Psalm by Thomas Smart
We visited 5 churches today. This manuscript is housed in a glass case in St. Clement Dane. Thomas Smart wrote the chant, written with treble and figured bass, and it’s suggested that Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) probably sang this music since he was a regular worshipper here at that time.
We continued on to the Temple Church (recommended by a blog reader from Pennsylvania) which is a popular concert venue set up in collegiate style. Where will the performers of next month’s Monteverdi Vespers set up?
Musicians' Book of Remembrance
We sort of happened upon St. Andrew’s by the Wardrobe after a pub lunch on a site formerly owned by Shakespeare – the Cock Pit. St. Andrew’s is a high church and has a memorial to Shakespeare and to Dowland who is supposed to be buried in the adjacent church yard, though no stone marks his grave.
We spent the better part of the after noon at St. Paul’s with their extensive audio-visual experience, and then Evensong. Finally, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, London’s musicians’ church, and found Percy Young’s name in the book of remembrance for musicians. Renee had never seen it before today.
One happy coincidence – another Pax Christi person is staying here at the Penn Club and we just had dinner together! I also met a researcher from the Folger library in Washington DC at breakfast. The world is shrinking.
Glad you’re having such a lovely time in Cambridge, Stephanie! Looking at all of your photos on my lunch just now made me very nostalgic. Do take the time to visit Clare College gardens, and the chapel!
All best
Chris
Hey Chris. I heard Evensong at Clare last Tuesday. They have a very new, very young director. They sang Mendelssohn very beautifully and the final responses from the narthex. It’s a lovely college – I walk through it almost every day.