Companion the the magazine for the College of St George
Feature Windsor Investiture Garter Knights Sir John Major Feature Composing for Christmas
ISSUE 9 SPRING 2009 £2.80 WELCOME
DIARY OF EVENTS
JANUARY 6 Epiphany The first thing that comes to mind when the College of 25 Chorister surplicing and installation of a Lay Clerk St George is mentioned is, not surprisingly, the Chapel. 31 ‘Be a Chorister for a Day’ After all, the Chapel sits at the heart of the College and FEBRUARY 25 Ash Wednesday expresses the fundamental raison d’être of the place.
17-22 ‘Painting stories’. Family activities in the Moat Education Room And then, the next thing that is usually think, whereas words can be understood thought of is the music that soars within by everyone. But to me it seems exactly MARCH the Chapel day by day. It is the music the opposite’. Perhaps it is the case that 3 Quarterly Obit that so many people come to hear. It is words are clumsy and imprecise whereas the music that draws people, in their music can be finely honed and crystal 8 Afternoon organ recital Photograph: David Clare thousands, to this place of worship. clear. 12-15 Windsor Festival Spring Weekend When I was much younger, I was Certainly, many people find that music 22 Afternoon organ recital somewhat impatient with people who evokes, touches and stimulates a spiritual 3 2 St George’s School Henry VIII Art Exhibition in the Dean’s Cloister were drawn to church ‘because of the nerve (a divine homing instinct) more (to 4 April) music’. It seemed to me that this was a sharply and surely than much religious 24 St George’s School Supers Choir sing Evensong bit of a soft option. Christianity was made vocabulary. Here at St George’s, this is of sterner stuff! something that we understand. It informs APRIL our ministry. Over the years, however, I have begun 1 Castle closed to visitors to think that I should not have been 5 Palm Sunday so impatient. In one of his letters, the composer Felix Mendelssohn wrote: The Right Reverend David Conner 8 - 18 April 2010 Henry VIII: A 500th Anniversary Exhibition in the ‘People usually complain that music is so Drawings Gallery, Windsor Castle with exhibits from both the Royal Dean of Windsor Collection and St George’s Archives ambiguous, that it leaves them in such doubt as to what they are supposed to 9 Maundy Thursday 10 Good Friday 12 Easter Day - Evensong broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 at 4 pm 6-9 & ‘The Henry Hunt’. Family activities in the Moat Education Room 13-18 and throughout the Castle
REGULAR SERVICES AT ST GEORGE’S CHAPEL ARE AS FOLLOWS: Companion Production Team: SUNDAY The Revd Michael Boag Yvette Day 8.30 am Holy Communion Andrew Doe 10.45 am *Mattins with sermon Dr Hueston Finlay (Co-Editor) 11.45 am *Sung Eucharist Georgie Grant Haworth Surgeon Vice Admiral Ian Jenkins 5.15 pm *Evensong Megan Sanderson (Co-Editor) contents
The Editor 1 Welcome 8 Daydreaming, particle physics... 16 stgeorges-windsor.org MONDAY TO SATURDAY The Companion College of St George 2 Windsor Castle’s First Investiture 10 Military Knights 17 Bigger is better 7.30 am Mattins Windsor Castle, Berkshire SL4 1NJ 4 The Garter Knights 12 Composing for Christmas Darkness & Light 8.00 am Holy Communion Telephone 01753 865538 18 5.15 pm *Evensong (except Wednesdays when the service is said) [email protected] 6 Milk or Meat 14 No.6 Canons Cloister www.stgeorges-windsor.org FRIDAY Additional 12 noon Holy Communion service
Front cover shows one of the Gilebertus Christmas tree hangings This publication has been entirely sponsored by the generosity of an anonymous donor. available from the Chapel Shop. ©2008 The Dean and Canons of Windsor. All rights reserved and reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission of the Dean and Canons of Windsor. *sung by the choir of St George’s Chapel during term time Photograph: David Clare Designed by Exposed Design Consultants. Printed by RCS plc.
