Monday October 20, 2008
Katy Dickinson
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Bells Angels and Bagpipes
On 14 October, I wrote about St. Andrew's Episcopal Church's annual Blessing of the Animals service. St. Andrew's has an amazing choir that sings every Sunday. For special celebrations, St. Andrew's sometimes presents handbells or bagpipes.
English handbell ringing started out around 1700 as a way for change ringers to practice music outside of the church tower. (You can read more about change ringing in Dorothy Sayers' superb mystery The Nine Tailors, with Lord Peter Wimsey.) St. Andrew's handbell choir is called Bells Angels. They play during the service several times a year, most recently two weeks ago.
St. Andrew's hires the Los Gatos - Monte Sereno Police Pipes and Drums marching bagpipe band for events such as the blessing of the tartans service in March 2008. Because Andrew is the patron saint to Scotland, bagpipes are an appropriate instrument in a church named for him. Some photos:
English handbells
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Bells Angels in action
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English handbells
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St. Andrew's Banner
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Bagpipes in Church
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Marching band
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Images Copyright 2008 by Katy Dickinson
Posted at 06:26PM Oct 20, 2008 by katysblog in Church |