Day 9: Stonehenge in Salisbury

20 January 2018

January 20th has been quite an adventurous day for me for the second year in a row. On this day in 2017, I was in Washington, D.C. eagerly waiting to watch Donald Trump get inaugurated as the next President of the United States. Fast-forward a year later and I find myself on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean beginning my day at Stonehenge in Salisbury, England. Stonehenge is one of those things that is hard to describe other than it was a bunch of rocks. But it’s more important than that; it’s a bunch of giant rocks that have been standing there for more than 5000 years. It was really cool to see this up close in person, as ever since I saw the classic SpongeBob SquarePants episode that parodied the structure (“SpongeHenge”), I have wanted to see it in person. I also got to see a couple of other prehistoric relics, such as huts and what looks like a platform used to roll the rocks to make Stonehenge. 













After some lunch and some free time around Salisbury, we walked to Salisbury Methodist Church, where we learned about Frances Asbury, a Methodist minister whom John Wesley sent to the United States to spread the word about Methodism. We also learned about the history of the church itself and how the church developed throughout time. One distinct feature was the Creation Embroidery, which the minister admitted he seeks inspiration for his sermons from it on a regular basis. 









After this visit, we spent some time back at the hotel and then at dinner. Once dinner was finished, it was time for Jake, Jordan, and Andrew to give their presentation. They spoke about English church music in general and they decided to focus on significant composers throughout history. They started by comparing and contrasting the use of music in Anglicanism and Methodism. Then, they spoke about Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, and Peter Warlock. These musicians all contributed to English church music in one way or another, and we are singing pieces by Tallis (“If Ye Love Me”), Stanford (“Magnificat”), and Warlock (“Bethlehem Down”) in our repertoire. The challenge the group gave to us was that they want us to take notes during David Bednall’s lecture on Monday and add it to our blogs. Bednall is a famous contemporary composer and we are also singing a song of his in our repertoire (“I Saw A Stable”). 

Tomorrow we attend a service at Wells Cathedral and visit Bath, England! 

- Jacob Stech 

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