On Thursday, December 5, at 6:00 PM, the Society of St. Hugh of Cluny will be sponsoring a Solemn High Mass – with orchestral music – at the magnificent church of the Most Holy Redeemer at 173 E 3rd St, New York. The Mass will be on the eve of the Feast of St Nicholas, and also will be an occasion to reflect on the German community that once flourished in this neighborhood. For, in the past. Most Holy Redeemer and the nearby, regrettably destroyed archdiocesan parish of St Nicholas served primarily German congregations.

The celebrant will be the pastor of Most Holy Redeemer, Fr. William Elder. Mr. James Wetzel will direct the music, which will include Joseph Haydn’s Nikolaimesse (“Nicholas Mass” – likely first performed on St Nicholas’ day, December 6, 1772). It will be a festive occasion!

The mass will be followed by a reception with seasonal refreshments. I hear that we should expect two special guests. One we know well:

And his sidekick too:

A Solemn High Mass will be offered at St. Mary Church, Greenwich, CT, on Friday, November 22 at 7:30 to celebrate the Feast of St Cecilia.
Looking ahead, St. Mary’s will offer a Rorate Mass in honor of Our Lady during Advent on Saturday, December 14th at 6:30 in the morning.

Father Paul Check is the celebrant; David Hughes is the choir director; Bill Riccio is the Master of Ceremonies.

This Thursday at Notre Dame Church in New Hyde Park, NY:

St. Mary’s Church and the St. Cecilia Society are pleased to announce a free recital on Sunday, November 24, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. at St. Mary’s Church, 669 West Avenue in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Charles and Elizabeth Weaver will perform their program, “Ye Sacred Muses: The Musical Treasury of an English Catholic Gentleman,” featuring music from the late 16th-century manuscripts of Edward Paston. Paston’s extensive collection of music includes several hundred arrangements for a single voice and lute. Many of these are arrangements of grand, large-scale works from the bygone era of Catholic England (including works of composers such as John Taverner and Thomas Tallis), as well as famous sacred and secular music from abroad in Europe (e.g. Palestrina and Victoria). The collection also heavily features the music of Paston’s friend William Byrd, a Catholic composer beloved of Queen Elizabeth I, and one of the greatest geniuses of English music history.

Charles and Elizabeth Weaver are both members of the Schola Cantorum, the professional ensemble that sings at the 9:30am Sunday Mass at St. Mary’s.

The concert will be performed in St. Mary’s Church at 3:00 p.m. Admission is free of charge, though donations will be gratefully accepted. All proceeds will benefit the sacred music program at St. Mary’s and make more concerts possible in the future.

St. Mary’s Church in Norwalk, CT, is forming a Festival Choir and a Children’s Choir, both under the direction of Charles Weaver, for the Advent Lessons and Carols. For more information and to participate, please go to this link: Festival Choir

Projected Repertoire:

Matins Responsory: I look from afar (after Palestrina)
The Great “O” Antiphons (before each lesson)

Carols:
Adam lay ybounden (Ord)
Dadme albricias/Verbum caro factum est (Cancionero de Uppsala)
Zion hears the watchmen’s voices (Bach) *children’s Carol Choir only*
Villancico al Nacimiento (Cascante)
Carol of the Advent: People, look East (Besançon melody)
Hymn to the Virgin (Britten) *Schola Cantorum/advanced group only*
O come, o come, Emmanuel (arrangement TBD)