Cathedral Music: Autumn 2003

Cathedral MUSIC Cathedral MUSIC

Cathedral Music

ISSN 1363-6960 OCTOBER 2003

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‘ ’ CM Comment Andrew Palmer

Matins

This magazine has always been one to pick up on contentious issues. Following the plea at our AGM in Peterborough, I have recently been contacted about the plight of the sung services at Southwell Minster. It appears, according to Dean David Leaning, that the cathedral chapter is undertaking a thorough review of its weekly pattern of worship over the next two years, as a result of the Soundings and Sightings review within the Minster. In the first experimental period, which lasts until the end of December 2003, sung Matins, which was usually on two Sundays a month, is being replaced by a Sung Eucharist (BCP). On a number of occasions in this period there are nonEucharistic services, e.g. Remembrance Sunday, and Matins will be sung as usual on Christmas Day. The Dean tells me that he cannot say what the pattern will be from January 2004, until Chapter has reviewed the first part of the experimental period.

I do not myself worship at Southwell so would hate to preach – but what a shame it would be to see Matins disappear from one of the few cathedrals which still sings this office. Of course there are financial considerations but we are on a slippery path. Let’s hope that a quick favourable decision is communicated to the worshippers of Southwell Minster. We should not deprive congregations and even more we should give the younger members of the Church a chance to form their own opinions as to the relevance of Matins to today’s Church.

North-South Divide

I think there is a north-south divide opening in cathedral music. This year’s Hereford Three Choirs Festival was a thoroughly enjoyable experience (congratulations to Geraint Bowen) and there is always the brilliant and well supported Southern Cathedrals Festival as well as the Edington Festival of music within

the liturgy. In the north we have seen the demise of the Northern Cathedrals Festival which brought together the choirs of Ripon, Durham and York. These are three great choirs on a par with their southern counterparts either in Worcester, Hereford and Gloucester or Salisbury, Chichester and Winchester. The NCF is now just one Saturday Evensong, nothing more. We in the north would like to see it revived on the lines of the SCF so that those of us who appreciate hearing cathedral choirs in the northern province can enjoy good church music with liturgical and secular readings. Surely the deans and chapters of these famous cathedrals, along with their organists, can come up with something more than just an Evensong? I know from experience that the Dean and Chapter at Ripon can be very creative. If it means paying a little extra then so be it. We do have the Yorkshire Three Choirs in which Ripon appears again along with Leeds PC and Wakefield Cathedral but that is, once again, an Evensong or Eucharist and a concert with a repeat in the Leeds Town Hall lunchtime music programme. To the deans and chapters of Durham, Ripon and York surely it is not that hard to create a great festival of church music?

B’s for Bach

I have been enjoying the start of the BBC 2 televised series of the complete organ works of Bach played by John Scott Whitely on a selection of wonderful European baroque organs and a few English ones too. This is not being broadcast at a regular striking rate but runs in sequences of a week at a time. It is an example of public service broadcasting at its best and a bold undertaking by the BBC because this can never be majority viewing. It is also using innovative camera techniques – including all sorts of procedures such as mounting cameras inside the organs and gas-filled balloons to carry tiny cameras up into the rafters. They give views that you just couldn’t get any other way. However, many of you felt it was too clever for its own good, especially pushing a wide angled lens into the organist’s expressionless face and in the editing of the shots where there has been heavy use of split screen and other picture effects. However, surely it is a good thing to have an instrument so rarely shown on television warts and all? Despite its gimmicks the pro-

gramme of superb playing has brought the instrument to terrestrial television with a bang.

We’ve heard it all before: minority music sidelined

Just when you thought things were getting better, Radio 3 comes along with another decision to enrage us. We have heard all the old excuses before about programmes dedicated to minority causes being axed. When organ music was taken off the air Nicholas Kenyon said it would instead be ‘folded into the schedules’. How much do we hear these days? Well it is happening all over again. The most comprehensive programme dedicated to choral music Choirworks has been taken off the air because apparently it did not engage with the choirsinging or choir-going audience. Apparently, Brian Kay’s new request programme is going to cater for lovers of cathedral and choral music but, and this is important, without unbalancing the programme. So how much will be planned for each broadcast? I have just praised public service broadcasting on television, what about minority music on radio? Choirworks was a wonderful showcase of sacred choral music and there are few enough slots for our type of music. What’s more, it was a regular weekly Sunday slot which many of us tuned into. In this day and age, religion is marginalised and this could be due to the decrease in the number of programmes which appear on Sundays. This is yet another case in point.

Perhaps if Radio 3’s publicity machine had given more prominence to Choirworks then there would be more listeners. In 1995, the then controller of Radio 3, Nicholas Kenyon, gave me his thoughts on the influence of Radio 3 on church music. In essence, Radio 3 programmes created a real resurgence of spiritual values in music which enabled church music to speak to a new generation of not necessarily religious listeners. He described it as a ‘marvellous step forward’. What can we deduce about this latest decision under his successor Roger Wright – a step backwards? It wouldn’t be so bad if Radio 3 were to spread its wings and take more relays from the scores of cathedral festivals such as the Three Choirs, St Albans and Southern Cathedrals with their strong element of choral music. What cut next? I urge you all to write to the Controller of Radio 3 to give your views. This is a serious backward step for us.

be to see Matins disappear from one of the few cathedrals which still sings this office.’

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Making Music In Cathedrals

Gordon Mursell, Dean of Birmingham and Secretary to the Association of English Cathedrals, looks at why cathedrals should face the music.

Why do we spend so much time, skill and money on making music in cathedrals? And why should that music matter to those in the world, most of whom have never even entered an English cathedral? There are three reasons.

First, music continues God’s work of creation. The Bishop of Birmingham, John Sentamu, was born in Uganda: he recalls his mother teaching him to sing whenever he was walking home, from school or work. Why? For severely practical reasons. There were no streetlights. If you wanted to avoid being bumped into or run over, you sang. It was a way of saying ‘I’m here!’ In scripture, God creates through his Word – speaking into the chaos and drawing forth meaning, purpose, identity and rhythm. So the psalmist calls on the creation – the sun, the hailstorm, even the creepy-crawlies (Ps 148:10) – to praise God, and thus to continue God’s work of bringing hope and order out of disorder and emptiness, simply by giving voice to the fact that they exist. To sing to the Lord is to join in ‘the joyful concert of the morning stars’ (Job 38:7).

And this kind of music-making, so characteristic of the Psalms, is the mirror opposite of narrow churchiness, which is why the Psalms remain the bedrock of cathedral music. The great Psalms of lament are a way of trying to allow God’s loving and creative word to penetrate even the grimmest and bleakest parts of human experience and suffering. Those who sing them, or who hear them sung, are invited to appropriate their message for their own lives, and for the life of the world. Hence sung services in cathedrals help to draw the whole world into worship, in order to expose it to God’s continuing work of bringing new life to birth – even in the midst of despair and death.

But music does more than help God to continue to create ‘out there.’ By its very nature, cathedral music-making allows that creative process to take place in us. The bringing together of a group of diverse individuals to form a choir can in itself be a sign of our vision of renewed human communities, in which each person has a unique and indispensable part to play – and in which each person discovers their own gifts precisely by setting the song of the community first.

Secondly, good music-making is an act of resistance to the

Gordon Mursell. All photographs: Trevor Godfrey

powers of evil. This idea is not unique to Christianity: the wild Italian Tarantella dance derives its name from the city of Taranto, where since Roman times it was believed that the bite of the local spider, or tarantula, would be fatal unless the victim took part in such a dance. Alas, the belief was incorrect: the tarantula’s bite is harmless. But the conviction that making music in this way could drive out the poison or evil of the world endured: George Gershwin’s character Kate in Girl Crazy speaks for millions who have found in jazz or spirituals a way of defying the tendency to apathy or complicity in the face of injustice: ‘I got rhythm; I got starlight, I got sweet dreams. Who could ask for anything more?’

Such a conviction finds its deepest expression, however, in the Bible and the Christian tradition of music-making. In the third chapter of the Book of Daniel, the grim sonorities of the Babylon Philharmonic – the horn, pipe, lyre and

so on which accompany a brutal dictators summons to his people to worship an idol – are subverted by the fragile but defiant singing of the three Jews (Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego), who defy Nebuchadnezzar’s seeming omnipotence and who, in the midst of the burning fiery furnace, have recourse not to piety or resignation but to song: ‘Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord: sing his praise and exalt him forever.’ The Benedicite, or Song of Creation, like the great anthems of the Book of Revelation, are acts of resistance; and in singing them day after day, cathedrals are doing much more than merely preserving a piece of heritage: they are refusing to collude with evil, whatever form it takes, and challenging the rest of us to pray and work for a more just world.

Yet this is no justification for complacency on the part of cathedral musicians or those who support them. We need to find new ways to allow this subversive

dimension of Christian music to find expression in our own day. We need to ask ourselves how we can continue to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land, and what songs we can sing when people are signing books of condolence or protesting about a war. The unique power and importance of the Psalms of lament consists in the way they allow us to bring our most urgent and difficult questions (why is this happening to us? Where are you, Lord? How are we to cope with this?) into the heart of our worship. Cathedral evensong is not the soothing musak of the comfortable but the passionate prayer of the troubled and the desperate. It is also, and for the very same reason, profoundly evangelistic, because it allows us to celebrate the reality of a God in whose presence we can feel safe enough to bring the whole of our lives, and who will not rest until together we have driven the power of evil from our world.

Thirdly, cathedral music-making opens up a new future. When three Old Testament Kings were engaged (as the powerful so often are) on the selfish pursuit of glory, they got lost in a barren wilderness. The prophet Elisha, when asked to help them, said: “Get me a musician.” Like many of the most important people in scripture (and the great majority of our cathedral musicians and singers), the musician is no heroic solo performer: we are not told his or her name, and after performing he or she disappears without saying a word. But the music transforms the situation: ‘while the musician was playing, the power of the Lord came on [Elisha]’ (2 Kings 3:15). And a new future opens up for the Kings and their drought-stricken followers.

‘Cathedral evensong is not the soothing musak of the comfortable but the passionate prayer of the troubled.’

Birmingham Cathedral.

This is the role of music in cathedrals: to open up a new future, to ‘dream impossible dreams’, of a new heaven and a new earth, and thus to bring the attainment of that new creation a little closer. A cathedral, whether large or small, is the diocesan church, the seat of the bishop’s teaching ministry. Most dioceses in England are at present trying to devise strategies for survival and growth in the face of daunting challenges of manpower, money, and growing secularisation. Those strategies will fail if they do not find room for the kind of music making for which cathedrals are celebrated, for such music speaks far more eloquently than words of a God who is not only real, or true, but attractive. And the biggest of all challenges facing our church today is not that people find God unreal, but that they find God boring. Cathedral music exists, not to keep a tradition going so much as to help us shape a vision for our future. It needs, not just to be promoted, but to be celebrated. Irving Berlin had it right:

“There may be trouble ahead. But while there’s moonlight and music and love and romance, Let’s face the music and dance.”

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‘...the biggest of all challenges facing our church today is not that people find God unreal, but that they find God boring.’

Training tomorrow’s talented young voices needs more than a good singing teacher. CATHEDRAL MUSIC Editor, Andrew Palmer, caught up with York Minster Songman, Richard Hill, at the Minster and at Ampleforth Abbey, to discuss how he encourages the future back line to keep an interest in singing.

Never sing louder than lovely

Midfielders, defenders, strikers, goalies; trebles, altos, tenors and basses. Football and cathedral music – an unusual pairing don’t you think? Well, quite frankly, no.

Talent, enthusiasm and emotion are needed by both players and singers. Getting the balance right in a cathedral or Oxbridge choir requires the skills and patience needed by football managers. Not only that but I later discover that having knowledge of football can help to engage with young tenors and basses. Richard Hill spends some of each singing lesson just chatting, for it relieves the intensity of concentration required in singing, and helps to focus the mind on the main business of the session. He firmly believes that any formal lesson should include an element of fun, and badinage is all part of the process of getting the chaps on board.

Since 1985, Hill has been a Songman at York Minster and I caught up with him at his flat in the shadow of the largest Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe. According to Hill, who has trained many fine young

singers, if a boy sings with feeling and a real sense of enjoyment, then you have set him up for life and the battle for his heart and mind for singing is won. If a boy possesses the talent, encourage that talent. Of course, you can’t win ’em all, and he has, by his own admission, lost some chaps on the way, just as some football managers and other sporting trainers will have done.

As a Yorkshireman, Hill is characteristically blunt. He is a passionate man who cares about the future, not only of cathedral music but also opera, oratorio and art song. My reference to Yorkshire though is a red herring – Hill is not parochial in his outlook, far from it. As I am soon to discover, he has many polemical views on some of the issues facing cathedral music today.

“Music has a strange power to surprise us, to catch us unawares. My wife, Rosemary, and I were driving to York the other day, and we were listening to Haydn’s Nelson Mass in a King’s, Cambridge, recording from the 1960s under Sir David Willcocks. Now when I

was a young man, St John’s were regarded as having the proper singers and King’s were the effete lot down the road. But coming to that recording many years later, the wonderful quality of the choristers and choral scholars remains extremely exciting. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that I and many of my contemporaries should be so deeply affected by the high quality performances given by King’s College at that time.”

One of the recurring themes that occupy my time as Editor of CATHEDRAL MUSIC is why organ scholars do not want to move to cathedrals and why we are suffering from a dearth of ex-choral scholars in the back line of cathedral choirs. Hill points out that there are so many opportunities today for young organists to move into other areas of music-making, including opera, first as repetiteurs, then, eventually, conducting. One thinks of Andrew Davis, Richard Farnes and Mark Elder, to mention only three. On graduating, many choral scholars at Oxbridge have had enough of daily singing, so, regrettably, many leave university for a future in

the City, where large salaries can be earned. Singing becomes a sideline. Anecdotal evidence is that many of the tenors and basses that sing with the Bach Choir are ex-Oxbridge choral scholars who sing for fun and don’t have the ties of cathedral life.

To demonstrate Hill’s approach to teaching singing to young men, I was invited to Ampleforth Abbey to hear and watch him take a singing class. As I approached Ampleforth, the rolling hills, undulating greenery, and of course the rugby and cricket pitches, where Lawrence Dallalgio played his early rugby, dominated the view as I looked down the valley. A truly inspiring place for the heart of an educational establishment.

Not only are there a number of his pupils on hand to demonstrate his art, I am also treated to numerous excellent recordings made over the past 10 years, illustrating his approach. For him, the essential component for success in teaching singing is maintaining a one-to-one relationship, for it enables a personal friendship to develop, which in turn engenders confidence. Then those higher tenor sounds, for example, can often find their true level, demonstrating his numerous points. It is both physical and cerebral work, but the sheer brio that good singing instills in a chap is pretty intoxicating, both for the pupil and teacher. Hill reckons that to underestimate the vocal capabilities of a young

man is unforgivable. He treats his pupils as if they are professional singers, and the sounds they produce are quite astonishing. The Ampleforth CD entitled Spiritus is an illustration of choral and soloistic excellence, sung by boys and young men none older than 18 years of age, Hill teaches singing, not only to the young men of the Schola Cantorum at Ampleforth College, but also at Durham Cathedral, where half the choir is made up of choral scholars. Hill tells me that the Durham set-up for choral scholars is excellent, for not only do the young men receive a stipend, they are also provided with free singing tuition. Often some of the young men on graduating find their way to music college with a view to entering the singing profession. Richard describes this work as an extension of his role at Ampleforth. There is no doubt, he avers, that galvanising young people today can be difficult, for there are so many opportunities available to pursue a wide variety of activities, and he sees himself as being part of a market place in which he has to work extremely hard to sell the commodity of singing. It is exhausting, but also extremely rewarding.

Hill does not use a dry, theoretical or academic approach in answering my questions – Richard has a deep knowledge of his art, which his CV and experience ably validate. His is the pragmatic but physical approach – keep it simple, but insist on true, well grounded and supported singing, based on legato line, with economy of effort.

“It’s all a matter of knowing what the young voice can achieve; yes, the theoretical knowledge is important but there can be too much emphasis placed on this precept. It is important to instil determination, as well as enjoyment and skill, recognising talent and using the young singers in the correct way. Some years ago I taught a young chap at Ampleforth, one Robert Ogden, whom you may know Andrew, from the time when he was singing at Ripon. While he was there, Rob did a pre-audition with Stephen Cleobury, before applying to King’s for a place as an alto choral scholar. Stephen heard him and said he must apply. However, it was not that easy. There was a struggle between the Music Faculty, who were not sure about his academic rigour, and Stephen. I am glad to say that Stephen won the day and Rob repaid him by giving three years excellent service to the choir and gaining a good degree. His own determination then took him to the RNCM for a postgraduate singing Cathedral Music

‘...he sees himself as being part of a market place in which he has to work extremely hard to sell the commodity of singing.’

Cameron Spence and Richard Hill. All photos Graham Hermon.

course, where he won the coveted Curtis gold medal.”

For talent to be spotted it must be supported by a modicum of musical knowledge. So at what age does one train a particular voice? How is Hill sure which is the correct register to be trained?

Hill ponders momentarily, “The short and simple answer is to take each and every voice on its merits. Each voice is totally unique. You have to be very careful not to adopt a rigidly prescribed and inflexible way of teaching it, for that can be dangerous. I had a young singer at Ampleforth, who, at the age of 12, was desperate to be a tenor, and nothing was going to deflect him. He had given up on singing treble, even though his voice had not broken. I finally accepted defeat, and said, right, let’s go with the tenor thing. And, lo and behold, he was, and is a fine tenor, presently studying at the RNCM. Of course, it did help that he is of Italian extraction! The point is, I had to be prepared to accept a 13-year old tenor who was capable of singing a very good tenor top G. The idea would normally be preposterous. Indeed, a similar thing is happening with two more students at the College both are developing tenors and are still only 15 years of age.

“Many schools do not have a singing teacher, but the head of music might have to undertake that role, especially if he runs choirs, but he/she will probably possess little himself in terms of vocal talent.

I often hear these choirs in the Minster and fume, for these young people are being short-changed. If a choir trainer has taken the trouble to book his choir into the Minster for the experience of singing in such a wonderful building, then he should be making provision for singing tuition in his school.”

Hill and I discussed this further. We have all heard a typical adolescent school choir sound that does not luxuriate in good quality singing in the men’s voices. Richard is keen to demonstrate this by playing a track of an Ampleforth’s Schola Cantorum CD of Fauré’s Requiem (see review section). The sound is reminiscent of a good Oxbridge choir, with refulgent

boys’ and men’s sound. Even the baritone soloist, James Arthur, is an Old Amplefordian, who went first to Durham University, and is presently studying singing at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Hill is the last person, however, to claim credit for the success of the recordings over the years.

“Ian Little, the Director of Music at Ampleforth, is a wonderful conductor of boys’ choirs, and he it is who shoves boys through my door and says ‘see what you can make of him’. He still owes me a fiver for a wager we had about a boy, one Tim Lacy, whom he opined was a baritone, when in fact his voice now sits very comfortably as a tenor.”

But surely Hill is fortunate, for in teaching at Ampleforth and Durham he coaches some of the best talent around, and everyone has an interest in singing. That is where my naivete is exposed. “It’s all a matter of having ‘street-cred’ and young choristers, moving on from their prep schools after a period of up to five years’ singing as trebles, have other things to concern themselves with: girls, being a teenager and, yes, sport. Singing is interpreted in a lot of schools as being ‘uncool’, sissy, compared with, say, rugger.”

But they can be won over. “I remember Tom Rose coming to Ampleforth straight from King’s, where he had been head chorister. He didn’t want to get involved in singing; he’d had enough. He was also captain of the Ampleforth 1st XV rugby team. However when he reached 16 he knocked on my door one day and said he’d like to have a sing and for the following two years we explored, among other genres, the lieder repertoire, in which he had developed a keen interest. Later, he went up to Oriel College as a choral scholar”.

Nevertheless, getting young chaps interested in singing is hardly rocket science. It is a matter of having an interest in the things that appeal to them. “I was fortunate that my father, an amateur organist, was passionate about sport, especially rugby or cricket and he took the trouble to take me to Headingley to see the likes of Hutton and Denis Compton essaying

centuries before lunch. I’ve found over the years that that proved to be a splendid grounding. It’s all a matter of getting a handle on how to communicate. I also spent the first seven years of my working life working in a department store in Bradford, selling shirts. Frustrating it might have been, but a great training in learning those vital communication skills.”

I asked Hill how he plans his lessons. “I spend around 20 minutes on vowels, linking one vowel to another, aiming for a seamless legato. This might also involve singing short, made up phrases, both in English and Italian, using scales and arpeggios. My own vocal warm up is done in this same way, usually when I am doing the washing up, for, if I formalise my practice I tend to tense up. Having worked on the vowel colours, we have a short break, and then, inevitably, it’s time for an arie antiche. These Italian masterpieces are ideal for young singers to attempt, for they are short and, in terms of tessitura, not too taxing. It is also worth stressing the need for good posture. Sheila Barlow was a very great teacher of stagecraft at the RNCM, and she lectured the students on the importance of balancing the larynx, which, believe it or not, begins at the feet. Moreover, she insisted that her singers should adopt three dimensional shapes on stage when they sang, thereby making them look interesting as well a sounding splendid. I try to bring some-

‘...teaching singing is more than simply giving the lessons; it is also a matter of pointing pupils in the right directions.’

Christopher Borrett

thing of her work to bear in my approach to teaching performance.

“Besides arie antiche, other music might included lute songs, songs by Purcell, arias by Handel, Schubert lieder and the English song writers, such as Armstong Gibbs, Michael Head, Ivor Gurney and Vaughan Williams. I also get the singers to walk about, thereby easing any tension in the body. It is a formula that has worked for me, both as a teacher and executant. The vocal exercises, from my point of view, are a means to an end; after all, it is the music that we are serving. Once you have some technical ability you have to say, ‘how do I apply that

technique?’ I know some singing teachers who are obsessed with voice exercises. If I taught in that way I would go mad. One has to strike a balance. However, even the vocal exercises have to be sung from the heart.”

Hill goes on, “For the teacher, teaching singing is more than simply giving the lessons; it is also a matter of pointing pupils in the right directions. At Ampleforth, some of the more academic chaps can aim for choral scholarships, other less academically gifted students might be vocally accomplished and can work towards a music college course, where greater emphasis is placed on vocal excellence. Mind you, all music college courses are now degree level, so such a course will hardly qualify as a cakewalk. I also have to warn potential singers going for the music college option that it is vocational training, and a great degree of self discipline is required from this type of course. Having taught at the RNCM I know what the pitfalls are.”

I ask Hill with which singers he himself identifies. “Oh dear, that is a difficult question. I have always been fond of the mezzo voice and Janet Baker simply has to be one of the finest singers of all time. Her recordings with Barbirolli are simply wonderful. Another favourite is Sarah Walker, her recording of Handel’s Hercules is for me some of the finest Handel singing one could wish to hear, and her Wigmore Hall recitals have become the stuff of legend. One of the really rising stars is Alice Coote, with whom my wife Rosemary works at home in Sale, Cheshire. Alice sang Berlioz’s Les nuits d’ete at this year’s Proms with the Halle, and she is giving Janet Baker’s 70th birthday recital in October, a huge honour. Rosemary also works with some of our finest artists, and it is a great joy to hear singers of the quality of Mary Plazas, Linda Kitchen, Lynne Dawson and Paul Nilon at close quarters. And of course, I just think James Bowman is a national

treasure. James is a most generous-hearted and lovely singer, and I count myself extremely fortunate to have got to know him well over the past few years.

“Some of Stephen Beet’s recordings are very interesting. I once spent a very happy afternoon listening to countertenors of the 1920s and ’30s with James Bowman and Freddy Hodgson, who for many years sang alto at St George’s Chapel, Windsor. These singers were of outstanding quality and technical brilliance. Having said that, I do believe that James himself takes some beating, and he continues to offer a wonderful model for any aspiring performer. I had always been under the misapprehension that Deller was the first of the recital altos in modern times, until I heard the likes of Freddy Hodgson and Hatherley Clarke.”

Whilst on the subject of countertenors, I am intrigued to know if Hill thinks there is a difference between the alto and counter-tenor voice. “For me, there is no real difference in how the basic sound is made; it is, after all, the same voice-box, but matters of nomenclature can lead to snobbery, especially in this particular debate. However, if you are looking for a difference, you could perhaps describe the ‘church hoot’ type of singer as an alto, and the operatic voice, which employs a more robust and lively timbre, as a counter-tenor. The American opera singer David Daniels performs with a fruitier, more operatic alto sound than, say, the original King’s Singers’ altos. Alastair Hume and Nigel Perrin were very accomplished, but I would not have wished to hear them singing a Handel opera. Another of my Ampleforth protégées, Rob Ogden, sings with much more zest and emotion than I could muster as a young man. I heard Alfred Deller when my voice was breaking and that was it, I simply had to try and emulate the great master. But even he could not be invested with the task of singing Oberon at Covent Garden,

‘...it does help to be able to demonstrate a singing sound, so that the pupil can latch on to that sound; not to copy, for that suggests clones of Richard Hill would be emanating from Ampleforth’

for he did not possess the necessary weight of voice. James Bowman and Michael Chance are wonderful in the opera house, for you can hear them clearly from the back of the ‘gods’. So, in the final analysis, every alto/countertenor has to decide for himself how he wishes to be delineated. Is that a cop out, Andrew?”

In 1973 Hill took a postgraduate singing course, where he experienced an operatic baptism of fire by singing the role of Oberon in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Sadlers Wells and perforce learning a smattering of stagecraft in two to three months.

“I was singing with superb singers and began to hear other glorious voices in close proximity; it was all very exciting and it got me thinking about my own approach to singing. However, I was very busy with a group called the Landini Consort, which specialised in medieval and Renaissance music, and, not feeling myself to be an opera animal, I rather used this as an excuse not to push for more operatic work, for which my fellow singer in the group, Nigel Robson, was eminently suited, and he has gone on to a wonderful career in opera. When Nigel left we were fortunate to persuade Rogers Covey-Crump to join us, which led to the funniest poster of all time being placed all over Leighton Buzzard. It read: Concert by the Landini Consort, with Richard Hill counter-tenor, Rogers Covey crump-tenor. I’m afraid Rogers will never live that down!”

I asked him why more and more choirs seem to shout the words and why diction is so poor.

Hill explains: “It has been said that singing, in a sense, is refined shouting, which presents an uncomfortable dichotomy: Choral singing, in particular, is difficult to negotiate technically and can get a voice into trouble, hence the lurking dangers for choral scholars singing daily Evensong. I’ve lost count of the number of times pupils have said to me, ‘I find it easier to sing Handel arias than motets with the Schola Cantorum. Why? Part of the reason is the difficulty of hearing yourself in a choir, and having a conductor can be inhibiting, whereas as a soloist you have much more freedom to mould the music to your own emotional levels. Sometimes I have to say to a young tenor, if you are in trouble with high notes break into alto, but don’t strain. Singing in choirs can encourage one to push the voice. It was Dame Isobel Ballie who said ‘never sing louder than

lovely’, a wonderful precept. I say to the chaps over and over again ‘don’t drive the voice, but always sing from the heart to achieve the correct balance’. One doesn’t want to pussyfoot, otherwise that produces tight, uninteresting sounds.

“As for diction, even the English National Opera is considering the introduction of surtitles, this from a company that sings exclusively in English! We appear to have lost the ability to articulate general speech. And how many times have we heard that the advent of the computer age has seen the art of conversation disappear? Well, we do appear to be locked into an age of the

always a fan of Stuart Beer when he was at Manchester Cathedral, for he sang tenor to the manor born and his choristers picked up the vibes, so they sang with great spirit and fine quality. On the other hand, a year or two ago I spent a week at St John’s, Cambridge, and to this day I still do not know how Christopher managed to inspire such wonderful sounds from his charges but we all know how good he is at his job, and I think the same could be said of Stephen Cleobury and Edward Higginbottom; neither of them could be described as singers, so in the final analysis it must come down to knack, and, I have to say, the three aforementioned men are so very exceptionally gifted.”

So what does the future hold for cathedral choirs? Hill is not entirely optimistic and he suggests that a paradox exists at the present time in choirs and places where they sing, insofar that, while the standards in many establishments remain high, the fact is, he says there is no longer a singing tradition flourishing in the schools of this country to foster the next generation of lay clerks.

soundbite, rather than one of connected ideas. Also a recent government report indicates that schoolchildren are, on average, watching two and a half hours of television a day. Well, I mean to say...” What gifts, though, does a teacher have to display in teaching singing, besides the gift of knowing about the ways of the world? Hill replies, “ I do believe that, in general, it does help to be able to demonstrate a singing sound, so that the pupil can latch on to that sound; not to copy, for that suggests clones of Richard Hill would be emanating from Ampleforth; perish the thought! I was

“True, we still nurture centres of excellence at places such as Oxbridge, though even in those exalted places we hear of shortages of really outstanding talent. Cathedral singing is very tying and if one is a member of a cathedral choir one has to be totally committed to the cause of the choir. On the other hand, organists and deans and chapters should be realistic when planning extra-curricular activities for their choirs, given the fact that cathedral choirs are only semi-professional outfits. They should budget for the fact that many lay clerks have to earn a living. At York, consecrations of bishops still take place on weekday mornings: preposterous! What pray, is wrong with Saturdays? There is little doubt that the recruitment of lay clerks is going to be a major headache from now on, for the pool of talent is drying up. I’ve heard it said that at some cathedrals certain lay clerks’ vacancies recently have not produced a single application. At York, where the stipend is one of the best in the country, we had only five applications for a bass lay clerkship a couple of years ago, only one of whom was appointable. Schoolteaching used to be the favoured profession for lay clerks, but the world of education has changed inexorably over the past few years, and that worthy profession is so heavily prescribed, that it is now a brave chap who takes on both commitments.

‘Choral singing, in particular, is difficult to negotiate technically and can get a voice into trouble.’