The Companion • The magazine for the College of St George 1 FEATURE
The Royal Collection © 2008, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth ll The prospect of holding some two minute silence shortly before The Investitures here created an air of Queen arrived. great expectation and excitement in the Castle and much enthusiasm Eighty-four recipients attended for as plans were being finalised and the awards published in the Queen’s minute details addressed by The Lord Birthday Honours List 2008. Each had Chamberlain and his Department, the opportunity of inviting three guests. the Central Chancery of the Orders The honours ranged from a Dame of Knighthood, the Master of the Commander of the Most Honourable Household, the Castle Superintendent Order of the Bath to awards for services and his staff and, indeed, many others. in Iraq. Royal Victorian Order awards The protocol followed, as much as were made to The Lord Faringdon, was possible, that undertaken in formerly Lord in Waiting to The Queen Buckingham Palace. (KCVO), Miss Pamela Clark, Registrar of the Royal Archives (LVO), and Huw The Investiture was held in the Jones, a Royal Chef (MVO). Among magnificent splendour of the Waterloo others being decorated was Lawrence Chamber with guests arriving at the Dallaglio, former England rugby union State Entrance, proceeding up the captain, for services to rugby and Grand Staircase and entering through charity (OBE). Recipients congregated Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) the Grand Vestibule. Staircase parties initially in the Queen’s Drawing Room by Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) were provided by the Household and the Queen’s Ball Room in the State Cavalry Mounted Regiment and Apartments, and entered the Waterloo period, to display some ‘twenty-five (by kind permission) The Royal Collection © 2008, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth ll Gentlemen Ushers supervised the Chamber from the Garter Throne Room portraits by Sir Thomas Lawrence of proceedings with support from some where The Queen decorated each the allied sovereigns, statesmen and of the Wardens of Windsor Castle. A individual and congratulated them on military commanders who had been selection of music was played before the honour she had bestowed. Those responsible for the overthrow of
Photograph: Mark Fiennes Photograph: Charles Green and during the event by a ten-piece who received a knighthood knelt before Napoleon’. Each, by definition, was an
The Waterloo Chamber - Windsor Castle Lawrence Dallaglio OBE (by kind permission) orchestra from the Band of the Life The Queen and were dubbed with the individual of great distinction and merit. Guards in the West Musicians’ Gallery sword used by her late father, King It is apposite that not only were they under the direction of their Director of George Vl, when, as the Duke of York, looking down on the proceedings but View from the Middle Ward Music Captain Kevin Davies. he was Colonel of the Scots Guards. that each award was received under the Having been invested the recipients gaze of no less a hero than the Duke of Windsor Castle’s First Investiture Her Majesty entered the Waterloo exited via St George’s Hall. Wellington. Chamber from St George’s Hall At the conclusion of the Investiture Her accompanied by the Master of the Majesty and her entourage proceeded I have no doubt that holding Household and attended by two down the aisle of the Waterloo Investitures here brings an exciting Her Majesty The Queen held an Investiture at Windsor Castle on Tuesday Gurkha Orderly Officers, a tradition Chamber and she retired through St new dimension and purpose to the life introduced by Queen Victoria in 1876. George’s Hall, after which the Hall was and work of Windsor Castle, which 11 November 2008. This was a departure from the norm. The majority of Also on duty was a contingent of the used for portrait photography. I believe is a very fitting location for Queen’s Body Guard of the Yeomen I believe that it is particularly such prestigious and important national Investitures, some twenty a year, are held in the Ballroom of Buckingham of the Guard originally formed in 1485 appropriate that the Waterloo Chamber occasions. by King Henry Vll following his victory has been used for this purpose. It Palace with one in the Grand Gallery of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, at Bosworth Field. The Investiture was built by covering over the Horn Surgeon Vice Admiral Ian Jenkins coincided with Armistice Day and Court with a timber framed clerestory Constable and Governor, Windsor Castle Edinburgh, and occasionally another in Cardiff Castle. those attending commemorated the reminiscent of a man-o’-war of Nelson’s
2 The Companion • The magazine for The College of St George 3 THE GARTER KNIGHTS THE GARTER KNIGHTS
