New, improved article on the Magnus Office!

This is a more up-to-date account of my work to reconstruct the medieval liturgy of St Magnus of Orkney. It can be read or downloaded here: http://www.uco.oldham.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Spark-2020-21-web.pdf

Begin at page 20.

BBC Radio Orkney broadcast

As I mentioned in my last post about *ahem* eighteen months ago, I gave a talk on the Tullimentan programme in October 2017. You can listen to it again by clicking here. The section on music for St Magnus starts at about 13 minutes 35 seconds.

BBC Radio Orkney broadcast

Please tune in to BBC Radio Orkney at 6.10pm on Wednesday 25 October for the arts programme Tullimentan. This month's show includes a talk by me on music inspired by St Magnus, illustrated with an excerpt from the plainsong Office of St Magnus. This has been specially recorded for the programme by the Orkney Schola, and it is the first time that any part of the Magnus Office has ever been broadcast.

Talk on Friday

Please come to the St Magnus Centre in Kirkwall on Friday (28 July) at 7pm, to hear me talking about music inspired by St Magnus - past, present and future - and to hear some medieval music in the Saint's honour, sung by the Orkney Schola.

Mine will be the first of four talks about St Magnus and his legacy, and the whole evening is part of the Aberdeen Diocesan pilgrimage on the 900th anniversary of Magnus's martyrdom.

Happy St Magnus Day!

Yes, today is the feast of St Magnus the Martyr, transferred this year from 16 April, which was of course Easter Sunday, to 24 April.

This is the story:


This is the song:


This is the way:

MI Sancti Magni

Invitatory at Matins in the office of St Magnus.

Sancti Magni *

coléntes solénnia,

regis regum

laudémus magnália.

Celebrating the solemnities 

of holy Magnus, 

let us praise the mighty works 

of the king of kings.

UPDATE 28/03/2017: Click here for practice recording.

Model: Assunt Thome (office of St Thomas Becket). Recordings: Schola Hungarica (track 1) (video below); Lay Clerks of Canterbury Cathedral Choir (track 14).

LA1 Favus stillans

Favus stillans is the 1st Psalm Antiphon at Lauds (hence LA1) in the office of St Magnus.

Favus stillans frángitur, *

mellis dans dulcórem;

Mala queque fúgiunt

cujus per odórem.

The dripping honeycomb is broken, 

releasing the sweetness of honey; 

at whose scent 

all evils flee.

Click here for a practice recording. N.B. These recordings are rehearsal aids only; no claims are made for the quality either of the singing or of the recording!

The model for this antiphon was Granum cadit from the office of St Thomas of Canterbury. Recordings of Granum cadit [N.B. not from the same manuscript that I am using] can be found on the CDs by Schola Hungarica (track 19) and Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge (track 10; starts at 4'58"). See here for details of these recordings; the Schola Hungarica recording is on Spotify (UPDATE 29/03/2017: and on Youtube, see embedded video below, and in blogposts on the other Lauds antiphons).

This is the first of a series of posts illustrating chants from the medieval liturgical office of St Magnus of Orkney. For this and subsequent excerpts from the office of St Magnus, I have established the text by collating all four pre-Reformation sources; however, I am indebted to Alan McQuarrie for his excellent edition of one version of the office in Legends of the Scottish Saints: Readings, hymns and prayers for the commemorations of Scottish saints in the Aberdeen Breviary (Four Courts, 2012), and I largely follow his punctuation of the texts. The translations, the setting of the texts to ancient melodies, the practice recordings, and any errors occuring in these posts, are my own.

LA2 Vir sanctus

Vir sanctus is the 2nd Psalm Antiphon at Lauds (hence LA2) in the office of St Magnus. There are two other antiphons in the office which also begin Vir sanctus, so the 'serial number' is useful for avoiding confusion.

Vir sanctus occíditur, *

cujus dant stupórem

Signa: cecos lúminant,

témperant furórem.

The holy man is killed, 

whose miracles cause astonishment: 

they enlighten the blind, 

they restrain madness.

Click here for a practice recording. 

Model: Totus orbis (office of St Thomas). Recordings by Schola Hungarica (track 20) (video below) and Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge (track 10; starts at 7'25").

LA3 Surdi muti

Third psalm antiphon at Lauds in the office of St Magnus.

Surdi, muti, précibus *
Magni reparántur;
Claudis datur sánitas,
leprósi mundántur.

The deaf, the dumb are cured 

by the prayers of Magnus; 

health is given to the lame, 

lepers are cleansed.

Click here for a practice recording. A somewhat shaky recording, I fear; this mode 3 melody never goes quite where you expect it to, but these *are* the notes you're looking for. I'll upload a better version in due course.

Model: Aqua Thome (office of St Thomas). Recordings: Schola Hungarica (track 21) (video below); Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge (track 10; starts at 11'27").

LA4 Ferro vincti

Fourth psalm antiphon at Lauds in the office of St Magnus.

Ferro vincti mártyris *
ope relaxántur;
Naufragántes néxibus
mortis liberántur.

From irons the enchained are released
by the martyr’s aid;
the shipwrecked are delivered
from the clutches of death.

Click here for a practice recording. (Updated with a better version, 26/2/16.)

Model: Ad Thome memoriam (office of St Thomas). Recordings: Schola Hungarica (track 22) (video below); Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge (track 10; starts at 16'49").

LA5 Fit mestis

Fifth psalm antiphon at Lauds in the office of St Magnus.

Fit mestis letítia, *

egris medicína,

Spes firma perículis,

salus in ruína.

There is joy for the sorrowful, 

medicine for the sick, 

firm hope for those in peril, 

rescue from ruin.

Click here for a practice recording.