“It seems to me that music, and especially singing, is being pushed more and more to the margins in our schools. Creative music with instruments seems to be all the scream at the moment. Parish church choirs are folding and many of those that remain seem to sing poor quality music. As for cathedral choirs, they should be more imaginative in the way they operate. For example, on a Saturday I would love to see one of our parish choirs joining with York Minster Choir to share a service with us, perhaps some vocal coaching being offered during the day and the parish congregation could travel with the singers as part of a pilgrimage. Cathedral organists should hold open classes for young, aspiring choral directors; in other words, cathedrals should be used as a resource for the diocese. We must get more professional singers teaching singing in our schools. You would be amazed at what can be achieved by this expedient, for believe it or not, it is possible to produce embryonic professional singers from the massed ranks of the state sector; it has been done, I know, for I have seen it achieved with my own eyes and ears.”

Finally, on the vexed question of girls’ choirs, Hill believes they are clearly here to stay. However, the financial health of many of our cathedrals is giving cause for great concern and Wells has had to bite the bullet and withdraw funding for the girls. Interestingly, the girls are still flourishing there. Hill believes that the answer lies within the universities, for here is a rich seam of talent. “Durham has taken the undergraduate route for their provision of a girls’ choir, and the beauty is, it doesn’t cost them a penny in scholarships, so enabling the boys’ choir to sing the full week services. Robert Waddington, sometime Dean of Manchester, says that the boy’s treble voice is something to treasure and should be employed to its full potential in its very short career span. I believe he is right.”

As Richard Hill plays the Ampleforth recordings, which sound heavenly, I can understand his thrill in discovering a good voice. He can’t promise his singers the salaries that Beckham and Owen earn, but he firmly believes that if a young man sings throughout his life he will never be short of friends. Moreover, if he sings in a parish or cathedral choir,

he should have ringing in his ears the words of St Augustine, who famously said ‘he who sings prays twice.’

Richard Hill has sung regularly as a soloist at many major concert halls, including the Wigmore Hall. After studying at St John’s College, York, he embarked on a postgraduate singing course at the Royal Northern College of Music. On leaving the RNCM he enjoyed a varied solo career and sang in professional choirs, such as the Monteverdi Choir. In 1985 he joined York Minster Choir as a Songman and began teaching, firstly at St John’s College, then at the RNCM, where he specialised in teaching counter-tenors and organising early music ensembles. He now teaches at Ampleforth College and coaches the choral scholars of Durham Cathedral; in addition, he is director of music of the North East Ordination Course. His performing career has been inextricably linked to the Landini Consort, a group specialising in Medieval and Renaissance music. With this group, which was based at York University, he sang extensively both in the UK and abroad, appearing at many of the major European festivals and broadcasting for several radio stations in those countries. Richard holds an MA degree in Performance from York University.

Richard Hill’s views on singing very much reinforce findings of our first report in the Chapel Voices survey on page 22.

Sing unto the Lord a new song

by Dr Tristan Jones

Composing music for today’s church poses a creative musician highly difficult although fascinating challenges. We have centuries of traditional excellence to preserve. Yet, unless new music is written and performed, and added to the established repertory, the church runs the risk of becoming a musical museum.

To contribute effectively to living church music, a composer has to satisfy at least four awkward needs. First, the most distinctive feature of great music is originality. The most memorable music takes the hearer’s imagination to new places. Second, in a milieu of limited rehearsal time and pressurised resources, church music needs to be practical. Novel ideas are worth little, unfortunately, unless they can be presented successfully in performance. Third, for the purpose of worship and inspiration, music should be accessible.

While challenging ideas might stimulate the hearer, baffling ones could distract or, worse, alienate him. Finally, new music has to be appropriate to the dignity and mystery of its context. One aims not to turn tradition on its head, but to add something to it.

My purpose here is not to stand on a soapbox, but rather to share my thoughts, as a practising church musician, on various common approaches to the challenges outlined above, and then to explain how the piece that follows reflects my own personal responses and aspirations.

One of the most successful, both aesthetically and commercially, branches of new church music is what has been labelled, not entirely flatteringly, as ‘Holy Minimalism’. The leading figures are John Tavener and Arvo Pärt. Their approach has been to develop new musi-

cal languages by re-interpreting the fundamental principles of composition. Thus, Tavener has explored the possibilities of drones, parallel chords and exact mirror part-writing, infused with the exotic inflexions of Byzantine chant, while Pärt has created the Tintinnabuli style, which is characterised by the tension between melodic writing in the natural minor scale and harmonies based on notes of a single triad. The results are often striking, because novel sonorities and dissonances both stem from, and receive justification from, their logical apparatus. Music of this kind also tends to be atmospheric and beautiful, owing to its structural simplicity and uncluttered texture. The use of long note values, slow harmonic rhythm and leisurely tempi tend to generate an impression of otherworldly timelessness, which has a considerable appeal in this age of 24/7 living and working. On the purely practical level, such music is reasonably straightforward for performers, which is an attractive quality in the eyes of any choirmaster. However, the sheer simplicity of this music is also its Achilles Heel. One wonders how much farther Tavener, Pärt and Gorecki can take their new vocabularies. There is a feeling that after having heard The Lamb and the Collegium Regale service one has become entirely familiar with all that Tavener has to offer.

Another road is to stretch the possibilities of melody, rhythm, texture and tonal-

ity to new lengths. This is a more progressive or modernistic approach and good examples in church music include Herbert Howells, Kenneth Leighton and Michael Tippett. Howells became one of the most widely imitated figures in all recent church music, because his writing introduced some innovative harmonic progressions and polyphonic constructions. Leighton, in contrast, developed a harmonic language based on seconds, fourths and sevenths, and created spare textures in which vigorously rhythmic motives were played off against each other in lively counterpoint – the Collegium Magdalene Service is a particularly masterly example of this style. Nevertheless, this approach to composition throws up difficulties. First, it is now genuinely hard to see what there is left to try, since the limits of dissonance and complexity appear to have been reached by such composers as Tippett and Jonathan Harvey. Second, a style based on extending boundaries is liable to be impractical: a work such as Tippett’s St John’s Service is beyond the powers of all musicians except the best. Third, can such music really be described as accessible?

An entirely different route, highly popular in recent years, has been to reject the notion that new music needs to be original. Thus, composers like John Rutter have joyfully returned to diatonic tonality and melody. In the hands of its

‘I came up with the melody by distorting Gibbons’s famous tune into the Lydian mode, and then adjusting its contour to illustrate the falling of tears pictorially. ’

exponents, this style can produce music of great personality, if not novelty. Surely there must always be a place for a tunesmith, and for such well crafted melodies as found in Rutter’s The Lord Bless You and Keep You. Yet, if a piece of music offers nothing really new, it begs the question ‘Why bother?’ What is the point of adding another grain to a pile of sugar? ‘New Traditionalism’ betrays a certain lack of artistic integrity by offering music that would not have raised eyebrows too far when Queen Victoria still sat on the throne – but this is already the 21st century! Moreover, this movement has had darker conse-

quences: it can result, and has resulted, in a great deal of dull music becoming permanently established in the repertory. For every piece with a great tune and skilfully written accompaniment there seem to be dozens with mediocre tunes and uninventive accompaniments.

I have spent much of my life wrestling with the problems of finding an appropriate musical language for my own church music. I want to offer something that is both distinctive and useful. Gradually, I have come to the idea of basing my music on one of the most characteristic qualities of our

SALISBURYCATHEDRAL

Be a Choristerfora Day

Saturday 15 November2003

An Open Day for prospective choristers aged 6-9 yrs and their families.

Voice Trials

Boys 7-9 yrs – Saturday 15 November2003

Girls 7-9 yrs – Saturday 7 February 2004

For an informal discussion with the Director of Music and/or further details of the Open Day and Voice Trials please contact:

The Director of Music

Department of Liturgy and Music at Ladywell

33 The Close Salisbury SP1 2EJ Tel: 01722 555148

time: our unprecedented sense of historical perspective. Possessing now a considerable base of scholarship, recordings and other knowledge, we are much more aware of the different styles and sounds of music from many eras than has previously been possible. Ironically, the further the past recedes, the greater our knowledge of it and access to it become. And so, I try to put forth in my music the fruits of my studies, indulging my personal tastes and displaying my skill, such as it is, by bringing together elements of varied styles from the Middle Ages to jazz. Of course, post-modern eclecticism is not

Saturday 8th November 2003

‘I have spent much of my life wrestling with the problems of finding an appropriate musical language for my own church music. I want to offer something that is both distinctive and useful.’

my own idea—the late Alfred Schnittke was perhaps the most notable exponent of this. Again, the Hilliard Ensemble’s highly acclaimed collaboration with Jan Garbarek, Officium ((1994), is a juxtaposition of modern saxophone improvisation and Medieval and Renaissance polyphony. However, I am seeking my originality in the combination of influences that I take on, and in the way that I blend them. What I find exciting about this approach is its element of danger: one has to find ways to bring together contrasting styles so that they either complement one another or throw one another into relief. Failure

produces a mere rag-bag of contradictions. Success produces a fresh musical landscape, in which familiar features are illuminated by a new light. The piece presented here is a setting of Drop, drop, slow tears. I came up with the melody by distorting Gibbons’s famous tune into the Lydian mode, and then adjusting its contour to illustrate the falling of tears pictorially. Although I treat dissonance quite freely, borrowing ideas from Schütz and jazz, among others, I retain a certain discipline by avoiding consecutive fifths and octaves and by handling second-inversion chords with care. Such ideas as the

Compton Organs

ceaseless cries of sin for vengeance and “deep floods” I have illustrated with an extended cadence (the kind of thing one hears in much Renaissance music, but slightly altered by an enharmonic hint at the minor subdominant) and a “wet-sounding” inflexion to G flat (alto part), respectively. The final cadence derives its logic, in Leighton-like fashion, from its dependence on contrary motion.

I hope that readers will enjoy this piece and that it will prove useful to those who wish to perform it. I give my permission for photocopies to be taken freely.

A fully co-educational boarding and day school, Oakham provides an environment where our strong musical tradition is maintained alongside a high standard of academic excellence. Students are offered tremendous opportunities in music and perform individually or as part of our orchestras, bands, ensembles or choirs. Oakham School has become widely known for developing new ideas in education and making them work. In keeping with our established reputation for innovation, Oakham now offers the International Baccalaureate as well as AS/A2 Level in the Upper School.

The Directorof Music, Department of Music, Oakham School, The Barraclough, Ashwell Road, Oakham, Rutland LE15 6QG. Tel: 01572 758526

www.oakham.rutland.sch.ul

‘I am seeking my originality in the combination of influences that I take on, and in the way that I blend them. What I find exciting about this approach is its element of danger.’

Peter Barley: A Profile

Age: 33

Education:

Chorister New College Oxford, Music Scholar Winchester College, Organ Scholar King’s College, Cambridge, Postgraduate at Royal Academy of Music, also obtaining a prize-winning MMus from London University.

Career to date: Assistant Organist, Winchester College: Organ Scholar, King’s College

Cambridge: Director of Music, St Marylebone Parish Church, London: currently Organist and Master of the Choristers at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin.

What or who inspired you to take up the organ? Many and various! I loved the music and the sound from a very early age. My grandfather was a keen amateur church organist, and he used to play me the marvellous LPs of Karl Richter’s Bach and also Richter’s sumptuous readings of the Handel Organ Concertos. We also used to play the Bach Passacaglia as a piano duet, with me playing the pedal part in octaves! Then as a choirboy at St Giles, Oxford, I heard Peter Ward Jones’s stylish playing, and would then make my way up St Giles with several other boys to meet up with our respective parents who sang at St Mary Mags, where I remember enjoying Vincent Packford’s imaginative improvisations. Once I became a chorister at New College, I couldn’t wait till I could begin learning on that amazing Grant, Degens and Bradbeer instrument, a spectacular sound and sight for a young boy!

What is your a) favourite organ to play? For psalms, it would have to be King’s Cambridge, whereas the fine Rieger at St Marylebone is a marvellously versatile solo instrument. I was fortunate to play the St Paul’s Cathedral organ fairly often in London, and have now graduated to a Willis II at St Patrick’s! I also enjoy the Harrison at the Temple Church and the majestic Lewis at Southwark Cathedral.

Peter Barley Organist and Master of the Choristers at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin talks to CATHEDRAL MUSIC.

b) favourite building?

Different buildings suit different occasions, I think. So I have vivid memories of large scale choral and orchestral concerts in Winchester Cathedral, an awe inspiring building, but on the other hand I think the Chapel of Magdalen College, Oxford perfect for the office. As Director of the Edington Festival for the past six years, I’ve become very attached to the magnificent Priory Church there, and then of course there’s King’s!

c) favourite anthem?

Gibbons’s See, see the word is incarnate. There is such variety and beauty in the word setting. Gibbons’s O clap your hands would be a runner up – it is joyful and alive!

d) favourite set of canticles?

Leighton Second Service: This is a piece that I have found rewarding to work at. It has an abundance of musical ideas and delicate fluency, and a poignant threnody, with some eerily timeless moments. Very haunting. The Magnificat from

Leighton’s Collegium Madgalenae Oxoniense service comes a close second for my ‘fave’ canticles, it is so vibrant and exciting.

e) favourite organ piece?

Actually a piece I don’t play, but plenty of other people do! Duruflé’s Prélude et Fugue sur le nom d’Alain. It’s such a well wrought piece, understated, gentle yet very deeply felt and noble. It seems to say a lot in a short space of time.

f) favourite composer?

Rachmaninov (again, perhaps odd as he’s not an organ composer), but there are many others!

What is your favourite radio and television programme? Any Questions? (radio) and of course Today. On the telly I’m a sucker for any good detective series (I miss Morse!).

What newspapers and magazines do you read?

I enjoy the Independent, and am now becoming a regular reader of the Irish Times, of course. I dip into a number of musical magazines, and my family tease me for enjoying reading the Radio Times! I find it quite relaxing!

Have you played for an event or recital that stands out as a great moment?

Playing for the Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s was certainly unforgettable.

What was the first thing you did when you arrived in Dublin?

Well, the first thing I did was to go round quite a few schools on a recruiting run, which was interesting, though of course hard work. It was fortuitous that I arrived at a good time to do this. On a more artistic front, the choristers immediately had to start preparing for a performance with the National Symphony Orchestra of Britten’s War Requiem, very exciting.

What was the last book you read?

Fortune’s Rocks by Anita Shreve. She has a wonderful way with descriptive language.

What was the last CD you bought?

Actually a special re-release of the Corydon Singers’ Rachmaninov Vespers. I was very lucky to work a lot with Matthew Best whilst in London, he is a phenomenal musical personality both as singer and conductor.

What are your hobbies?

Music can be fairly all absorbing at times, but I’ll always enjoy literature, theatre and walking.

‘I was very lucky to work a lot with Matthew Best whilst in London, he is a phenomenal musical personality both as singer and conductor.’

Quis cantat, bis orat: He who

sings prays twice

And he who sings twice?

Peter Barley discusses life at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin.

It is not often that a cathedral can claim itself to be unique, but at St Patrick’s Cathedral there are a number of features that make both the cathedral and its choir unique.

On a national level, it is the only cathedral in Ireland with its own choir school and in any case one of relatively few allmale choirs of men and boys in the country. The Choir School itself is unusual, in that it is a state primary school, and yet is very small, providing education for only the boys in the choir, and for some girls, who are often sisters of choristers, and who normally sing in the Cathedral Girls’ Choir. There are just two teachers, one of whom is the Principal, and the children (aged between 8 or 9 and 12) are taught in two classes. At the age of 12, it is customary for pupils to move on to the Cathedral Grammar School next door, which provides a full education up to the age of 18, including Junior Certificate (equivalent to GCSE) and Leaving Certificate (like A level). Thus, there can be pleasing continuity in the choir, and even if a boy’s voice changes early in his time at the Grammar School, he is encouraged to return to the choir to sing in the back row as a Martin Scholar (named after the benefactor).These young singers receive modest bursaries, to which has recently been added singing and music coaching, and it is proving an increasingly successful way of retaining the interest of choristers, who have, after all, already given great service to the choir as boys. We are

fortunate in Ireland that with a considerable improvement in the economy over the past decade there are now improved opportunities for young people, and so our youngsters are more likely to remain in Dublin, and thus in the choir, rather than leaving for work or study abroad.

As with many cathedral choirs, the mainstay of the back row is the College of Lay Vicars. There are six lay vicars, two of each voice, and these are augmented on Sundays by four supernumeraries or Sundaymen as they are known. For the past few years, choral scholarships have been available, and as in a number of other cathedrals these have been very successful. Dublin has a large student population with three universities, and in fact most of the scholars have come from Trinity College, Dublin. It seems to have been more common that the cathedral attracts those students staying for several years who will be compatible with either, and in addition there are postgraduate choral scholarships to encourage further continuity. In addition to an honorarium, choral scholars now also receive singing lessons and help with preparation of repertoire.

Thus, in essence, the choir is much as its founders would have envisaged it. Henri de Londres (consecrated Archbishop of Dublin in 1213) created a college of 16 vicars choral who lived within the precincts of the cathedral. He was responsible for raising the status of St Patrick’s to that of a cathedral, and gave it in 1220 a constitution based on that of

Salisbury Cathedral. Indeed, the Sarum Rite was itself of course the model for a number of other cathedrals in England. This foundation was enlarged by Archbishop Richard Talbot (Archbishop of Dublin from 1418-1449) who endowed a college of six minor canons and six boy choristers in 1431. One of the vicars choral was responsible for the musical training of the boys, and payments were also made to him to cover the cost of their food, clothing and accommodation. As all the choristers are now day boys, the non musical elements are no longer so much of a concern for the Organist and Master of the Choristers, though interestingly the Organist does retain a Lay Vicarship on the foundation, and with the smallness and modest staffing levels of the choir school, the Organist retains a strong input into and responsibility for the choristers’ welfare and more general education whilst at the cathedral. I think I am the only organist also to be a lay vicar.

Much of the pattern of rehearsals, services and other events is very similar to most other traditional cathedral choirs, but one important and again unique difference is that Matins is still sung daily (except Saturday). This is, to my knowledge, the only cathedral in these islands to have retained two daily sung offices. Matins is sung by the junior boys alone, and although the musical requirements are fairly straight forward, it is nevertheless an excellent musical and spiritual training ground for the boys. There is a

very special atmosphere at that time of day, particularly in the quieter months, and I firmly believe it is immensely healthy for organist and choristers to begin (and of course end) the working day with music and worship, as opposed to desk or school work!

In common with many cathedral schools that have either always been day schools, or which have become day schools, one should not overlook the commitment needed by both boys and their parents in maintaining the daily sung services. It is a long day for the choristers, especially for those with a lengthy journey through almost unbearable traffic across Dublin, but fortunately there are still a good number of parents who appreciate the values of this very special education, with its emphasis not only on high standards and wide ranging musical training (boys receive singing, theory, instrumental and general musicianship lessons in addition to the choir rehearsals as part of the school day), but also teamwork, responsibility and personal development. It is perhaps no accident that both the past and present excellent cathedral administrators, in addition to several of the men of the choir and several eminent Dublin clergy, were themselves choristers at St Patrick’s. The chorister training provided them with most of the tools for the job: on the one hand the focused structure and discipline, and on the other the education and inspiration.

Clearly, with twelve choral services a week, liturgical work remains at the heart

of what the choir does, but (in common with most other cathedral choirs) in recent years the choir has expanded its extra curricular activities. The boys took part in Britten’s War Requiem in March 2002 and have also toured recently to Belfast, Coventry and Worcester Cathedrals as well as Paris earlier this year. They appeared on Songs of Praise from Dublin, and have also broadcast the St Patrick’s Day service live for the past few years on the main national radio network.

In many ways, being the only cathedral of its type in Ireland, such work has an even more obviously ambassadorial role than elsewhere, and indeed this works both ways as St Patrick’s Cathedral is also very keen to encourage awareness of the place itself and its heritage, as witnessed by an award winning exhibition, and by the recent expansion of the summer visiting choirs programme, when choirs kindly come and sing the services during the cathedral choir’s own holidays.

Another aspect which has been under development is the repertoire of the choir. The core repertoire is similar to most other cathedral choirs, but with some different areas of emphasis. The Church of Ireland is more overtly Protestant than the Church of England, so there is less music sung in Latin. Having said that, there is a lively spirit of ecumenism, and for instance there are several Catholic boys and men in the choir.

There are a number of pieces that have particular connections with St

Patrick’s, or indeed were written especially for it or by musicians connected with the cathedral. I am keen to build on this work in time, and this would be possible not just with new music, but also with music from earlier periods. For instance, the researches of former Cathedral Administrator Dr Kerry Houston have centred around the historic manuscripts in the Cathedral Archives, and this will be a fruitful resource for enhancing the cathedral’s repertoire in the future. Another imaginative angle, which was explored for the millennium, was the commissioning of music for Parish Use. The distinguished composer Colin Mawby was commissioned to write a mass suitable for congregational use, and the St Patrick’s setting has been very successful.

In common with King’s College, Cambridge (where I had the good fortune to be organ scholar) perhaps the most obvious ‘shop window’ for St Patrick’s is the annual broadcast of Nine Lessons and Carols (on RTE, Ireland’s national network). This is an important tradition, and certainly provides a valuable platform for the music at St Patrick’s. In addition to the regular summer series of organ recitals, there is a special celebrity recital every other year, the Hewson Recital, in memory of Dr George Hewson, who was organist of St Patrick’s 1920 – 1960. Recent Hewson recitalists have been Nicholas Kynaston, Carlo Curley, Ian Tracey and Ben van Oosten.

‘This is, to my knowledge, the only cathedral in these islands to have retained two daily sung offices.’

Chapel Voices

It may seem ironical today that the older public schools were founded to provide free education for the poor and in most cases, on religious lines. This is true of nearly all the schools reported on in this first selection. By contrast University College School was founded with the specific aim of fostering academic excellence and independent thought without religious or denominational ties. Therefore, unsurprisingly there is no tradition of religious choral singing. The rival college, King’s, an Anglican foundation, opened its King’s College School for boys in 1829 and the need for larger premises led to its move to Wimbledon in 1897. In view of its Anglican origins it is surprising that the buildings at Wimbledon do not include a chapel, and the main hall is no longer large enough for the whole school to assemble in. Nevertheless, this all-boys day school maintains five choirs and holds regular services in local churches. James Millard, the Director of Music at KCS, told us of the fine and long choral tradition of the Chamber Choir, which has for many years been a big feature of the school’s life and has recorded many times. The prep school is on site and some but not all of the trebles are drawn from it, the remainder being from the senior school.

“We do encourage boys to continue singing treble in the senior school,” James told us. “There are several choirs and musical groups and music seems a ‘cool’ thing to do as far as the boys are concerned.” We were immediately struck by James’s enthusiasm for choral work. Interestingly, he told us that the National Curriculum was not followed: “We teach an academic course here,” he said. “Choir

For this, the first report in a new series examining the singing in mainly independent schools, Stephen Beet and Roger Tucker have visited some of the leading London schools, which have distinguished musical traditions. Not only is the past and present considered but they investigate the future of singing in these places and pose some searching questions.

Highgate School Chapel Choir

practice is held almost daily and there are regular assemblies, split into year-groups, and hymn singing”.

We attended the Service of Lessons and Carols in the large Roman Catholic church of the Sacred Heart at Edge Hill. The Chamber Choir, which has professional gentlemen to complement the boys, was expertly accompanied by James Vivian (sub-organist of the Temple Church). The singing from the gallery was very strong, leaning towards a head tone, and there were two or three very good soloists.

Westminster School

It is not possible to confirm the date for the foundation of Westminster School. It is likely that it had its origin in a decree of Pope Alexander III in 1179 which obliged cathedrals and monasteries to maintain schools for boys. When Henry Vlll dissolved the monastery in 1540 the school survived. Elizabeth re-founded the school in 1560 providing for a Head Master, an Under Master and 40 Scholars, with fee-paying pupils admitted, although we can infer from earlier references that there were non-scholars before Elizabeth’s reign. The Oppidani (town boys) were those living locally and the Peregrini (foreigners) were those from the country who lived with friends or family. A notable Head Master Dr Richard Busby (1606-95) served for over 50 years. Busby was a brave man who ignored Commonwealth decrees, continuing to use the Book of Common Prayer; while others were punished, such was his reputation that he was left alone. On the day Charles I was due to die, the King was publicly prayed for ‘not an hour or two (at most) before his head was struck off.’ Busby’s support for cathedral music during Commonwealth times is often forgotten. He regularly had musical parties and was on intimate terms with Cromwell’s organist. At the coronation of James II in 1685, King’s Scholars acquired the privilege of acclaiming the sovereign with cries of ‘Vivat Rex’, which they still retain. Under the 1868 Public Schools’ Act the school was made financially and administratively independent of the Abbey and a new board replaced the Dean and Chapter as governors. The school buildings, on the east side of Dean’s Yard are of varied architectural styles and include part of the old monastic dormitory.

The school’s chapel is the Abbey itself, where all services take place. Under the Act of Uniformity of 1559,

Westminster, along with Eton and Winchester, alone amongst schools, was permitted to conduct its prayers in Latin. Prayers, known as ‘Abbey’, used to take place daily except for Sundays. Daily prayers are now reduced to three days per week. Once a week ‘Abbey’ still takes place ‘up school’ (in the Great Hall), and is conducted in Latin, spoken with an ugly pronunciation used by the Elizabethans.

The first service we attended was the Triennial Commemoration service in October. This is a splendid occasion when evening dress is worn and Latin is again used with the traditional pronunciation. The choir on this occasion is banished to the organ screen and assessment of the vocal quality was made even more difficult by rather fast tempi.

Our second visit was for the 2002 traditional service of Nine Lessons (Authorised Version) and carols. Girls are admitted to the sixth form and they, in addition to a few parents, provided the soprano line of the choir. This time they sang from the choir stalls, and there were a few boy sopranos, one of whom sang a duet with a girl. The singing was excellent.

The whole school was assembled and allowed to sit with parents and friends, but it was disappointing to note very few of the boys actually joining in with the congregational carols, perhaps a reflec-

tion of the demise of whole-school singing? The girl sopranos were impressive, if a little strident. Who could not but be inspired to sing in such surroundings? Yet the Director of Music, Guy Hopkins, takes the view that some boys are rather overawed by the setting.

Finally, we must report that traditional choral activities at Westminster have to compete with musicals, jazz and rock concerts in the already crowded timetable, although Westminster still maintains Saturday morning school.

St Paul’s School

The earliest recorded school foundation in this London group is St. Paul’s, founded in 1509 by Dean John Colet of St. Paul’s Cathedral. It provided a free education for 153 boys. Colet never failed to make it clear that he intended the school to be essentially a place of religious as well as of sound learning. He said that boys must know their catechism before admission and assemble for prayers six times a day! Obviously St. Paul’s has always remained a Church of England school (but has not excluded other faiths) and has never lost its connection with the Cathedral, the first location being opposite the east end. It moved to Hammersmith in 1884 and to its present building alongside the Thames at Barnes in 1968. This necessitates a fleet of coaches to transport the boys

‘Colet never failed to make it clear that he intended the school to be essentially a place of religious as well as of sound learning.’

The 19th century buildings of St Paul’s School at Hammersmith

for the special services several times a year in the Cathedral. We attended the John Colet Day service there in commemoration of the founder in October. This is a joint service with the St. Paul’s Girls’ School, which has its own distinguished musical tradition, numbering amongst its directors of music both Gustav Holst and Herbert Howells.

The service opened with a curiosity, a specially composed piece to words described as ‘a collage of three African languages’: Ethiopian, Nigerian, and Xhosa, which were set to music by the Assistant Director of Music at the boys’ school, Peter Gritton. The rest of the service proceeded along equally untraditional lines, including a rendition of ‘Dem Bones’. Later John Tavener’s setting of a multi-lingual piece confirmed our opinion that this service seemed far removed from the choral tradition of the Cathedral. The service ended with a nicely sung motet by Mendelssohn.

The history of singing at the boys’ school is interesting. In 1909 one of the form masters, ‘Tommy’ Gould ran the music and the choir, and the concerts comprised largely part-songs, solos and madrigals. This was, within its limits, excellent and more than this was not felt necessary in a London school. But by the middle of the 1920s it was felt that more ambitious choral schemes might be undertaken. The formidable H.E. Wilson was in charge of the choir of boys and masters, singing mainly cantatas, including five movements of Brahms’ Requiem which was highly praised in The Daily Telegraph and The Musical Times. There was regular class instruction in singing, except for the boys in the middle of the school who, according to a contemporary account, had ‘no musical voice’. In the 1930s the boys performed G&S including The Mikado and Pirates of Penzance, which was accompanied by an orchestra of friends and relatives.

After the war it was decided to break away from this G&S tradition and put on straight plays with an opera as an occasional treat, when voices and funds permitted. The 1953 performance of The Gondoliers was blessed by an unusually fine number of treble voices. In those days the choirs of Colet Court, (the junior prep school) and St Paul’s were not combined, but there has always been a close connection between the two schools.

We attended the Advent Carol Service, held in the stark 1960s chapel, which in effect is the size and shape of a handball court with windows high up on each side,

with the organ on a gallery. This was the first time the Colet Court Recital Choir under its director, Tim Frost, had joined with St. Paul’s Chamber Choirdirected by Mark Tatlow. The boys of Colet Court provided the treble line, the unbrokenvoiced Paulines being relegated to the alto part. On other occasions the girls of the sister foundation provide the soprano and alto parts. The choir comprised over 50 voices and the tenor and bass lines were especially well-blended and the intonation secure. The 25 or so Coletines were well- trained and sang strongly and very tunefully. But the striking and most welcome presence of two or three really excellent boy sopranos served to reveal the slightly uneven soprano line. These boys were really excellent, especially in the higher register, and the solo boy, Milo Harries was particularly impressive, singing the solo in an inspired composition by Peter Gritton, which deserves to be heard more widely. Harries displayed a warm head tone and power, combined with an attractive vibrato that was reminiscent of a bygone age.