Sir John Major KG, CH, PC Photographs: David Clare On installation each ‘A decent and honourable man’ Knight or Lady of the waiting for the phone to ring with a Garter is allocated a stall It is the morning of 29 November 1990 and The Rt Hon John Major, MP is waking for crisis. It is an exhausting job, unlike any other. As a cabinet minister there is a ...being Prime Minister in the Quire where the plate specific brief, but as Prime Minister you the first time as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He remembers his ‘mixed is a bit different from displaying the full Coat of Arms (which are the ringmaster, holding together all anything else... becomes hereditary) is fixed and over sorts of competing policy ambitions, emotions’ that morning; the need to ‘get on with it’; and, just briefly, thinking ‘it’s an which is displayed the banner and having to adjudicate’. crest (coronet for Ladies). Whilst the awful long way from Brixton to Downing Street’. choice of heraldic devices featured So how is life for an ex-Prime Minister? in most of the older Grants of Arms the ‘clement economic times’ he had As Prime Minister, more general ‘It’s very good, there are lots of things is unknown, the modern wished for, in which he could have support also came from other, perhaps to do, it’s a lovely world out there’. Grants highlight an ‘produced a lot of reforming budgets, unexpected, sources. His staff at A variety of business interests keep individual’s achievements. changing the living conditions of Number 10, numbering then only about Sir John on the road for four to six people who weren’t so well off’. Sir 100, were ‘very much a family’, the months of the year. He writes, finding Banners are painted on John recognises the unpopularity of ‘bonding and binding was very strong, it ‘impossible not to pick up a pen in silk and crests carved and some of the ‘tough decisions’ taken from the messengers kind enough to every spare moment’. An autobiography painted lime wood.The in the early nineties, not to mention bring you tea and biscuits’ upwards. and a book on the history of cricket green and blue check the cost in terms of the loss of votes, There was a ‘real sense of fun – even are already published and a history of background to Sir John but he remembered as a small boy in the bleakest moments’, and Sir John music-hall is in progress, a tribute to Major’s banner refers what it was like ‘when the week went talks warmly of those who ‘became and his parents’ life. ‘Perhaps surprisingly’, to the Chancellor of the on longer than the money’, and he remain close friends’ from within that Sir John also writes poetry. There is Exchequer and alludes to was determined to kill inflation. He is team. extensive charity work, his love of sport his wife’s book entitled staunchly proud of bequeathing ‘the – ‘cricket, soccer and rugby particularly’ Chequers: the Prime best economic circumstances any When I ask about the dark moments, or and music – ‘from classical all the way Minister’s Country House incoming government has inherited those days when the enormity of the job through to the Rolling Stones and and its History. The for generations’ and the resulting threatened to overwhelm, he mentions Madeleine Peyroux’. Are there any yellow portcullis refers ‘long-term run of good prosperity’ that two. The deaths of Johnathan Ball and unrealised ambitions, I ask. ‘Yes, lots’, to Parliament and the followed. Tim Parry in the Warrington bomb of comes the reply, ‘the role of Prime red roundels represent 1993: ‘two young boys, two shattered Minister is just one area of endeavour’. cricket balls and his love The second legacy, for which it families, and many more injured. I of that game. Sir John Major, Garter Day 2005 might be said he is not often publicly wondered if we would ever reach peace In the field of that endeavour, we also recognised, is Northern Ireland. It was in Northern Ireland’. The second was a talk about the National Lottery. It is the His crest is a magnificent The enormity of this task seems too a political hot potato and a curious morning about a month after Sir John third of the achievements of which he hunting stag referring great for most of us to imagine and yet decision for a politician with limited took Office. He remembers Robin Butler is most proud, offering support to the to his home and former Sir John had dreamed of politics since experience and knowledge of the (then Cabinet Secretary) ‘reminding me principal areas of enjoyment in his own constituency, Huntingdon. first visiting the House of Commons in subject, but for Sir John it seemed that I needed to handwrite instructions life - heritage, sport and the arts - which The gold key represents 1956, aged just thirteen – ‘the history ‘intolerable’ and ‘morally wrong that for the Trident submarines, in the event for his seven years in Office had to his time as Prime Minister and atmosphere just reached out and we should find it any more acceptable that the UK was destroyed in a nuclear be laid aside. Like many of Sir John’s and First