. It is incredibly hypnotic and spiritually very satisfying.
Most of us were new to this and had structured what we did but as we
relaxed into it it was possible to move away from the structure and
try out new things. We had Sue on flute, Mary and Helen on clarinet and Doris on bass clarinet.
What ended up not being so structured was the order of service. When we got to what we thought was about to be the hymn we realised the vicar had skipped a whole section and gone onto the next section which was the meditation, quiet reflection where the vicar spoke gently and infrequently. Myself and Sue were providing flute and harp music for this so after some frantic raising of eyeborws and nodding of heads we set off. I realised my harp was still in the key for the hymn so I had to do some very quick lever changes to get back into the right key. I didn't quite reach the meditative state of the congregation and neither did the vicar's wife, who was sitting near us. "He'll go back to the hymn I'm sure" she whispered, half reassuringly, then added "He's always doing this!" The rest of it did go smoothly and there were many positive comments afterwards. There was also a very good singer who sang with the organist. I can't remember her name but that gave a little variety to the service. It was then mulled wine and cake and chat with others who were there. The vicar was very pleased and thank us all. Maybe there's a repeat booking for next year...
Sadly the photo of the group didn't come out but here is a picture of the worship area and a few candles!
What ended up not being so structured was the order of service. When we got to what we thought was about to be the hymn we realised the vicar had skipped a whole section and gone onto the next section which was the meditation, quiet reflection where the vicar spoke gently and infrequently. Myself and Sue were providing flute and harp music for this so after some frantic raising of eyeborws and nodding of heads we set off. I realised my harp was still in the key for the hymn so I had to do some very quick lever changes to get back into the right key. I didn't quite reach the meditative state of the congregation and neither did the vicar's wife, who was sitting near us. "He'll go back to the hymn I'm sure" she whispered, half reassuringly, then added "He's always doing this!" The rest of it did go smoothly and there were many positive comments afterwards. There was also a very good singer who sang with the organist. I can't remember her name but that gave a little variety to the service. It was then mulled wine and cake and chat with others who were there. The vicar was very pleased and thank us all. Maybe there's a repeat booking for next year...
Sadly the photo of the group didn't come out but here is a picture of the worship area and a few candles!
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