We were now looking forward to hearing the boys of St Paul’s sing on their own: was that not, after all, what we had really come to hear? Fine as the singing of the Coletines was, we were specifically detailed to find out what was happening to the singing of public schoolboys. It was in this respect that we were a little disappointed. There seemed to be no trebles nor boy sopranos, the boys being divided into altos, tenors, and basses, despite, in our opinion, there being boys available who might have been in fine treble voice given the opportunity. “There is hymn-singing once a week for the first two years; thereafter there is singing at the non-compulsory Wednesday chapel assembly,’’ Mark Tatlow told us, “the other assemblies are secular.”

Highgate School

It was on 6th April, 1565 that Queen Elizabeth granted to Sir Roger Cholmeley her Letters Patent for the foundation of his Free Grammar School. There was an ancient chapel on site that was pulled down in 1576 to make way for a new one, which was, in its turn, pulled down in 1832 to make way for St Michael’s Church, which was used as a chapel. In 1838 Dr. Dyne took over the headmastership and 19 boys; he reigned for thirty-six years and is known as the Second Founder or Recreator. Three years later there were 102 boys. In

1865 the present chapel was built and it was within its vaults that Coleridge was originally buried before his body was moved to St. Michael’s Church.

The chapel music was given a fillip by the appointment of W.G. Wood (brother of Sir Charles Wood) as Director of Music. He was, by all accounts, a man of energy and great ability, his reputation for training boys extending far beyond the school. His enthusiasm soon created an excellent choir, and the soloists he produced were claimed never to have been surpassed, and rarely equalled.

We were keen to hearthe choir of Mr. Wood’s successor several generations removed and so attended two services in in the starkly beautiful Victorian brick chapel. The congregation numbering on the first occasion around fifty, comprised mainly parents of the choristers, although there were perhaps a few old boys, fewer masters and disappointingly

‘We were encouraged to learn of the various choral groups and musical activities in the school, but sadly there is little community singing.’

St Michael’s Church

no contemporaries of the 30 or so choristers who would shortly file slowly into the stalls, clad in black cassocks and collegiate-style rotchets.

The rather small and inexperienced trebles were, we discovered, mainly drawn from the junior school, the older Highgate boys, some obviously still capable of singing treble, relegated to the middle of the three double rows to sing ‘alto’, or at least the alto part. The tenor and baritone lines were sung by some of the senior boys, and a very effective master or two added ‘authority’ to the ensemble.

Speaking afterwards to the Director of Music, John March, who had accompanied the service on the organ, we were encouraged to learn of the various

feeling somewhat disappointed with the singing but our second visit over a month later to the Remembrance Service left a much more favourable impression. This took the form of Choral Evensong and on this occasion the chapel was packed not only by parents and old boys but by a large contingent of the school’s Combined Cadet Corps. This gave very much the impression of a traditional public school chapel service. The singing was much more secure and the trebles had gained confidence. Only the rather fast tempi and the organist’s adherence to strict time spoiled the enjoyment of the service to some extent.

Dulwich College

Dulwich College like so many of the

College moved south of the original site to the splendid new buildings on Dulwich Common designed by Charles Barry. These should have included a grandiose new chapel but funds ran out and it was never built so, the original 1619 chapel in the village is still used. We heard the Choir several times and found it well-trained and enthusiastic, thanks in no small measure to its inspiring Director of Chapel Music, Michael Ashcroft, who was responsible, with the support of the new Master, for restoring the choral foundation and the reforming of the choir in 1998, Michael explained in detail the reasons for the choir’s success:

1. There is a ready supply of boys entering the College at the age of 7.

2. All choristers are awarded generous scholarships.

3. Rehearsal time is ring-fenced and has priority over other school activities.

4. A number of experienced trebles enter the school through Common Entrance aged 13.

Indeed the success of the choir can be judged both by the long and growing waiting list of boys applying for choristerships and by the number of cathedral visits, to sing Choral Evensong of which there will be four at Westminster Abbey this year. In addition the choir is to sing in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin for the 2003 Headmasters’ Conference, of which Graham Able, the current Master of Dulwich, is chairman. Michael

choral groups and musical activities in the school, but sadly there is little community singing.

“An element of community singing is found in the termly chapel services and annual carol service at St. Michael’s Church and in the House Music Competition,” John March told us. “The boys experience one chapel service per week where they sing just a hymn. We can’t get the whole school (even the nominally Christian boys) into Chapel in one session, so this is organised by houses.”

Many of the boys have little or no Anglican, or even Christian background and some profess other faiths, although this is no bar to singing in the chapel choir, which, given all these difficulties, is remarkably successful, even to the point of issuing CDs. The choir sings nine full Choral Evensongs during the year.

We came away from our first visit

public schools sprang from a charitable foundation: ‘Alleyn’s College of God’s Gift’ which was founded in 1619 by Edward Alleyn, a famous and highly successful Shakespearian actor-manager who had bought the manor of Dulwich. The foundation statute specifies that it consists of a ‘Master, Warden, six Poor Felloes and 12 Poor Scholars’. It was Alleyn’s intention to support a choral foundation at Dulwich along the lines of that at the Chapel Royal and Westminster Abbey. The original buildings still stand in the village, containing at their centre a fine chapel. The College has recently revived its chapel choral tradition there and it is interesting to note that had we carried out our survey five years ago there would have been nothing to report. The choral tradition, dating from 1626, had withered, probably around 1868 when the

‘...the success of the choir can be judged both by the long and growing waiting list of boys applying for choristerships and by the number of cathedral visits.’

Dulwich College Choir

Ashcroft was keen to point out the tremendous support from the Master and the governors, who make available generous funds for the support of the choral foundation “This includes 16 choristers and 6 senior boys, each receiving £750-worth of musical tuition per annum. We also pay for the services of three professional lay clerks. The Master wanted to establish the foundation on a thoroughly professional footing. Some schools would not be prepared to do this, either for financial or other reasons.

Regular services in the College Chapel follow the Book of Common Prayer and Matins, Communion or Choral Evensong is sung on alternate Sundays throughout the term. All are welcome. One of the singing teachers, Daniel Ludford-Thomas was a wellknown and recorded boy soloist in the 1980s. Now Head of Singing at Dulwich, Dan teaches both trebles and broken voices. “We have around 45 pupils, of which, I teach just over half, with my colleague, Ghislaine Morgan teaching the rest. Any boy who is still singing treble is able to apply for the chapel choir. Trebles tend to leave the choir only when their voices break, not on arriving at a specific age as at some schools. Occasionally boys who go on for longer than average (15) will leave because they personally feel they would like a break or simply time for more study, etc. This is always done by mutual consent. Both Michael and I are happy with this because we wouldn’t wish any chorister to sing under duress.”

We have visited the fine, oak-panelled and galleried chapel on several occasions including one FCM gathering, which was followed by an excellent tour of the adjacent Dulwich Picture Gallery. The chapel seats over 500 on wooden pews, and one particularly cold Sunday evening in March we found the choir in very good heart indeed. The 20 or so trebles were well blended: the sound was not what one would describe as a head-tone, but it was possessed of an attractive vibrato which took the edge off the rather hard laryngeal sound. The tempo was well-measured: not too fast in the hymns and canticles and not too slow in the psalm. It reminded us of Dr. Thalben-Ball’s maxim regarding psalm singing: ‘As quickly as you can and as slowly as you must’! The under parts, comprising older boys, masters and the three professional lay clerks were very secure. It was obvious to any

worshipper that the boys were entirely focussed on their task and speaking afterwards to one of Stephen Beet’s expupils, now a treble in the choir, one was left in no doubt as to the inspiration provided by Michael Ashcroft. The Chaplain stuck entirely to the Prayer Book and excepting the second lesson, which was read in a modern version by the Master, the service was traditional and much appreciated by the congregation of parents and friends. The College having few full-time boarders, there were just a handful of boys present in addition to the choristers. This service was one of the most satisfying in our survey so far.

Other schools which might have featured in our survey are not included as they have little or no corporate ‘chapel’ worship. Into this category falls UCS, mentioned in the introduction, and the City of London School for Boys –although the latter is worthy of mention due to its strong links with both the Temple Church and the Choir of H.M. Chapel Royal, St. James’s Palace. There was no music taught as a subject at CLS until the early 1930s, when Leslie Taylor came as Music Master. He was recommended by George Thalben-Ball, but unfortunately he dissaproved of the link with the Temple. There were House choir competitions, hotly contested. Otherwise any other music was left to either the Temple or Chapel Royal boys. The school supplies the majority of choristers over the age of ten for the Temple Church. Now that the Temple choir takes boys from the age of seven they come from a variety of primary and prep schools around central London. The sub-organist, James Vivian told us that the links with CLS were still “as strong as ever as we liaise closely on teaching the boys theory.” The Chapel Royal choristers are still all educated at the school.

Harrow School

For over 20 years, beginning in 1940, ‘our darkest hour’, Churchill religiously attended the Harrow Songs and wept openly on every occasion, moved no doubt by the beauty of the singing, just as the hard bitten old general was moved when listening to John Verney’s solo in The Hill written in 1905 by Horace Annesley Vachell, mentioned in the introductory article. On one occasion, Churchill said to his son, Randolph: “Listening to these boys singing all those well-remembered

‘Churchill religiously attended the Harrow Songs and he wept openly on every occasion, moved no doubt by the beauty of the singing, just as the hard bitten old general was moved when listening to John Verney’s solo in The Hill. ’

songs I could see myself 50 years ago singing with them those tales of great deeds and of great men and wondering with intensity how I could ever do something glorious for my country.” These sentiments are given full treatment in The Hill. When the old general arrives ‘conviction seized the boys that a conqueror was among them......And he had taken time to come down to Harrow to hear the boys sing. And, dash it all, he John was going to sing to him.’

In 1572 a Royal Charter was granted to John Lyon, a wealthy farmer, for the founding of a school at Harrow on the Hill. Lyon died in 1592 and the original school house dates from 1608 and now stands as the western wing of the Old Schools. In addition to providing free education for local boys Lyon’s statutes permitted the enrolment of fee-paying boys from outside the parish – ‘foreigners’. The school really took shape during the headmastership of Dr. C.J. Vaughan (1844-59) who was later Master of the Temple Church. During his time the number of boys increased from 69 to 470 and the number of houses increased to eleven. The first school chapel was begun by Vaughan’s predecessor, Christopher Wordsworth in 1838 as he felt the services at St. Mary’s Parish Church no longer of a satisfactory nature. This chapel was replaced by a larger one designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott which still stands today.

A very cold and frosty morning was the occasion of our visit for Morning Service. We were immediately impressed by the courteous and attentive reception and by the demeanour of the 600 boys in traditional uniforms who quietly filed in from their various houses supervised by prefects in their splendid attire and silk hats.

The chapel choir had been briefly rehearsing the anthem, There shall a star from Mendelssohn’s unfinished work Christus.

We were looked after by Tom Wickson, a charismatic English beak (whom we later found to be responsible for the composition of the most recent additions to the Harrow Songs). He introduced himself as ‘Head of Chapel Seating’ and executed his duties expertly by seating us in a gallery with a panoramic view of the beautiful chapel. The service was very good – quite short and extremely well-paced. In addition to the anthem we were treated to three rousing hymns. Looking down from the

gallery it was striking that every boy was completely attentive, joining in, book open, held up and not closed before the final line of the last verse!

The singing of the choir was impressive: the parts well-blended, the treble line very secure and forward.

After the service, Philip Evans, the Assistant Director of Music and Director of Chapel Choir, told us about the musical life of the school. He began by listing the formal choirs and singing groups.

The Byron Consort, a 16 voice group, sings entirely unaccompanied sacred and secular music in the school and on tour, both abroad and in this country. It comprises three boys and one adult to each part. Seven of the present members have been cathedral choristers. The Consort’s recently issued CD is reviewed elsewhere in CATHEDRAL MUSIC

The Chamber Choir includes the best singers in the Chapel Choir and five or six adults. This performs large choral works with original instruments and sings Evensong in cathedrals and on foreign tours.

The Chapel Choir is largely nonselective and is made up of 70 boys and a few masters. They sing at the regular chapel services. Philip Evans selects around 24 trebles per year which gives every opportunity for boys to continue singing treble after they have left prep school. Every new boy is auditioned and accepted if he has a voice of any sort.

The Plainsong Choir comprises broken voices, mainly non musicians but providing opportunity to enjoy singing. This choir sings on six Sundays per term.

The Choral Society draws boys from every choir and choral group and operates only in the Spring Term in preparation for a concert. It is also an opportunity to sing with girls of Francis Holland School and a few masters’

wives.

“We get on average between one and three cathedral choristers a year and I would like to see more,” Philip told us. “There is no likelihood of Harrow going co-ed in the near future so we have a lot to offer boys who have loved their cathedral choir and want to continue singing treble regularly.” In fact it is interesting to note that Harrow is one of just three- all boy and all-boarding schools in the the UK, the others being Eton and Radley.

“Every single boy in the school is involved in music. Some boys enter Harrow feeling they will miss their cathedral or prep school choir but this is not the case. We do have marvellous instrumental opportunities too but one reason I like to have ex-cathedral choristers is that they are good at both and provide such a lead with the singing.”

There are scholarships of up to 50% of full fees and further bursaries are available to those in financial need. Philip concurred with Stephen Beet’s observation that some of the London day schools seemed to neglect choral music; this then brought us on to discuss the famous

Harrow Songs

The appointment of John Farmer in 1862 began the transformation of the music at Harrow from the pastime of the eccentric few to an activity in which all would partake, perhaps not all skilfully, but certainly with enjoyment. His method was to introduce House Singing. Edward Bowen, a master for over 40 years brought his deep understanding of boys and school life to the writing of the Harrow Songs. The most famous of these is Forty Years On but Bowen’s words with Farmer’s tunes make up over half of the present book, which is updated every 20 years. The latest songs composed by Tom Wickson are set to music by Richard Walker, ➤

‘Looking down from the gallery it was striking that every boy was completely attentive, joining in, book open, held up and not closed before the final line of the last verse!’

the Director of Music.

The Songs are a unique feature of Harrow School life and they appear at every formal occasion in addition to informal gathering of Harrovians the world over.

Three times per year the formal are held in the Speech Room. Groups of old boys are invited to join in the singing. On Speech Day a dozen boys from each house sing for parents and visitors.

Once a year the Churchill Songs are held. Sir Winston returned every year until his death in 1965 and his daughter, Lady Soames, has attended every year since that date. Once every 10 years they are held in the Royal Albert Hall.

The House Songs are held in houses once or twice a term after a formal supper. All new boys (and masters!) have to perform the New Boy’s Solo, the first four lines of the Men of Harlech

The new boy treble solo, Five Hundred Faces, a very emotional and expressive song is sung once or twice a year to a large audience, and from memory. “It’s really a dramatic piece,” Philip explained. “Two years ago we had the best performance in modern times, and it’s not always an ex-cathedral chorister who is chosen. It calls for real emotion and expression.”

Five hundred faces, and all so strange, Life in front of me, home behind, I feel like a waif before the wind, Tossed on an ocean of shock and change. And so it goes on for five verses, nothing less than John Verney’s solo, sung before the old general in The Hill over 100 years before.

In addition to the Harrow Songs there is the high profile ‘Glees and 12s’ Competition every October. Every House has to perform an unaccompanied Glee (part song) from memory in at least three parts and has to submit a ‘12’ – 12 boys singing in unison with piano accompaniment, also from memory. This is accompanied by either a master or a boy, but the Glee must be directed by a boy.

We were invited to attend one of the three occasions when Songs are done. The whole school was assembled in the Speech Room, which provided an impressive setting for this moving occasion, attended on this occasion by Old Boys from the 1960s. The congregational singing was certainly rousing and everyone joined in and had a jolly good sing. Afterwards we were addressed by

the Head Master who explained the continuing importance of single-sex education and his belief that the tide was turning against co-education. We were impressed by our visit to Harrow –not because it was Harrow – but because it was providing everything that we had been looking for: a school which values its time-honoured choral and solo singing tradition and where music is obviously so important to so many.

Problems and Challenges

We have discovered much that is good and positive over the past 12 months but there is no doubt that there are many problems facing chapel music in public schools today. Far fewer boys are properly trained to sing at prep school level and there is a general unwillingness of boys to continue singing treble after prep school (and sometimes after the age of 11), due largely to lack of encouragement, lack of opportunity and/or peer pressure. Few realise the strength of peer-pressure in determining the activities of a boy of that age.

This is a worry to some boys and parents of cathedral choristers who are keen to continue singing at public school and they may be glad of advice.

As we believe the problem really begins in the prep school we feel justified in expanding upon its causes. Many directors of music seem happy to train a choir (often to a high standard) but whole-school and general singing in schools is often neglected, no attempt being made to enthuse boys with a love of singing through class lessons. This is partly as a result of a rigid adherence to National Curriculum recommendations. This is voluntarily followed in many private schools (for political correctness?), and lays down no specific targets for general class singing – the regulations requiring the equal division of time between ‘Appraisal and Listening, Composition, and Performing.’ Music in prep schools is now too focused on performance and composition and, as a result, class and whole-school singing is neglected. Ranks of keyboards are now proudly displayed to prospective parents by the headmas-

‘We were impressed by our visit to Harrow because it was providing everything that we had been looking for: a school which values its time-honoured choral and solo singing tradition and where music is obviously so important to so many.’

Harrow School, Vaughan Library and the Chapel.

ter as proof of a well-resourced music department. Before the arrival of electronic instruments, lessons were usually conducted around the piano for the singing of hymns and folk songs. Every boy was expected to sing at pitch and most did. Gradually those few who had difficulties, by careful listening, sang tunefully. Music masters in public schools could expect the greater number of their new boys to have a firm foundation in singing. It also seems likely that many of today’s choirmasters lack the ability to show a boy how to produce the correct tone, allowing him to retain his singing voice during the considerable time his speaking voice is breaking.

Several directors of music in prep schools, being primarily instrumentalists, readily admit to having little or no training in voice production, as few courses seem to be available.

In many prep schools, singing is poorly regarded by the majority of boys and seen to be only for the elite; in chapel many do not sing at natural pitch, some boys trying to be mini

tenors before their voices have even begun to break. Is it any wonder that when these boys get to public school they have no intention of singing treble as they regard it only for ‘little kids’? Some boys have told us that they deliberately fail compulsory voice tests upon entry to public school. On the other hand, in prep schools which have a strong choral tradition boys have gone on to public school and reported that there has been no home for them in the chapel choir. “The girls sing soprano,” or “he (the choirmaster) makes me sing tenor,” has often been said. It is now common to suppose that a boy’s singing career will end upon entry to public school: this need not necessarily be the case. Several notable boy sopranos have continued and developed their singing at public school. Andrew Wicks made several recordings for Abbey Records while a pupil at Eastbourne College (a CD Once Were Angels, which includes his voice, is reviewed elsewhere in CATHEDRAL MUSIC). One wonders why boys with unbroken voices, presumably just at the age when they could be most

useful are not being given the encouragement to sing treble in some schools? We shall examine this problem more deeply in future articles when we visit some co-educational schools or boys’ schools having a co-educational sixth form.

Another challenge is the now common use of prep school boys to sing the top line in public school choirs as we found at St Paul’s. While one can fully appreciate the advantages of schools forging strong links with feeder prep schools there are dangers involved. If this becomes the custom, boys may feel unwilling to sing when they enter the senior school, even if they are encouraged to do so. Recently a potential music scholar, aged 12, was interviewed at a school we shall shortly be visiting and reported that the music master hadn’t been interested in his treble voice. “I’ll hear you when you are a tenor,” he said!

Co-Education

Perhaps the greatest challenge to the tradition of boys singing the top line is the spread of co-education. There have been co-educational schools for very many years, but a good number of traditionally all-boys schools have now admitted girls either into the sixth form or throughout the school. We believe it is only right that girls be given full opportunity in the field of music, including choral singing, but while this might be all to the good as far as equal opportunities are concerned, the spread of coeducation has contributed perhaps more than anything to the end of the traditional choir in many public schools: girls entirely dominating the soprano part. We learn that Highgate will open its doors to girls from 2004 and one wonders how the traditional choir can justify its survival without seeming to exclude the very girls the school is going out of its way to welcome. We put this point to John March, Director of Music at Highgate:

“It will take eight years for the school to become fully co-educational. We know that we will face particular problems with the chapel choir. In its present form, it is clearly a special feature of the school. There will be a decreasing pool of boys from which to choose choristers and it seems to me that there are two options of which, I guess, the latter is the more likely outcome. The first is that we try to continue as an all-male choir and r un a separate girls’ choir in addi-

‘In prep schools which have a strong choral tradition boys have gone on to public school and reported that there has been no home for them in the chapel choir.’

Harrow Chapel Choir.

tion. The second is that we accept girls into the choir. These girls would, of course, include sixth formers, which would change the atmosphere somewhat, possibly losing some of the communal spirit among the trebles (who will be reduced in number), as a result there may be a fall-off in interest among the boys – in other words, the perpetual danger regarding music in co-ed schools, that it may be seen as a ‘girly’ activity. Nevertheless, as you can see, we have anticipated the problems and are determined to maintain this aspect of the musical tradition in whatever form that may take.” Taking to heart John March’s warning, we fear that traditional chapel choirs will disappear from mixed schools within a few years and survive and flourish only in single-sex schools. We cite Westminster as an example – the top line now almost entirely comprising sixthform girls and other sopranos. However, we would cite the remarks made by the Head Master of Harrow who believes the tide is turning again in favour of single-sex education.

One of the problems mentioned by some directors of music is the difficulty in maintaining a four-part choir. But this is not a difficulty in some schools, and certainly not a new problem as may be seen from the first comprehensive survey of singing in public schools published in The Musical Herald between 1889 and 1892. Wellington had great problems in selecting trebles: “Many of these (new boys) are useless for singing, and of others, many have screamed ‘anyhow’ at their preparatory school. At their advanced age it is almost hopeless to improve their voice-production, were there time to do so.” Interestingly enough, one of the complaints about choral singing in the 1890s was that boys with broken voices were being allowed to sing parts in the chapel choir, which, following the tradition of the Italian School was thought injurious to their voices.

It will be our task in these articles to discover if the singing of songs has survived in other schools we shall visit. Michael Ashcroft takes the view that many more schools would benefit if they were to revive the tradition, as singing was always popular with boys.

It is remarkable that those schools which do want to maintain a good treble line are able to do so: inspired leadership and a respect for tradition is undoubtedly the answer to the problem. The schools visited for the purpose of this first survey have given us much to celebrate. We were impressed by the generally positive atmosphere and the enthusiasm and dedication of the several directors of music. The standard of singing has always been acceptable and in some cases excellent. We can certainly take heart from the examples shown by Harrow, which has always maintained its choral tradition, and by Dulwich College which, against all odds, has bucked the trend and not only restored but actually enhanced its original choral foundation. The rich musical tradition at Harrow, including their Songs, is obviously much valued by the boys and it makes one wonder why, if these schools can maintain such an excellent tradition, it has fallen by the board in other places? It is our hope that schools that have neglected their choral tradition and discontinued regular chapel services will look to the music at Harrow and at the flourishing choir at Dulwich and consider redressing the balance.

The tradition of boys singing in chapel choirs is much older than the choral foundations of many of our cathedrals. It is our aim to show that choral singing and chapel choirs have just as vital a role to play in our schools today as they did in the past.

Since this report was written Mark Tatlow has left St Paul’s School and his successor as Director of Music is Ben Parry.

Lay Clerks Tales

Rory Waters of Salisbury takes us into the world of the lay clerks’ watering hole in Wiltshire.

There was a time when 9.30pm on a Monday evening when to all intents and purposes obligatory attendance was required of the Salisbury Lay Vicars in a local hostelry. This was an opportunity to let off steam and compare notes off the premises, so to speak.

Alas, this seems no longer to be the case for reasons too numerous and probably libellous. However a wide range of musically-inclined persons associated with the cathedral do still meet on a fairly regular basis to discuss the important issues of the day.(If you believe this, you will believe anything). Topics of conversation range far and wide. Jokes of an appropriate and often inappropriate nature are told. A contribution from the Director of Music is usually most welcome. The quality of the beverage has meant that over the years the venue has changed but has remained accessible by foot. Fear of litigation restrains me from further revelations but suffice to say that the traditional weekly session still fulfils its original function, whatever that may be.

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LAYCLERKS TALE

Where do lay clerks hang out in your part of the country? If your local hostelry is worth a mention drop the Editor a line along with a photo of the lay clerks partaking of a pint.

Lay Vicars at the Wig & Quill.

Editorial Adviser Roger Overend talks with Peter Wright, Organist and Director of Music at Southwark Cathedral

Southwark’s very own Russ Conway!

RO Peter, it was lovely to wander around this beautiful Cathedral again after all these years. I was third organist here from 1975-76 under Ernest Warrell and Garrett O’Brien. I also studied with Philip Moore with whom you worked at Guildford, so we have several things in common. Can I take your mind back to your early career?

Did you come from a musical family?

PW Well, not especially. I am an identical twin but my brother is not particularly musical. My father had learnt the organ at school, but stopped when he left, and my mother had taken piano lessons when young, but neither was really playing when I was a youngster. I can remember my earliest memory of wanting to play the piano occurred watching Russ Conway on the Billy Cotton Band Show on a Saturday evening! (I heard the pianist Peter Donohoe confessed to the same musical influence on Desert Island Discs.)

I was fascinated by this. My parents arranged lessons for me from a very good local teacher, Dorothy Fryer, who lived near us in Finchley, which was just fortuitous. I was with her until I left school and went to the Royal College of Music, so she taught me from age seven to seventeen. I sang in the local church choir (I was never a cathedral chorister) and gradually became fascinated by the organ. As I have said, my father had played, indeed my grandfather had also played taking lessons from G D Cunningham, but neither had pursued it beyond their teenage years.

RO You went to Highgate School, was this an influence musically?

PW When I went to Highgate, Edward Chapman was Director of Music. He had been there since just after the First World War, I believe. He was a fine musician and started me off on the organ at the age of 12 (as he had my father). He was also a good choir trainer; the Highgate School Boys’ Choir was very well known on the circuit in the way that the Southend Boys’ Choir and the Wandsworth Boys’ Choir were subsequently, and now of course the Trinity Boys’ Choir. It was the Highgate Choir that sang on the War Requiem recording with Britten. Although I missed that, I did sing it under Britten at a later stage, and also under David Willcocks. In addition the full school chorus sang a major oratorio each year, so I was introduced to the B minor mass, Messiah, and various other large-scale works. I think this is where my early interest in choral singing came from, perhaps more than from the church choir. Chapman was succeeded by Michael Tillett. He was a fine allround musician, but not an organist

himself, and it is he I must thank for firing my interest in all other musical genres. I started the cello (though I was never very good at it!) and played in the school orchestra, also playing the timps occasionally. He would often have tickets for the opera or a concert and, if he could not go, would give them to me. I have always been grateful to him for giving me an interest in music outside the organ and church repertoire. I still love chamber music, although I have less opportunity to play it these days, and going to concerts and opera. When I left school I was not sure if I wanted to be a church musician or an opera répétiteur.

RO From Highgate you went straight to the Royal College of Music?

PW Yes. I went on a joint first study of organ and piano and was an Exhibitioner on the organ, which I studied with Richard Popplewell. My piano teacher was Angus Morrison, a remarkable musician who as a boy had met Ravel, and knew Walton, Diaghilev and so many other significant artists of the middle twentieth century. Both these teachers were strong influences in so many ways. From the age of about fifteen, I had been Organist of the URC in Finchley, but whilst at the RCM I became organist at St Michael’s,

‘I can remember my earliest memory of wanting to play the piano occurred watching Russ Conway on the Billy Cotton Band Show on a Saturday evening! ’

Peter Wright. Photo: Stephen Smith

Highgate, which had a boys’ choir, so that is where I really cut my teeth, aged seventeen. Martin How appointed me to Highgate, and he has been a great friend and influence over the years. He suggested that I should go on a couple of cathedral courses, run by the RSCM, to see how it was done. So I went off to Truro and Wells and these courses helped map my increasing ambition to become a church musician. I found at St Michael’s that I had a knack of getting the 25 boys or so to come along each week, and that by trial and error (I can’t put it any stronger than that) and knowing the sound I wanted in my head, I found what worked and what didn’t. I was becoming increasingly keen on a career in church music. Richard Popplewell could see that that was the way things were going and advised me to try for an Oxbridge organ scholarship, especially as I had not been a cathedral chorister. I had gained my ARCO at school and at the end of my first year at the RCM I gained my FRCO.

I went to Cambridge to do the organ scholarship trials, and was lucky enough to gain one at Emmanuel College. There I ran the chapel choir. At that time it was a college that did not have a director of music and that suited me well being keen to develop my choir-training skills further. Then I had an enormous stroke of luck. George Guest at St John’s took me under his wing and asked me to play for some services; in those days there was only one organ scholar at St John’s. I would often go and watch him take rehearsals and sometimes if George and the organ scholar were both away I would get to conduct the Choir myself. I was just in heaven.... Without doubt George was one of the strongest influences of my life.

On the academic side, during my first two years at Cambridge I was a pupil of John Rutter, who himself had been a pupil of Chapman’s at Highgate. The chapel choir took a lot of my time but I also conducted the college orchestra. I was very single minded in those days, and pastimes like literature and my love of the theatre developed later.

RO I notice that you also studied with Flor Peeters and Dame Gillian Weir. How did that come about?

PW During the summer between the Royal College of Music and Cambridge I had intended to go to Siena where Fernando Germani ran a summer school for organists each year. Unfortunately he was taken ill and the course was cancelled. However another student at the time,

John Scott Whiteley, drew my attention to the fact that Flor Peeters ran something similar in Mechelen Cathedral, Belgium and so we both applied and enjoyed two weeks’ intensive study there. Peeters was a great expert on the music of Franck. Tournemire had bequeathed the Cavaillé-Coll console from Sainte-Clotilde to him and he had this in his magnificent house.

