Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from The Irish Times
Lunchtime Lectures in Christ Church
During the month of August there will be a series of lunchtime lectures in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, in association with the exhibition of medieval manuscripts in the Cathedral Treasury. The exhibition, entitled ?The Christ Church Psalter in Context. Manuscripts from the Medieval Priory?, has brought together, for the first time since the Reformation, all but one of the Christ Church manuscripts which are known to have survived the dissolution of the religious house in the sixteenth century.
From the twelfth until the sixteenth Christ Church, or more properly Holy Trinity, was a cathedral priory of Augustinian canons. Following the Reformation the moveable property of the priory ? manuscripts, relics, plate, vestments and ornaments ? was dispersed and, of this, little has survived. The building, although heavily restored in the nineteenth century, still retains a significant amount of medieval fabric, while the wooden statue of Our Lady of Dublin, now in the Carmelite Church in Whitefriars Street, is believed to have come from the priory. Otherwise, only the small collection of manuscripts currently on exhibition, remains to give some tangible sense of the Augustinian presence over almost 500 years.
In essence the exhibition consists of administrative and liturgical manuscripts dating from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries. The centre piece is the Christ Church Psalter which is on loan from the Bodleian Library in Oxford. This is a splendidly decorated volume, with exquisite miniatures, which was made for Stephen of Derby, Prior of Holy Trinity in the mid 14th century.
The oldest manuscript on exhibition is the martyrology, now bound with the book of obits, which is on loan from Trinity College, Dublin. This will be the subject of the first lunchtime lecture which will take place in the cathedral crypt on Tuesday at 1. 15 pm. The speaker will be Professor Padraig O Riain from the Department of Early and Medieval Irish in NUI, Cork, whose innovative study of the manuscript has traced the source of the text to a foundation under Irish control in early 11th century Metz, making it, in his view, ?Dublin?s oldest book?.
The exhibition ?The Christ Church Psalter in Context? is open every day and will run until the end of August.
Today (Saturday) in St Patrick?s Cathedral, Dublin, there will be a twelve bell peal attempt by a group of British changeringers. In the evening, at 8.30 pm, in the University Church, St Stephen?s Green, the Dublin base vocal octet, Res Nova, directed by David Leigh, Assistant Organist in St Patrick?s, will give a candlelit concert of early English music. The programme will include Thomas Tallis?s spectacular and rarely performed masterpiece Gaude Gloriosa Dei Mater and William Cornysh?s Salve Regina. Res Nova was formed in 2003 with the aim of bringing to modern ears the rarely performed works of early composers and their performances, mostly a capella, have thrilled audiences both in Dublin and beyond. Rarely is there an opportunity in Dublin to hear music of such distinction performed with such assurance ? do not miss it!.
Tomorrow (Sunday) the services in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, will be sung by the Exeter University Singers while in St Patrick?s the visiting singers will be the combined choirs of the Ascension Singers and the Elegy Singers.
On Thursday evening in St Barrahane?s Church, Castletownshend, Co. Cork, the fourth recital in the 24th Festival of Classical Music will be held. Works by, among others, Bach, Handel and Purcell will be performed by Benjamin Sheen, Head Chorister of Westminster Abbey, and organist, Peter Sweeney.
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