• The Forum with Michael Bawtree

    We had a good Forum meeting after the 10.30 am service yesterday. This time I was interviewing Michael Bawtree.

    Michael is an international musicial and conductor based in Glasgow but frequently travelling the world.

    Some of the things we talked about were:

    • Can you tell a musician’s faith by the music they make?
    • What is Spirituality and is it the same as Religion?
    • Why commission new music?
    • What makes a musician?

    We also discovered Michael’s guilty secret – he revealed which composer he just doesn’t quite get.

    You can see it all in the video below.

    (Note that the sound is considerably improved from last week).


     

     

2 responses to “E and B”

  1. Martin Ritchie Avatar
    Martin Ritchie

    One of the interesting things about choral evensong is that in some places it can seem like a living tradition that can speak to anyone, whereas in others it can appear to be dry as dust, pompous and irrelevant. What do you think the “method” is that produces a living choral evensong as opposed to an antiquarian one?

  2. kelvin Avatar

    That’s a good question, Martin and I agree, it can be miserable.

    I think that worship tends to take off when those planning it and organising and leading it care more about what we are doing when we worship than in the form in which we worship.

    I suspect that Choral Evensong is not best led by liturgical, musical or prayer book fundamentalists or by those who happen to find this a way of encountering the holy.

    A culture of offering the best we can be to God helps. Good relationships between musicians and clergy help. As usual, clear liturgical books in the hands of the faithful help. And whoever is leading needs not to be frightened of a bit of silence now and then amidst the music.

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