Once in Cambridge I discovered that Gillian Weir was living nearby and teaching some of the organ scholars. This seemed too good an opportunity to miss and so I wrote to her and asked if she had room for one more! To my delight she agreed and so began my awakening to the possibilities of the organ as an expressive instrument that I had never previously imagined. To benefit from her eloquence, her unerring understanding of the musical message of a vast repertoire (and knowing exactly how to transmit that to the listener), and her razor-sharp analysis of, and solutions to, any problems, musical or technical, was a privilege indeed. I still think daily of what I learnt from Gillian.

RO By the time you had got to the end of Cambridge you had decided that the cathedral world was where you wanted to be.

PW Absolutely, I was very focused on that.

RO As luck would have it there were two sub-organist posts vacant at that time, Coventry and Guildford. Did you apply for both?

PW Yes, in fact I was offered both, but decided that Guildford was where I wanted to be. Barry Rose had just left and Philip Moore was doing a terrific job with the Choir. I started there in Advent 1977.

RO You had many happy and successful years at Guildford and then came to Southwark in 1989.

PW In some ways they are quite similar.

Although Guildford does have an attached school, Lanesborough, it is a day-boy set up and there were a lot of dealings with the parents. Here of course there is no choir school, so one has almost daily parental contact, so it was something I was already used to, and Guildford proved to be a useful training ground. For a short while I conducted the Bromley Boys’ Choir so was gaining experience there as well in dealing with a choir of boys independent of a school.

RO You have been here for 14 very successful years. What aspect of the post do you enjoy most week by week?

PW Seeing children from all walks of life, and different social and ethnic backgrounds, coming together to make music to the highest possible standards. If they are shown the way they will not be satisfied with second-best. One of the nice things about having children from many schools is that they do not bring “baggage” from the school day into the practice room in the form of irritations or disagreements. We have 20 boys (and 5 probationers) and have never had less than eighteen on the top line during my time here. I seem to do less actual recruitment now than ever with parents of musical children applying and asking for details off their own bat. We do not hold a formal voice trial day and I am happy to audition anybody at any stage of the academic year. Vacancies can occur at any time as boys can remain as choristers until their voices break, another advantage here as this is preferable to losing them when they are at their peak but having to move on to their next school.

RO What of your lay clerks? You have six professionals plus six choral scholars/volunteers.

PW Yes, the latter sing for little more than travelling expenses but are

‘Flor Peeters was a great expert on the music of Franck. Tournemire had bequeathed the Cavaillé-Coll console from Sainte-Clotilde to him and he had this in his magnificent house.’

tremendously keen and demand from themselves the highest possible standards. Being in London does make it easier to get singers. Some people think I must have a very hard job in recruitment, but in fact we have never been short of boys, and now of course girls, or men.

RO What of your rehearsal time and repertoire?

PW Well, I really do not get as much time as I would like, or indeed as much as other cathedrals, such as yours at Rochester. Because of the shortness of time you must choose repertoire very carefully and have well planned rehearsals. You know from experience what you can afford to leave to chance and what you cannot. But it is no good trying to perform under-rehearsed music; nobody enjoys it. Quality of performance is what counts; although, having said that, it is important to challenge the singers with new music of all periods. Getting this balance right between core repertoire and new music is the main secret of success.

RO How busy are you outside of Southwark? Are you on the organ recital circuit for example?

PW Yes. I give six or seven a term and we have a Monday lunchtime series here, and I play many of those. I am also chief examiner for the Royal College of Organists and chairman of the local RSCM committee, which gets me involved in diocesan workshops and choral festivals. While at Guildford I conducted at the Edington Festival for several years, and the Guildford Chamber Choir, and until recently conducted the Surrey Festival Choir, a large chorus of some 200 voices, which gave me the opportunity to realise life-long ambitions of conducting works such as The Dream of Gerontius and the Verdi Requiem. But at all

times my work at the Cathedral comes first – the choir here is the number one priority.

RO How busy is the choir outside of the Cathedral? I know you make recordings and broadcasts and go on tour? Do you do much in the diocese?

PW We do take the boys and girls around the diocese but rarely with the men. This simply has to do with the cost of payment for the adults. We have recorded for Priory and Herald, but so much has been recorded by so many choirs that it is difficult to find a project, with quality music that has not already been recorded, which will interest a company these days. We provided the titlemusic for Thames Television’s Mr Bean series and the church music for the film Edwin Drood.

RO So what does the future hold for you? I know that is a difficult question and one that you may not like to answer fully here!

PW I am idyllically happy and fulfilled here, and there are worse fates in life than staying at Southwark. I would have to be sure that any move allowed me to make the sort of impact I have made here. Everything about Southwark suits me. The liturgy is well-done, quite theatrical, high church without being over the top, and I have always enjoyed a strong working relationship with the Precentor.

RO There is often talk about the training of church musicians. Do you feel we do enough for them in general?

PW I believe that any learning has to come from within. It is true that some church musicians can be rather narrowminded and I think it is important that they know music and styles outside the organ and choral repertoire. It is good for them to play in orchestras and indeed

sing in choirs, one can learn so much by watching other people take rehearsals. I would also strongly recommend choirtrainers to take singing lessons themselves which I did with an excellent teacher, Jean Bush, while in Guildford. I sang in the chorus at the RCM under Vernon Handley and then in the CUMS chorus under Philip Ledger and absorbed a great deal from observing them. There is a certain amount of conducting technique which one can learn, and this is helpful as many of us conduct orchestras as well as choirs from time to time, but I also believe that you have either got the personality to make it work or you haven’t. No amount of training will really help the person who has not got that fundamental spark.

RO How beneficial is it for cathedral musicians to come from Oxbridge as opposed to one of the music conservatoires?

PW When Stephen Layton left as suborganist here we had a huge number of applicants for the post. We could have filled the short-list three times over. We had a final list of six, five from Oxbridge and one not. We appointed the nonOxbridge candidate. Does that answer your question? I think that this mould is no longer a sine qua non

RO What is your view on the present state of cathedral music, how have things changed, and what is the biggest problem facing us in the coming years?

PW There are many challenges ahead of us at present. I personally feel that our greatest worry is lay clerks. In the past one could offer a couple of days’ teaching in the choir school or helping out in the cathedral library, but these are no longer possible. So we have to find other ways to attract good young singers to the cathedral choirs. I don’t quite know how we do that, but it is something that has to be addressed. There needs to be an attractive package both financial and in finding other work in the area. I only wish that I had the answer.

The challenge that we all faced, some people decided to grasp it and some did not, was of course girl choristers. We have been very lucky at Southwark in that, because the boys did not sing every day, the girls have in no way taken anything away from the boys; all they have done is enriched the Opus Dei of the Cathedral. For us therefore it has worked very happily. What concerns me is that we all have this ‘gentleman’s

‘I believe that any learning has to come from within. It is true that some church musicians can be rather narrow-minded and I think it is important that they know music and styles outside the organ and choral repertoire.’

agreement’ (not just at Southwark) that we are going to keep the two choirs separate, which is fine as long as the present team is all in place. But what happens in, say, twenty years time when the Cathedral finds itself on its uppers financially? Cathedral chapters will say we cannot afford both choirs and so combine them and then the boys’ tradition will be gone for ever. In the end, I suppose money, or the lack of it, will dictate what happens.

RO Do the two choirs combine here?

PW Yes, we do sometimes combine them, so we get the best of both worlds, but they retain their own identities. Stephen Disley, my assistant, runs the girls’ choir and he has done an amazing job in the comparatively short time since the Choir’s inception in 2000. Both the boys and girls sang the ripieno part of the St Matthew Passion under Trevor Pinnock at the PROMS last year which gives you an idea of their meteoric progress.

RO Do you see the pattern of cathedral services changing, will there be less for choirs to do in the coming years?

PW I don’t think so, but it is a sad fact that it is happening in some parish churches and I do worry that the role of ‘traditional church music’ in parishes is disappearing swiftly. Apart from some notable exceptions there is often a very wide gap between what goes on in a cathedral and what goes on in parish churches, making it difficult for musicians to migrate from one to the other, which was not the case in the past.

On a more positive note, twenty years ago cathedrals were often questioning whether their choirs were really worth

the money and they were sometimes seen as an anachronism. Today they are viewed by most clergy and cathedral administrators as being part of the heritage along with the stones and architecture – part of the entire package of a cathedral – and they are putting business-like financial strategies in place to ensure their survival. I believe we now have a generation of clergy who appreciate and see the music as an integral part of the Opus Dei.

RO What of new music written for our choirs? I mean traditional church music, not the more evangelical style. Is enough being written by our modern day composers, which is singable and useable for liturgy?

PW I think there is a revival. People like James McMillan, John Tavener and Peter Maxwell Davies are writing pieces which choirs are performing at services rather than in the concert hall. It is a great pity that in former years composers like Britten and Tippett weren’t asked to write more. Churches are again starting to be seen as patrons of the arts; a role which had rather fallen by the wayside.The Millennium was a good start to this; many people wanted a special piece for 2000.

Stephen Cleobury at King’s commissions a new piece each year for the Carol Service which has to be a good thing. We do sing modern music here as and when we are able and sometimes commission works. What we all need is music that can be kept in the repertoire and not pieces which are so incredibly difficult that they are never repeated after their first performance which has required weeks of intensive rehearsal. One composer who is very good at this

is Philip Moore at York Minster; he knows from first-hand experience what it is like to have to maintain a core repertoire and so writes the sort of music that we all need but which has an individual voice and is constructed with painstaking craftsmanship.

RO So in many ways you are a little more optimistic about the future than many others?

PW I think so. The trouble is that it is very easy to think that Southwark is representative, in terms of its liturgy, its liberal views and its very diverse congregation – which has doubled in the last ten years so we must be doing something right! – but I suspect it probably is not.

RO Are there the forums for debate between the clergy and organists, are there things that could be done to help?

PW There have been various conferences that have brought these groups together which I think on the whole have been quite valuable. Nothing however can replace the teamwork in each individual cathedral, and unless you have that right (fortunately we have a very happy team here) it will not work. If you have intransigence and jealousy of empire then there is not much that you can do except fight your own corner and keep out of the way, which is a great pity but not unknown, alas. We must all continue to work towards presenting the best music with superb choirs in all our cathedrals but integrating it into the liturgy rather than seeing it as a mere adornment.

RO Peter, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me, and good luck for the next few years.

‘I do worry that the role of ‘traditional church music’ in parishes is disappearing swiftly. Apart from some notable exceptions there is often a very wide gap between what goes on in a cathedral and what goes on in parish churches, making it difficult for musicians to migrate.’

The Southern Cathedrals Festival:

It was 23 years ago now that I arrived one summer with a group of friends at a campsite just outside Chichester. There were eight of us, if I recall correctly, and our spirits were very high as we looked for a suitable spot to pitch a couple of rather flimsy-looking tents. We did not take long setting up camp and then it was off to the city – to the Cathedral in particular, for our first taste of the Southern Cathedrals Festival, featuring the combined cathedral choirs of Winchester, Chichester and Salisbury. I was a very young organist of Croydon Parish Church and my colleagues were all choir members or fellow organists. I knew

liturgy being undertaken with such precision and great theatre. I recall the atmosphere of conviviality – of meeting old friends and of making new acquaintances. But above all, I remember an experience of being simply transported onto another plane of wonderment through the sheer beauty of the occasion in word and music in such a sublime setting.

At the end of those few days we all agreed that we would meet every year in July back at the Southern Cathedrals Festival, no matter what we were doing in our lives. Sadly, I did not make every one – but many – and I am delighted that many of my friends from the ‘Croydon

Whether it be the smaller-scale gatherings in 18th century England of drawing room concerts, or the coming together of greater numbers of instrumentalists and singers to perform more publicly, the idea and enjoyment of celebrating through music became a very popular one. Largescale choral societies flourished throughout the land and the overall musical picture at this time was one of great activity. In sacred circles too we see the coming together of great choirs. It had already been a long-standing tradition for the choirs of Westminster Abbey and her Majesty’s Chapel Royal to join together to sing for great State occasions. Already in

well of this marvellous festival for, as a chorister and later organ scholar under Christopher Dearnley at St. Paul’s Cathedral, I had heard many a tale from my master. But those stories straight from the mouth of one of the re-founders did not adequately do justice to the sublime experience that I had in Chichester that year.

My first festival co-incided with the retirement from Chichester of the organist, Dr. John Birch – I hope that the two events were in no way connected! I remember with vivid clarity the breathtaking singing in that stunning setting. I remember the organ music setting the scene so beautifully and I remember the

gang’ still attend to this day. So when I arrived in Salisbury six years ago as director of music, one of the events that I was particularly looking forward to participating in was this great festival of liturgy and music – truly in my opinion the greatest festival of church music in the world.

This year the festival, which rotates between the three cathedrals, was back here in Salisbury and we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first gathering of the three choirs back in 1903. So this seems a good opportunity to look back at the inception of the festival and to recount a little of its history.

One of the great traditions of English choral music is that of the music festival.

existence was the Festival of the Sons of the Clergy, held annually in St. Paul’s Cathedral, which brought together – and still does – various choral foundations. St Cecilia, patron saint of music, was clearly a very good excuse to come together and make music and the first recorded musical festival held in her honour was in Evreux in Normandy in 1570. The first British celebration of St Cecilia was held in London in 1683, and to this day the choirs of the Chapel Royal, St Paul’s and Westminster Cathedral and Westminster Abbey join together annually in November to celebrate. Outside London, regular festivals took place in her honour, including in Dublin, Gloucester, Winchester and

‘I knew well of this marvellous festival for, as a chorister and later organ scholar under Christopher Dearnley at St. Paul’s Cathedral, I had heard many a tale from my master.’

One Hundred Years On

Salisbury. At the meetings in Salisbury, the combination of both large-scale oratorios and smaller scale church music were performed in both the Assembly Rooms and the Cathedral. Between the years 1768 and 1770 an annual performance of Handel’s Messiah was established in the cathedral. Nearby, the Hampshire Music Meeting, another annual festival, included large-scale performances of oratorios in Winchester Cathedral.

Perhaps one of the oldest music festivals is the Three Choirs Festival, held annually by the three cathedrals of Gloucester, Worcester and Hereford. An advertisement in a local Worcester newspaper in 1719 suggests that the practice of the three cathedral choirs coming together to sing had already been established for quite a few years. In those early days it was only a two-day affair with services being sung in the home cathedral and secular music being performed in other venues in the host city. Today, of course, this great festival is a week-long and features many wonderful oratorio performances by the Festival Chorus and regular services sung by members of the three cathedral choirs.

But what of the Southern Cathedrals Festival? It is not known who first suggested the idea of holding such an event. In 1901 the new statue of King Alfred was unveiled in Winchester and the three choirs came together to join the festivities, along with the choir of the Chapel Royal. Subsequently, in 1903, the three cathedral choirs sang their first service together in the Broadway, Winchester. It is from this significant event that the Festival was to develop over the next 100 years. In 1904 Chichester celebrated the re-opening of their organ by involving the three choirs in a single service, which included music by Gibbons, Boyce, Ouseley, Clarke and a Te Deum by William Croft. The Festival then continued annually, with the exception of 1907, until the out-

A Personal Reflection by Simon Lole, Salisbury Cathedral’s Director of Music

‘...in 1903, the three cathedral choirs sang their first service together in the Broadway, Winchester. It is from this significant event that the Festival was to develop over the next 100 years.’

➤ Simon Lole David Halls

break of the First World War. It was then re-established in 1920 and again continued annually until 1932.

In 1960, the three cathedral organists John Birch, Alwyn Surplice and Christopher Dearnley revived this great festival and established a pattern that has remained and been built upon until today. In that first year an evensong of Wesley in E and Harris’s Faire is the Heaven was followed by an evening concert for the choirs and orchestra including an organ concerto by John Stanley, a symphony by William Boyce and such choral masterpieces as Zadok the Priest and Purcell’s O sing unto the Lord. Since that day the pattern has evolved and our fourday festival is built around the liturgy of the church, focussing particularly on the festival Eucharist, and giving people the opportunities to hear the offices of Mattins and Evensong sung either separately or jointly, and augmented by concerts and meditations. An exciting programme of commissions has produced many new great works for the church, and the vision of priests and musicians alike over the years has created a festival that is unrivalled and set in the most beautiful surroundings imaginable.

So back to 2003 and another wonderful festival here in Salisbury. We were not so lucky with the weather as we hadbeen for most of the glorious summer, but that did nothing to dampen the ardour of audience and performers alike. We opened on the Wednesday

night with a glorious performance of the Brahms Requiem, sung by the Salisbury Musical Society and the cathedral’s girl choristers, together with the Sarum Chamber Orchestra under the baton of David Halls. Thursday’s proceedings included choral matins sung by Salisbury, an afternoon recital given by the girl choristers and lay clerks of Winchester and the Salisbury girls, Evensong sung by Chichester and a superb organ recital given by James O’Donnell.

Friday’s Festival Eucharist is always one of the great highlights and this year was no exception with the three choirs joining forces with the brass section from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra to perform a new mass setting by Francis Jackson in the presence of the composer. We all also thoroughly enjoyed a splendid performance by the girl choristers of a new commission by Barry Ferguson. Friday’s Evensong was superbly sung by Winchester and then a huge crowd enjoyed a meditation of readings and music based on the Passion. Some sublime singing was matched by enlightened reading by the actor, Tim Pigott-Smith.

On Saturday morning we welcomed the RSCM Millennium Youth Choir to the Festival under their conductor, Gordon Stewart. Another big audience enjoyed some wonderful singing from this young choir. The joint Evensong included a most moving performance of Herbert Howells’s Take Him earth before

we all concluded in a packed Cathedral together with the Sarum Chamber Orchestra with a programme of Schubert, Haydn and Mozart, including Haydn’s great Nelson Mass – an uplifting way to end our festival before our guests went back to their own cathedrals. So what of the future? It is the hope of all us involved in the Festival that it will continue to evolve. The introduction of the girl choristers from both Salisbury and Winchester has added a new dimension to the festival, as have the various peripheral events such as lectures, recitals and workshops, not to mention the Festival Organ Recital, greatly loved by many. But, like every festival that is staged in this country today, we face our challenges – in particular, the Southern Cathedrals Festival is costly to put on. We have many fixed costs to pay, fees to be covered, hospitality to be offered, staff to be paid. Yet, unlike many other festivals, our opportunities for accruing income are limited as the majority of our events are services and therefore we obviously do not charge. So we have to look at increasing our publicity, our audience appeal and filling our great cathedrals with new listeners. When I first arrived in Salisbury, somebody said to me that they thought the SCF was the world’s bestkept secret! It is up to us all to make sure that it doesn’t stay that way and that it continues to flourish as a beacon of excellence in liturgy and music to the glory of God for the next 100 years.

‘The introduction of the girl choristers from both Salisbury and Winchester has added a new dimension to the festival.’

60Seconds in Music Profile

Sarah Baldock was educated as a music scholar at St. Paul’s Girls’ School in London and then at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where she was Organ Scholar. After graduating in 1996 she was appointed first Organist-in-Residence at Tonbridge School, and released a solo CD for Herald on the school’s new Marcussen organ. She is Assistant Director of Music at Winchester Cathedral.

Have you been listening to a recording of the piece and if so is it just one interpretation or many and which players?

What's been your favourite organ to play? The Klais at Symphony Hall Birmingham.

Sarah is currently Assisstant Director of Music at Winchester Cathedral. She is a popular solo recitalist and was a finalist in the 1998 Calgary International Organ Competition. She returns to Calgary each summer as a faculty member at the Calgary International Organ Academy, and took second place in the Dallas International Organ Competetion his year.

What piece have you been inspired to take up recently and why?

Barber Toccata Festiva, for the competition final in Dallas.

How have you tackled the approach? Largely on the piano, and a 2-piano version with kind Mr Lumsden playing the orchestral part.

Yes – Thomas Trotter's live recording from Symphony Hall

When will you be introducing it to your repertoire?

It's in! But I’m not sure how many opportunities I will have to play it.

What was the last CD you bought? Mahler's 4th Symphony.

Who is your favourite composer? Richard Strauss or Brahms.

What five pieces would you include in an organ recital you were performing? It depends where and when. It is an impossible question to answer – and one rarely finds five favourite pieces to go in the same programme. I usually include some Bach.

How do you cope with nerves?

I usually sleep before a concert – you can't be nervous in your sleep. Also by reminding myself that the audience just want a good night out, and my own personal worries are not important in the long run.

What are your hobbies?

Gardening, sailing, cooking and eating.

Do you play any other instruments? Violin and piano.

What was the last book you read? In fact the last three included.

Sandy Balfour Pretty Girl in Crimson Rose, Tony Parsons One for My Baby, Joanne Harris Chocolat, JK Rowling Harry Potter 5.

The evolution of Exeter Cathedral Organ as a musical instrument has taken place over many centuries.

The earliest mention of an organ in Exeter Cathedral is in the Fabric Roll of 1286. During the Civil War the organ was vandalised by the Parliamentary troops, and John Loosemore was given the task of building a new instrument after the Restoration. His magnificent case of 1665 survives and provides one of the visual glories of this lovely building. Sadly, there is little musical evidence of the Loosemore organ, since very few pipes from that instrument remain.

Since the 17th century several restorations and modifications have been made by a variety of builders. In 1891 Henry Willis completely rebuilt and enlarged the organ moving some of the 32 foot pedal pipes to the South transept, raising the case on the screen and adding a west-facing case to match the small ‘chaire’ case facing east. Today’s organ owes its character and layout largely to the Willis conception of 1891.

In 1932 the organ was rebuilt by Harrison & Harrison Ltd of Durham and the present console dates from that time. Harrison’s have looked after the

instrument since then, and restored the organ in 1965 to a specification drawn up by Lionel Dakers. Apart from a clean and overhaul in 1985, this organ was in constant daily use for 35 years and served the Cathedral with remarkable reliability. At the invitation of the Dean and Chapter and the former Organist and Master of the Choristers, Lucian Nethsingha, Harrison’s were engaged to carry out essential repair work and updating of the organ’s technology during 2001. At the same time, it was deemed opportune to make some small but effective tonal changes to enhance the musical scope of the organ. The work on the main organ was completed in November 2001

and the Minstrel organ was completed in time for Easter 2003.

On the technical side, work has included:

a) New solid-state coupling system, replacing the 1965 couplers and relays which were badly worn.

b) A new piston system replacing a cumbersome and obsolete arrangement.

c) Refurbishment of the console, including re-engraving of all the stop-names.

d) Selective re-leathering of parts of the action, and some improvements to the winding of the organ.

HARRISON & HARRISON are FRIENDSOF CATHEDRALMUSIC

Our recent work has included:

LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL

Restoration and reconstruction of Hill organ with addition of thirteen-stop nave division.

ST DAVIDS CATHEDRAL

New organ of 54 stops based on Father Willis pipework.

RIPON CATHEDRAL, new mobile nave console.

ELY CATHEDRAL

Restoration of H&H organ, with eight new stops.

EXETER CATHEDRAL.

Minstrel Organ of eight stops and new 32ft reed.

ST GEORGE’S CHAPEL, WINDSOR CASTLE

Clean and overhaul.

PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL

Organ dismantled following the fire; reinstallation 2004

LEICESTER CATHEDRAL

Major renovation nearing completion

HARRISON & HARRISON

ST JOHN’S ROAD, MEADOWFIELD, DURHAM DH7 8YH

Telephone 0191 378 2222Fax 0191 378 3388

e-mail h.h@btinternet.com www.harrison-organs.co.uk

Organ dedication concert, from L to R: Paul Morgan, Andrew Millington, Stephen Tanner, Mark Venning, Lucian Nethsingha

Photograph by C.R.A. Davies

Tonal Changes (see specification)

Pedal Organ

The most telling addition to the organ is the 32 ft Contra Trombone (No 12), which gives a thrilling majesty to the full ensemble of the instrument. The problem of accommodating this rank has been solved by some judicious re-organisation of pedal pipes on the north side of the screen. The reed pipes are placed horizontally, and the existing Trombone (No 13)has been extended at 8 ft pitch, Tromba (No 14,)as well as 32 ft pitch, Contra Trombone (No 12). The trombone itself has received some revoicing.

Choir Organ

Clarinet (No 23) is a new stop, replacing a mixture added in 1965. This provides a distinctive accompanimental colour for use in the Quire. Larigot 11/3 (No 22)is a new register, using pipes transposed from the previous ‘Twenty Second’ (1 ft) stop.

Great Organ

The ‘diapason’ chorus of the Great organ provides the main nucleus of ensemble tone in the instrument. A new Octave (No 28)has replaced a Dulcianato give more body and cohesion to this chorus. Some re-voicing has been carried out on the mixture work (Nos 33 and 34).

Swell Organ

The Mixture (No 47)has been re-modelled and lowered in

PEDAL ORGAN

10.Octave Flute(from 4)4 11.Mixture

12.Contra

14.

CHOIR ORGAN

15.Lieblich

23.Clarinet8

V

VII

Stops 15 – 18 have three extra notes in the treble, for use with the octave coupler.

pitch in order to blend more musically with the other registers in the department.

Solo Organ

Viole Celeste (No 54)is a new register. It has replaced the old Viole Octaviante (4 ft)using the existing pipes transposed down an octave. The organ now has a characterful pair of Celestes, particularly effective in French music.

Minstrel Organ

Until the present refurbishment the Minstrel’s Gallery (high on the north side of the nave) has housed a solitary rank of Trompette pipes used for fanfares on special occasions. In order to give the organ more presence in the nave when accompanying large congregations, a new section has been built in the gallery. This consists of a diapason chorus voiced to match the sound of the main organ and is controlled by the main console. The pipes occupy the front part of the gallery (out of sight) and will not prevent the use of the gallery for singing at Christmas and other times.

The main organ has 3,454 pipes and the Minstrel Organ 598 pipes making a total of 4052.

The main organ was out of action for about 10 months, during which time two Eminent digital instruments were in place, provided by Cathedral Organs Ltd from Hertfordshire. This enabled a full programme of musical events to continue in the Cathedral.

Exeter Cathedral is fortunate in having the services of Harrison & Harrison Ltd to maintain and enhance the cathedral organ. We were delighted to have Harrison’s managing director

Mark Venning with us at the concert to celebrate the restoration of the organ on 22nd November, 2001, representing the members of his staff who worked on the organ with diligence and expertise. Also present at that concert was Lucian Nethsingha who conducted Sir Edward Bairstow’s Blessed City, Heavenly Salem and Parry’s Blest Pair of Sirens. Andrew Millington, Paul Morgan and Stephen Tanner demonstrated the organ’s resources in a varied recital programme. The theme of the concert was O praise ye the Lord and a new setting of Sir H W Baker’s words by Stephen Tanner, was given its first performance conducted by the composer.

The Minstrel Organ was dedicated on Easter Sunday 2003 at the Sung Eucharist. Paul Morgan opened the service with Gigout’s Grand Choeur Dialogué to demonstrate the antiphonal possibilities of the instrument, and there could be no better occasion to test the organ’s new capacity for accompanying a full cathedral.

The work carried out on the organ amounts to a substantial refurbishment rather than a major rebuild. Nevertheless, the cost of such a project is considerable, (£200,000 including the Minstrel Organ). This has been funded by the Exeter Cathedral Music Foundation Trust, to whom we are enormously grateful for their support.

The organ at Exeter has enjoyed a special reputation for its subtle qualities as an instrument for accompanying the cathedral repertoire at the daily office in the Quire. This it continues to do splendidly, but also has greater tonal resources for the ever-increasing variety of special services, concerts and recitals which abound in a busy cathedral’s schedule.

ACCESSORIES

Eight foot pistons to the Pedal Organ

Eight pistons to the Choir Organ

Eight pistons to the Great Organ

Eight pistons to the Swell Organ (duplicated by foot pistons)

Eight pistons to the Solo organ

Three pistons to the Minstrel Organ

Eight general pistons and general cancel

Two general pistons for couplers

Reversible pistons: I-IV, VII, VIII, XI-XIII, XVIII, XXIV; 1, 13

Reversible foot piston to Great to Pedal

Combination Couplers:

Great and Pedal pistons

Pedal to Swell pistons

Generals on Swell foot pistons

Sequencer, operating general pistons

The pistons are adjustable, with eight divisional and 64 general memories

Balanced expression pedals to Swell and Solo organs

The manual compass is 58 notes; the pedal 30 notes

The actions are electro-pneumatic

inQuire Richard Osmond rounds up the news from DRs

Anew academic year brings its usual crop of comings and goings and indeed the last year has sometimes seemed to have more changes than usual. For some of us the deaths of some great cathedral musicians will seem like the end of an era. Rather than weave over-sophisticated patterns I have largely set out below the information which has come my way diocese by diocese. However, I begin with some FCM recruitment news as a tribute to what has been achieved and a stimulus to further action. We recall first of all that our mission is not just about raising money, but equally about widening awareness and appreciation of cathedral music.

Gloucester, increased membership by 13.8%, from 58 to 66. He shared first prize (three CDs) with his predecessor Barry Lloyd and Miss N. N. A. Price, who covers Tewkesbury. Nick also received a bottle of champagne from Peter Toyne. Ellis Lees won the second prize for increasing membership at Rochester by 12.1%. Ellis passed on his prize of two CDs to his stalwart helpers Mrs Heather Sinclair, Mrs Gillian Faux & Brian Faux. Third prize was won by Colin Walker, Chester Diocesan Representative, who increased his membership by 11.3% from 71 to 79. Colin who was the only winner able to attend the AGM, is pictured accepting his prize from Peter Toyne. Thanks to Neil Collier of Priory Records for donating the six CDs.