Lord of the enveloped me’. It was, however, the to live with murder and mayhem in exchange’. There is a pause while the political decisions, the foundation of Treasury, the blade alludes Chancellor’s job that he dreamed of, Northern Ireland, than we would in enormity of all that this implies hangs the Lottery indicates the primacy of the to his surname and the and it is the economy that he chooses to any other part of the UK: we had to do in the air. ‘That does bring home to ‘decent and honourable man’ over the Roman ‘10’ in the bow to discuss first when I ask about the three something about it’. Sir John recalls you that being Prime Minister is a bit politician and spending a very enjoyable No 10 Downing Street. legacies of which he is proudest. that, over one of their regular glasses different from anything else you’ve and relaxed morning with him bears that of whisky following Prime Minister’s done’, he says, with the hint of a smile. out in hatfuls. Colonel David Axson With inflation ‘going through the roof’ Question Time, John Smith, then and interest rates at fourteen percent, Leader of the Opposition, had said ‘I’ll It certainly is. Existing on about five Georgie Grant Haworth the economic climate was a far cry from support you – there are no votes in it’! hours sleep for seven years, ‘always Development Director
4 The Companion • The magazine for the College of St George 5 ST GEORGE’S HOUSE ST GEORGE’S HOUSE
Is the study of nature self- evidently a better preparation for life than the study of human interaction?
Dr John Holman or Lord Winston, there is no real surprise, as the getting that leitmotiv came to the surface, there would have involved asking the Into the Future asking the same question again and unimaginable question: Why is it that again: what is the purpose of scientific Science is a core subject, a subject that As we look forward to education? every child has to learn? 2009 we are planning Once the theme was brought to light, It is clear that every child must learn two camps formed at opposite ends of to read; they must, therefore, learn the programme of the spectrum of intellectual possibility. English. It is equally clear that every There were those who believed that child must learn to count; they must, Consultations for the the purpose of scientific education therefore, learn Mathematics. It is was to provide a basic level of perhaps less clear why every child must House. Here are some of scientific literacy to the widest possible learn Science. Is there an immediately audience. And then with equal and obvious case for thinking that Science the conversations we very opposite fervour there were those who rather than History, for example, ought believed that dumbing down must be to be a core educational discipline? much hope to host: avoided at all costs, and that students Is the study of nature self-evidently had to be taught scientific principles a better preparation for life than the Are GM foods the right way forward? in a logical and coherent manner. One study of human interaction? Given an increasing world population Milk or Meat? side demanded milk, the other meat. there are those who suggest that Surely there is a case to be made for GM is the only way to feed the The debate raged. At times the the suggestion that Science should not world. There are others who fear the In September St George’s House joined forces with Cumberland Lodge to host a strength of conviction showed as be a core subject. If students were free unknown consequences of meddling conversation came close to – but never to choose to study Science then surely with nature. Is this an experiment large conference on scientific education. As it happened the conference took place quite reached – boiling point. As an a large number of the disinterested worth trying or too dangerous to even outsider it is not hard to understand would vote with their feet. The begin? in the same week that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development both points of view. If you want to audience would change. The obligation teach science to every student then to keep everyone interested would be What is the purpose of prisons? The published their extensive report on education. it hardly seems possible to attempt to greatly reduced and the opportunity public demand for punishment has load the curriculum with theoretical to construct solid foundations greatly seen incarceration rates soar. The The UK did not do well. According in part be due to the falling number weight; you will think it better to feed increased. result is prison overcrowding, a to the report we have excessive of students taking science at A-level. your students with easily digestible dangerous result when prison testing, large class sizes, and below But why are numbers falling? Is it milk. Yet, if you want to prepare And yet, maybe not. This conference means not only punishment but also average spending on secondary school because