[Magdalen] serendipitous purchases

[Jay Weigel]

Yesterday we actually managed to get to the Book Fair on opening day! For
those not familiar, Book Fair is a huge book warehouse that is only open
certain times of the year for several weeks at a time. They had a HUGE new
inventory this time and I managed to score a very large inventory of new
stuff for myself, for once, having made most of my Christmas purchases for
the grandsons on an earlier visit. Somehow, they had managed to get quite a
number of things from Church Publishing (!) and among other things, I
scored a couple of CDs. One iwas "Magdalen and the Other Mary", subtitled
Songs of Holy Women, by the Lady Chapel Singers, which contains some very
nice stuff, both familiar and unfamiliar. I do wish they'd included "Lift
Your Voice Rejoicing, Mary" but we can't have everything! The other was
"Refuge and Strength" by the choir of St. Luke's in the Field, which is a
collection of psalms in various genres from Anglican chant to Russian
Orthodox. It includes the Allegri "Miserere" which is very nicely done
except for being in English. Sorry to be such a snob, but it just does not
scan properly or sound right in English! Just because we are Episcopalians,
we can't sing in Latin? Argh. My former choirmaster would have. Also picked
up a copy of Sachs and Holland's "Restoring the Ties That Bind" and looked
at, but didn't buy, a book on liturgy. I did pick up a non-Episcopalian
book on forgiveness, which is a particular interest of mine. The Mennonites
seem to write about it more and better. And lots of good reading for the
coming chilly weather. And only TWO cookbooks.....what's wrong with me?