Out and about on Sunday

This week I'm not playing anywhere on Sunday morning.

Instead, I'll be spending Sunday afternoon playing a recital at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Bendigo.

The concert is at 3.00pm, and should run for around an hour or so.  There are a couple of surprises in the programme, but you'll have to be there to enjoy them.

Details of the programme, along with information about ticket prices can be found here.

Almost nothing more to say

Out and about on Sunday

Things have been a little quiet on this front because of concert preparation, which is never smooth in stifling heat.  However, I am still getting out and about on Sundays, and this week I'll be playing at All Saints, Northcote.

Here is what I've got planned to play for the service on Sunday.

Aus tiefer Noth -- Johann Kuhnau
Toccata -- Georg Muffat

Customer service?

Last Friday my Myki card died.  I was stuck on the inside of the barrier at one of the city train stations with a card that wouldn't touch off.

The person behind the window at the station was very helpful, and tried to touch the card off so I wouldn't lose credit.  When this came to nought, he said to go to Spencer Street Station (er, um, Southern Cross Station to the more recent Melburnian) and visit the Myki Shop, where they would be able to fix the issue on the spot by transferring my existing balance to a fresh card.

Duly referred, I went and did what I'd come into the city to do before making my way back to Spencer St.  It seems that things change rapidly in public transport services, even as the trains move more slowly at times.  One of these rapid changes is the withdrawal of a walk-up centre for Myki.

My fuse was becoming a little short by the time I discovered the new Public Transport Hub, where I was stunned to discover that this exciting new initiative (housed where the Myki Shop once dwelt) does everything except resolve problems with faulty smartcards.  The lovely, if grandly titled, customer service consultants will happily assist in filling out a claim form and issue a complimentary replacement card, which you will then have to shell out and load up with credit to complete your onward journey.

One thing that irritates me increasingly as time goes on is the mantra that services are here for the customer in almost any possible way, be it through the internet or telephone or carrier pigeon, just not in the form of a single shopfront one can visit and have a relatively minor issue resolved in a quick and amicable way.  The rhetoric of commitment to satisfying the customer seems to travel in inverse proportion to the likelihood of the customer being able to access to the service.  The commitment to customer service seems to extend to anything other than actually being available in the flesh, and willing to do something as simple as provide a complimentary replacement card that actually has some credit in it.  Fortunately I have a spare card anyway (legacy of forgetting to put the original back in my pocket once), so that's how I traveled home.  The not-quite-complimentary card has probably been passed on to some other hapless soul by now.

I do look forward to receiving the new card, hopefully without having lost too much credit through the thing not having been touched off before crashing. One thing I know is that what goes around comes around -- there will be probably be a Myki Shop back at Spencer St some time in the next decade or so.  It's just dreadful to think how much customer frustration it will take to make it happen.

The Trumpet's Loud Clangour

 

In less than a couple of weeks I'll be at work in the location pictured above (courtesy of the Bendigo Weekly), where I am playing as part of an organ and trumpet duo at 3.00pm on Sunday 3 March.  There's been a lot of local interest, and some from further parts.

The programme for the concert will be as follows:

Crux Fidelis – John Dunstable (c. 1390—1453)

Vexilla Regis Prodeunt – Hieronymus Praetorius (1560—1629)

Christ unser Herr zum Jordan Kam [BWV 684] – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685—1750)

Ave Maris Stella – Nicolas de Grigny (1672—1703)

Fantasia a Trompetta 2 Clavier e Pedal – Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713—1780)

Sonata on the Combat between David and Goliath – Johann Kuhnau (1660—1722)

Sonata XII from The Mysteries of the Rosary: The Ascension of Jesus into Heaven – Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644—1704)

Toccata  – Georg Muffatt (1653—1704)

Trumpet Concerto in D major [TWV 51:D7] – Georg Telemann (1681—1767)

The concert is at Sacred Heart Cathedral, Wattle Street, Bendigo.

Tickets will be available on the door, and booking is not required (plenty of seats, but you might consider bringing a cushion).  Prices are: $30.00 full, $20.00 concession, $10.00 with student card, $70.00 for a family.

Contact the Early Arts Guild for enquiries.

Pick a decade, any decade.

It's clever, and Mr Parenteau has a gloriously good pedal technique.  But oh, this really takes me back to 1980s trash glam...

Shock! Distress!

The Pope has announced that he will step down as Bishop of Rome at the end of the month.

I'll admit to not being much of a votary of the cult of the Papacy.  Many have been the times when I've had to stifle a yawn when the words Holy Father drop forth from various pulpits (more often Anglican ones in my experience, remarkable as it is to report).  The Bishop of Rome is not without importance, but I have to admit there are times when I am glad to be an Anglican.

In many ways, I suspect Benedict XVI has imbibed some Anglican perspectives.  He has kicked the cause of John Henry Newman along the path towards canonization, which I suppose is an object to be welcomed on the banks of both the Tiber and the Thames when it comes.  Let's hope Benedict (or will it be Cardinal Ratzinger again?) lives to see it fulfilled.  Then there is the Ordinariate, of which the less said the better.

Even the act of resignation has a hint of Anglicanism about it.  After all, the first modern Archbishop of Canterbury to choose not to die in post was Randall Davidson.  It's only taken 85 years for Rome to catch up with the notion that leaders can move on at a time of their choosing, possibly even with benefit to the Church.  There may even come a time when Rome applies its own policy of compulsory retirement for bishops to the See of Rome.

It is too easy to moan about the situation Benedict inherited.  John Paul II should have let go of the Papacy after the jubilee celebrations in the year 2000.  While it could be said that he gave a witness of some sort by remaining wedged on his cathedra until it was long past time when he could have abdicated without there being doubts as to its validity, to many it appeared like stubbornness.  Only Christian Scientists hold that physical illness is not real; John Paul's remaining in post was more disturbing than inspiring to this particular observer, and the continuing call for him to be canonized subito is not ultimately good for a proper reception of his legacy to the Church.  The last decade of his time was a period of inertia, which has bequeathed many problems to his successor.  Benedict has had his share of self-created problems, but at least he is setting a healthy precedent for his own successor.

Here's fare-thee-well and good wishes to Benedict for a well-deserved retirement and hopes of improved physical health once the burdens of office are lifted.  May he have time for cats and Mozart.

Living in an election year: Business as Usual