A Record to Match

the

Spire

Salisbury Cathedral not only has the tallest spire in Britain, John Powell our indefatigable Diocesan Representative at Salisbury has taken his diocese to first place in the FCM membership ranking by recruiting an amazing 80 new members since the start of the year. When John took over in 1996 there were only 60 members

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Gloucester

Wins the Chairman’s Prize

FCM Chairman Peter Toyne awarded the Chairman’s Prizes for Recruitment for the year ending April 2003 to Nick Edwards, Ellis Lees and Colin Walker at the Peterborough AGM. To make the competition as fair as possible, the award was based on the year-on-year percent increase rather than total numbers recruited, with a lower limit of at least five new members. Dr Nick Edwards, Diocesan Representative for

and he thought increasing the membership to 100 would be challenging enough. After reaching 140 by the end of 2002 he set his sights resolutely on the number one position, which Salisbury now occupies with 222 members. John’s Diocesan Gatherings always include at least two interesting speakers and attract members from other dioceses. Unsurprisingly, with his army background his gatherings are organised with military precision. John was a boy chorister at Salisbury Cathedral so it is fitting he now runs the Cathedral Voluntary Choir and another Salisbury choir, the St John Singers, which he has led for nearly 30 years. He also sings with the Salisbury Festival Chorus and Salisbury Musical Society and is Chairman of the Music in Salisbury committee. He serves as the cathedral choir’s overseas tour manager and set up and accompanied the choir on tours to the USA (three times), South Africa and Europe. He is a cathedral steward and a member of the Salisbury Southern Cathedral Festival, and therefore very active when the Festival is at Salisbury, as it was this year. John took a disarmingly direct approach to recruitment writing personal letters to the wider cathedral community, inviting them to support his bid for the top place, and it worked. His recent recruits include the Bishop of Salisbury, a retired Admiral and a retired Major General. He says he is still looking for a Field Marshall. Well-done John.

Leeds and Ripon

Recent months at Leeds Parish Church have been times of endings and new beginnings. The loss of longserving principal alto John Barrie Hanson has been keenly felt. As a full

Peter Toyne and Colin Walker John Powell

time voluntary member of the professional choir, John’s commitment was high octane and pursued with immense determination – not least in respect of the challenges of his health. At his Funeral Mass and Requiem in May an augmented choir was accompanied by full orchestra as well as organ in Fauré’s setting. Rector of Leeds Canon Graham Smith celebrated and preached and a large congregation stayed for an extended period of fellowship afterwards. Daniel Wellings sang, exquisitely, a Handel aria during the Communion. On Patronal Festival Sunday in late June, Choral Evensong was sung in John’s memory by the combined choirs of the Parish Church, the Bradford Choristers and the RSCM Northern Cathedral Singers. The address at this service was by Simon Lindley, and Dr Lindley, James Eaton (LPC Sub Organist) and RSCM, NCS Director Gordon Appleton shared the conducting and organ playing. Inspiring singing at both these services was a wonderful tribute both to John’s capacity for friendship, which was boundless, and to the warmth of affection in which he is held by members of ‘his’ choirs, youth in Halifax to St Peter’s Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton through to Bingley.

Recruitment for the Girls’ Choir has been encouraging and there are now 12 each of boy and girl choristers, a number of whom were confirmed by the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds in June. Earlier in the summer, many members of service organisations with LPC connections attended the eagerly anticipated and hugely enjoyable visit of Ian Curror and the Royal Hospital Chelsea Choir. The Chelsea choir’s recital of English church music featured a glorious setting by Humphrey Clucas of the Royal Hospital Collect, as well as more familiar repertoire from Byrd, Stanford and Gibbons. June Bayliss, Choir Steward, is shortly to retire after 17 years’ sterling and quite remarkable service. A presentation was made to her after the Friends of the Music Festival Evensong on Sunday 28th September. The Preacher was the Archbishop of York and the music of the service – by boy choristers, girl choristers, choral scholars, lay clerks and members of St Peter’s Singers – was enhanced by Fine Arts Brass Ensemble. Concerts at the Church have included Haydn’s Creation (complete) in early June and upcom-

ing plans feature Dr Francis Jackson’s A Time of Fire at 8pm on Saturday 18th October. The Autumn finds LPC as host for this year’s Yorkshire Three Choirs’ Festival from 9 th to 13 th October. Carlo Curley is the Festival Recitalist (9th, 7.30) and Dr Donald Hunt OBE (Director of Music at Leeds from 1957 to 1975) will be warmly welcomed as the guest conductor at midday Festival Eucharist on Saturday 11th directing the combined choirs of the Parish Church, Ripon Cathedral and Wakefield Cathedral in a special centenary tribute to Flor Peeters, whose Missa Festiva will be sung. Members of the Peeters family will be in the congregation. The combined choirs reassemble after lunch for a short recital at 3.30pm.

The Northern Cathedrals Festival Evensong was held at Ripon this year, the first under the direction of Simon Morley. Also at Ripon after 60 years’ service man and boy, Kelvin Gott retired (see Newsbite).

Lincoln

On the fifth of April this year, Saturday evensong at Lincoln was packed out. It was the end of the first ‘Be a Chorister for a Day’ event and some 86 children from all over Lincoln and Lincolnshire and beyond joined the boys and men of the choir to sing Evensong, whilst their parents and the regulars formed the congregation.

It was the culmination of a very full day during which the youngsters were given a free taste of many aspects of chorister life. They had rehearsals for the service; they met and trained with the staff who train the choristers, explored instruments and sports provision. They had their own special tour of the Cathedral, tried on cassocks and surplices, had tea together, and learned about the hard work and discipline needed for this life. They had the chance to meet and work with the Director of Music, Aric Prentice, and the new Assistant Director, Charles Harrison. They also made other discoveries about commitment to regular services, but also the chance to make CDs, sing in concerts, appear on TV, make radio broadcasts and take part in foreign tours. For family members also, this was a full introduction to life as a chorister.

Evensong itself was very beautiful

and it was most moving to hear all those young voices take their part in this ancient service. Of those young visitors, more than 20 have come forward for voice trials, almost half of them boys, but every child who took part has had a day to remember for ever, the day as a chorister at Lincoln Cathedral.

The Cathedral Music Department plans a similar day in March 2004.

Blackburn

It was a treat to receive the latest Newsletter of the Friends of Blackburn Cathedral, which also now incorporates the news of the Old Choristers’ Association. Not only is this full of interesting news, but it strikes me as a valuable recruitment medium (Chichester is another such which springs to mind). It is edited by Dr John Bertalot and contains reports of musical highlights, book reviews and nationwide correspondence as well as news of what Blackburn’s musicians are doing in the wider community. Incidentally,

Dr Bertalot has recently been made a Fellow of the RSCM, a distinction shared by one of his predecessors at Blackburn (T L Duerden 1939-64) and his successor but one, Gordon Stewart.

Leicester

During the summer months the Leicester Cathedral girl choristers sang for a week at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. The boys had a week at Launde Abbey (the diocesan Retreat House) where, a few weeks earlier, during the annual congregation picnic with cricket match, Decani beat Cantoris by three runs. The Canon Precentor was the impartial umpire! The cathedral organ is currently being rebuilt by Harrison and Harrison of Durham and will be back in action before the end of the year.

Peterborough

Peterborough was the setting for this year’s FCM AGM (see above on Recruitment). Over the weekend of 13/15th June a large number of members enjoyed not just the music of the home team but a combined Evensong with the choirs of Ely and Norwich and the Buccinate Brass Ensemble, performing music by Tomkins, ➤

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Harris, Vaughan Williams, Walton and Rutter. We have previously reported on the support given by FCM to the restoration of the Hill/Harrison organ, damaged by the disastrous fire of November 2001, and not due to be back in service until the end of next year. Meanwhile the temporary Makin organ “is more than capable of supporting a large congregation in the Nave” says Christopher Gower, Organist and Master of the Choristers. The Cathedral Choir of men and boys visited Peterborough’s twin city of Bourges towards the end of May, which was, for Christopher Gower, a return visit, having last taken the choir to sing there in 1980. This time the visit was very much centred on the Cathedral and also with Bourges Cathedral Choir. The two choirs rehearsed at the choir school before taking their own particular parts in the Mass in the Cathedral on the Sunday. The Bishop of Peterborough preached the sermon, the Archbishop of Bourges gave a homily and the Precentor of Peterborough, Canon Bill Croft led the intercessions. In the evening the choirs returned to the Cathedral to give a concert, combining in singing music by Bruckner and Handel. On the previous evening the choir gave a concert and sang Mass at Sancerre which was followed by a mayoral reception and a reception in the church giving everyone plenty of opportunity to enjoy the celebrated wines of the region. To conclude their visit the choir sang a number of secular items at a reception given by the Mayor of Bourges at the Town Hall at which the Bishop of Peterborough also spoke. Towards the end of term the boys and men were filmed in rehearsal and at Evensong for a programme about David Lammy for Channel 4, which will be shown in January. David, a former chorister at Peterborough, was moved in the recent re-shuffle from his ministerial position in the Department of Health to one in the new Department of Constitutional Affairs. David remains in close touch with the Cathedral and with the ongoing life of the Cathedral choir.

Cambridge

King’s College choir will be giving three London concerts this term (two at St John’s Smith Square and

one at the Royal Albert Hall) and are making a short visit to the Low Countries just before Christmas giving concerts in Hertogenbosch, Antwerp and Amsterdam.

Dr Christopher Robinson brought to a close his distinguished tenure as Organist of St John’s by directing the annual combined Evensong with King’s (broadcast this year on Radio 3) and by recording what may be the final CD in the highly successful Naxos British Cathedral Music series –devoted to the music of Elgar, a composer he has championed for many years. His successor, Dr David Hill, a former St John’s Organ Scholar, takes over officially from the beginning of the Michaelmas term, and the plans he is making are eagerly awaited.

St Albans

This year saw the 40th anniversary of the now acclaimed International Organ Festival this summer. The Preacher at this year’s Festival Evensong was the Revd Stephen Waine, a former succentor of St Paul’s Cathedral, who took as his text a verse from the Psalms ‘The Lord is my strength and my song’ this was, in the words of The Times ‘an unpretentious defence of musical excellence’. Dr Peter Hurford, former cathedral organist and founder of the IOF, was present to read the second lesson.

Southwark

The cathedral has received a grant from the St Michael’s Foundation. It is large enough for the interest to finance a new layclerkship which will henceforth be titled the Ouseley Scholarship. The choir sang a service for the victims of the terrorist bomb on the island of Bali in the Presence of HRH Prince Charles and of Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, and provided a chorister to Covent Garden to take part in a new Royal Opera production of Jana˘cék’s The Cunning Little Vixen

The choir began the summer holidays with a short tour to Paris, where events included singing Eucharist at La Trinité, performing works by the present organist there Naji Hakim Messe Solennelle and his immediate predecessor Olivier Messiaen O Sacrum Convivium

Ely

At the end of the Summer Term the choir had an enjoyable short visit to Lisse in Holland.

The cathedral is fortunate to have a pool of ‘extra gentlemen’ who augment the lay clerks on Sundays and other occasions such as tours. Articles have been written by various members of the choir about the recent Dutch tour and the opening paragraph of an article written by one of the ‘extra gentlemen’ is quite entertaining.

“On being asked by one of my colleagues what I was doing for my ‘holiday’ in Holland I might honestly have answered as follows: “I’m going to spend long periods on a coach with a number of energetic children and some curiously aromatic adults. We will follow the route of an eccentric earwig across a map between Ely and Amsterdam (and back). From time to time I will dress up in long robes. I will go to bed far too late and get up far too early. Some of us will go and look at some fish”. At this point my colleague would have given me a suspicious look and skulked away muttering darkly. “But strange as it may seem, some of us volunteered willingly, even enthusiastically, for this experience”.

In the Autumn Term, the main event at the beginning of September was the installation of Ely’s new Dean, The Very Reverend Michael Chandler. Later in the term Ely will be sorry to see the Precentor leave on his appointment as Priest in Charge at Lavenham, Suffolk.

Canterbury 2002/03 has been “one of those years”! A year which includes an Enthronement of an Archbishop is always very special. The preparations are enormous, by no means just for the musicians, but the day itself is a thrill when all the problems are forgotten as the celebration flies by.

In September 2002 the community welcomed Benjamin Chewter as Organ Scholar. Ben was fresh from Christ’s Hospital, Horsham and quite quickly established himself as the Organ Scholar-elect of Emmanuel College Cambridge.

Before Canterbury were swept into Enthronement-itis, they had an opportunity to give the première of a new work by Phillip Willby for the Canterbury Festival service, which was also the Installation of Canon Edward Condry.

Makin Organssetting the tone at Peterborough Cathedral

In November 2001, Peterborough Cathedral suffered a devastating blow when fire rendered their famous Hill/Harrison pipe organ unplayable.

Makin Organs quickly answered the emergency call to supply an organ capable of accompanying Cathedral services. Christopher Gower, Organist and Master of the Choristors says, “Immediately following the fire we were very quickly supplied with an organ which proved to be a very effective accompanimental instrument for all the Christmas services.

Its larger replacement, which we will retain for at least two years, has a wide variety of distinctive registers and is more than capable of supporting the singing of a large congregation in the nave.”

For details about Makin Church Organs and a FREE demonstration CD call 01706 888100

www.makinorgans.co.uk

Music Scholarships

• Several scholarships of up to 50% offered annually with free music tuition for entry at 13 or 16

• Special consideration given to cathedral choristers and string players

• Outstanding choral tradition, BBC Radio 4 broadcast January 2003

• New CD released May 2002

• Annual choral concert in Chichester Cathedral

•Professional concert series

•A tradition of musical and academic excellence

MAKIN ORGANS CHURCH ORGAN BUILDERS

Peterborough Cathedral

Archbishop Rowan gave the planners plenty of scope for the architecture of his Enthronement. His advice and input was sought regularly as they fashioned the service. The result was a very eclectic programme with some very Welsh flavours (in the Penillion in particular), plenty of George Herbert in strong hymns and in poetry, a new commission from James Macmillan: To my successor, again on a poem by George Herbert, some African dance, an Urdu hymn and the fabulous Britten Festival Te Deum. With BBC lights and cameras all concerned felt quite like stars for the day, although the great joy of the service was how well all the various elements and contributions came together.

At other times during the year, the choristers have continued their sequence of concerts in local churches for all sorts of celebrations and festivals. The full choir travelled to Sherborne Abbey to give a splendid concert at the beginning of May. On a Friday evening, it was quite difficult to get all the lay clerks there in time, especially as the wild and windy weather prevented plans for two of them to be flown there in a light aircraft!

At the end of this summertime, Canterbury say goodbye (if only for a few years, so he says) to Ian White. Ian and his family are off to live and work in Athens. They also say goodbye and thank you to Richard Wilberforce who has been with them for the current year before he goes to St John’s Cambridge as an alto choral scholar. In their place they will welcome Paul Barton Hodges and Patrick Pond as bass and alto lay clerks from September. Canterbury lose only five choristers this summer, of whom two ‘retired’ during the year. They will be greatly missed. Dr David Flood says that the

new team of probationers ‘are raring to go and we will welcome them this term, full of adventure’.

Exeter

More than 160 FCM members who travelled to Exeter in March judged the Spring Gathering one of the best ever. The March weather was perfect, the welcome warm and the programme of events full of interest, from the Seaton tramride to the lecture on S. S. Wesley, and the moving service at his grave. Above all the music was splendid. An ill-timed bug threatened Chorister numbers but from 10 boys on the Thursday to 28 at Sunday Evensong, when Exeter and Gloucester choirs combined, their professionalism and dedication (backed by the fine voices of the men) were superb. Our reporter concludes that Exeter’s trio of musicians must be congratulated on a memorable weekend.

On 25th July the choir broadcast Choral Evensong, including S. S. Wesley’s large-scale anthem To my Request and Earnest Cry, composed at Exeter in the 1830s, though it is doubtful whether Wesley ever heard a complete performance of it. On the last Sunday of term the choir was joined by a small orchestra to perform Mozart’s Spatzenmesse at the Eucharist, as part of the celebrations for William Jackson, Organist of the Cathedral in the Eighteenth century and born 200 years ago. Some of Jackson’s own music was included.

Exeter’s Girls and Men have just completed a highly successful tour of Belgium and Holland, including High Mass in Antwerp Cathedral. A new CD of popular items for treble voices is due to be released this Autumn, featuring both boy and girl choristers.

by Timothy Storey

Lionel Dakers

There is an appreciation on the opposite page of Dr Lionel Dakers. I want to add a personal word, especially about the deeply moving Funeral and Requiem in Salisbury on 21st March. This was notable not just for the music and the thanksgiving for a full life devoted to the Church, to music and, above all perhaps, to communicating with people, but also for the fact that it was compiled by Lionel himself. Remarkably, there were two first performances; A Prayer of John Donne, by LD’s old friend Francis Jackson, composed after Lionel’s death, and the Nunc Dimittis from Richard Shephard’s setting of the evening canticles written in memory of Lionel’s wife Elisabeth. The preacher was another friend of both Lionel and Elisabeth, Dom Timothy Bavin, OSB of Alton Abbey, who told us that Lionel had ‘booked’ him some two years in advance. So much of the music seemed to be just what one would have wanted oneself that reflecting on over 35 years of knowing Lionel and Elisabeth I found it hard not to feel very much at the end of an era. Yet I felt that LD would not have approved of such a thought and I recalled a verse I had heard him quote more than once: ‘here we have no abiding city’.

To ensure your contribution features in inQuire, all news and diary dates should be sent no later than 14h February 2004 to:

Richard Osmond

10 Hazel Grove, Badger Farm, WINCHESTER, Hants SO22 4PQ. Tel/Fax: 01962 850818

inQuire

Lionel Dakers 1924-2003 OBITUARY

seas who attended the annual Summer School were especially fortunate in the programme offered to them.

Vice-President

The death of Lionel Dakers on 10 March at the age of 79 produced a batch of obituaries in the newspapers which reflected the important place he had filled in the world of church music, especially during his time as Director of The Royal School of Church Music.

Born in 1924 he had been expected to enter the family business, but service in the army during World War 11 produced unexpected opportunities for taking up a career in music. Stationed in York he became a pupil of Sir Edward Bairstow, the redoubtable organist of York Minster and on demobilisation enrolled for study at The Royal Academy of Music. Experience gained during four years as assistant to Sir William Harris at St. George’s, Windsor, was put to good use in his first cathedral appointment at Ripon in 1954, to be followed by a move to Exeter in 1957.

Although he could not have been aware of it at the time, his work at Exeter was a preparation for his years at the RSCM, for unlike many cathedral organists in that era he did not confine his activities to the cathedral and its music, but worked extensively in the diocese, visiting parishes, helping and advising clergy and musicians, recognising the difficulties encountered in small churches but always insisting on the highest standards of performance. His infectious enthusiasm was seen at its best when choristers came together for the annual Choir Festivals in the cathedral or in the concerts given under his direction by the Exeter Choral Society. As one obituary

writer put it ‘His great strength lay as an animateur, who demanded – and usually obtained – the best from all those with whom he came into professional contact’.

When Gerald Knight, who had followed the Founder of the RSCM as Director, retired, Lionel Dakers seemed to many to be the obvious choice as his successor. Taking up his appointment in January, 1973 the new Director came to an organisation with a firm foundation, but in need of some reshaping. The introduction of the Alternative Service Book had brought about radical changes in worship patterns, and Matins and Evensong sung by four-part choirs were no longer the norm in parishes. although much of the RSCM’s thinking and training was still linked to the old forms.

In 1929 Sydney Nicholson had established the College of St Nicolas as a training ground for professional church musicians and it had been transferred to Addington in 1953, but by 1973 it was evident that it was not offering training from which parish musicians could benefit and the governing body accepted that it be replaced by a broad-based programme of short courses aimed at amateur musicians, those who provided the major portion of music at parish level. Here Addington Palace came into its own and in the years of Lionel’s directorship it became a centre to which organists, choirmasters, singers and clergy, could turn for help.

His web of contacts ensured that tuition was in the hands of teachers of the highest calibre and students from over-

Addington and the work ‘at home’ was only one aspect of all that was expected from the RSCM’s Director and the worldwide membership demanded attention –and received it – through extensive tours overseas with many shorter visits in the UK. For those of us working for the RSCM in those years there was the feeling of being part of a family and this was exemplified in the great gatherings in the Royal Albert Hall to celebrate the Golden and Diamond Jubilees when singers from around the world formed the choir singing under Lionel’s direction.

But there was a world outside the RSCM and at various times he served as President of The Royal College of Organists, of The Incorporated Society of Musicians and of The Incorporated Association of Organists. A major contribution to church music came through a directorship of Hymns Ancient and Modern and his hand can be seen in the latest book Common Praise. Doctorates from Lambeth and Exeter and a CBE recognised his work. There was a world also in which he found time (and space) for his notable book collection and time, too, for entertaining friends, especially in the house at Salisbury to which he and his devoted wife Elisabeth retired in 1989. Elisabeth’s death in 1997 was a major blow, but in his final year when he suffered much ill health he was supported by his four daughters and their families and by many friends.

A large congregation filled the choir and nave of Salisbury Cathedral for a Requiem on a sunny day in March, a service which followed a pattern set for Elisabeth almost exactly six years earlier and, as on that occasion, his mortal remains left the cathedral to the triumphant sounds of the final movement of the Symphony No 1 for organ by Louis Vierne. For at least one member of that congregation the sound suggested the closing of a chapter, surely one of great significance.

Former Secretary to both the FCM and RSCM, Vincent Waterhouse, looks back over the life of the former FCM

Photo: Graham Hermon

Roger Tucker Reports from the Festivals

2003

The three major cathedral festivals in the south this summer have been at St Albans, Salisbury and Hereford but before these I went along to two in Westminster.

Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music

June 7th – June 23rd

The first Westminster venue was St John’s, Smith Square, whose magnificent baroque architecture most appropriately provides the main setting for this festival. In fact the church, designed by Thomas Archer, was under construction (171328) when Handel settled in London. This year’s opening concert featured his oratorio La Resurrezione, a product of his time in Rome, where he wrote it in seven weeks for performance at Easter, 1708. At St John’s there was an ensemble glitch in the first minute, so there had to be a re-start. Thereafter, the English Concert, directed by Trevor Pinnock gave a stylish interpretation, with a strong line-up of soloists, including John Mark Ainsley as St John and Carolyn Sampson as the Angel, both gave very fine renderings of their demanding parts. All credit to Pinnock for giving this rare work, just before standing down as artistic director of his pioneering early music ensemble, which he founded in 1973. St John’s itself was reopened as a concert hall in 1969 (it is, in fact, still a consecrated church). The other Lufthansa concert I wanted to hear took me to the Abbey where its choir under James O’Donnell were performing music by Purcell and Bach, accompanied by St James’s Baroque, another excellent period instrument ensemble. They were heard to great effect in four pieces of funeral music by Purcell, with some outstanding brass playing. Even more memorable was Bach’s Cantata No 11 with fine singing from Emma Kirkby and the most superbly sung duet from Charles Daniels and Roderick Williams. Because part two of the concert was rather short it was decided to sing the chorale Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring from Cantata No 147 as a finale: it simply didn’t work musically and for me, was an anti-climax.

Westminster Abbey Mixtures

April 29th – July 8th

This was an innovative idea, using an organ term for its title, which neatly described the theme. Instead of the usual organ series, James O’Donnell, the Abbey Organist, devised a series of six concerts, spread over three months, using the grand organ played by six star organists in combination with other arts or musicians. The first of these ‘mixtures’ in April featured a diverse selection of poetry spoken by its authors, framed with organ improvisations by Wayne Marshall. The Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion, spoke the linking commentary and introduced the other poets and also a poem of his own. The recitations were amplified by the PA system but audibility was a problem in some seats, especially with the children in the second part. The improvised interludes on the organ, inspired by each sequence of poetry, were vividly sensational, allowing one to hear the Abbey organ as never before. The organist, sitting at the 5-manual console on the screen, can see the performing area in the crossing, which was also an asset for the second ‘mixture’ when Dame Gillian Weir played a diverse programme, choreographed for dancers from the English National Ballet. Their routines looked sensational, amid the soaring Gothic architecture, although some organ buffs chose to sit in the nave and merely listen to the organ, thereby missing a superb new experience. It was only these first two that were really cross-art events, the others involved other musical performers: trumpet, with Håkan Hardenberger, percussion, with Colin Currie (both these combinations were brilliant), Organ & (Abbey) Choir, presented more in contrasting roles; the final event was Organ & Orchestra, a splendid concert with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Richard Hickox and James O’Donnell as the impressive soloist in two works for organ and orchestra, which is for me the most exciting ‘mixture’ of all. Mixtures was an interesting initiative, which the organisers found attracted significantly bigger audiences than an organ recital series, including many people who had never been to the Abbey before. This is surely all worth developing, although it is always going to be difficult in the Abbey for some arts, because of obstructed sight-lines. What about a Son et Lumière presentation, using the organ, which could take full advantage of the splendour of the interior in order to recount the Abbey’s history? This would be the mixture of organ, architecture, light and voice !

MUSIC at LEEDS PARISH CHURCH

www.leedsparishchurch.org.uk

ST CECILIA’S DAY CONCERT

St Peter’s Singers,Chamber Orchestra and Gateways SchoolChoir

St Anne’s Cathedral,Cookridge Street

Sunday 23 November,8.00pm

ADVENT CAROL SERVICE

Sunday 30 November,6.30pm

EMMAUS CAROL GALA

Combined Choirs and Yorkshire Imperial Band

Wednesday 10 December,7.00pm

FESTIVAL OF NINE LESSONS AND CAROLS

Sunday 21 December,3.00pm

SUNDAY CHORAL SERVICES are normally at 10.30am & 6.30pm

WEEKDAY CHORAL SERVICES

Monday 5.30pm Boys’Voices

Wednesday 5.30pm Full Choir

Thursday 5.30pm Men’s Voices

Friday 7.00pm Full Choir

Saturday 11.45am Girls’Voices

For further information,please telephone 0113 267 7571 or email lpcc@simonlindley.org.uk

Website:www.leedsparishchurch.org.uk

For details of LPC Choir visit: www.offeringleeds.org.uk

Spitalfields Festival June 9th – June 27th

Thisever more enterprising festival could not be staged in its usual venue this year, because Christ Church is closed for interior renovation. This did not limit it in any way, the main concerts were switched to St Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch. Christ Church and St Leonards both lack working pipe organs, although chamber organs have been brought in when needed, which has meant organ recitals have not been featured. However, this year there have been two, both in the Dutch Church in Austin Friars, in the City: the first was given by the organist of the church, David Titterington, presenting works by Bach, Sweelinck, Lionel Rogg and, as a curiosity, two voluntaries by the first organist of Christ Church, Peter Prelleur; the second was given by the distinguished Dutch organist Tom Koopman. His programme of Buxtehude, Byrd, Bach, Sweelinck and Couperin proved such a draw that it had to be given twice. The 1954 van Leeuven organ is not one of my favourite City organs but both these organists know how to get the best out of it and chose works appropriate to its rather ungrateful, classical voicing. Koopman’s virtuosity is legendary, which does not however justify his sometimes overfast tempi

The highly appreciative audience was rewarded with several encores to the long programme. Brilliant playing throughout.

There were also concerts by the three most famous Oxbridge college choirs: King’s College, Cambridge opened the festival in Wesley’s Chapel, performing three works by Arvo Pärt and Rachmaninov’s Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, in which the director, Stephen Cleobury, achieved highly idiomatic singing, with wonderfully blended, very Russian choral tone.

St John’s College Choir sang their concert in Shoreditch Church under Christopher Robinson, making one of his last appearances as their director. The programme had very contrasted halves: Byrd’s Mass for Four Voices, with secular organ interludes, in the first (the treble voices were very well blended) and in the second, songs and anthems written in the 20th century by seven British composers, three of them previous directors of the festival plus the present director, Jonathan Dove. In all of these the choir sang impeccably. The versatility of these three choirs is simply amazing; the day after a concert like this they could be singing Stanford canticles.

The Choir of New College, Oxford

under its director, Edward Higginbottom, gave the penultimate concert of the festival in Shoreditch Church, presenting French sacred vocal music of the Renaissance by Du Caurroy, Dumont and Claude Le Jeune. His Missa ad Placitum was promised a complete performance in the printed text but Dr Higginbottom decided to omit the Credo and switch, via some Titelouze organ music, to Poulenc’s Salve Regina, returning to the Le Jeune Mass at the Sanctus. This extraordinary idea did not work musically and thoroughly confused the audience, who had no amended text to show them the point at which the choir would return to the Mass.I found that just as I was beginning to float on Le Jeune’s timeless polyphony, it was interrupted by the switch to the 20th century. The tone of the New College trebles is noticeably more ‘edgey’ than either of the Cambridge choirs but this more ‘continental’ tone was entirely fitting for the French classical repertoire they featured. The effect was powerfully authentic. These three concerts were the high point for me of this now famously eclectic festival. Jonathan Dove this year offered a wider choice than ever and seems to have pulled in the audiences. What more can one ask for?

‘Tom Koopman’s programme of Buxtehude, Byrd, Bach, Sweelinck and Couperin proved such a draw that it had to be given twice.’

St Leonards Church, Shoreditch.

St Albans International Organ Festival July 10th – July 19th

Thiswas the 22nd biennial festival which runs for nine days and is centred on the Cathedral. There are several strands: most importantly the two organ competitions; then there are celebrity organ recitals by four of the international jury members, the fifth, David Briggs was the organ soloist in the first of the evening events in the cathedral. This was a concert given by the St Albans Bach Choir and the City of London Sinfonia, conducted by Andrew Lucas, the Festival’s Artistic Director It opened with three works by Bach: first, the Sinfonia from Cantata No 29, in Bach’s orchestral version with organ obbligato Apart from a ragged start from the brass this popular piece came off well; second, was the A minor concerto arranged by Bach for solo organ from Vivaldi. Briggs gave a delightful rendering: notable was the ornamentation in the slow movement and the ‘bubbly’ but controlled finale. Third, was Schoenberg’s transcription of the Prelude and Fugue in E flat BWV 552 for orchestra. The scoring of this fragments and obscures the structure of the work, interrupts the momentum, uses uneven dynamics and destroys the baroque splendour. The ‘St Anne’ fugue starts with a lugubriously slow clarinet and plods along, only the coda seems to work. No one would tinker about with this work on

the instrument for which it was written, although on a large organ many tasteless tricks are possible, so why is it alright to do so orchestrally?

