The abbey looked great. The fathers were finely robed and performed their rituals with dignity. The choir (all known to me!) sang well. The new organ sounded good. The congregation looked totally miserable, and didn't really join in the call-and-response style which Vatican II promulgated all those years ago. As well as being a Benedictine Abbey (now only 14 monks, I think) it serves as a 'parish church'. I can't help thinking Anglicans do it better on the whole, especially when Christmas Joy is needed!
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I watched part of this but gave up after a while. The principal players were indeed splendid and the building beautiful, but it all reminded me of one of those stylised oriental plays as people moved about doing small things and I'm afraid it just didn't provide what I was hoping for. My failing I'm sure, as I only know the Anglican High Church ritual. I did enjoy the Charpentier - impressive singers and singing; I looked away when the organist was being shown as there was too much of a lag between what his fingers were doing and what I was hearing. Yes, the congregation didn't seem to be doing much celebrating, and one gentleman the camera kept coming back to looked almost angry rather than just miserable. -
Well I enjoyed the high solemnity of the service and surely that was the mood rather than misery? - at least, I sincerely hope so. It was all suitably edifying. The singing was very satisfying, despite a tendency for the sopranos to sag ever so minutely in pitch once or twice. The Charpentier is some way from being my favourite mass, but it was a suitably accessible choice.Comment
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And well-engineered and edited too.Comment
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It was live, BTW.Comment
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Maybe the congregation could have done with a few bottles of "Buckie" to get them in the mood?Comment
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I meant 'edited' in the way the producer shifted from camera to camera while the service went on. Impressive.Originally posted by ardcarp View PostComment
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That might have been quite a fighty mood.Originally posted by MrGongGong View PostMy boxes are positively disintegrating under the sheer weight of ticks. Ed ReardonComment
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