Liturgical colours 

THERE was, as many of our readers will know, plenty of liturgical enterprise around in the Church of England of the 1920s, in the form of proposals for the revised Prayer Book; and we also know how that ended in 1928 in the expert liturgical hands of the House of Commons.

So, in that era of green books and grey books and more, I wonder what colour, if any, was chosen by the Revd Paul Philip Levertoff, DD (Lambeth) (1878-1954), for his eucharistic liturgy “Meal of the Holy King”, composed in 1926.

He based it on the Torah and the Prayer Book, and it was sanctioned by the Bishop of London, Arthur Winnington-Ingram, for use by the Jewish/Christian congregation of Holy Trinity, Shoreditch.

I have learnt this from Richard T. Strudwick, of Leeds, since the C of E Seder débâcle. He describes Dr Levertoff’s lifelong vocation as being to draw together adherents of Judaism and Christianity, “his legacy and teachings being in particular quite widespread in North America”.

He was Mr Strudwick’s grandfather. “Our parents, Olga Tajiana and Tom Strudwick, were somewhat unconventional in all manner of ways, he being a founder member of the British Communist Party and our mother, eldest daughter of Paul and Beatrice Levertov, at age 16 selling the Daily Worker on the streets of Ilford. Eventually, they parted company.” The result was that Mr Strudwick and two of his sisters were raised in orphanages in the RC diocese of Leeds. He remains a committed Roman Catholic. Denise Levertov, the (naturalised) American poet, was his aunt.

“The family home for 31 years (in the absence of a vicarage attached to Holy Trinity, Shoreditch, subsequently bombed during the Blitz beyond redemption) was 5 Mansfield Road, Ilford, still standing and now transformed into flats. It wasn’t until my teenage years that I was made aware of the deaths of Grandpa and Olga. Grandpa Paul is buried in Barkingside Cemetery.”

For further reading, Mr Strudwick suggests an online search for “The London Dead Paul Levertoff” and “The Vine of David”, talks on Dr Levertoff’s Love and the Messianic Age. Levertoff was ordained by the Bishop of St Asaph, A. G. Edwards.

Holy listening 

I AM uneasy about the term “in-person worship”, but was pleasantly surprised by the amount of it that I could do this Passiontide and Easter.

So I have no story to compare with the one I hear from the Revd Laura Garnham, of Wrabness, in Essex, who says: “A poignant moment occurred in our benefice zoom dramatic reading, when the Vicar was required to say ‘Jesus is muted.’”

For me, however, it was almost Life As We Knew It, especially when Radio 3 lowered its brow far enough on Good Friday to broadcast The Crucifixion, albeit a repeat.

I have a hefty stack of the Novello congregational booklets for Stainer’s cantata, rescued from their would-be Apollyon in the choir vestry. This year, perhaps I should have popped them through the letterboxes of the parish.

This should surely have been Charles Wood’s moment, though. His Passion According to St Mark had its première at King’s, Cambridge, in 1921. “So great a multitude sought to hear it that half the seekers could not even enter the college grounds; while the scene within, with over two thousand standing and sitting on the pavement wherever they could, in the vast church lit only by candles, and with its altar wrapt by contrast in entire gloom, will long be remembered by those present,” the Church Times reported.

Better luck, perhaps, in 2022 for those of us who appreciate this work. And maybe not just a recording, but a proper service on Radio 3 with Eric Milner-White’s prayers?

Aprahamian awards 

CHURCH TIMES readers of no great age (I like to think) may remember our reviews by Felix Aprahamian of organ recitals.

They were, of course, only a coda to his career as a music critic who also introduced British audiences to works by some of the 20th century’s famous composers. The French musicians whom he brought to London included Olivier Messiaen, Francis Poulenc, and the blind organist André Marchal.

Now, the Arabesque Trust, a charity that Felix founded, has announced an awards programme to support the education of pipe organists who suffer from visual impairments.

There are two annual Aprahamian Scholarships, each up to the value of £4000, for established or advanced students of the pipe organ. There are also two Aprahamian Bursaries, each up to £1000, to support beginners. The deadline for applications this year is 1 July.

Richard Moore, the administrator, says that the awards are designed to be flexible, “so that the needs of each recipient can, as far as possible, be met”. He can be phoned on 07816 638711 if applicants have difficulty in accessing the further information and form at:

www.arabesque-trust.org.uk/awards

Rainbow sign 

THE churchwardens’ guru Matthew Clements spotted something that we didn’t in that reading “Look at the rainbow”, from Ecclesiasticus, at Prince Philip’s funeral. “In the 1960s-70s, when he was a pilot and flying one of the aircraft of the Queen’s Flight, his personal call-sign was . . . ‘Rainbow’!”