science subjects are regarded students for a career in science it showed two things clearly. First, protection and rehabilitation. students. And within moments of as difficult or is it because curricula hardly seems possible to empty the there are no easy solutions. Second, starting our own conference it was design is flawed at the early stages of curriculum of the very theoretical when faced with difficult, seemingly How can Britain secure future energy clear that there were other problems education. weight that defines the credibility of intractable, problems you need needs? Getting people together too. the subject; you will want to feed your dedicated and committed people to from across the energy industry Sitting in amongst a grand array students solid meat. find a way forward. And there are such and government, we hope to make First among them is the well of teachers, curriculum designers, people; we spent three days in their a contribution to this difficult yet documented fact – brought out in academics and commentators, I was Given the polarity of opinion I imagined company. practical problem. our own Annual Lecture by Professor struck by a central concern, a kind that the conference would find its way Sykes – that there are insufficient of leitmotiv. And it sounded in every to a deeper understanding of this milk Canon Dr Hueston Finlay For details of the House programme science graduates. Why? There is no session. Whether listening to Dr or meat leitmotiv. It never quite got Warden, St George’s House please see our website – one answer to this question but it must Laura Grant, Professor Michael Reiss, there. And the fact that it never got www.stgeorgeshouse.org.
6 The Companion • The magazine for the College of St George 7 ST GEORGE’S SCHOOL
A profile of Mark Shuttleworth, self-funded cosmonaut and creator of the Ubuntu Linux distribution.
Daydreaming, particle physics,
flashes of insight and coming home
are on his list of likes, along with Spring, lime
marmalade and MiG-29s!
At once I identify that aspirational fortune he amassed following the sale Foundation is a non-profit organisation, mixture of the enquiring mind of his internet-based company Thawte, established as part of his response to undaunted by challenge, coupled which specialised in secure online the slow rate at which new ideas for with the pursuit of the unknown, both transactions and cryptography. social reform are commonly realised prime characteristics of the enterprises due to lesser funding and the speed at that Mark has founded. Perhaps ‘Going into space and seeing the earth which investment is able to facilitate more importantly, he remains mindful from a distance makes it clear just how change in industry. The Foundation of the energy which is gained from interdependent we are. So I wanted seeks to assist budding entrepreneurs interaction with those around us. to do something that was really global: in developing countries – particularly We have a responsibility as educators free software is a phenomenon that is his home country South Africa – to to encourage children to see beyond truly global’. develop and support businesses. It the boundaries and the obstacles has also promoted the Open Source which would otherwise divide and limit The process of connecting the concept that affords children the us. However, while there is a certain people of the world and the access technological opportunities they thrill and exhilaration in realising to information which this affords, is deserve. one’s dreams, there is also a need fundamental to Mark’s philanthropical to understand the due diligence and endeavour. In 2004 he founded Schools should also be about responsibility which accompanies such the Ubuntu project, using Linux inspiration and opportunities, aspirations. distribution to produce a high quality unlocking the talents of children and desktop and server-operating system providing the impetus to propel them Mark Shuttleworth, the South African that is freely available worldwide. This toward their dreams and fuel their entrepreneur, achieved his dream of will have a radical impact on economic motivation to reach beyond apparent flying into space in 2002: blasting off opportunities and education, especially limits. from Baikonur, Kazakhstan as part of in the Third World. the crew of Soyuz TM33 and docking Yvette Day with the International Space Station Mark has developed a reputation St George’s School two days later. This journey cost him for helping others reach the goals to $20 million, barely a snippet of the which they aspire. The Shuttleworth
Artwork by Robert and Andrea, Year 7
8 The Companion • The magazine for the College of St George 9 THE MILITARY KNIGHTS OF WINDSOR THE MILITARY KNIGHTS OF WINDSOR Photograph: David Clare A labour of love began when Military Knight of Windsor Major Richard Moore decided to update the history of the Military Knights and their predecessors the Alms (or Poor) Knights.
