REV STEPHEN GAMBLE

Lovely Joan is a traditional English Folk Song. In the song a young man on a white horse tries to seduce pretty Joan by offering his gold ring in exchange for her favours. However, Joan is not just a pretty face, she accepts the ring, leaps onto his horse, and rides off - leaving the importunate man stranded in the meadows. As with many folk songs, there is a pastoral surface overlaying a darker themes. Is this a romance with a comic ending, or is the rich and powerful young

2 Kings 4: 42 - 44 42 A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said. 43 “How can I set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked. But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’” 44 Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over,

Judges 7: 1-4 Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. 2The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ 3 Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, whi

Romans 7: 21- end, & 8: 1-2 21So I find this law at work:Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.22For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in m

From the memoirs of the Rev Jeremiah Thumpington. In Sheriff Hutton Church there is a monument in the south isle to Rev Jonn Lascelles. The inscription states that he was the faithful vicar of the parish for twenty five years, but that on the 4th of June, 1905, he died when preaching in the pulpit. I read this with some alarm, what if it were to happen to me? I questioned whether, for the sake of my health, I should restrain my tendency to tub thumping rants from on high. I

Ephesians 2; 1-10 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who i

Is Love a Noun or a Verb? Love can be both. As a noun 'love' names a thing, such as an emotion, or an attitude, or a relationship. As a verb 'love' describes an action, that is, something you do, such as an act of the will, or of selfless generosity, or of commitment. Have you heard the popular wisdom “Love is a verb, not just a noun?” This expresses the truth that genuine love should be more than just a feeling; it must result in action. Equally, without the inner reality of

Prelude - Quasi Fugue - Quasi Chaconne. Is it possible to fall in love with a landscape? Does a landscape speak to you? Can you hear echoes of the voices from times long past of those who have lived there? From a theme written down, to working out the music in my head, to writing it out. I get quite a lot of time to 'work out the music in my head' as Chronic Fatigue means I have to spend time being quiet and still. Composed in 2024.

00.00 Preludio: Autumn Advances - Allegro 06.60 Autumn Falls: Andante con moto 09.52 A Moment of Repose: Adagio 14.07 Harvest Dances (quasi una chaconne): Allegro - Presto The first thought of this Sonata for strings came about as I was watching and listening to the counterpoint of tree branches moving, and autumn leaves falling, all caught up in the wind, with sunlight and cloud passing. This movement was written first and the other three then grew from it. 'The Moment of Re

A Jeremiad is a lament that alternates elegy and rage. After the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, who lamented the moral decay of his society, and angrily condemned it's corrupt rulers. Worked up from a sketch written in 2001. It got no further than a sketch as I didn't have the orchestral tools back then. I can't recall what I was so moved and agitated about, I'm normally very placid. Strings, Horns, Trumpets, Oboes, Flutes, Clarinets, Bassoons, Timpani.

Written between the 25th May & the 1st of June, while on holiday in the Yorkshire Dales. As Beethoven said of his Pastoral Symphony, this is..."More the expression of feeling than tone painting" It's how the landscape made me feel, or as near as I can get to that state of mind and heart. It was a summer evening, the light was fading, but still bright enough to see my way.

In the summer of 2011 I visited St Hedda’s Church at Egton Bridge and was very moved by the relics and story of Nicholas Postgate. He was a Roman Catholic Priest executed in 1679 for practising his calling at a time when Roman Catholic forms of worship were illegal. The fragile nature of the relics, a small cross, a lock of his hair and a worn wooden rosary, seemed to speak of the fragility of human life and endeavour. It brought to mind our Lord’s promise to St Paul’s in 2 C

Link - https://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/artist/rev-stephen-gamble

As I was finalising this music on the 1st of January an article popped up from Google, and I was surprised to read that Amazing Grace was first heard on the 1st of January 250 years ago. It seems I had inadvertently written an anniversary tribute. Amazing Grace has always been a part of my life, from the nonconformist churches I grew up in, to playing it as a folk tune on my violin, and singing it in the Anglican services I now lead as a Vicar. The music is a free fantasia o

On 25 March, Dame Sarah Mullally was enthroned as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury in a service at Canterbury Cathedral. Most of the media coverage concentrated on the fact she was the first female Archbishop, however I was amused to see veteran broadcaster Anne Diamond on GB News (don't judge me) take a different angle, when in an off-the-cuff moment she candidly confessed the forth-coming enthronement of the new Archbishop, “does not excite me.” Her co-host, Stephen Dixon

The movements go, Preludio - Hornpipe - Sarabande - Finale. Pictured - Westerdale, NorthYorkMoors Electronically generated violin sound.

The Leyburn Shawl is a path that runs along the limestone escarpment just outside the North Yorkshire town of Leyburn. There’s an old story that Mary, Queen of Scots, escaping captivity in nearby Bolton Castle, dropped her shawl as she fled along the ridge pursued by soldiers on horseback guided by hounds. The music is not a retelling of the story, but it does perhaps have a feeling of the landscape and history of the place. It was originally written for solo violin, then orc

Pam Ayres published a little poem on social media recently, here it is... An algorithm’s watching me, I am not certain why, It sends advertisements for things I do not want to buy, It makes me feel uneasy, that upon me it has preyed, And if I could locate it, I would whack it with a spade. I have long enjoyed Pam Ayres, she is funny and gentle and, unlike some modern poets, she makes intelligent observations in easily intelligible ways. The notion we are being monitored onlin

Sinfonia con Rammarico Doloroso - sinfonia with sorrowful regret. Originally a sonata for solo violin, written in 2009, but arranged for string orchestra in 2026. The movements are ... Preludio: Adagio - Presto -Andante e cantabile - Quasi improvisando - Presto con rabbia ( rabbia means rage) The score can be found at arrangeme.com ( once I have uploaded it)

James 1: 12 - 18 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. 13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it i