Model: Tu per Thome (office of St Thomas). Recordings: Schola Hungarica (track 23) (video below); Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge (track 10; starts at 23'53").

Echoes and Traces

Apologies for the short notice, but tomorrow (Monday 5 September) at 7.30 p.m. in St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, the Glasgow-based choir Cappella Nova will be performing eight new works inspired by the thirteenth-century song in honour of St Magnus, Nobilis humilis.

It is going to be great. Full details on the website of the project, which is called Echoes and Traces.

Forthcoming performances

The Orkney Schola will sing parts of the reconstructed office of St Magnus at the following events:

On Thursday 14 April 2016, at 6 p.m. in St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall. A public lecture by Dr Barbara Crawford (University of St Andrews) on Seals in Medieval Orkney: communal and personal identity, as part of the Third International St Magnus Conference.

On Friday 15 April (the eve of St Magnus' Day), at 7.30 p.m. in the St Magnus Centre, Palace Road, Kirkwall. The launch of Alison Gray's new book George Mackay Brown. No Separation (Gracewing).

This is the first time any of this music will have been performed in public since 1560, so please come! Both events are open to all.

"O tempora! o mores!" - O Times! O Daily Mirror!

There was an interesting article about St Thomas of Canterbury in The Times on Saturday, so I wrote them a letter about St Magnus, the 'Becket of the North'. I know they printed it because my wife's publisher saw it! I'm not a subscriber, however, and one doesn't often see a copy of the newspaper out in these parts, so if any Times-readers have a copy of the relevant issue, could you kindly let me know? Thanks.

I didn't write to the Daily Mirror, by the way; I just couldn't resist the Flanders & Swann allusion.

St Magnus of Orkney evening class

I am again offering my evening class on St Magnus of Orkney. Today is the official deadline for enrolment, but in fact bookings will still be accepted for a few days yet. The course was very successful last year, and it will be a NEW and IMPROVED version this term!

The course now starts on Tuesday 9th February, a change from the date previously advertised, and runs for eight weeks. To book, phone Customer Services at the Council on (01856) 873535, or print off & send in the form that can be downloaded here: http://www.orkney.gov.uk/Service-Directory/E/Evening-Classes.htm

Stained glass window by Oscar Paterson, St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall

Photographer unknown; if this is your work, please let me know!

From the Community Learning Directory:

B142: St Magnus of Orkney

As we approach the 900th anniversary of his martyrdom in 1117, this course looks at the background, life, death and legacy of St Magnus of Orkney. Drawing on historical sources, archaeology, art, music and literature, we will explore how the twelfth-century saint has continued to intrigue and inspire both here in the Northern Isles and further afield.

 Tutor: Dr Ben Whitworth.

 Tuesdays from 2 February (8 meetings).

 19:00 - 21:00.

 Course fee: £58.00.

Maximum class size: 20 students.

St Magnus of Orkney: the Becket of the North (updated)

We are approaching the nine hundredth anniversary of the death of St Magnus, which may have taken place in 1117. I have been conducting research for some years, with a view to reconstructing the medieval liturgy for the feast-day of St Magnus, as it would have been celebrated at his shrine in St Magnus Cathedral.

Last summer I had a breakthrough with this project. I noticed that the proper rhymed office of St Magnus, as it is found in the Aberdeen Breviary (1509/10), the Roskilde Diurnal (1511), the Roskilde Breviary (1517) and the Lund Breviary (1517), is closely based on the office in honour of St Thomas Becket, which was written and composed by Becket's friend Abbot Benedict of Peterborough in around 1173. So close are the parallels, that the greater part of the Magnus office can be (and probably was) sung to the melodies contained in the Becket office. This is rather fortunate, since the printed sources of the Magnus office, listed above, contain text only, whereas there are numerous surviving copies of the Becket office with musical notation.

I know of three four CD recordings of parts of the Becket office, and would be glad to hear of any others. The ones I have are as follows:

The Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket by Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge/dir. Mary Berry (Herald HAVPCD 192), 1996 - contains three Matins responsories (Thomas manum, Post sex annos, Ex summa rerum), the complete Lauds, and the antiphon Felix locus.

Memory of Thomas Becket by Schola Hungarica/László Dobszay & Jank Szendrei (Hungaroton HCD 12458-2), 1983 - Matins invitatory, nine antiphons, three responsories (Thomas manum, Mundi florem, Christe Jesu, Jacet granum), the Lauds antiphons, and Felix locus.

Gregorian Chant from Canterbury Cathedral by Lay Clerks of Canterbury Cathedral Choir/David Flood (Metronome B000024G60), 1994 - Matins invitatory, responsories (Studens libor, Lapis iste, Mundi florem, Ferro pressos, Jesu bone), and two antiphons.

UPDATE: There is also this - 

O felices lacrimae by Ensemble de Caelis/Laurence Brisset (Studio SM B00006370G), 2002 - first Vespers Magnificat antiphon (Pastor cesus).

Apart from the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge CD, all these albums are available to stream on Spotify.

Saga and Song

Ernest Marwick taped the following programme when it was broadcast on Radio 3 in 1972: Saga and Song, presented by Dr John Bergsagel. I don't suppose anyone else has a recording of it! It featured the St Magnus hymn, Nobilis humilis, performed by Czechoslovakian singers accompanied on medieval instruments.

I didn't anticipate that!

I just worked my way through the rather complicated rubrics governing the occurrence of feast days around Holy Week in the Use of Nidaros, and it transpires that anyone following that august and venerable Use should this year be transferring the Feast of St Magnus, by anticipation, to ... TODAY! Happy Feast!



(In the Roman Rite, the Feast will be transferred to Monday 28 April.)