Edmund Fellowes, Minor Canon and binding. A rather heavy completely from 1900 to 1951, had produced acid free paper developed for Kew The eighty-two pages of a history of the Windsor Knights in Gardens, for seed storage, was chosen calligraphy by Grace Meeking 1944 and to this had been added an and a medieval cord binding technique took the best part of a year unpublished addendum taking the list using Alum tawed white goat’s skin and the whole book nearly of names up to the 1980s. There was, leather, designed so the book will lie two years to make. as Richard observed, ‘something of a flat wherever it is opened. Dr Lane had need to bring it all up to date’. restored a number of books with this binding but had never made one, so The list begins with Robert Beverle who although this project was a first for him, was one of five Alms Knights, whose he knew what to do. Grace Meeking working on the calligraphy names appear during the reign of King Edward III. King Edward IV in his reign The eighty-two pages of calligraphy of twenty-two years appointed nineteen by Grace Meeking took the best part and Queen Elizabeth, fifty-seven of a year and the whole book nearly from 1558 to 1603. Edmund Fellowes two years to make. Also working lists the knights by date order of on the project was Colonel Charles appointment (of seniority) and provides Webb (646) who checked the names an alphabetical index of names. Richard of regiments. This was an important Moore has numbered them as well – task given the number of times names
Photographic sequence showing the bookbinding in progress
from Robert Beverle, number 1, to have changed. Each regiment is listed Bruce Watson, number 648. by the name it had when the Military Military Knights of Windsor Knight was serving in it – which is not With the thought of a Book of necessarily the same as the name it had Book of Remembrance Remembrance in mind Richard (number when the Military Knight died. There 637) and his wife Jenny then rearranged are over six hundred entries in the the list of names into death order, Book of Remembrance, from Robert showing the dates of appointment, Beverle, who died on 7 July 1368, to of death, their regiment, and, where Major ‘Tommy’ Thompson (625) who Major Richard Moore reviews the finished book appropriate, a one line profile; for died on 21 March 2006. The book was The Book of Remembrance on display in St George’s Chapel example ‘John Bodenham, Lieutenant to dedicated at the Garter Requiem on Sir Francis Drake’. Tuesday 17 June this year and should last a thousand years. The next step was to approach Dr Roderick Lane, Bookbinder to Her The Revd Michael Boag Majesty The Queen for advice on paper Succentor and Dean’s Vicar
10 The Companion • The magazine for the College of St George 11 FEATURE FEATURE
I love writing for Christmas services, for the English Christmas is a most complex and subtle festival. Many people who come to Midnight Mass or the Nine Lessons and Carols never set foot in church for the rest of the year – they may even be tourists, Composing for Christmas – Choral or listening in from some remote part of the world. They seek that extraordinary atmosphere, found nowhere else, a combination of the arcane – the Celtic midwinter Yvette Day asked Composers to make a few feast held when nature is at its stillest and darkest: the human — a poor family, beset by cruelty of the world — and the extraordinary magic of the Incarnation, a moment of perfection in a dangerous political setting. The essence of Christmas music is comments about the challenges of composing choral bitter-sweet and poignant. Writing for a Christmas service means stepping into a road well-travelled, where an attempt at subversion is not for the faint-hearted. Finding an music for the Christmas Repertoire unusual or un-set Christmas text is very hard, and avoiding the cheesy pitfalls even harder; for the true character of Christmas is not sentimental but intense: hope faintly flickering in the dark.
Judith Bingham
My earliest published composition was a Christmas carol – the Shepherd’s Pipe Carol, one of a batch of pieces David Willcocks took along to Oxford University Press while I was a student in his Harmony and Counterpoint class at Cambridge – and from time to time I have written carols ever since. I think that carols are a rather lovely and little-noticed art form, a wayside wild Christmas smells a certain way – cinnamon and conifer, chestnut and brandy; feels a certain way – flower of music and, as such, especially English. Carols have been written warmth of fire, billowing breath in morning air, boot crunching in snow. And then there is the memory of and composed in England since the Middle Ages, a longer continuous history Christmas, remembrances of family present and departed, sledge-rides from lost decades, loneliness and by far than the symphony or string quartet. Carols are both folk art and, companionship. There’s no other time of year that distils such an intense brew of feelings and emotions. sometimes, high art, but I think they should have an essential simplicity, with words that express the wonder of Christmas, and music reflecting the basic A composer takes one or few or all of these sensations and gives them back to singers and audience as music, forms of song, dance, and lullaby. Christmas for me is both a religious and a as an aural testament to the uniqueness of this time of year and everything it represents. Whether dealing folk festival, durable, warm, and inclusive. It’s still my favourite time of year. with secular or sacred music, the composer aspires to create, from the special essence of Christmas, a sound-world which is as unique and as special as the thing itself, so that all participants in the celebration can John Rutter recognise it and say to themselves, “Yes, this is Christmas.”
