During our Madrigal Dinner, a wassail ceremony will follow the Queen's arrival. In the 15th to 16th centuries, wassailing was a reciprocal exchange between the Lords and their peasants as a form of charitable giving.
"we are not daily beggars that beg from door to door but we are friendly neighbours whom you have seen before."
The Lord of the Manor would give food and drink to the peasants in exchange for their blessing and goodwill:
"Love and joy come to you, and to you your wassail to;
And God bless you and send you a Happy New Year!"
In some parts of England, wassailing refers to drinking and singing the health of trees. The purpose of wassailing was to awake the cider trees and scare away evil spirits and ensure a good harvent of fruit. Wasasail ceremonies varied from vilage to village but the procession was generally led by the host or a wassail King and Queen to a tune played or sung from one orchard to the next.
During the earlier part of Elizabethan England, men wore embroidered vests and front-buttoned shirts with loose pants until the knee. The rich men wore finely-made-of-leather shoes, a flat silk or velvet hat, or a tall hat like a crown that was made of feathers of fabric.
During the later part of the era, they were dressed in cloaks held by a crucifix and chain with fine stockings in silk, and bonnets or hats with a plume on the side. Like women's clothing, men's clothes were detailed with inconvenient ruffles that were stiff and about 8 inches in width.
The class structure during Elizabethan England was quite evident in the clothing of the era. The upper class used rich velvets, satin and exotic silk. Fabrics were imported: silks from the Middle East and the finest velvet from Italy. The brightest colors were considered the most expensive so that the upper class women were quite distinguishable from the working class women by the color of their dresses. Upper class women also used classy jewelry and the ruffs were indispensable for a truly elegant look.
Ladies in waiting dressed elegantly as they were selected from the nobility to serve as companions to the Queen or noble women. They were not considered servants and would often wear an ankle length dress with long sleeves and a hair piece.
Clothing during the 15th to 16th centuries was an indicator of one's status. While the nobility wore fabrics with rich colors and fine embroidery, the common folk wore drab colors in wool or flax. The Men typically wore boots, pants (called breeches), a shirt, a vest (also know as a jerkin), and a hat. Women would often wear an over and under skirt, a bodice, a shirt, and a hat, scarf, or snood.
Just like the Town Crier of old, let everyone know that an amazing, special event is coming to St. Mel in December. "Hear Ye, Hear Ye!" or "Listen up!"
During the medieval times, many English towns had an official called a "Town Crier", whose job was to stand in public and shout, or "cry" official announcements. To attract attention, he would ring a bell. Town criers were the center of communication as most people were illiterate.
The Town Crier usually carried a Scroll, on which was written the proclamation or announcement of the day. After proclaiming the news, he would post the scroll on a wall for those who could read. Interestingly enough, town criers were not always men. In fact, many town criers were women.
If you've never been to nor heard of a Madrigal Dinner, you've come to the right place. Here's a brief description:
Regardless of form, content, theme or name, the Madrigal Dinner is basically a "you eat, we sing" framework surrounding a variety of arts, all complementary and in turn being complemented by others. Music, drama, the visual arts and not the least, the culinary arts, all combine into a unique integrated aesthetic experience, unleashing the imaginations of all involved, including (and especially) the audience.
The audience will find themselves in the center of a make-believe world, peopled by the Lord and Lady of the Manor, jesters, minstrels, and all the sounds and excitement of another time and another place.
Source: The Compleet Madrigal Dinner Bookeby Paul Brandvik
St. Mel’s Music Ministry is proud to join the Los Angeles 9/11 Interfaith Tribute Choir for a reflective and inspirational evening, on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks. Remembering 9/11 will be hosted by Temple Judea in Tarzana, and directed by our own Francesco AlleRuzzo and Dr. Noreen Green, Music Director at Valley Beth Shalom. The evening begins at 7pm. Admission is free! Temple Judea is located at 5429 Lindley Ave., Tarzana 91356.
Participating with St. Mel and Temple Judea will be special guest artist Mark Kaspar, 2nd Principal Violinist of the L.A. Philharmonic, as well as the choirs of Valley Beth Shalom-Encino, Life Choir- Hollywood, St. Bernardine-Woodland Hills, St. Martin of Tours-Brentwood, Temple Aliyah-Woodland Hills, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, First Presbyterian Church of Encino, Society of Singers, Greater Community Missionary Baptist Church-Pacoima, and St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.
