Matthew's Journal

It's with a certain trepidation that I broach this subject - views seem pretty polarised already. I listened to Today interviewing ++John, where he made an interesting point[1], which was that doctors, although required to treat everyone, are allowed to decide on the basis of conscience not to perform abortions (and instead must refer patients onto doctors who will). Currently, Roman Catholic adoption agencies (who deal with about 4% of cases, although a substantially higher proportion of "difficult" children) behave similarly, in that they will refer homosexual couples on to other agencies.

His point was that since we allow doctors freedom of conscience (whilst ensuring that people needing abortions get them), we should allow RC adoption agencies freedom of conscience (whilst ensuring that suitable gay couples are still able to adopt).

I'm not sure what I make of that. Personally, I don't think RC adoption agencies should discriminate against homosexuals, FTR. I'm interested in what readers think - not so much as to whether the RCC is right or not, but as to ++John's point.

[1]He also said that he didn't think homosexuality was a sin, which will upset some people.

I have 3 copies of my thesis sat on my desk now.

Another music post, I'm afraid. William Byrd wrote three Mass settings, at a time when it was dangerous for him to have done so in latin - the latin Mass was a Papist thing, and there is speculation that it was only Queen Elizabeth's involvement that stopped his recusant Roman Catholocism ruining him. The three Mass settings were written for small recusant choirs to sing. I'm going to write a little about the 5-part setting, as that was the setting atreic and I chose for our wedding service, so it has special significance for me.

It's a concise setting, but unlike his continental contemporaries (such as Palestrina), there is nearly constant counterpoint, which gives the Mass a sense of forward movement, and, I think, adds to its intensity. Byrd is careful to not let the intricate lines confuse the words, however; this is most definitely music for liturgy, not the concert hall. He plays close attention to the sense of the liturgy, too. In the Credo, there is a great surge at "et resurrexit", and similarly the Hosannas of the Sanctus echo the joy in Heaven they describe. There is real subtlety in his use of light and shade in modality, too, particularly in the Agnus Dei - just listen to the first "Agnus dei, qui tollit peccata mundi", and contrast it with the following "miserere nobis", and you'll see what I mean

The recording I have here is on a disk containing Byrd's three Mass settings, and the motet Ave verum corpus, performed by The Tallis Scholars. It's pretty-much spot on.