Music
Ministry of Music at Holy Trinity Church, Bradpole
“Music has always been vital to the expression of Christian praise and worship and a dynamic church will constantly be finding new ways of expressing Christian truth in hymns and songs.” (An extract from the Preface to ‘Mission Praise’ by Peter Horrobin and Greg Leavers)
Bradpole church has a two-manual organ which was installed in 1912 by Martin & Coate (London), has been refurbished several times and has been enlarged. A brass plate affixed to it bears the inscription:
This organ was erected by public subscription AD 1912 – C.F.Langford – Vicar. A.M.Broadley, T.Stone – Churchwardens
During the reconstruction in 1957 an electric blower was installed and there is a further inscription:
The blower of this Organ is the gift of the Mothers’ Union Branch – Easter 1957
The organ played by Ken Holbrook
People are called to worship by the wonderful musical chimes of the bells. There is a full peal of eight which is also rung to commemorate significant events and festive occasions. More information about the bells and bell ringers can be found in the section Bell Ringing.
On the first and third Sundays of each month, informal worship is accompanied by the music group comprising voices in unison with piano, keyboard, flute, guitar and other instruments from time to time, there is an open invitation to all musicians to take part. Songs are taken from ‘Mission Praise’ and ‘Songs of Fellowship’ along with traditional hymns. These services are enhanced by the use of video display screens where the order of service and the words are projected with colourful photos.
On the second, fourth and fifth Sundays, when Common Worship Parish Communion is observed, hymns are sung using ‘Hymns Ancient and Modern’ and ‘Mission Praise’. The music for these traditional services is provided by our organist.
The music ensembles join together for occasions such as Christmas when carols are sung and at Easter when there is a special event ‘Three Hours at the Foot of The Cross’ held on Good Friday.
The music groups gather for a practice on Mondays at 5.00pm.
Other forms of music can be heard in the church from time to time. At weddings and funerals, the sound reproduction system is sometimes used to personalise the service. As part of the Bradpole Fête in 2010, the church hosted a concert with several different music groups including folk singers and jazz. More recently, ‘The Friends of Holy Trinity’ organised a fund-raising concert ‘Winter and Christmas memories of Bradpole’ by a local singing duo ‘SHIRAZ’, and a Harvest Evensong presented by the Beaminster Gallery Quire who play and sing mainly the sort of music that was heard in the majority of English parish churches between about 1730 and 1860, the time of Thomas Hardy and his fictional characters. This was followed by a ceilidh with the Quire band.