Raising the test scores

How's this for raising test scores.

Teacher helps feed students to boost their grade

With No Child Left Behind focusing on schools and teachers, do you think any of the politicians considered that not all low test scores result from bad teachers and schools.

Liturgical History - Tradition, Mission and Colonialism - The America's

For those who remember, earlier this month I made a presentation to my Catholic Theological Union Liturgical History Class. The presentation was on Catholic Church Music - Trent to Baroque. This week it is Tradition, Mission and Colonialism. After my normal run to Rhapsody and help from Milner and Paula (thank you, if you read this), I have collected my presention list.

• Aztec procession announcing the mirecle of Guadelupe - 16th century
  
• Mexican composer - Hernando Franco - Salve 16th century
  
• South America - Dominico Zipoli - Kyrie from Missa San Ignacio c. 1680-1712
• African American music
• Ring shout - Sign of the Judgement
• "lining-out" or "Dr. Watts"
• I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say
• Early, My God, without Delay
• French Canadian - Huron Carol (arr. by Chanticleer, okay that is not quite authentic)
• Fuging tune - Lamentation of David - William Billings
• Shape note singing - >Schenectady - United Sacred Harp Musical Association

Of the Anglican Communion

A thought on the Anglican Communion from Nicholas Temperley:

Referring to the ritualist controversies of the 19^th century, he says,

“In all cases it may be said that the strength of emotional involvement was in great part due to differing conceptions of the identity and character of the Church of England, which had been, from the beginning, a Church of compromise.”[1]

---

[1] Nicholas Temperley, The Music of the English Parish Church, 2 vols. (Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1979), 269.

Alleluia, Sing to Jesus! or Alleluia, Gracious Jesus!

What follows is the William Dix hymn “Alleluia, Sing to Jesus!” The original verses are contrasted by an editor’s alterations. I am withholding comment at this time. What do you think? (note: do not rest too much concern on capitalization as both the “original” and H82 are different in this regard, plus I may have added some errors).

Verse 1 – original
Alleluia! sing to Jesus! His the scepter, His the throne.
Alleluia! His the triumph, His the victory alone.
Hark! The songs of peaceful Zion thunder like a mighty flood.
Jesus out of every nation has redeemed us by His blood.

Altered
Alleluia! Gracious Jesus! Yours the scepter, Yours the throne.
Alleluia! Yours the triumph, yours the victory alone.
Hark! The songs of peaceful Zion thunder like a mighty flood.
Jesus, out of every nation you’ve redeemed us by your blood.

Verse 2 – original
Alleluia! Not as orphans are we left in sorrow now;
Alleluia! He is near us, faith believes, nor questions how;
Though the cloud from sight received Him when the forty days were o’er
Shall our hearts forget His promise, “I am with you evermore”?

Altered
The only changes were He, Him and His was changed to you and yours.

Verse 3 – original
Alleluia! Bread of angels, Thou on earth our food, our stay; (H82 uses bread of heaven)
Alleluia! Here the sinful flee to Thee from day to day:
Intercessor, Friend of sinners, Earth’s Redeemer, plead for me,
Where the songs of all the sinless sweep across the crystal sea.

Altered
Alleluia! Bread of angels, you on earth our food, our stay;
Alleluia! Here the sinful flee to you from day to day:
Intercessor, friend of sinners, earth’s Redeemer, plead for me,
And the songs that sound in heaven will repeat your gracious plea.

Verse 4 – original
Alleluia! King eternal, Thee the Lord of lords we own;
Alleluia! Born of Mary, Earth Thy footstool, Heav’n Thy throne:
Thou within the veil hast entered, robed in flesh our great High Priest;
Thou on earth both priest and victim in the Eucharistic feast.

Altered
Alleluia! Christ eternal, nothing can disrupt your reign;
Alleluia! Born of Mary, heaven and earth are your domain:
Human life you fully entered, tending those we count the least;
serving both as Priest and Victim in the eucharistic feast.

the words

Oh, how we love the words. They comfort and strengthen us, forever ceaseless and unchanging. They catagorize our existence and preserve our truth. Oh, how we venerate and adore the words with their superior power to command and control.

Yet, in our lust for the words, have we heard the Word?