And for Trinity Sunday, the handbell choir with Paul Piazza on trumpet, performed this beautiful arrangement of Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty. Very inspiring.
Pentecost Sunday marks the end of the Easter season and the coming of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles and the Virgin Mary. "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them: And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak with diverse tongues, according as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak." [Acts 2:2-4]
Jesus said to his disciples: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven." Proclaiming God's message includes acting on the teachings of Jesus. Our reflection hymn "Count Thou Fount of Every Blessing" includes these words: Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Not just songs of praise but songs of loudest praise. Not just listening to His word but acting on His word. How is it possible to sing in praise when our troubles are sometimes too much to handle? If we let His teachings transform us, we can weather any storm. Let Thy goodness like a fetter
Bind my wand'ring heart to Thee.
Here is an earlier blogpost with a recording of this hymn.
The hymn is quite familiar to us. We hear it frequently during Lent, sung in triumph, a celebration of victory over death. In preparation for this Lenten Season, our handbell choir has been rehearsing this arrangement for handbells and choir.
We join the Music Ministry for many reasons. Cecille Waggner writes about joining the handbell choir.
I never considered myself the creative or artistic type, preferring math formulas and the scientific process over the subjectivism of the arts. But when my sister told me that Francesco was starting a handbell choir at the parish, I was curious. I figured I could always quit if it didn’t work out.
Now I love every single plunk, pluck, ring, thumb damp, and shake and I'm still discovering the different sounds those bells can produce. I know now that my childhood music lessons were not for naught (thanks Dad!). I like being part of this group of musicians (an ensemble really) - from our newest member Ghislaine and her do-re-mi, to Bridget who can now sight read music like a pro to Precy, our resident nurse.
Each of our 11 ringers has a role to play and no single ringer is more important than the other. We enjoy our rehearsals, sweat through our performances, and we keep coming back for more. In my next post, I'll share some of the new musical pieces for the Lenten season.
Here’s Francesco’s invitation to join our handbell choir.
Please help us name our adult handbell choir. There is no limit to the number of names that you can come up with. Use this link to enter your suggestions. Name that Choir
Some criteria to guide your creativity:
1. The name should reflect the personality of our handbell choir: dedicated, fun, committed to inspiring the assembly, multi-talented, supportive of each other, welcoming. and we love to learn.
2. We perform a variety of music, primarily during the Christmas and Lenten seasons and for special events.
3. The name must differentiate us from the other handbell choirs in the parish/school: our children's beginning and intermediate handbell choirs and eventually, a beginning adult handbell choir.
4. Anyone can join the handbell choir. We do not discriminate based on musical style preference or level of experience.
We are now rehearsing for the March 19 performance of Benjamin Britten's "Noah's Flood" with the Los Angeles Opera at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Noah's Floodwas created in 1957 by British composer Benjamin Britten and tells the biblical story of Noah's Ark. This LA Opera production was originally presented in 2007 and will again follow Britten's original work by involving the community in all elements of the production. This is an exciting opportunity for us to perform alongside professional singers and choirs from diverse Los Angeles churches and schools.
If you are unable to download music through your email because of limited space in your mailbox, you may access the files through this link: Menu and Music 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Just click on the highlighted links in this pdf.
There are 3 files for each song: 1) the recording = .MP3 2) the sheet music = .PDF 3) the lyrics = .DOC
Please note that we have 3 new songs this weekend. So, please listen to them before Sunday. We've also included some familiar songs which you might like to hear.
When you see the Nike swoosh, what do you think of? How about the BMW logo? Logos make a product or an experience more memorable. And here’s where we need your help. Our music ministry is developing its own logo but first we need to answer some basic questions about who we are. Please help us with our logo design by answering this informal survey: St. Mel Music Ministry Logo Design Survey
You do not need to be a member of the Music Ministry to respond. All responders will remain anonymous.
Hello everyone I am currently organizing a Visita Iglesia (Church Visits) for the coming holy week and would like to get feedback on what Churches to visit. I will post the specifics as Holy Thursday draws near but for now I need to map out a route for the church visits. So far here are the Churches:
The Parish Choir sang Wade in the Water during Sunday's celebration of the feast of Christ's baptism. Harriet Tubman sang this spiritual as a warning to runaway slaves. To escaping slaves, the song told them to abandon the path and move into the water. By travelling along the water’s edge or across a body of water, the slaves would throw chasing dogs and their keepers off the scent. Source: osblackhistory.com