The main work in this concert, Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony, was given a powerful performance right from the rousing opening. The St Albans Bach Choir, except in one or two exposed spots, and the two soloists were on top form. On the Sunday there was Festival Evensong sung by the Cathedral Choir to mark the 40th anniversary of the founding of the International Organ Festival. This was a truly memorable service: a Middleton Introit, Rose Responses, Tippett Canticles (with haunting treble solo) and Harris’s Bring us, O Lord God, all shaped with care and finesse by Andrew Lucas and his excellent choir. For many at St Albans the high point is the Three Choirs Concert, which this year featured the choirs of Westminster and St Albans Cathedrals and Southwell Minster. To open, Westminster’s Master of Music, Martin Baker, directed the combined choirs in the nave in Byrd’s Laudibus in Sanctis, with St Albans at the west end, Westminster in the centre and Southwell below the organ screen. The ‘surround sound’ effect was overpowering and the singing superb. After several items from each choir, the combined choirs, again

under Martin Baker, sang Victoria’s Magnificat for three choirs, a more Italianate setting, again of great power. The combined choirs, conducted by Paul Hale, began part two by singing Bruckner’s Locus Iste at the high altar, out of sight of the majority in the nave. The more distant sound suited this homophonic work nicely. After a sequence of organ and plainsong verses in alternatim, the combined choirs ended the concert with fine performances of anthems by Naylor, Arvo Pärt and Elgar. Andrew Lucas and his co-directors planned yet another magnificent sequence this year. The next night the King’s Consort directed by Robert King performed works by Handel and Purcell; James O’Donnell was the soloist in organ concertos by Felton and Arne. His stylish and agile playing on an over-quiet ‘authentic’ portative organ was rather lost against the big tone of the Consort. Finally, Lorna Anderson, who had earlier sung a Vivaldi motet, gave a fine, velvet-toned rendering of three Handel arias, a most splendid finale to an excellent concert.

I was unable to stay for the rest of the IOF, because I had to travel to Salisbury for the SCF, which started the next day, so I missed the final stages of both the organ competitions. It is a pity that these two festivals always occur in the same week in

Southern Cathedrals Festival at Salisbury July 16th – July 19th

This is only a four day festival held by the cathedrals of Salisbury, Chichester and Winchester in rotation but into it is packed a feast of cathedral music. Salisbury’s close, the largest in Britain, is a unique setting for a festival and with the marquees on the lawns it looks even more attractive.

Day 1

The new Plainsong Schola sang the first service (Eucharist) on Wednesday and the Cathedral Choir sang Evensong. The first evening concert was given by the Salisbury Musical Society, the Sarum Chamber Orchestra and the Cathedral Girl Choristers; the main work, Brahms

Requiem, was given an outstanding performance.

Day 2

Mattins was finely sung by the Salisbury Cathedral Choir, using David Halls’ (Organist of Salisbury) setting of the canticles and an anthem by Jonathan ➤

‘For many at St Albans the high point is the Three Choirs Concert, which this year featured the choirs of Westminster and St Albans Cathedrals and Southwell Minster.’

From L-R: Andrew Lucas, Martin Baker and Paul Hale take a bow with the Combined Choirs. Photo Andy Hayman.

Dove. Later the Girl Choristers of Salisbury and Winchester and lay clerks of Winchester gave a concert including works by Britten, Elgar and Purcell; Evensong was beautifully sung by Chichester; in the evening James O’Donnell gave the Festival Organ Recital playing Bach, Duprè, Franck, Jongen, Mendelssohn and Whitlock. This was quite splendid but there was no big screen this year to show us the performer in action.

Day 3

Festival Eucharist began and ended with a colourful procession of the clergy and choirs of all three cathedrals. Jackson’s Missa Sarisburiensis was the setting, the anthem was Bairstow’s Let all mortal flesh, plus the 2003 Festival Commission by Barry Ferguson. It was stirringly sung and full of uplifting liturgical splendour. At Evensong, W inchester sang Lennox Berkeley’s very fine Chichester Service. The evening A Man of Sorrows a meditation in words was introduced by Canon Jeremy

Davies, Salisbury’s inspiring precentor. This solemn sequence of readings, beautifully delivered by Tim PigottSmith, reflected the central tragedy of Christianity, achieving a symbiotic relationship with the music, which was superbly chosen: Sanders Reproaches, Caldara Crucifixus, Moore Three prayers, Ireland Ex ore, Tallis Lamentations, Blake Still falls the rain and, finest of all, Finzi Lo! the full, final sacrifice, an incomparable choral sequence, performed with great devotion by the combined choirs, the boys very much on top form, even at the end of a long day. This should surely be made available on a CD, because it essentially requires repeated hearings. It was disappointing that many in the audience missed the point and thought it was oppressively gloomy.

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Day 4

Evensong was sung by the combined cathedral choirs with Howells’s Gloucester Service and anthem Take him, earth, all very calm and uplifting. The final concert was given by the combined choirs and the Sarum Chamber Orchestra in a splendid programme: Haydn Insanae et vanae curae; Mozart Laudate Dominum; Schubert: Psalm 23 and Magnificat; Haydn’s Nelson Mass, powerfully sung, provided a fitting climax to an intense but memorable four days in one of this country’s most beautiful locations. The three choir masters, Alan Thurlow, Andrew Lumsden and the host, Simon Lole, brought us a most satisfying festival this year, although everyone missed John Powell’s excellently run Festival Club marquee!

NB See Simon Lole’s article about the SCF on page 36

My reports on the Hereford Three Choirs Festival and sacred music at Proms 2003 will appear in our next edition.

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CANTORUM III

SERVING A CENTURY OF ORGANISTS

It was the end of an era on 12 July 2003. One of Ripon’s long standing lay clerks, Kelvin Gott, retired after serving a century of Organists. Charles Moody started at the Cathedral in 1902/3 and Kelvin joined his choir as a probationer in 1946. Since then, first as a bass lay clerk, then as an alto, Kelvin has served under Lionel Dakers, Philip Marshall, Ron Perrin, Kerry Beaumont, acting organist Andrew Bryden and latterly Simon Morley. Kelvin’s retirement was marked by a party at the end of term at which friends who had sung with him over the years turned up to celebrate his achievement. Everyone had their own memory of him and were full of praise for his musicality and friendliness. Letters were read out from Philip Marshall and Kerry Beaumont.

ARCHBISHOPS, CHAIRMAN AND ORGANISTS

At his first AGM, FCM Chairman, Peter Toyne, announced that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, had accepted an invitation to become our new patron. Alan Thurlow, Organist and Master of the Choristers at Chichester Cathedral and FCM’s third chairman, was honoured for his long service by being elected as a vice-president with unanimous approval.

CONGRATULATIONS

On the day of the AGM in Peterborough it was announced that Alan Spedding, Organist and Master of the Choristers at Beverley Minster, had been awarded the MBE. This news was greeted with warm applause.

CHRISTMAS CARDS

Owing to Joy Cooke’s recent operation we regret that that there will be no FCM

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR CHORISTERS

Does your son enjoy singing?

The Choir

The 18 boys and 12 professional men sing every Sunday at 11.15am in the Temple Church.

The Temple Church Choir has recently performed Sir John Tavener’s extraordinary all-night vigil The Veil of the Temple and released a CD on the Decca label called The Tavener Collection

Benefits

The Choristers live at home and are awarded generous scholarships. The Choir has close links with City of London School,attended by most of our choristers from the age of 10.

The Director of Music,Stephen Layton, would be pleased to meet parents any time after their son’s 7th birthday.

Visit our website for more details: www.templechurch.com

Telephone Liz Clarke on 020 7353 8559

Christmas card for 2003. There are, however, still bookmarks, notelets and some old stock Christmas cards available from her on 01974 821614 or by email Joycooke@aol.com

NEW ORGANIST APPOINTED AT RIPON CATHEDRAL

Andrew Bryden has been appointed to the post of Director of Music at Ripon Cathedral in succession to Simon Morley. Andrew has been Assistant Organist at Ripon Cathedral and Director of music at the Cathedral Choir School since 1998. The Dean and Chapter said they were “delighted and that Andrew had demonstrated his skill, talent and commitment over many years”.

News from Choirs and Places where they sing

2003 GRANTS FOR THE FOLLOWING

WERE AGREED:

Brecon Cathedral£16,000 Choir Endowment Appeal Fund

Brentwood RC Cathedral £15,000 Cathedral Choral Foundation

Liverpool Cathedral £15,000 Choir Endowment Fund

Carlisle Cathedral £ 6,000 Music Appeal Fund

All Saints Church, Northampton £5,000 Music Tuition for Choristers and Choral Scholars

St James Parish Church, Grimsby £5,000 Endowment of Organ Scholarship Magdalen College, Oxford£5,000 Endowment of Scholarship for deserving families

St Albans Cathedral £5,000 Last instalment of a £25,000 grant provisionally approved in 2001 for an FCM Choristership

St Pauls School

Lonsdale Road,Barnes, London SW13 9JT music school tel:020 8748 8874

email:bwp@stpaulsschool.org.uk

MUSIC SCHOLARSHIPS

Each year St Paul’s School offers a number of Foundation and other music scholarships to boys aged 13+ and 16+ from all educational backgrounds. To find out more about music at St Paul’s School contact the Director of Music,Ben Parry. There will be an open morning for prospective scholars on Saturday 8 November. For general information about entrance requirements,please telephone the High Master’s Secretary on 020 8748 9162.

St Paul’s School exists as a registered charity (no.312749) to provide education for boys

Next year sees the 350th Festival of the Sons of the Clergy. Richard J Askwith, their Hon Archivist, charts its history for CATHEDRAL MUSIC readers

350 and still counting...

What have Lord Thou hast been our Refuge by Boyce, Stanford’s Evening Service in A and Bairstow’s Lord Thou hast been our Refuge got in common? The next time you see a copy of the music, look hard at the dedication of the work and there you will see the name of the Sons of the Clergy.

In May 2004, the 350th Festival of the Sons of the Clergy will be held in St. Paul’s Cathedral, making the service the oldest charitable gathering of its kind in the Church of England. Who then are the Sons of the Clergy and why should they be holding a festival with choirs, bishops, aldermen, masters of livery companies and, crowning all, the Archbishop of Canterbury and The Lord Mayor of London, each attending in State?

The origin of the charity can be seen in 1655 when England was a Commonwealth, King Charles I executed and King Charles II living in exile on the continent. The established Church of Cranmer, Laud and the other divines of the Henrician and Elizabethan periods had been removed and a Presbyterian system of church worship existed. Many clergy

who felt unable to subscribe to the new ethos had been dispossessed of their livings and had literally fallen on hard times – no home, no income and no support for their children. It is clear that many royalist clergy had been ejected from their livings but, quite surprisingly, Episcopalian clergy, so long as they did not engage in what were considered treasonable activities, were allowed to continue to minister to their erstwhile flocks, even if they had little income on which to live. In the confused period of 1654 to 1655, the Episcopalian clergy became increasingly worried about their survival.

On 8th November 1655, there was a service in St. Paul’s Cathedral – the old gothic cathedral – attended by the sons of clergymen and sons of ministers, with a sermon preached by George Hall, the former Archdeacon of Cornwall and by then minister of St. Botolph’s in Aldersgate. A collection was taken at the service on behalf of the dispossessed clergy and their families and afterwards there was a dinner in the Merchant Taylors’ Hall. 350 years later, the same happens, except that not just clergy sons

but a vast throng of interested, committed and startled people gather for the sermon and the music. Startled, for tourists arriving at the cathedral suddenly find themselves involved in the ceremonies of the Church and State with splendid processions, ringing music and inspiring words by an eminent divine of the day.

The Cromwellian government raised little objection to such a service. Perhaps they knew that, if there were to be a case of wealthy businessmen and livery companies helping to support the dispossessed clergy and their families, the task would not fall upon the overstretched Parliamentarian funds!

The records not being complete, it is difficult to know whether there was a continuity of Festivals – after the Great Fire of London, services were held in St. Michael’s, Cornhill – but there is a fair assumption that in some way or another the annual gathering took place. The next fully-documented Festival was in 1674 with the collection going to apprenticeships for clergy children and students at universities, with the residue going to poor widows and sons of clergymen. It was

difficult, though, to maintain goodwill and to begin to build reserves of land and capital when the philanthropically minded clergy sons and others merely held a service every year to raise funds. Thus on 1st July 1678 a Royal Charter established the ‘Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy’, which has remained its popular name even though (or perhaps because) its formal title is ‘The Governours of the Charity for the Releefe of the poore Widdowes and Children of Clergymen’. The first President was Bishop Dolben of Rochester, with Sir Christopher Wren as the first VicePresident. The Corporation could now hold land, make investments and raise funds for the relief of need. The minute books of the Court of Assistants – effectively the trustees of the charity – provide fascinating insights into the problems of relieving want amongst clergy, their widows and children, as well as a fair idea of the corporate finances of the period!

And so to the Festival itself and the music performed at it. Essentially for the first 320 years, it was the sermon and an anthem with such other music as the organising supporters, known as Stewards, saw fit to include. Later it developed into a full choral service with commissioned anthems on occasions, orchestral accompaniments on others and fund raising throughout. It became an event in

the social calendar in the 18th and 19th centuries and Royalty contributed both financially and by becoming governors of the charity. Oddly, the body of Stewards who organised the Festival remained separate from the Corporation until the 1970s, in later years keeping their own minute books and having a separate seal.

From the records it is clear that the first fully choral service was held in 1709, even though the Dean of St. Paul’s, Godolphin, had forbidden such excesses, even going so far as to refuse to countenance such things when Queen Anne attended a service for the victory at Oudenarde in 1708! What is clear is that an organ accompaniment to Purcell’s Te Deum and Jubilate was tolerated by Dean Godolphin, and this service, composed in 1694 for the Feast of St. Cecilia, became the staple diet for the next 29 years. Then Handel’s Utrecht Te Deum replaced the Purcell for a while before they were performed in alternate years. The Dettingen Te Deum of Handel replaced both in 1743 and thus the music of the service became more or less set in stone until about 1825. There were moments of change – in 1755 the conductor of the Festival, William Boyce, wrote his anthem, Lord Thou hast been our Refuge, for the Festival.

It was usually a decorous occasion, although a somewhat waspish comment from The London Journal in 1720 com-

mented acidly –

‘An impropriety, now become quite common, in the Stewards of the Sons of the Clergy permitting persons from the Theatres to perform in their annual celebrations in St.Pauls. There are others truly blameable to be observed, when the Te Deum or Anthem hath been performing, yes when the parson hath been preaching (viz) persons eating, drinking wine, laughing and talking; a conduct much more becoming those who attend the performances of Drury Lane or the Haymarket than the Temple of the Lord.’

Perhaps more than a hint of ‘Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells’ here!

In 1728, Maurice Greene, the organist of St. Paul’s, provided a new anthem, although tantalisingly we are not told what it was. At some stage in the 18th century, the rehearsal of the music became as much part of the social scene of London as the Festival Service itself, and the rehearsal was not always held in St. Paul’s Cathedral. However, the Stewards were canny enough to arrange the sale of tickets and took a collection at both occasions!.

In 1775, the first surviving minute book of the Stewards was begun and in it we see arrangements with Dr. Boyce, the organist at St. Paul’s, to select the music (a custom continued today with happy results where John Scott, the present organist,

‘...for the first 320 years, it was the sermon and an anthem with such other music as the organising supporters, known as Stewards, saw fit to include.’

selects the music). Choristers were also borrowed from the Chapels Royal and Westminster Abbey, a custom which continued for some years. At this time, the service normally took the form of Mattins, whereas in the 19th century, with a start later in the day, it became Choral Evensong.

The organists of St. Paul’s exercised considerable power and influence throughout the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with only occasional departures from their numbers to find a conductor of the service. Sir John Goss assumed responsibility for the service in 1839 and received what might be termed mixed reviews for his work. Where an anthem was needed, he was always willing to compose for the Festival. Indeed, it is during the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century that the greatest run of commissioned works exists. In the early 1870s Sir John Stainer became organist and his first act was to restore the orchestral part of the service. He provided an evening service with full orchestral setting and had hopes of Sir Arthur Sullivan providing an evening setting in 1874. Two months before the service, Sullivan admitted that he had not done anything about it! What a lost opportunity that was. He half promised a service in 1887 but nothing came of that either, alas.

The Victorian period provided a settled sequence of music, the Festival Stewards arguing fiercely in favour of one work or another but generally coming down in favour of a fairly conservative style. Recognised and ‘safe’ establishment composers were approached to provide music for the service. Charles Villiers Stanford obliged in 1903 with The Lord of Might, having previously produced the splendid Evening Service in A in 1880. Few know that the latter was meant to be with full orchestral accompaniment and, indeed, to the writer’s knowledge only once has it been performed in that way when it was broadcast during Choral Evensong from St. John’s College, Cambridge under Christopher Robinson. It really did show just how consummate a composer Stanford was. Basil Harwood composed the 1909 anthem, Jesus! Thy boundless Love to me and, in 1912, Walter G Alcock composed When the Lord Turned again the Captivity of Zion. In 1913, Charles Hubert Hastings Parry composed God is Our Hope and Strength for double choir, bass solo and orchestra, but it does not seem to have been recorded, although it does exist in a reduced version for choir and organ. In 1914, that Doyen of the

Edwardian Establishment, Edward Elgar, produced Psalm 29, Give unto the Lord and Bairstow’s justly famed anthem Lord Thou hast been our Refuge followed in 1917. It is interesting to note that it was composed in York around the same time that Herbert Howells, sleepless in the same city after a Zeppelin raid, composed his restless Third Organ Rhapsody. There are some parallels in the music of both works. Sir William Harris composed The Heavens declare the Glory of God in 1930 and Harold Darke of St. Michael’s, Cornhill provided the anthem O Lord, Thou art my God in 1931. Brewer, Marchant, McPherson and others were composers for the occasion but the line of compositions effectively died out in the mid 1930s. Perhaps there was little money to ask for new works –who knows?

sion to be faced. Should the service continue as it was, should it be abandoned, or should it be revived in a new form? As it was, the fund raising at the service was limited, and the Corporation was funding its main charitable work from other sources. Under the determined pressure of the then Registrar, Brigadier Ian Christie, and the Deputy Registrar, Christopher Leach, a bold decision was made. The Festival was re-invented. A choir was formed from representatives of a number of the cathedral choirs in England for a massive and joyful service, the format of Evensong was abandoned and, in 1978, Her Royal Highness, Princess Alexandra, attended.

This is what saved the Festival and allowed the work of the Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy to remain in the public eye. In recent years, two or three cathedral or college chapel choirs have been invited to attend, each choir singing a work of its own choice and then joining with the others and the St. Paul’s choir for a massed anthem. Who can forget the extraordinary sound of the 40 part motet by Thomas Tallis, Spem in alium nunquam habui, or the equally extraordinary work by Patrick Gowers, Viri Galilei, sung under the Dome with an enthralled congregation?

The Festival continued. The Stewards of the Festival processed with their white wands to the slight bewilderment of onlookers. During the Second World War, there was one noted service in 1941 held in the crypt by the light of bike headlights and Tilley Lamps, sung by men only – the choristers had gone to Truro for the duration – the day after the most ferocious German air raid on the City of London yet. Merchant Taylors’ Hall, which over the centuries had continued as the venue for the Festival Dinner, was a smoking ruin but, somehow, tea was provided for the congregation that gathered in the crypt and the tradition went on. By the 1970s it was clear that things had changed. The Festival had become staid and perhaps stale and there was a deci-

So to the 350th Festival next year. This time the choir will include representatives from almost all the English cathedrals. Once again, an anthem has been commissioned, this time from Malcolm Archer of Wells Cathedral, to words suggested by that most perceptive and humane of men, Michael Mayne, Dean Emeritus of Westminster. It takes some thought to produce words by Julian of Norwich on Love to form the centrepiece of a triumphant service, for it will be that ‘still small voice of calm’ that will concentrate the thoughts of the congregation on the work of the Corporation in relieving need amongst the clergy and their dependants. The work of the Corporation is as relevant today and as necessary as it was in 1655.

There is what Conan Doyle, through his creation Sherlock Holmes, called a ‘whole monograph’ to be written, in this case on the music of the Festival. I am indebted to the two learned texts, The Sons of the Clergy by E H Pearce, second edition 1929, and Bridging the Gap by Nicholas Cox, 1978, as well as to the list of specially composed works compiled by Maurice Bevan, a former Vicar Choral of St. Paul’s, for much of the information contained in this brief note.

‘During the Second World War, there was one noted service in 1941 held in the crypt by the light of bike headlights and Tilley Lamps.’

Book Reviews

CHARLES VILLIERS STANFORD – MAN AND MUSICIAN

Jeremy Dibble

Oxford ISBN 0-19-816383-5

£65.00 (Hardback 535pp)

CHARLES VILLIERS STANFORD

Paul Rodmell

Ashgate ISBN 1-85928-198-2

£57.50 (Hardback 495pp)

Biographies of Stanford are like the Clapham omnibus: there’s nothing for ages and then two come along at once! These projects, both being serious works of scholarship, are similar in size and length but are rather differently set out.

Jeremy Dibble begins with Stanford’s early years in Dublin and chronologically charting the course of his life up to his death in London and burial at Westminster Abbey. The story told is quite fascinating and provides an insight not only into the music itself but also into the character of the man who wrote it.

‘An irascible, fiery, even passionate character, he was dogged in later life by disappointment which acted as a tragic counterbalance to the prodigious talent of his youth and meteoric rise to fame,’ – so concludes the book’s jacket note, but it wasn’t really as simple as that since disappointment seems to have stalked Stanford the composer throughout his career. In this book the pieces are treated in the order of their composition and one becomes saddened and almost wearied by the procession of works which received a première (some not even that) and then one or two following performances before falling into neglect and oblivion. As in Stanford’s life, so in this book, they appear briefly and are gone never to return. Dibble suggests that the watershed year was 1901, at least partly because of the emergence of Elgar (who is treated here as having been part of a later and more dynamic generation surprisingly, since there were only five years between them, Stanford having been born in 1852 and Elgar in 1857). This would not be true purely from the point of view of Stanford’s compositions. As an example we have the failure of two complete operas within months of each other (Savanarola in April and The Canterbury Pilgrims in July 1884), which must have come as a terrible disappointment to a composer who longed for success as an operatic composer, and this in the supposedly successful early part of his career. ‘Some there are that have no memorial…’

Readers will also find themselves becoming morbidly fascinated by the descriptions in these pages of how Stanford was apparently unable to bring himself to get on with his fellow musicians. One by one they go down: Parry, Richter, Elgar; men whom Stanford had once numbered as friends and for

whom he found it in himself to conceive implacable hatreds that lasted for years. Parry and Stanford were only reconciled shortly before Parry’s death, and Elgar professed not to know what it was all about. (We are indebted here to Paul Rodmell for his inclusion of two group photographs, one from Bournemouth (1910) and one from Gloucester (1922) featuring in each case Stanford and Elgar at opposite ends of the front row. The animosity is palpable and in the latter picture Stanford looks old, tired and extremely grumpy.) Similarly the relationship between Stanford and his pupils was often less than congenial (“Damned ugly me bhoy!” – a sentence which prefaces an entire section in Rodmell’s book). There is little in either book which describes Stanford’s personal life (apparently very little is known) but he must have been difficult to live with, although the portrait of his wife Jennie by Hubert von Herkommer, which appears in both books, suggests that she was perfectly capable of punching above her weight!

One feature of both books which is of some regret for myself is the lack of illustrations. Much between the two is duplicated, everything is in black and white (perhaps the cover prices might have permitted at least one colour plate) and the frontispiece in my edition of the Dibble (‘Portrait by Hubert von Herkomer 1883’) seems to be missing altogether. It may be that there isn’t any suitable material, however one might cast one’s mind back wistfully to Jerrold Northrop Moore’s Elgar – A Life In Photographs and hope for something better for CVS the next time round. The Rodmell book scores for myself in two ways. Firstly, a substantial portion of the volume is taken up by a critical appraisal of Stanford’s life from the separate points of view of his contributions as a pedagogue and as a composer (as mentioned above there is no equivalent section in Dibble’s book although he does make apposite remarks along the way). This section of the Rodmell book is skillfully written and ties together any loose ends that might have been left in the first part (which chronicles Stanford’s life much as Dibble). Secondly, it contains as an appendix a select discography which is surely essential information for those of us who know and love Stanford’s church music but who want to get to know more by actually listening to the music itself. Comments and musical examples printed on a page, although valuable in themselves, cannot be a substitute for this. What would the man on that Clapham omnibus have made of all this? Not much, probably. Ultimately both books reach the same conclusion in that Stanford, although undoubtedly a great musician, was not quite great enough. So Dibble quotes from Parry: ‘It wouldn’t be fair to say I don’t praise CVS’s music, only I rarely get to that pitch of boiling enthusiasm which is necessary to produce complete satisfaction in others.’ In his vast output there is great music, but you have to go a long way to find the pearls. Thus Rodmell concludes in his appraisal: ‘The resultant issue which has preoccupied assessments of Stanford is why and how he did not hit the mark more often.’ I cannot profess to have a wide knowledge of Stanford’s large-scale music but I have at present by my music box three recordings which illustrate these points admirably, these being the Third Symphony, the Fourth Symphony and the Violin Concerto. The Fourth Symphony is a fine piece but it is let down by a last movement which is unduly lightweight in comparison with it’s three counterparts, which handles it’s thematic material in a trivial way (being a shame since the first theme is used most effectively at the end of the third movement), and which bears the marks of Brahms, Beethoven and Mendelssohn so clearly that they might have been in the room with Stanford as he wrote. The second movement of the Third Symphony (Irish) is admirable but the work as a whole is fatally flawed in that it has a first movement which suffers at it’s climax from a loss of momentum so catastrophic that it makes even me wonder what on earth the composer could possibly have been thinking about, a third movement with a principal theme lifted almost note for note from Brahms Four, and a last movement featuring the wholesale and uncritical repetition of two Irish folk tunes which make it about as interesting as a trip to Pittsburgh. On the other hand the Violin Concerto is utterly beautiful, somewhat reminiscent of the Bruch G minor but much finer and easily worthy of a wider audience. Get a copy if you can; the slow movement will tear your heart out!

It is no coincidence that Stanford’s music has proved to be most enduring in the one area where it is not an absolute disadvantage for a composer to be British. Church musicians have made the most of their incomparable Stanford legacy, but for the rest I see no revival of interest dating from the 1980s as Paul Rodmell suggests. There are certainly more recordings but this surely stems from the relative ease with which such recordings are now made and a sense of casual curiosity, rather than from a genuine rush of enthusiasm. I remain frustrated by musicians who write off Stanford’s music before they have even heard it and who ought to know better. As an example of the general level of ignorance and apathy perhaps I might draw attention to a recent music programme which gave credit to the composer under the name of ‘Stan Ford!’ Things can only get better!

Harry Winter Cathedral Music

‘Biographies of Stanford are like the Clapham omnibus: there’s nothing for ages and then two come along at once!’

PERCY WHITLOCK, ORGANIST AND COMPOSER.

A Biographical Study by Malcolm Riley.

Revised edition 2003, ISBN 1 85072 296 X. W illiam Sessions Ltd, Ebor Press, York YO31 9HS.

If you missed the first edition (Thames Publishing 1998), make sure of your copy of this reprint, which offers a slightly revised layout and clearer printing on much better paper, with particular benefit to the photographs and musical examples. There is no other reason to replace your first edition, as the only new material of any consequence is an updating of the discography, the most significant additions being the Symphony for Orchestra and Organ (Amphion PHI CD 155) and a programme of orchestral music (Marco Polo 8.225162), both well worth buying even if some of the playing on the latter is enthusiastic rather than polished. This book is a charming and sometimes intensely moving biography of a man who suffered constant ill-health until his death at the early age of forty-three, but whose nature nevertheless seems to have been just as delightful as his music; and it transports us to the sunny heyday of the English seaside with glimpses also of cathedral life, the pre-war BBC and the fluctuating fortunes of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for whom Whitlock wrote attractive light music under the pseudonym of Kenneth Lark. A compelling read, and highly recommended.

Tim Storey

SAINT THOMAS CHURCH FIFTH AVENUE

J Robert Wright

Wm B Eerdmans Publishing Co, ISBN 0 8028 3912 6 xiv+314pp Hardback $65.00 (£40.00)

St Thomas, Fifth Avenue, has always been a source of interest for me, as it is one of those places, along with New York, itself, that I have longed to visit. It was poignantly brought into the British pysche after the atrocious events of 9/11. Tony Blair attended a service there and besides the CDs, BBC Radio 3’s Choral Evensong has occasionally come from St Thomas. It is strange to learn that Saint Thomas is the only surviving residential choir school in America and one of only four in the world which exist solely to educate a single group of choristers (the others being Westminster Abbey in London and similar institutions in Vienna and Montserrat, Spain). It is hardly surprising then, that ‘when a nineyear-old boy, near the end of the 20th century calls his mother at 6am, to say that John Sheppard’s music is awesome, we are accomplishing something wonderful,’ the words of the present Rector. The chorister phoned his parents in Baltimore to express his enthusiasm for the music of John Sheppard, which the choir had been practising and which he described as ‘tumbling all over’. There is much more though to this church than just the choral tradition. But the story of the church’s choir school is only a small part of this history of Saint Thomas. Like many English cathedrals St Thomas has seen its own disasters including two catastrophic fires, in I851 and 1905. It was not until the sixth rector, William Morgan, was installed that St Thomas’s music became notable. George Warren, organist from 1870 until 1900 was an accomplished organist and had a great gift for organising and training choirs. However he was described by one historian as ‘colourful and popular but entirely devoid of taste’. Of course any book on St Thomas would not fail to mention the work of Thomas Tertius Noble, moving from York Minster in 1913. It was under him that the choir school opened in 1919, and his stamp on the tradition has been

Westminster School Westminster School

Westminster School, Little Dean’s Yard, London SW1P 3PF

Several music awards up to the value of half the current boarding or day fee, including free music tuition, are offered annually. The closing date for entries for 2004 will be Friday 16th January and the auditions will be held on Tuesday 3rd February. Candidates, who must be under 14 years of age on 1st September of the year of entry, must subsequently qualify for a place through Westminster’s scholarship examination, The Challenge, or the Common Entrance. The Director of Music, Guy Hopkins, is happy to give informal advice to prospective applicants.