Grammar checking

While writing papers, I generally use the attached grammar checker as one tool in identifying errors and assisting in the writing and rewriting process. It is not a substitute for repeated editing and peer review, but ONE tool in the process. Recently, I realized many errors, including simple sentence structures, went unidentified by Microsoft Word. Word is also inconsistent in its identification. I chose then to compare MS Word with WordPerfect 9 and see if truly a problem exists with MS Word's Grammar Check or if I were just confused. Here are the results.

Original example

They proceeded to take of there hats placing them over their on the altar which was standing within there line of site and could be denigrated upon inappropriate usage. This was done to prove an inescapable truth which fully demonstrates a flawed procedure.

MS Word 2002

Caught by grammar check (both style and grammar)
truth, which (or) truth that

Readability:
Passive: 0%
Flesch reading ease: 49
Flesch-Kinkaid Grade level: 11.7

Later attempts resulted in a passive sentence report of 50% or 0%. Once it flagged a passive sentence and then reported 0%. In addition, once the Reading Ease changed to 43 with the same example.

Word Perfect 9:

Caught by Grammatik (set at ‘very strict’)
There/their
There/their
There/there
Missing modifier (site)
Passive voice (could be denigrated)
Formalism: altar, which (or) altar that
Overstated: proceeded
Formalism: truth, which (or) truth that
Overstated: demonstrate

Readability:
Passive: 40%
Flesch-Kinkaid Grade level: 14.37
Sentence Complexity: 67 of 100
Vocabulary Complexity: 34 of 100
11 flagged issues: formalism, overstated, missing modifier, Homonym, number style, noun phrase, passive voice (using ‘quick check’ there were 9 issues)

Crunching the formula for Flesch Reading Ease results with a score of around 30 (27 from and online site). I do not know what formula Microsoft is using.

Given these results, I have concluded that MS Word's Grammar Check is seriously flawed and completely untrustworthy. I never completely depend on a grammar check for proofreading. I would prefer, though, to have a reliable and consistent tool that can identify repeated problems. Therefore, I will be using the WordPerfect grammar check regularly.

Alleluia

Alleluia, Christ is Risen.

I have noticed on occasion, it is sometimes difficult to fully experience and fully participate in the worship while sitting at the organ but over the last few days, there have been moments in every service where I felt involved in the prayer and praise of the church. There was also the stark feeling of the Holy Saturday service at Seabury in which the lack of music and singing truly added to the experience of that morning of emptiness. Well done.

But today, Christ is Risen and I found myself filled with joy during the two services. They both went well and I was overjoyed with the singing of the congregation which traditionally does not sing strongly. The choir anthem contained a section for the congregation to join in and they did with gusto. The choir added a descant, possibly the first one they have done in a while and it created an overwhelming mood of joy and excitement.

Since I tend to think in musical matters, here is a list of some of the organ and choral music used today.

Prelude:
Organ prelude on My Lord, What a Morning (I have forgotten the composer since my music in my truck)
Orientis Partibus: Christ the Lord is Risen Today - Frank Ferko
Llanfair: Christ the Lord is Risen Today - Robert Powell
Easter Hymn: Christ the Lord is Risen Today - Healy Willan

Choir:
Children: This is the Day
Adult: Anthem for the Resurrection: The Day of Resurrection - arr. Jay Althouse

Communion
6:30 - Alleluia, Alleluia, give thanks to the Risen Lord (solo) - Donald Fishel
9:30 - A cyclical Alleluia song (the same one Seabury uses on occasion for communion)

Offertory
Gaudeamus Pariter: Come, You Faithful, Raise the Strain - Robert Farlee

Postlude
Trumpet Tune in D - David Johnson

I am debated on whether to use the Gaudeamus Pariter or the Trumpet Tune in D on the Easter Monday mass.

I did miss being at an Episcopal liturgy for much of the Holy Week services but I am reminded of a line from a sermon given by the Dean last fall: "Be where you are." When I remembered this, and realizing my stress and tension from preparation of a thesis and for Holy Week, I began to let go and allow God to work through the music. It made it the whole thing much easier.

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia

Out of season musicians

He enters the dark and quiet chapel. Everything seems stark and bare. The sense of anticipation hangs in the air, now approaches those three holy days. He sits on the bench, thinks, meditates, reflects, and then:

Jesus Christ is ri...

As a church musician, it is difficult to remain focused on the events of holy week when it is punctuated by practice for Easter (not to mention the advent hymn being prepared for a recital). But such is the life. Just as in teaching when we began preparing Christmas music on about Halloween. As an organist friend says, for the musician, Holy Week happens during the services.

