ST ALBANS - 8 October 2007 - 350 words
Boyce and Stanley - Age to Age tour
Mike Walsh
Boyce and Stanley's Age to Age Pilgrimage
Tour came to Westminster Diocese, at All Saints, Kenton, and Ss
Alban & Stephen in St Albans on 5th and 6th October.
Jo Boyce and Mike Stanley, two of the UK's leading Catholic liturgists
have recently released their Age to Age album, which encompasses
more than three generations of song and faith. The album celebrates
the tenth anniversary of the Boyce & Stanley collaboration
and features beautiful, new arrangements of many of the well-loved,
classic Catholic hymns that are etched onto the lips and hearts
of churchgoers of all ages.
At both churches, the event started with a procession into the
church with the Age to Age banner (led at Kenton by the young
people of the parish, and at St Albans by the joint choirs from
Ss Alban & Stephen Church, Loreto Girls' School and the St
Albans Bach Choir), followed by Soul of My Saviour - a very traditional
hymn, beautifully reworked by Jo and Mike in a very "laid
back style". The evening featured all the songs on the Age
to Age album, each one introduced by Jo and Mike, with some history
about the song, why they chose it for the album, and some very
personal stories about what the songs meant for them.
In particular, Jo told us about her roots in Trinidad and Tobago,
and her grandmother's favourite hymn, which resulted in a new
and calypso version of Sweet Heart of Jesus. Before they sang
Salve Regina, Mike explained that as a child he (like most of
us) only ever really knew the opening few words of the Latin hymns,
but in recording Age to Age, he had rediscovered so much beauty
and meaning in them.
One song not on the Age to Age album, God is by Danielle Rose
was beautifully sung by Emily Clark, Jo and Mike's drummer, with
the final lyrics, appropriate for the Age to Age pilgrimage: I'm
all you have forgotten, I am all that you have not been, I am
in you - all of this in within you Let the journey begin, Amen,
I am in you, Amen.
As is very much their trademark, Jo and Mike were supported throughout
the evenings by local singers and musicians (brass and strings)
from St Albans, Potters Bar, Kenton, Harrow, Barnet, Watford and
Kent the brass arrangements on O Bread of Heaven were very
tender and incredibly moving; the strings on their own hymn, Bread
of Life, were uplifting, and the joint choirs added huge warmth
and depth, particularly on Be Thou My Vision, their final hymn,
which resulted in a standing ovation as Emily, Mike T and
Andy played on, the Age to Age pilgrimage readied itself for the
next venue, with an exit procession, led by the Age to Age banner,
the choir and children, followed by Jo, and Mike, playing the
Celtic melody on a tin whistle. And the pilgrimage continues.
See ICN Listings page for further concert dates. For more information
visit: www.agetoage.info
© Independent Catholic
News 2007
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