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one of expanding repertoire and raising standards of singing and organplaying. This book by J Robert Wright has so much interesting detail in it and is a compelling read. It carries numerous illustrations and lists of organists etc. Many will remember Gordon Roland-Adams, former headmaster of Westminster Abbey Choir School, who left to take up the same post at St Thomas in 1997, after hearing of the vacancy while on tour with the Abbey choir. I enjoyed reading this book and I recommend it to all who have visited or those of you who plan to make the trip across the pond.

Andrew Palmer

CATHEDRAL MUSIC

Pitkin Jarrold

Unichrome ISBN 1 84165 113 3. £4.99

Includes a CD of Priory recordings featuring 12 cathedral choirs. Sales on 01264 409206

This is a great introduction about the history of cathedral music today edited by a former associate editor of this magazine, Andrew Lumsden, along with David Hill, Canon Charles Stewart and Sarah Baldock, all of Winchester Cathedral, and all know about the Friends of Cathedral Music. It seems strange therefore that there is no single mention of FCM’s existence. The book only covers the basics and general points but contains all you would expect for £4.99 and that is not a criticism. The booklet also contains many photographs and illustrations and covers a huge subject very well. Along with its accompanying CD, which spans centuries of repertoire, this would make a lovely gift for those just beginning to dip their toes into the glories of cathedral music.

Andrew Palmer

WESTMINSTER ABBEY: 1000 Years of Music and Pageant (with CD).

James Wilkinson

ISBN hardback 0-9544176-0-7 £25. Softback 0-9544176-1-5 £15. From bookshops or direct from the author at: 31 Elm Bank Gardens Barnes London SW13 ONU. (Please add £4.00p+p for the hardback and £3.50 for the softback)

Westminster Abbey encapsulates 1000 years of British history. It comes under the direct jurisdiction of the Queen and in its long history has witnessed many spectacular events, including royal weddings and funerals and no fewer than 38 coronation ceremonies. James Wilkinson sang as a boy treble in 1951 and is an honorary steward at the Abbey, so is well qualified to write this book, which came in for review with an accompanying CD. The book’s 160 pages are written in an easy style with over 200 colour photos and other illustrations coupled with interesting facts charting the Abbey’s history. It is sufficiently up-to-date to include a reference to the late Queen Mother’s funeral. It is a fascinating read and will certainly interest lovers of cathedral music. During Martin Neary’s period as organist, there were a record number of CDs produced, concerts and foreign tours including one to Russia, during which the choir sang in the Kremlin, the first foreign choir to do so.

Andrew Palmer

HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL CHORAL DIRECTOR.

John Bertalot

ISBN 1 84003 865 9. £19.99.

Published by Kevin Mayhew

It’s not often that a good book comes along on choir training but this is one of those occasions and Bertalot is well qualified to write it too, as he has had more than 40 years’ experience. Its scope is large, dealing with musical standards, warm-ups, singing in tune, dealing with the clergy (surely a whole book could be written on that subject) and subjects like irregular attendance and punctuality. This is a book with the solutions to the problems that many of us face when taking a choir practice at parish church level. It is a practical book with many musical examples. However, there are views which some will disagree with and challenge – but that is after all the sign of a good manual. Better to question than to swallow the medicine just because someone says it is good for you. Bertalot strives for excellence – the book’s central theme. It is easy to read and pick up the points but it lacks an index. Nevertheless, with Bertalot’s pedigree, it should be read by everyone who stands up in front of a choir. A thoroughly useful book.

Patrick Mayhew

ENGLISH CHORAL MUSIC: FINZI

God is gone up; Magnificat; My lovely one; Welcome sweet and sacred feast; Thou didst delight; Let us now praise famous men; Seven Unaccompanied Part songs; Lo the Full, Final Sacrifice.

Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge. Director: Christopher Robinson. Organ: Christopher Whitton. Naxos 8.555792 TT61:43

I have a theory that the character of a choir is determined by the building in which it sings. Of the two most renowned choirs in Cambridge surely the fan vaults of King’s demand a pure and ethereal sound which is as beautiful in the reverberation as it is in the original utterance. St John’s, on the other hand, does not have a reverberation to rub together. Consequently the singing here is characterised by robustness and vigour; a real man’s choir and ‘in your face’ as the modern phrase goes (or ‘in thine own face’ as Finzi set on the final track of this CD). I bet they all have steak for tea! These remarks would also tug the forelock to the approach of Christopher Robinson who conducts, as it were, with a twelve bore in his hands. All of this pacing about would not do down the road on King’s Parade. Christ Church Oxford, with its equally dry accoustic, had a similar reputation under Simon Preston. To illustrate the point perhaps we might consider the CD’s pot -boiler God is gone up, which Robinson dispatches in 4’21”. Ronald Perrin, on his Twentieth Century Cathedral Music at Ripon (Foxglove Records Leeds DDD RCCD1 P1991) took 6’21” over the same piece, almost half as much again, and Perrin was no slouch. I think the direct approach exhibited by St John’s here is the best possible to adopt in performing this Finzi music, and here I have a problem. There is introversion innate in the present compositions which I find inherently unattractive. One can of course admire the craftsmanship, but that is not what music is about. Music is about stimulating the lachrymal glands and making the heart beat faster. To further this perhaps I might touch on Finzi’s apparent attraction to rather quirky and indigestible texts (‘Sing praise seraphicwise!’, ‘Heart-cramping notes of melody’, ‘O soft self-wounding Pelican!’) or his evident shyness in the face of red-blooded melody. With other CDs in this Naxos series in mind this would never have done for Walton or even Britten (Howells got away with it by writing to the architecture, although his ‘St John’s’ setting would of course prove my argument). My own view that Lo, the full, final sacrifice represents 15 minutes of unmitigated gloom is probably self-indulgent in itself and certainly ignores the fact that it was completed only a year after the guns of the Second World War had fallen silent. But each to his own. The musicianship displayed by St John’s on the CD is technically brilliant (as it is elsewhere on this Naxos series) and buoyant with unbridled enthusiasm. If Finzi is your man then go for it!

Harry Winter

BUXTEHUDE SACRED CANTATAS

Ich habe Lust abzuscheiden; Salve, Jesu, Patris gnate unigenite; Jesu dulcis memoria; Mein Herz ist bereit; Fuga; Cantate Domino; Ich halte es dafür; Herr, wenn ich nur dich hab; Jesu, meine Freude.

The Purcell Quartet. Sopranos: Suzie LeBlanc; Emma Kirkby. Bass: Peter Harvey. chaconne (Chandos) CHAN 0691 TT 75:33

All organists are brought up on the story of JS Bach walking a hundred miles to hear Buxtehude’s music and being so captivated that he outstayed his leave of absence. If the contents of this CD are anything like what he heard, his actions are wholly understandable, for here are treasures greatly to be enjoyed. There are examples of psalms, variations on Lutheran hymns and settings of patchwork texts drawn from a variety of sources: Buxtehude set them for soloists and instruments with great inspiration and considerable variety of style, for use during communion and at concerts in the Marienkirche at Lübeck, where he was organist from 1668 until his death in 1707. Suzie LeBlanc and Emma Kirkby are of course first-rate, as one has come to expect, and (I declare an interest here) what a delight it is to encounter such inventive and demanding writing for the bass, so well sung by Peter Harvey; nor should one forget the Purcell Quartet’s stylish and apt accompaniments. Another ‘must’ for the collection.

Timothy Storey

CD Reviews CHORAL

KING OF GLORY EVENSONGFROM SALISBURY

Walton Set me as a seal; Rose Responses; Lloyd Salisbury Service; Finzi Lo the full Final; Archer King of Glory; Bush Trumpet March Salisbury Cathedral Choir. Director: Simon Lole. Organ: David Halls. Service led by Revd Canon Jeremy Davies, Precentor. Griffin GCCD 4041 TT 73:09

I am rather warming to CDs that record the whole service of evensong. This one even starts with an improvisation based on the introit by Walton. They do manage to capture that priceless quality and ambience, which we are informed, George Herbert called, ‘my heaven on earth’. I would raise a glass to that sentiment. The singing and playing are up to the high standards we have come to expect from Salisbury Cathedral. Richard Lloyd can always be relied on to provide a suitable and enjoyable composition for choirs and the Salisbury Service lives up to that reputation. The ubiquitous Finzi anthem seems to be getting an airing on numerous recordings these days but once again, good singing. I remember taking part in services in the Cathedral during the 1980s and thinking to myself how lucky the Cathedral was to have a Precentor like Jeremy Davies, whose style and contribution on this disc is much valued. As one has come to expect from David Halls, he rounds the service off with aplomb, playing Geoffrey Bush’s great Trumpet Tune Griffin is producing some fine CDs and this is no exception.

Graham Hermon

ONCE WERE ANGELS THE TRADITIONOF BRITISH BOY TREBLES (1964-89).

Includes 16 page booklet with photographs. Griffin GCCD 4040 TT 78:36

As I was involved with the preparation of this CD, I feel unable to review it in the ordinary way. However it will be of great interest to many to have a digitally remastered compilation of some of their favourite tracks of boy soloists. Three years ago, Harry Mudd, the founder of Alpha/Abbey Records contacted me with a view to compiling a CD selection of his boy trebles along similar lines to the ongoing Better Land series, which features the boy sopranos of the last century. A group of musicians, including Roger Fisher and Donald Hunt, was asked to select 24 tracks from the many hundreds originally issued on LP. I was asked to trace the ‘boys’ (no easy task!) and to prepare the programme notes. This CD is the result. Most of the boys featured were members of collegiate choirs but some, like Andrew Brough and Christopher Smith, were parish church choristers, sadly a rare breed these days. If it were not for Harry Mudd none of these boys would have been recorded. Following the appointment to Westminster Cathedral of George Malcolm who championed the cold, open sound, often wrongly described as ‘Continental Tone’, a great change was wrought in English cathedral life. The advocates of the ‘English Sound’ were gradually passing away and the ‘Ely Sound’ favoured by Michael Howard influenced many. It was into this world and the collegiate choirs of Oxford that Harry Mudd entered. These choirs became enormously influential in setting standards which others would follow and eventually develop. By the time Harry entered the scene in the early 1960s, major record companies had almost entirely lost interest in recording choirs and boy soloists: there was no money in it for them. The change of fashion is charted here both in respect of voice technique and repertoire. Whatever our opinions of style, voice-production and repertoire may be, one may rejoice in the sheer musicality of these boys and hope that the re-release of their voices will provide inspiration for the future. Other men and recording companies have now taken up the torch laid down by Harry Mudd a few years ago, but no one has done as much as him to further the cause of our traditional choirs of men and boys in general and the boy soloist in particular. His award of the M.B.E. in 1989 was just recognition of his great work which will never be forgotten. Of the boys featured, perhaps Paul Dutton is the best remembered and many will want the CD just to hear his voice. However for me, Andrew Wicks is my personal favourite. All of his tracks are excellent: Linden Lea is most moving and Alleluya outstanding. The recording of O for the wings of a dove with

Michael Ginn as soloist is historically very important, as well as being beautifully and emotionally sung in true Temple Church style. It took Harry Mudd some time to persuade Sir George Thalben-Ball, as it had not been recorded by the Temple Church Choir since Ernest Lough’s famous discs made in 1927/8. Ernest Lough was still an occasional member of the choir and he features as a baritone on this track. GTB was at the organ (sadly not the famous Rothwell instrument destroyed in the war) and there was no conductor. One can imagine Ron Mallet, the head boy on the 1928 recording, who was tortured to death in the war, looking down in satisfaction. GTB retired the following year after sixty-three years at the Temple.

Stephen Beet

THEY THAT GO DOWN TO THE SEA

Sumsion They that go down to the sea in ships; Dyson Four Songs for Sailors; Ireland arr Trepte Sea Fever; arr Holst Swansea Town; Britten The Golden Vanity; Head The Ships of Arcady; Vaughan Williams Five English Folksongs; Hemmingway The Sea of Faith Ely Cathedral Choir. Director and Piano: Paul Trepte. Organ: Scott Farrell. CLOVELLY CLCD12601 TT 69:27

Ely Cathedral Choir tackles music, much of which is outside its normal repertoire. Indeed, only Herbert Sumsion’s atmospheric They that go down to the sea and Roger Hemingway’s The Sea of Faith (a setting of Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold), which begin and end the selection respectively, were intended for church use. The choir enters into the spirit of the enterprise with gusto and there are colourful performances of the Dyson and Vaughan Williams groups in particular. The most substantial item is Britten’s Vaudeville (with piano accompaniment), The Golden Vanity, first performed by the Vienna Boys Choir at the Aldeburgh Festival in 1967. The Ely boys give a suitably spirited performance with some accomplished solo singing by five of the choristers. Michael Head’s The Ships of Arcady is also sung by the boys in a nicely shaped performance. The cathedral acoustic lends a pleasing ambience to the unaccompanied items. The accompanists give excellent support, although there are times when the piano sounds a little too close.

Alan Spedding

ALFRED SCHNITTKE

Concerto for Mixed Chorus; Voices of Nature; Minnesang

Holst Singers. Director: Stephen Layton.

Vibraphone: Rachel Gledhill.

HYPERION CDA67297 TT 64:48

It was quite a challenge to tackle this CD. I knew little of Schnittke but had gathered that he was quite a modish composer with the beginnings of a cult following. I therefore listened to these works with some interest and a definite predisposition to like them. In the event – and this is my fault and not Schnittke’s –the music didn’t, for me, reach the places I expected it to reach. Nor was it the fault of Stephen Layton’s choir – which is, as usual, excellent. The musical idiom is steeped in Russian Orthodoxy and makes great demands on the choir, demands to which it rises superbly. The harmonies and vocal textures are dense and the extremes of pitch remarkable: the singing at both ends of the vocal compass is breath-taking. Sometimes with a composer ‘of the moment’ one is tempted to wonder about the ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’. Not so here at all, I think. Many of you will buy this disc and be bowled over: I do urge you to try it.

Andrew Davis

IN PARADISUM

Fauré Requiem The Schola Cantorum of Ampleforth

Abbey. Director: Ian Little. Organ: Simon Wright. Plantaganet Music PMRD9420 TT 43:45

In a programme shown on national TV by ITV on 29 April this year it is something of a shame that no reference was made to the high standard of music achieved at Ampleforth College, a public school, run by the order of Benedictine Monks of Ampleforth Abbey. It sits at the foot of the North Yorkshire Moors just outside the picturesque village of Ampleforth. This CD however amply demonstrates what is achieved. This is the only choral CD produced by Plantagenet Music of York. The singing is first-rate

with excellent tone produced by all sections of the choir and sympathetic and orchestral sounding organ accompaniments from Simon Wright. The CD opens with the atmospheric tolling of the Chapel’s bell. More interestingly are the inclusion of certain texts chosen to be inserted between the movements of the Requiem. Finely recorded, capturing the spirit and ambience of the Benedictine Abbey, I highly recommend this recording. Not readily available off the shelf in music shops, you should visit their website to order at www.plantagenet.co.uk

Graham Hermon

THE CHORAL MUSIC OF HERBERT BREWER

Let the People Praise Thee; As the Hart Pants; Blessing Glory; Wisdom and Thanks; Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in B flat; Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in C;, O Death where is thy sting?; God is our Hope and Strength; Prevent us O Lord; O Lord God; A Solemn Prayer; God within; Bow down thy ear O Lord.

Laudate. Director: Howard Ionascu. Organ: James Nolan.

PRIORY PRCD 797 TT 76:58

Brewer in D is staple fare for cathedral choirs and many parish choirs as well, but how many of us have looked beyond this and perhaps Brewer in E flat? Alfred Herbert Brewer (1865-1928) was a chorister at Gloucester Cathedral, and its organist from 1896 until his death: he was knighted for his part in refounding the Three Choirs Festival after the Great War. This is an enjoyable selection from a quite considerable output, enthusiastically performed by this very capable young group, and it should appeal to all lovers of our native cathedral repertoire. Though the C major service is rather fine, I am not making any extravagant claims for the quality of most of this music: it is never less than well written, as one would expect from a composer trained in the RCM of Parratt, Stanford etc., but there are too many festival anthems, whose jollity begins to wear somewhat thin, the longest being God within, a setting of the familiar poem Glorious and powerful God for the 1928 Festival of the Sons of the Clergy. The very few quieter pieces are of greater interest, including a fine unaccompanied eight-part chorus from his 1904 cantata The Holy Innocents Not great music, but well worth adding to your collection. How about a CD of Alan Gray’s music, somebody?

Timothy Storey

TO THIS TEMPLE

Howells A hymn for St Cecilia; Harris Behold the tabernacle of God; Stanford For lo, I raise up; Duruflé Notre Père;Palestrina Sanctus and Agnus Dei II from Missa Brevis; Bairstow Blessed city; McKie We wait for thy loving kindness; Elgar Allegro maestoso Sonata 1; Farrant Hide not thou thy face; Rubbra Evening Canticles in A flat; Bach Awake us, Lord; Tavener God is with us. The Choir of St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol. Director: Anthony Pinel. Organ: Graham Alsop. HERALD HAVPCS 282 TT 57:06

A pleasant enough disc recorded with evident sincerity and purpose. It is, to people like me, an encouragement that the future of the sacred choral tradition lies not only on the shoulders of established cathedral choirs but other establishments like St Mary Redcliffe, which are able to produce such an acceptable sound. The selection is an eclectic one and in truth there seems little to hold it all together other than, I presume, that they are favourite pieces of the choir and its director. Perhaps some explanation on the sleeve notes as to why these particular pieces were selected might have been helpful. Throughout the tone of the choir is clear and there is some very good treble singing not least by David Aitkenhead who ‘stood on his watch’ in For lo I raise up most impressively! This disc introduced me to Sir William McKie’s We wait for thy loving kindness, O God (somehow it had passed me by in fifty years of cathedral choir participation even though I must have heard it at the Coronation in 1953!) since when, as coincidence happens, I have had occasion to sing it about three times and come to appreciate its worth more each time. The only other piece new to me is John Tavener’s God is with us and in this the Choir gives a particularly stirring account of themselves. Stephen Foulkes gives us an uplifting declamation at the words ‘The people that walked in darkness. . .’ in an appropriately Russian sounding baritone voice. As the notes mention the eventual ‘cataclysmic appearance of the full organ at the words ‘Christ is born’ makes a particularly dramatic effect’ and is a fitting conclusion to the programme.

Simon Deller

THE COMPLETE NEW ENGLISH HYMNAL VOL 12

The Choir of St Edmundsbury Cathedral. Director: James Thomas. Organ: Michael Bawtree. PRIORY PRCD 712 TT 72:25.

This is a somewhat odd assortment of hymns, with Christmas (mercifully descant-free), Epiphany and Easter strongly represented and the disc filled up with odds and ends from the other seasons. How do you make such a selection interesting? Descants, unison, funny harmonies etc lose their appeal unless used sparingly, and it is commendable that these performers have taken the considerable risk of letting the words and music largely speak for themselves. Ensemble is good and words are clear, but though the boys’ tone is attractive their intonation is not always beyond reproach, and the lack of really good voices among the men is apparent in the unison and plainsong tunes: four-part harmony fares better, but it all makes for a somewhat unsatisfying hour and a quarter. It is good to have For all the saints with the correct rhythms (it defies belief that some hymnbooks still leave the fitting-in of the words to chance), and We have a gospel to proclaim replete with regrettable descant provides a confident finish to this programme. I should like to hear this choir, whose singing is usually so good, in a more varied and rewarding recital, but I cannot recommend this disc unless you are collecting the whole series.

Timothy Storey

BACH’S CONTEMPORARIES – 4 SACRED MUSICBY JAN DISMAS ZELENKA

Litaniae de Venerabili Sacramento; Regina coeli laetare; Salve Regina, mater misericordiae; Lectiones and Invitatorium from Officium Defunctorum

The Choir of the King’s Consort.

The King’s Consort. Director: Robert King. HYPERION CDA67350 TT 73:52

This recording, the fourth in a series entitled Bach’s Contemporaries, introduces us to Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745), a Bohemian church musician trained in Prague, Italy and Vienna. Most of his working life was spent at the Saxon Court of August the Strong in Dresden, first as a double-bass player and then as ‘Kirchencompositeur,’ a sort of consolation prize for his not being appointed Kapellmeister in 1730. Sadly his music already seemed out of date, when compared with the Italian style now coming into fashion and much favoured by the heir to the throne : it was left to a later musicologist to rediscover his music and find in it qualities ‘which pull his chair very near to father Sebastian.’ The Dresden court had converted to Roman Catholicism in 1697, hence the composer’s setting of Latin texts: we have here a Corpus Christi procession, two Marian antiphons and four of the thirteen movements which Zelenca wrote for August the Strong’s funeral in 1733. The music is well worth exploring, and the performances are fully up to the standard we have come to expect from these distinguished artists.

Timothy Storey

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SALVATOR MUNDI

Tallis Salvator mundi; Suscipe quaeso; In ieiunio et fletu; Purcell Who hath believed; Remember not, Lord, our offences; Howells Salvator mundi; I heard a voice from Heaven; Pantcheff For, lo, the days come; Poulenc Viena mea electa; Grier O King of the Friday; Davy Drop, drop, slow tears; Blow Salvator mundi; de Victoria Agnus Dei

The Arcadian Singers of Oxford University. Director: Matthew O’Donovan. Organ: James Davy. LAMMAS LAMM 152D TT 60:20

Here is another very accomplished Oxbridge choir. The programme of the disc ‘presents a variety of responses to – and meditations on – the passion of Jesus Christ’ and the music ranges widely. Mostly English (and including a fine new piece by Richard Pantcheff, For, lo, the days come, commissioned for this recording) though Vinea mea electa of Poulenc and an Agnus Dei by Tomas Luis de Victoria are slipped in. Tallis, Purcell, Howells, Francis Grier: all are well sung. A technically very proficient choir with an engaging presence on this CD. Most enjoyable.

Andrew Davis

LENNOX BERKELEY SACRED CHORAL MUSIC

Crux fidelis; Missa Brevis; Maganificat & Nunc dimittis; Three Latin Motets; The Lord’s my shepherd; Mass for Five Voices; Look up, Sweet babe; A Festival Anthem; Toccata. The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge. Director: Christopher Robinson. Organ: Jonathan Vaughn. NAXOS 8.557277 TT: 75:10

This CD, in the excellent English Choral Music series issued by Naxos, marks the centenary of Lennox Berkeley’s birth and is full of delights. Berkeley, like so many artistic, literary and even political figures between the wars, converted to Roman Catholicism in 1928 and his liturgical music was written with all the fervour of a convert, within respectful limits. There is no striving for effect that would detract from the enactment of the liturgy. Nevertheless, there are some powerfully expressive passages, especially in the Hosanna and the Agnus Dei of the Missa Brevis and the Kyrie of the Mass for Five Voices. The Choir of St John’s under Christopher Robinson rises to the many challenges presented by this sophisticated music, not least in the Three Latin Motets, written for a former St John’s Choir and George Guest in 1972. The familiar setting of The Lord is my shepherd is performed sensitively and here, as elsewhere, the solo singing is tastefully shaped, as is the organ playing of Jonathan Vaughn. This splendid disc comes at the end of Dr Robinson’s time at St John’s and marks a milestone in the career of one of our finest cathedral and choral musicians.

Alan Spedding

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NEW WORLD SYMPHONIES BAROQUE MUSICFROM LATIN AMERICA

Ex Cathedra. Director: Jeffrey Skidmore. HYPERION CDA67380 TT 69:40

Many of you will know Masterpieces of Mexican Polyphony (Hyperion CDA66330), that marvellous 1989 recording by James O’Donnell and Westminster Cathedral Choir of music by Spanish musicians who served the cathedrals in Mexico City and Puebla, founded in 1573 and 1531 respectively. Now Jeffrey Skidmore and Ex Cathedra have put together another, quite different anthology. Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla appears again, and Hernando Franco’s Salve Regina is common to both, but all else is new, much of the music revealing a cross-fertilization with the native culture. Padilla’s eightpart parody mass Ego flos campi and the Kyrie and Gloria from Zipoli’s Missa San Ignacio are interspersed with Latin motets and with settings of the vernacular Quechua (Inca), Nahuatl (Aztec) and Spanish performances are uniformly excellent, from the hushed intensity of Lobo’s Versa est in luctum to the choir’s obvious relish of the Cuban and West African rhythmic patterns in the Christmas carols (for want of a better word) Los colades de la estleya and Convidando esta la noche. Go out and get this, and buy one for a friend!

Timothy Storey

MORE THAN HYMNS HYMN-ANTHEMS SUNGBYTHE CHOIROF WELLS CATHEDRAL

Gardner Fight the good fight; Covey-Crump Let all mortal flesh; arr I Hughes Be still, for the presence of the Lord Walford Davies King of glory; Blessed are the pure in heart; Barry Rose Christ be with you; Morning glory; arr Rose When I needed a neighbour; There is a green hill; Lord of all hopefulness; Thiman Brightest and best; Howells A Hymn for St Cecilia; Harris Come down, O Love divine; Barnby O perfect love; Steel Thou are the way; Parry Crossing the bar; Dyson Let all the world; Arrangements: Let all mortal flesh; Jesus is the brightest light; Now is the bitter time. Director: Malcolm Archer. Organ: Rupert Gough. LAMMAS LAMM 149D TT 60:59.

More than Hymns is the title of two collections of hymn-anthems published by Novello so in a way this could be seen as a promotional disc. Never mind: there is plenty to enjoy here. In some cases familiar hymn words are given completely new settings; in others, familiar hymns and their tunes are given new arrangements. The composers are largely of the twentieth century. Veteran composer John Gardner kicks off with a typically sprightly new tune for Fight the Good Fight; at the other end of the century Edwardians Parry, William Harris and Walford Davies are represented. For me, a particular highlight is Stephen Jackson’s luminous arrangement of Let all mortal flesh but you will doubtless find other favourites. The singing is full, confident: this is a very fine choir. The recording is forward, limpid – in both accompanied and unaccompanied numbers. Do listen to this disc – with or without the accompanying Novello volumes!

Andrew Davis

LUX MUNDI

Victoria O Magnum Mysterium; Moore All Wisdom Cometh form the Lord; Tallis O Nata Lux; Rheinberger Abendlied; Walton Set me as a Seal; Byrd Ave Verum; Howells Take him, earth; Purcell Remember not, Lord; Harris Holy is the True Light; Holst This have I done; Pearsall Lay a galand; Allegri Miserere Mei; Stopford

Keble Maissa Brevis

The Choir of Keble College, Oxford. Director: Philip Stopford. Organ: Stephen Bullamore. PRIORY PRCD 657 TT 67:31

When I lived in Oxford nearly thirty years ago the establishments with traditional (boys’) choir schools probably ruled the roost as far as quality was concerned. Nowadays, there are so many wonderful mixed-voice choirs. This Keble College disc makes a totally convincing case for its college choir. Super recording – good ambience, real presence. Herbert Howells’s Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing (I’m having it at my own funeral!) is beautifully, urgently sung. The CD ends with Philip Stopford’s 1997 Missa Brevis. It probably wouldn’t work in a parish setting unless the choral forces were out of the ordinary – but what a GREAT, joyous setting if you happen to worship weekly in (for instance!) an Oxbridge college with a fine choir. I really enjoyed this disc.

Andrew Davis

BANG! THE GUNPOWDER PLOT AN OPERAFORYOUNGPEOPLE MUSICBY JOHN RUTTERAND

WORDSBY DAVID GRANT

Trinity Boys Choir. Orchestra Ex Trinitate. Director: David Squibb.

HERALD HAVPCD 283 TT 63:28

In 1975 John Rutter produced an opera for children about the Gunpowder Plot especially for the Trinity Boys Choir. This recording was made in Henry Wood Hall, London in July 2000 and it is the first time I have heard the work. Unfortunately this is not one of Mr Rutter’s better compositions, being very much a child of its time. Unlike much of his other music, it has no memorable or catchy tunes. I cannot imagine many prep school choirmasters (or others) attempting this work as it rather falls between ‘two stools’ the traditionalist will stick to his Gilbert & Sullivan (despite David Squidd’s rather sneering remark: ‘Oh those awful memories of schools performing Gilbert and Sullivan with small boys in ‘drag’!) and others to their Britten, who had special gifts in this field! The performance is generally good although the chorus work sometimes raucous and one or two of the soloists not secure in places. Having said all that, the recording is well balanced and the ExTrinitate Orchestra plays very professionally. The booklet is very attractive and is one of the CDs main selling points.

Stephen Beet

VIDETE THOMAS TALLIS

Salvator mundi Domine; Audivi vocem de caelo; Salvator mundi, salva nos; Loquebantur variis linguis; In pace in idipsum; O sacrum convivium; Videte miraculum; Homo quidam fecit cenam magnam; Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis.

The Chapel Choir of St Catherine’s College, Cambridge. Director: Alexander Ffinch.

PRIORY PRCD 727 TT 60:57

A wonderfully evocative disc but then in this reviewer’s estimation Thomas Tallis’s position amongst the greatest of English sacred choral music composers stands unchallenged so I have to declare a bias! The engineers, also, must take credit for incorporating enough space in the recording from the obvious natural accoustic of St George’s Church, Chesterton, where this disc was produced, to allow the flowing lines of Tallis`s genius to have full scope. It is, however, not impossible to hear bad performances of Tallis’s music for it is challenging and exposed but I am delighted to say this is not one of them! Indeed the tempi (all too often misjudged) are universally well set and the ensemble is simple but cohesive. To identify any highlights would be invidious but it is hard to beat O sacrum convivium at the best of times and this rendition is sublime. It is good, too, to hear clear and precise plainchant, as in Audivi vocem de caelo from the sopranos for a change; a reminder that the ‘devils’ don’t necessarily have to have all the best tunes! A ‘thumbs up’ too for Nick O’Neil’s comprehensive but unpretentious notes. This is a CD which I will return to and can recommend as a worthy addition to anyone’s library.