Choral Rehearsal tips

Rehearsal starting times are suggestions. Rehearsal ending times are mandatory.

Regularly complain about the temperature, humidity, lighting, perfume (or lack thereof), acoustics, the weather, the rehearsal times, the chairs, the person’s tone next to you, etc.

Softer means slower.

Basses, when your conductor is a tenor, ask them to demonstrate various bass lines for Tchesnekoff and Rachmaninoff. This is especially effective when he/she ask you to crescendo and decrescendo on a low B-flat line.

When the conductor asks another part to double yours, take offense.

After the conductor slowly announces three times where you would begin in the music, wait until the upbeat and ask “where are we are starting?”

Tenors or sopranos, ask the organist/conductor to transpose the piece up a minor third since it is too low. When the basses and altos complain, shake your head a mutter “wimps.”

Basses, when the conductor asks if the music is to low, wake up and take offense.

Sopranos, high notes need not be exact, that is what vibrato is for.

Altos, complain often about the ten measures of repeated notes. When the note changes, complain that the music is to difficult.

At the end of the final rehearsal, announce that you cannot make the performance.

Note duration is optional.

Always stress important words such as “the,” “and,” “to” and the second half of two syllable words.

The higher or lower the note, the lower the soft palette should be.

Remind the organist they are playing to loud, especially when they are not playing.

Take a breath after the last beat in every measure.

Correct notes are optional, correct words are mandatory.

Sopranos, when the conductor rehearses the altos, shake your head and mutter, “amateurs.”

Sopranos and tenors – higher always means louder.

The conductor’s tempo is optional. Slower is better.

Music in a foreign language should be pronounced in your local dialect. Avee Veerrruhm Corrrpuhsss

Certain consonants should be stressed more than others. These would be S and R.

Demonstrating emotion and feeling has no place in music performance, only in complaints to the conductor. This is not a concern of basses.

Practicing walking on and off stage are the most important part of any rehearsal. Be ready give many suggestions to the conductor during this part.

Never perform music the same way twice.

Remember, you are singers not musicians.

Section statements:
Sopranos: me
Altos: E-flat
Tenors: huh?
Basses: Zzzz
Conductor: #$^%@
Organist: there’s a choir?

Congressional job responsibilities

I do not care to spend much time discussing politics here, but a statement from an Associated Press article regarding GOP approval numbers struck me as odd <click here for the entire article from Yahoo News>. I have removed the name of the quoted person for their privacy.

"I'd just as soon they shut (Congress) down for a few years," said _________ a Republican-leaning voter in Chicago. "All they do is keep passing laws and figuring out ways to spend our money."

Passing laws and spending our money? Forgive me if I am incorrect, but I had understood this to be a rather primary responsibility of Congress. I suppose if they stop doing this they would have more time for hearings, posturing, junkets, campaigning and regular impeachments of presidents, judges, postal carriers etc. Since most other constitutional duties of the congress cannot be done without passing laws or spending money, all that seems to be left is to radify treaties and declare war. Of course, the war would have to be done on the cheap.

Trent to 1800 - Roman Catholic Church Music

In my Liturgical History Seminar at Catholic Theological Union, each student gives a presentation every two weeks on a particular foci for the time period being studied. Unsurprisingly, my area of focus is music. For my last presentation I demonstrated, thru examples, the development of polyphony, from Leonin and Perotin, then thru Machaut to Dufay and Dunstable. Thank you ITunes.

This week, the time period is Trent to about 1800 or so. Musically, there is a large development in Catholic Church music but I was able to focus it down to:

• Palestrina - simplified polyphony, Missa Papae Marcelli and Missa L'homme armé
• Gabrieli - Polychoral style
• Monteverdi – grand concerto
• Lotti – stile antico
• Lully – grand motet
• Corrette – organ mass
• Haydn – masses

Though there is a transition into a “Baroque” and later a “Classical” style, it happens incrementally and not all at once. Monteverdi did not go out partying on New Years Eve 1599, spending a fortune entertaining friends, and then wake up the next morning and exclaim, “Oh my, I’m Baroque!”

A communion song

Here is the latest text for a cyclical song to be sung during communion on Maundy Thursday.

This bread , my body, broken for you.
This cup, my blood, shed for you.
A gift of love in the upper room,
Take, in rememberance of me.

Now all I have to do is figure out the music.