u/jan-Silan

In two months, I will be performing excerpts from Fauré's Requiem in a school-related concert. However, the conductor has decided to skip the first two movements and the Agnus Dei due to limitations with the choir, so we will begin at the Sanctus.

I find it a little unsatisfying to skip the first movement, so I would like to ask the conductor if I can play a short prelude in lieu of the first movement. Before I ask, however, I would like to have some idea of which prelude I might play. My main considerations are that the prelude ought to match the mood of the Requiem's first movement, and that the key of the prelude should be related to Eb major so there isn't an unpleasant gear change when the Sanctus starts.

Does anybody have any recommendations of pieces I could use as a short prelude with these criteria in mind?

I am a convert to Christianity who, after a while of thinking, decided I wanted to be Catholic and not Anglican (Church of England). Now, however, I am second-guessing that choice - it's not too late as I haven't been baptised, nor confirmed into either church.

On the one hand, I disagree strongly with the Catholic Church's views on the ordination of women and LGBT rights, but I strongly agree with Marian dogmas, and I can more or less accept papal supremacy.

On the other hand, I love the relative freedom within Anglicanism (though the Church of England has not yet allowed same-sex marriage, which is a shame), and I like the fact that it has valid apostolic succession. If I were to become Anglican, I would probably be an Anglo-Catholic, since I do not find myself agreeing with basically any Calvinist doctrines.

I have spoken to a very nice member of this community who has answered a number of my questions, but there is one doubt for which I want to get a wider opinion:

It seems to me that the thing that makes Anglicanism unique is the use of the Book of Common Prayer. However, reading its morning and evening prayers, I find that I just like it far less than the Catholic liturgy of the hours, and having attended a couple Anglican and Catholic services, I think I preferred the Catholic ones.

Is there something I'm missing about the beauty of the BCP? Has anyone grown to love the BCP over time, or is anyone here an Anglican that does not use the BCP? In the second case, what differentiates the living practice of your religion from another denomination?

Does anyone know why it's common to register all of Bach's organ sonatas so quietly? Would the separation of the voices not remain if we used, say, the diapason and brass for the manuals? Is it practical, to prevent long echoes from muddying the sound, or more practical? Would it be sacrilegious to use a forceful registration, or just tasteless?