Trooper York: From Tim....a Video about the school his son attended.

Monday, October 27, 2014

From Tim....a Video about the school his son attended.

12 comments:

TTBurnett said...: And, I liked it so much, I now teach there. I teach recorder 4 mornings a week and ride herd on the Altar Servers on Sundays. The Altar Servers are trained pretty intensely by another teacher, but she can't regularly make the 11:00 Sunday Mass, so I'm her stand-in, preventing fire (except candles) or riot. They're generally great kids, but the thing about middle-schoolers, it's always herding cats, no matter how devout, well-behaved and sophisticated they sometimes seem.

The Liturgy, BTW, is Novo Ordo, but with a chanted Latin Introit, and Palestrina, Byrd, or Mozart, for example, sung in the Mass in Latin, and the Mass is often otherwise partly or wholly in Latin. Yes, Latin is the language of the new Mass, if you want. And St. Paul's does, whenever appropriate. I'm often standing in church responding completely in Latin, surrounded by people who can chant, say, the Credo and everything else snappily in Latin from memory without batting an eye. It's a remarkably beautiful Liturgy that Cardinal O'Malley loves. The boys sang, as well, for the Holy Father last school year in Rome. The point is, as liberal as some people think the Holy Father may be, Pope Francis (not to mention Cardinal O'Malley) loves both music and an appropriately beautiful Liturgy, so, as a result, St. Paul's seems in no danger of being yanked in favor of guitar Masses and tambourines. The '70's, '80's, not to mention the '90's are over. They really, really are.; October 27, 2014 at 8:57 PM
ndspinelli said...: Tim, You are so much classier than all us mamalukes. We're not worthy. Since I got XM radio I listen almost exclusively to classical music. I've grown to like the recorder, but will never love it.; October 27, 2014 at 9:25 PM
TTBurnett said...: Nick, good for you. Frankly, there is not that much good music specifically for the recorder. It's basically a music-teaching and enhancement tool. We play a lot of Elizabethan part-songs and other vocal music that also could have been done on recorders or viols back in the day. "Apt for Voyces or Violes" is how it was advertised in, say, 1609. First of all, the boys learn how to manage 4 or 5 parts on instruments from soprano to bass. But they also learn intonation (nothing is worse than out-of-tune, tweety instruments) and how to rehearse in small ensembles.

That last skill helped my son a LOT in high school. Here's a link to Andover's annual talent show, "Grasshopper Night," performed this weekend. It's an hour long, sorry. Anyway, he's a co-head of both the mixed a cappella group, "The Keynotes," and the all-male "Yorkies." They both are on near the beginning of the video. My son is the blond kid doing the intro solo in the Keynotes version of "My songs Know What You Did in the Dark" by Fall-Out Boy. He's also doing the high part in the Yorkies cover of "Demons" by Imagine Dragons. He arranged both of them, and his organizing and rehearsal abilities really made these groups work this year. He traces that right back to 4 years in the Choir School

Oddly enough, things we play in my recorder ensembles like, "The Honey-Suckle" and "Come Again" were pop songs in 1611. But I don't tell the boys what the words really mean.

All the things Tom needed to be in real-life "Glee" he learned at the Choir School. A lot of those choristers in the video will wind up like my son, singing in groups in high school and beyond. The things they learn singing Palestrina and playing the recorder will definitely transfer and make them better musicians, no matter what direction that takes.

And Tom is also a Cantor for the student Mass a lot, so he hasn't been completely lost to the Church.; October 27, 2014 at 10:56 PM
ndspinelli said...: Tim, I know little about classical music. But, my appreciation was created by 2 men. My grandfather saw the great Caruso @ La Scala as a child. His father saved up money for a year to take his some from Bari to Milan. So, opera was always on in my grandparents house. As you probably know, opera is not just for the upper class. The upper class is who go, but all appreciate it. We were in Milan for opening night last December. Man!! A fashion town and opening night was something. But, the night before they have opera for teens. The teens are from all social strata as we could see in the piazza before the performance.

My other mentor was, appropriately enough, a music appreciation professor in College. The prof was an Italian immigrant. He was a cellist w/ the Philly Philharmonic. He would explain what we were about to hear, play the music, and once in awhile explain what we were hearing @ the time. Sometimes he would play the cello and it was magnificent.; October 28, 2014 at 11:15 AM
ndspinelli said...: Listening to classic also keeps down my road rage. Seriously, it calms me.; October 28, 2014 at 11:16 AM
Chip S. said...: This was a nice interlude.

TTB's contributions here are like Fred Astaire appearing w/ the 3 Stooges.; October 28, 2014 at 1:04 PM
Michael Haz said...: Thanks, Tim. That was really interesting. Sounds like a fine school.; October 28, 2014 at 1:52 PM
ndspinelli said...: I don't think Tim can dance.; October 28, 2014 at 6:24 PM
Ruth Anne Adams said...: I bought three of the CDs. One for me and one each for two friends. Will the boys see any of the money?; October 28, 2014 at 9:01 PM
TTBurnett said...: Ruth Anne: Thank you! The boys won't get any money personally. But the school certainly will. And it sure could use it. Like many a Catholic institution, it's held together with chewing gum and bailing wire. I bought the recorders and books for the 4th grade this year out of my own pocket, not to mention several expensive tenor recorders and a new bass for the Senior Consort, simply because there was no money otherwise. And the parents used to shovel snow and sew the cassocks, although that's been professionalized a bit lately. Bottom line: Yes, the place will see and definitely use the dough!; October 28, 2014 at 9:42 PM
TTBurnett said...: P.S.--And I might even get paid for the recorders.; October 28, 2014 at 10:07 PM
TTBurnett said...: And you can order the album here:

http://stpaulchoirschool.com; October 28, 2014 at 10:50 PM

Monday, October 27, 2014

From Tim....a Video about the school his son attended.

12 comments:

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