Simon Deller

SOMETHING’S COMING

Bernstein Something’s Coming; Somewhere; Trad arr Britten The Salley Gardens; O waly, waly; The birds, Fancie; Corpus Christie Carol; Brahms Weg der Liebe; Schubert To Sylvia; Mozart Ah perdona al primo affetto; La vendetta; Messiaen Vocalise- étude; arr Grainger Willow, willow; arr Quilter Over the mountains; Rutter It was a lover and his lass; Simon Bridge over troubled water; Weill My ship; Handel Angels, ever bright and fair; Vaughan Williams Linden Lea; Walton Old Sir Faulk

The Winchester College Quiristers. Director: Christopher Tolley. Piano: Robert Bottone. HERALD HAVPCD 276 TT 55:14

This is a delightful programme performed by the sixteen fresh-voiced Quiristers of Winchester College. They are the boy trebles provided for in William of Wykeham’s 1382 foundation to sing the top line in the College Chapel services. Nowadays they also sing as a boys’ concert choir, presenting the kind of sequence to be heard on this CD, which was recorded in the College Chapel last summer. The pieces are nicely contrasted, featuring three solo boys: Harry Sever and Samuel Wesley, both members of the choir, and an ex-Quirister, Nicholas Stenning, who was BBC Young Chorister of

the Year in 2001. Everybody sings with a very natural head-tone voice, unforced and pleasing to the ear. The Bernstein numbers do not really suit this kind of choir in my view but they do them very well. The piano accompaniment is superb.

Roger Tucker

MY SPIRIT SANG ALL DAY

The Byron Consort of Harrow School. 20 tracks recorded 16th March in one of the school’s rackets courts. Director: Philip Evans. 63:37

The Byron Consort, a sixteen voice group, sings entirely unaccompanied music. It comprises three boys and one adult to each part. Seven of the present members have been cathedral choristers and the three trebles featured were formally choristers at Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and Winchester Cathedral respectively. Here the three boys blend beautifully with the one female, producing a perfectly even and forward soprano line (who said boys’ and women’s voices could not blend?) The fact that these boys are older and more experienced than many cathedral choristers goes some way to explain the intensity of the sound. In fact the top line is far superior to that of many cathedrals these days and a testament to what a public school choir can produce. This is a most excellent CD in every way and highly recommended. The intonation is forward and focused and the under parts well blended. The first half of the programme is entirely sacred and the second half entirely secular. The opening item O clap your hands (Gibbons) gets the CD off to an exciting start. I always think a CD should be like a concert and this certainly bears hearing right through without a break. In the second half of the programme there are wonderful items by Stanford (including The Blue Bird) and two pieces by Sullivan are sung with great emotion: The Long Day Closes and O hush thee, my babie especially deserve to be heard more often.This CD is only available from the school.

Stephen Beet

REMEMBRANCE

Burgon Nunc dimittis; Tallis Salvator Mundi; Ireland Greater love; Parry Crossing the Bar; Stanford Eternal father; Handl ecce quolodo moritur; Purcell Hear my Prayer; Kiev Melody Give rest O Christ; Fauré Pie Jesu; Duruflé Ubi Caritas;In paradisum; Schubert Sanctus; Blatchly For the Fallen; Harris Holy is the true light; Kellam Agnus Dei; The Choir of St Paul’s Cathedral. Director: John Scott.

Organ: Huw Williams HYPERION CDA67398 TT 73:07

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Churchill took place at St Paul’s. John Scott also writes about the poignant and memorable services held to commemorate those who lost their lives in the terrorist atrocities of 11 September 2001. This recording is dedicated to the memory of Robert Eaton, chorister of St Paul’s Cathedral from 19731977 who died in the World Trade Center and to Ted Perry, inspirational founder of Hyperion records. This CD is the better for containing a lovely mixture of the well-known and traditional pieces. The singing of pieces like the Tallis and the Purcell are executed perfectly and it is a beautifully crafted CD – the inner parts singing with distinction. The music catches the spirit of the what this CD is all about. There are different styles too: Gregorian chant, Gelineau, Kiev Melody and the regulars such as the hymns O God our help along with Abide with me and Ireland’s Greater Love. Kellam’s Agnus Dei written in memory of the Innocent and the Brave slaughtered on September 11th is a fitting tribute to all those who have died before us. For a disc that brings to the fore such terrible moments in our history for contemplation over ethereal and well-sung music cannot be a bad thing, for it forces us to get off the escalator of life for a brief moment and stop, stand and think. Superb.

Graham Hermon

O CLAP YOUR HANDS SACREDMUSICBY ORLANDO GIBBONS

O thou the central orb; This is the record of John; Behold, I bring you glad tidings; Almighty and everlasting God; O lord in thy wrath; Hosanna to the son of David; We praise thee, O Father; Glorious and powerful God; O clap your hands together; See, see, the word is incarnate; grant, O Holy Trinity; Great Lord of Lords. Solo organ: A Ground; Fantasia. Viols: Four Part Fantasia

The Choir of Manchester Cathedral. The Rose Consort of Viols. Director & Solo Organ: Christopher Stokes. Organ: Jeffrey Makinson.

HERALD HAVPCD 278 TT 63:31

What a fine choir this is, and what a satisfying recital, which I strongly recommend you to buy. It is good to have a genuine anthology, with viols and organ for variety, to which one can listen in its entirety without having to mess around programming the CD player to get things in the right order. Soloists and ensemble are never less than good, and sometimes outstanding, my only slight reservation being some undue briskness in the performances: Almighty and everlasting God, for example, feels terribly rushed. Even if their performances seem somewhat romantic for modern taste, the old Argo recordings under Boris Ord and David Willcocks, reissued in several CD versions, can still teach us much about poise and spaciousness, so essential to this most suave of composers; but the Manchester recording stands up well to the comparison, and I much prefer it to that by Winchester Cathedral Choir (Hyperion CDA67116), in which the performers sound curiously ill at ease.

Timothy Storey

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MOTETS OF WILLIAM BYRD

The Choir of Durham Cathedral. Director: James Lancelot. PRIORY PRCD 801 TT 71:55

The warmly resonant acoustic of Durham Cathedral’s Nine Altars Chapel provides the perfect setting for the timeless a cappella music of Byrd. The sequence of 23 numbers, here superbly sung by the 17 choristers and 12 lay clerks and choral scholars of the cathedral choir, are all from either the Cantiones Sacrae or the Gradualia. The way in which Byrd continued to publish music with Latin texts long after the Reformation showed great courage and demonstrated his staunch loyalty to Rome. What is also remarkable is that Elizabeth I tolerated it. To fully appreciate the rich and varied texture of these motets, in which polyphony and homophony alternate and there may be four, five or six parts, a score aids one’s concentration and elucidates what is going on. The vocal blending and tonal matching achieved by the choir is exemplary, as is the boys especially well-controlled intonation. James Lancelot is to be congratulated, as are the technical team from Priory. Roger Tucker

CD Reviews CHRISTMAS

PALESTRINA MUSICFOR ADVENTAND CHRISTMAS

Alma redemptoris mater; Canite tuba; Deus tu conversus; Hodie Christus natus est; Missa Hodie Christus natus est; O magnum mysterium; Tui sunt coeli; O admirabile commercium; Christe, redemptor omnium; Magnificat Primi toni.

The Choir of Westminster Cathedral. Director: Martin Baker. HYPERION CDA67396 TT 78:22

Palestrina and Westminster Cathedral Choir are a perfect match; together they do much to foster our suspicions concerning the reputation of the ‘Saviour of Church Music’ – just as Palestrina was in his day, so too is this choir in ours. This disc, a welcome addition to Palestrina’s limited availability on CD, is part of the choir’s series of recordings which focus on a particular liturgical season. The main work on this recording is the Missa Hodie Christus natus est – scored for two antiphonal four-part choirs, it is one of only four such masses by Palestrina. This CD presents the cream of Palestrina’s most stunning music for the season (avoiding the motet and mass Dies Sanctificatus), and shows him as the fluid composer who is able to skilfully set one set of voices off against another. The full and rich sound associated with this choir is perfectly captured. The balance and blend of direct and ambient sound gives a real sense of Westminster Cathedral’s acoustic. The informative notes are by Jon Dixon, who especially prepared all the editions except for the Magnificat, which together with the antiphon Hodie Christus natus est adds an appropriate Marian touch to conclude this musical feast. Highly recommended (especially if your current recording of this mass is the 1978 King’s College Choir/Ledger version).

Andrew Knowles

CHRISTMAS A CAPPELLA

Musica Sacra. Director: Indra Hughes. ATOLL ACD 501 TT 65:36

A thoroughly workmanlike set of performances from this New Zealand adult choir. As the CD’s title suggests the music is unaccompanied – though one piece, an engaging arrangement of Away in a Manger, has a pleasant ‘cello obbligato. The programme mixes a good number of very familiar ‘hymn-carols’ (Oh come, all ye faithful sung in Latin) with other lessknown and sometimes hitherto unrecorded pieces. Not, perhaps, a disc one would want to sit down and listen to often - but full of reverent Christmas spirit.

Andrew Davis

DANCING DAY CHRISTMASMUSICFROM EXETER

The Choirs of Exeter Cathedral. Directors: Andrew Millington and Stephen Tanner. Organ: Paul Morgan. Harp: Jean Price. HERALD HAVPCD 279 TT 66:07

What a lot of good choirs we have! This personable Christmas offering shows off the different Exeter choral forces both separately and in happy combination. The girls’ and boys’ choirs have intriguingly different styles but come together cohesively in the centre piece of the CD – John Rutter’s Dancing Day (son of B. B.’s Ceremony of Carols?). The repertoire is mostly familiar, mostly modern – though with the welcome unfamiliar Exeter-specific Office of Grandisson for Christmas Eve in a setting by Sir Thomas Armstrong. Solo work throughout is shared equitably between boys and girls – and all acquit themselves excellently. A fine Christmas disc.

Andrew Davis

CAROLS FROM AMPLEFORTH

Ampleforth Schola Cantorum.

Director: Ian Little. Organ: Simon Wright Ampleforth Abbey Records – AAR CD1 TT 66:07

The notes for this CD refer to the ‘mighty’ organ of the Abbey Church at Ampleforth and it’s might is apparent from the start accompanying the choir on a resounding rendition of O Come, All Ye Faithful. The organ accompaniment flourishes particularly in this and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. I must say choir and organ combine superbly on a particularly vibrant version of William Matthias’ Sir Christemas which is full of the energy one expects of this carol. However I do feel at times on the CD perhaps the choir unnecessarily takes second place to the organ in terms of volume impressive though the organ undoubtedly is. I particularly like the way this CD retains the sounds of the ‘vast acoustic’ (sleeve note again) of the Abbey Church. You know you are in the church particularly when listening on headphones and I think that this helps to give a real sense of location and church sound! Well done to the studio mixers for retaining this characteristic. The first unaccompanied piece is A Great and Mighty Wonder (track 7) and the choir do not disappoint with a polished performance. I am personally pleased to see the inclusion of one of my favourites Past Three a Clock though possibly sung at a slightly higher tempo than I am used to. Other unaccompanied tracks include absolutely top drawer renditions of The Infant King (some may be more familiar with this as Sing Lullaby) and perhaps most challengingly, bearing in mind it’s popularity, Silent Night which I found to be particularly touching. There’s a vast number of CD’s of Christmas music on the market often offering similar repertoire and it’s always nice for me anyway to find a piece I haven’t come across before and this was the case with Come With Torches (French traditional). Other perhaps less regular choices include Angel Tidings a Moravian carol arranged by John Rutter and Ampleforth certainly put the true Rutter stamp on it. Also On This Day Earth Shall Ring (Swedish). I waited with baited breath to hear Still Still Still, a German carol which over the last few years has become more widely heard in this country. As the title being in English on the sleeve suggested to me it might be sung as a translation but thankfully it retains it’s appeal by being sung in German.

Just a short note on the presentation of the CD itself. I am no expert on the costs of production of packaging but I do think that the quality of graphics on the cover are not particularly appealing and once opened the folding cover may be subject to damage quite easily. Minor points though. Overall a fine and varied collection of Christmas music with for me, particular highlights being Sir Christemas, Silent Night and The Infant King and the sense of location from the sound throughout the CD.

Simon Evans

CD Reviews ORGAN

THE ENGLISH CATHEDRAL SERIES VOL VII DAVID DUNNETTPLAYS NORWICH CATHEDRALORGAN.

Cook Fanfare; Darke Rhapsody Op4; Hollins A Trumpet Minuet; Concert Overture No 2 in c; Bairstow Evening Song; Harris Flourish for an Occasion; Statham Rhapsody on a Ground; Watson Sonatina; Bowen Fantasia; Gowers An Occasional Trumpet Voluntary; Howells Rhapsody in D flat

REGENT REGCD175 TT 76:07

David Dunnett begins this British recital with great aplomb using the trumpets of the Hill, Norman & Beard Norwich organ to great effect in John Cook’s sprightly Fanfare. This is a series of recitals from English cathedrals, which to date, are well recorded with interesting repertoire being explored. This disc, is no exception. The programme is enterprising, mixing Darke’s free spirited improvisatory Rhapsody, to show off the softer solo colours of the instrument, along with the Bairstow, highlighting the attractive colours and, of course, Howells Op 17 No1 with louder works. The wonderful Hollins Tr umpet Minuet and Harris’s Flourish, which seems to have gone out of fashion but which is given a good rendering here, are joined by Ronald Watson’s Sonatina. Watson has lived in Norwich for the past two decades and this piece in three movements is linked together by bridge passages, the last of which, a pedal solo, bears an uncanny resemblance to a well-known fugue subject by Bach. Dunnett knows how to handle this huge organ and gives an authoritative reading of Rhapsody on a Ground by Statham (another Norwich Cathedral organist). I really enjoyed Dunnett’s playing and his choice of repertoire. A good buy.

Andrew Palmer

GREAT EUROPEAN ORGANS No 66 GRAHAM BARBERPLAYS SYMPHONICORGANMUSICFROM THE EDWARDIAN ERAON THE ORGANOF RIPON CATHEDRAL

Stanford Fantasia and Fugue in D minor; Installation March; Lemare Nocturne in B minor; Rootham Epinikion; Elegiac Rhapsody; Farrar Fantasy-Prelude Op 5; Alcock Impromptu in G; Postlude; Bairstow Legend in A flat. PRIORY PRCD 769 TT 76:49

Compared with the Victorian era, or that of the present Queen, the Edwardian era was very short; Edward being 59 when he became King on the death of Victoria. This epoch was nonetheless notable for prodigious production of new musical compositions of all types. The introduction of electric illumination had transformed the music halls and fuelled a demand for light music (no pun intended) in addition to the steady output of the more established classical composers of the time. The music on this CD is that of a proud, autonomous nation with many years of empire behind it and, of course, many still to come. In the background, however, lurks a faint undertone of unease caused by emerging political and military developments on the near continent. The compositions of the time reflect this in the use of broad, confident melodic intervals with simultaneous tight, frequently chromatic, control of the pedal department. The attributes of the organ are used in an orchestral mode throughout, with some tonal experimentation on the part of the composers, evident at the edges and the listener will detect references to the techniques of other contemporary practitioners. Vaughan Williams, Walford Davies, Elgar, Ireland and Frank Bridge, for example, were all active at the time, if not contemporaneously in the field of organ composition. The foundation of this organ is late-Victorian: powerful, yet never strident or coarse and, among the reeds, the tuba family speaks with its refined and uniquely polished, authoritative voice. This instrument and the music, ably brought together by Graham Barber, complement each other well and remind the listener, in that immediate post-Savoy Opera period, that Britain still had command of the seas, and this is stamped on the music of the time. In his notes accompanying the disc, Graham Barber refers to the ‘pomp’ evident in some of the compositions, and it is this very ‘pomp’ which gives this recording its charm.

Michael Smith

SOUNDS OF BACH J S BACHPLAYEDBY TERENCE CHARLSTONONTHEORGANSOF DOUAI ABBEY

Toccata & Fugue in D minor; Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier; Ein feste Burg; Pedalexercitium in G minor; Fantasia & Fugue in G minor; Vater unser im Himmelreich; O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig; Prelude, Trio and Fugue in C major; Pastorella in F; Von Himmel hoch; Herzlich tut mich verlangen; Fantasia in G LAMMAS LAMM 150D TT 70:37

I inserted this CD into my car’s player expecting to hear a French organ, after all, Douai is in France. Isn’t it? Yes, but its associated abbey is 383km distant and is near Woolhampton, West Berkshire. The Douai community was founded in Paris in 1615. After the Revolution it moved to Douai in 1820 and was finally expelled from France in 1903, settling in England. The following information is supplied in the notes: ‘The Choir Organ was built by G Tamburini of Milan, Italy, and was installed in 1978 and stands adjacent to the monastic choir. It has suspended key action and its temperament is the builders’ own, unequal, based on an old Italian temperament. The Great Organ was built by Kenneth Tickell of Northampton and was installed in two stages between 1994 and 1996. It has three manuals, pedals and 31 speaking stops, and employs mechanical action, but with electronic stop control governing six adjustable pistons on each manual.’ These lovely instruments positively sparkle, and are evidence, if it were needed, that the community takes its music very seriously. What you get here is exactly what it says on the box: It’s all Bach, and a very skilful and accurate performance at that. In places, Terence Charlston’s timekeeping rivals that of my metronome. In particular, his performance of the mischievous G minor fugue (Fantasia & Fugue in G Minor BWV542) sets off at a foot-tapping pace, which is maintained more or less constant to the very end, and sounds, well, just joyous! This is a well-engineered recording which puts the listener close up to the instruments whilst still allowing the acoustics of the building to intrude and so enhance the overall tonal quality.

Michael Smith

ORGAN MUSIC FROM CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL

Bach Prelude & Fugue in A minor, BWV543; Chorale Prelude: Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend, BWV655; Three Chorale Preludes: Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV659,660,661; Prelude & Fugue in E flat, BWV552. Harvey Grace Lament. Rheinberger Sonata No 7 in F minor. Roger Fisher plays the Mander organ

AMPHION PHI CD 190 TT 71:58

For those of us who remember the homely little Chichester organ pre-1972, this demonstration of the 1986 Mander is a reminder of the relief felt when the cathedral had a pipe organ again after a lapse of fourteen years. Roger Fisher puts it through its paces with a well-chosen programme. While essentially a classical organ (as claimed by Alan Thurlow in his booklet-note) it copes well with Rheinberger and Chichester’s own Harvey Grace. The familiar Bach pieces are delivered in fine style with some colourful registrations in the chorale preludes and some fine plenum sounds in the preludes and fugues. The London organists of my youth all played Rheinberger - indeed I remember him being described as ‘the Beethoven of the organ!’ Fashions go in circles and after years in the musical wilderness he is now being played again. Simon Lindley’s programme note credits the late recording genius, Michael Smythe (to whom many, including this reviewer, owe a great deal), with starting the Rheinberger revival through his recordings in the 1970’ and 80’s. Roger Fisher here revisits Rheinberger in a mature, well-paced performance of the seventh sonata –using the Harvey Grace edition.

Alan Spedding

FESTIVALS, TIMES AND SEASONS ANDREW MILLINGTONATTHEORGAN OF EXETER CATHEDRAL

Bach Wachet auf; In dulci jubilo; Fugue in E flat ‘St Anne’; Brahms Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen; Herzlich tut mich verlangen; Langlais La nativité; Messiaen Dieu parmi nous; Prière du Christ montant vers son Père; Transports de joie d’une âme; Sweelinck Variations on ‘Mein junges Leben hat ein End’; Howells Saraband for the morning of Easter; De Grigny Pleinchant en taille et Fugue sur Veni Creator; Buxtehude Komm heiliger Geist, Herre Gott; Mulet Tu es petra; Dupré Te splendor et virtus; Placare Christe servulis. HERALD HAVPCD 281 TT 75:51

I read a review of this recording elsewhere that describes the programme as having a ‘curious lack of focus’. Surely this is the point? Millington’s recording takes the listener on a whistle-stop musical tour of the church year. As such, this disc seems to have greater direction than many other organ CDs, which often showcase to varying degrees of success the favourite pieces of the performer. I enjoyed listening to this selection of music, exploring the differing ways in which composers have dealt with the Christian calendar over the centuries. There is a degree of English restraint in Andrew Millington’s playing which suits much of the music and the organ well, and which lends to all of these interpretations great character.

Tom Bell

MENDELSSOHN ORGAN SONATAS

REG ELSONPLAYSTHE VISCOUNT PRESTIGE

ORGANAT WOODSETTS HOUSE, WOODSETTS

Sonatas No 1, 2,3,4,5 & 6. GUILD GMCD 7249 TT 78:33

This recording of Mendelssohn’s six sonatas is unusual in that the instrument in use is a digital one in the performer’s house. Reg Elson, a retired orthopaedic surgeon, was so pleased by this instrument that he chose to record upon it. This decision, however, is in some respects the downfall of this CD. Elson’s interpretations are musically involving, and certainly individual, and I did enjoy listening to them. The occasional slip does not detract from the overall shape of the performances. The instrument, complete with digital ‘echo’ does, I am afraid to say, spoil things a little. I have a practice instrument by the same company in my house and, whilst it is enjoyable to play, it is definitely not suitable for a CD. I recognise, of course, that this recording was made in order to display the instrument, but I cannot help wishing that it had been made on a pipe instrument in

a more suitable setting. At no point does this digital organ convince me that it is in any way a substitute for a pipe organ.

Tom Bell

SOUNDS ARTISTIC DAVID BRIGGSPLAYSTHE ORGANOF BLACKBURN CATHEDRAL

Gowers after Jeremiah Clarke An Occasional

Trumpet Voluntary; Vierne Cathédrales; Cochereau

transcribed by David Briggs Suite de Dances

Improvisées; Mussorgsky transcribed by Keith John Pictures at an Exhibition. LAMMAS LAMM 150D TT 75:37

Who better to put a new or rebuilt organ through its paces than David Briggs? He has had a special relationship with the organ in Blackburn Cathedral since he gave his first public recital on it in 1976. This has continued in the recent rebuild, when he acted as consultant and then gave the reopening recital in 2002. The programme on this CD is well-judged so as to demonstrate fully the greatly enhanced qualities of the 4-manual, 60-stop instrument. The Patrick Gowers march makes an acerbic start, followed by the emotional Vierne piece. The Cochereau suite had to be transcribed by Briggs from the recording made at the time of the composer’s improvisation of it in Notre-Dame in 1974. This 40-hour task, itself a tour de force, has secured the suite for posterity and enabled subsequent performance of it. Just marvel at the triple musical skills which are combined here. The Mussorgsky has often alienated me because of its tedious programme and over-performance in many versions but the sheer musical virtuosity of Briggs’s playing of Keith John’s brilliant transcription on this disc completely captivated my ear. Lance Andrews has here taken full advantage of the superb Blackburn acoustic and achieved an outstanding recording.

Roger Tucker

RHEINBERGER VOL 8 COMPLETE ORGAN WORKS. RUDOLF INNIGPLAYSTHE KUHN ORGAN ST. JOHANN SCHAFFHAUSEN

Sonata No 14; Monologue 12 Stücke für Orgel. GOLD DG (Distributor Chandos). MDG 317 0898-2 TT

60:06

Like the previous seven instalments of Rudolf Innig’s complete Rheinberger project, volume eight is an extremely well-presented disc. The booklet notes are very thorough, taking the listener through the nuances of each piece in precise detail. In case this wasn’t enough, all of the registrations for each movement are given, in keeping with previous discs in the series. The performances pleasingly reflect this level of attention to detail, especially in Innig’s wellpaced version of the Sonata No. 14, which is full of excitement and colour. Innig’s musical sensitivity is also excellently shown on this disc, as can be heard in many of the gently expressive movements of Monologues. It is refreshing to see MDG specifically targeting a musically knowledgeable audience in these recordings; I would however urge the casual listener to give them more than a second glance.

Michael Phillips

GLORIOUS ENGLISH ORGAN MUSIC SIMON LINDLEYPLAYS LEEDS PARISH CHURCH ORGAN

Smart Postludes in C and D; Andante grazioso; Camidge Concerto II in g; Jackson Impromptu; Wesley Larghetto in f#; Andante in e; Avison Concerto in D; Lemare Pastorale No 1; Finzi Carol; Cocker Tuba Tune; Bairstow Evensong; Fricker Concert Overture in c

AMPHION PHICD 178 TT 79:30

As always, one can rely on Simon Lindley to delight and this CD is no exception. Lindley is always at home playing English repertoire and on this CD we have the whole gamut of different eras represented. The LPC organ is recorded well and this is the first recording featuring the new Jubilee Trumpet which enjoys its outing especially in the Cocker, a piece Lindley delivers with finesse. He plays Jackson’s Impromptu warmly. I listened to former Leeds city organist, Herbert Fricker’s Concert Overture in C minor with interest. It’s a stupendous conception beginning on full organ with Tuba and which Lindley brings to life with his inimitable rhythmical style.

Andrew Palmer

The Friends of Cathedral Music

Secretary Michael Cooke

Aeron House, Llangeitho, Tregaron, Ceredigion, Wales SY25 6SU 01974 821614 Email: joycooke@aol.com

Treasurer

Mrs Anita Phillips

Rowan Lodge, 53 Fourth Avenue, Chelmsford CM1 4EZ 01245 352035 Email: anita@rowans.force9.co.uk

Publicity Officer & Advertising Manager

Roger Tucker

16 Rodenhurst Road, LONDON SW4 8AR 020 8674 4916 Email: roger@cathedralmusic.supanet.com

Media Relations Officer

Trevor Godfrey Meadow Croft, 12 Spilsbury Close, Old College Park, Leamington Spa CV32 6SW

Tel/Fax 01926 831820 Email: trevorgodfrey@onetel.net.uk

Diocesan Representative Co-ordinator

John Craddock

105 Casterton Road, STAMFORD PE9 2UF

01780 763756

Membership Secretary

Tim Haywood

FCM Membership Department, PO Box 207, Scarcroft, LEEDS LS14 3WY

0845 644 3721 (UK local rate) Email: info@fcm.org.uk

Secretary for Gatherings

Peter Smith

Paddock House, 7 Orchard View, Skelton, YORK YO3 6YQ

01904 470 503 Email: PeterSmith@robertpeter.fsnet.co.uk

Sales Officer & Secretary for Leaflets

Joy Cooke

Aeron House, Llangeitho, Tregaron, Ceredigion, Wales SY25 6SU

01974 821614 Email: Joycooke@aol.com

FCM Archivist

Dr Rosemary Smith

136a Southbrae Drive, GLASGOW G13 1TZ

0141 959 0704 Email: rhsmith136@aol.com

Details from: Peter Smith Paddock House, Orchard View, Skelton, YORK YO30 1YQ

FRIENDS OF CATHEDRAL MUSIC

REQUIRED FOR JUNE 2004 OR EARLIER

HONORARY SECRETARY

FCM was founded in 1956 to safeguard the heritage of cathedral music and to increase public knowledge and appreciation of cathedral music.

This position is entirely voluntary though all expenses incurred will be reimbursed.

For further information contact the Chairman Professor Peter Toyne DL, Cloudeslee, Croft Drive CALDY, Wirral CH48 2JW

Cathedral MUSIC Cathedral MUSIC

St.George’s School,Windsor Castle

Pre-Preparatory and Preparatory Day and Boarding School for Boys and Girls 3-13 years.

• High quality education and traditional values.

• Co-educational policy within a prep school environment.

• Opportunities for boy choristers to sing in St.George’s Chapel.

•Five day academic week with flexible boarding arrangements.

• Purpose built and equipped Nursery and Pre-Preparatory Department.

• Extensive playing fields and heated indoor swimming pool.

• Secure environment for pupils within the Home Park.

VOICE TRIALS

For Boys (7 1/2 – 91/2 years old)

Saturday 1st November 2003

Open Auditions will be held for Choristerships (worth up to 50% of the school fees, plus one award of 100%)

J. Roger Jones,Head Master St.George’s School,Windsor Castle

Berkshire SL4 1QF

Tel:01753 865553Fax:01753 842093

e-mail:enqs@stgwindsor.co.uk

Website:www.stgwindsor.co.uk

THE PILGRIMS’ SCHOOL (Winchester Cathedral)

Boys’ preparatory school from 7 - 13 Day, Weekly and Full boarding

Educating the Winchester Cathedral Choristers and Winchester College Quiristers

Excellent sports opportunities

Enviable facilities

Beautiful surroundings

50% Choral Bursaries offered

VOICE AUDITIONS

Saturday, 15th November

For further details please contact: The Secretary, The Pilgrims’ School

The Close, Winchester, Hants SO23 9LT Tel: 01962 854189 E-mail: info@pilgrims-school.co.uk

www.pilgrims-school.co.uk

Two superb releases from Newcastle Cathedral and Scott Farrell

Glory RevealedMusic from Advent to Candlemas

Newcastle Cathedral Choir, directed by Scott Farrell

REGCD188

and the latest release in The ✣ English Cathedral ✣ Series Vol VIII

Newcastle Cathedral

Scott Farrell plays an exuberant French Feast on the first CD recording of this unjustly neglected organ.

Works by Guilmant, Saint-Saëns, Messiaen Tournemire, Vierne REGCD189

Our Autumn release schedule also includes The English Cathedral Series Vol IX BRISTOL/Mark LeeREGCD191

The English Cathedral Series Vol X

TRURO/Robert SharpeREGCD193

Discs from Jesus College, Cambridge, directed by Timothy Byram-Wigfield and a major recording featuring historic English organs from Margaret Phillips

“

The English Cathedral Series is proving a triumphant success story” Organists’ Review