True story. Monday morning after the final Mass at the Indy Colloquium, sitting in the lobby of the hotel musing along, when up comes Professor Mahrt, who takes a neighbor seat to mine (great seats, btw) and takes a load off. He's about to catch a shuttle to the airport. Another friend who posts here occasionally, Daniel Bennet Page (fantastic scholar/director) also joins us on a nearby loveseat. We exchange greetings, start up some post-game review of Indy and somehow end up discussing "Sacred Music," CMAA's principal journal. Out of the blue Bill says, "Charles, you know you should write something for 'Sacred Music." I chuckle, cast a sideways glance at Daniel as I reply "Oh, you know I don't have the scholastic credentials to do that." Even though he was being polite, I could tell that Daniel concurred with my self-assessment as I demurred to Mahrt. We left it there. I was flattered, I must say. But I'm right that I don't have the right stuff for "SM." So the Fall 2014 issue arrives today, I do my normal lunch scan of the articles, and there's a lovely little review by Deacon (Rv.Mr..) W. Patrick Cunningham of the colloquium, so I'm skipping through paragraphs to the summary and deacon quotes something from "a blogger." I think, Oh, that's nice. Then before going onto Mahrt's article on the Byrd Festival, out of the corner of my left (good) eye I see the footnote citing "a blogger." Guess who? So, what a sweet little fable that Mahrt and God engineered (they're BFF's, y'know.) I made "Sacred Music" after all! I'll try to live long enough to make Pittsburgh as I'm not going to break my shoulder there this time, and I have a dance date with.... Ann Labounsky? Geri OMH? Mary Jane Ballou, Jenny Donelson, Mary Rose Garych??? Who knows? Mahrt. He knows everything.
Jackson, that means a great deal, I will always aspire to be as mannered as thee. MJM, I wull dew m'best ta d-d-drive ta Phoenix, but really lad, d'ye really want muh sorry soul hangin' aboot in yer revolution? Tink aboot it, fat b*st*rds in AZ? Akin to rhino's mixin' widda penquins. Aye.
Jackson--I wish you would write something for Sacred Music.I would really suggest an overview of all that you have acoomplished with the St. Basil Chant School and all the positive things going on there... I know many would like to hear about it and it woukd be an encouragement to many.
Many thanks, Greg, for your encouragement and kind words. I could be making some notes on my experience, philosophy, and praxis especially with regard to the spiritual dimensions of chant in my life and the sharing of it with others. These, though, may or may not be welcome to all Musica Sacra readers. But, then, I suspect that would be true of most anyone. We are indeed a remarkably broadminded and tolerant sacred music society with a kaleidoscope of beliefs about chant and liturgy. And, they are all valid!
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