Tim Sutton
I have very vivid and very fond memories of the uniquely magical atmosphere at the Christmas services during my time as a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral, and it has been Much of my Christmas music has been born as a result of people asking me to write for their wonderful to be able to continue to contribute to worship at this very special time of year choirs. Often you write for someone you know well, and you will probably know the sound of their through my work as a composer. I am also very aware, through that same experience, what choir. If I am composing Christmas music for my own amusement, I am normally inspired to do an incredibly busy and demanding time it is for our choirs, and how rehearsal is even more this when the great festival is over! limited than usual, and I have tried to make sure that my own two Christmas pieces (and four, strangely, for Advent...) are not unreasonably demanding. It always seems a pity that the commercial world does not recognise Advent, and instead starts to celebrate Christmas in early November. For those who work in the Church, the excitement and I’m afraid I’m terribly old-fashioned when it comes to Christmas carols — the best ones are magic of Christmas is all the more powerful having gone through Advent, with its heavy themes medieval of course, and for me, a proper carol should be clean, clear and direct in outline, of darkness, sin and Judgement. Christmas emerges as a great festival, and the wonder of the with an almost rustic verve; it should have a medieval (or neo-medieval) text; it should Incarnation has a special significance. Both of these seasons are a rich inspiration to composers, be in compound metre(s); if possible, it should have a verse-and-refrain structure, and it and have produced some very great music through the centuries. I like Christmas music which has should dance. I managed some of these attributes in my first carol Ane Sang of the Birth some depth and a real sense of wonder at the birth of Christ, rather than too much musical tinsel. of Christ (for St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh) and was delighted to be able to encompass all of them in my second, Nowell sing we (for Truro Cathedral), which is also — and this is Malcolm Archer important too — very short!
Gabriel Jackson
12 The Companion • The magazine for the College of St George 13 ARCHIVES & CHAPTER LIBRARY ARCHIVES & CHAPTER LIBRARY
early sixteenth century the distinctive Previously enclosed by a extension that we see today was grey render, the original built, transforming number 6 into the timbers were preserved 6 Canons’ Cloister most impressive home in the cloister. and the distinctive We can only hypothesise about herring-bone patterned early occupants but one might well brickwork was inserted, have found Thomas Wolsey, soon to restoring the extension become the most significant canon of to something of its former his day, living there from 1511 to 1514. glory. Attracting a great Certainly the design of the extension deal of interest from the draws comparison with Hampton Court then named Historic creating the intriguing possibility that it Buildings Council, work may have been completed for Wolsey. was undertaken to sure-up what was described in the The College Archives contain 1967 Friends’ Report as a numerous documents relating to the ‘shaky structure’. Similarly canons’ homes, including two ‘income preserved at this time was Photograph from Seely and Paget report, c.1967. Sketch from report by Seely and Paget, c.1967. Shows the east flank. ‘The old window openings Shows south elevation of No.6, c.1565. books’. These manuscript books the only complete section as revealed before the removal of the Victorian provide a list of the occupants of of the original timber arcading in the insertions’. With its timber-framed range jutting number 6 from 1678 and continuing cloister. Now visible on the right-hand proudly out into the cloister garth the for the following 250 years. The books wall as one enters the building, this is a building would, in Henry VIII’s time, themselves record the movements of truly remarkable and unique survival. have been perhaps the finest of all the canons and the payments they made canons’ homes. for fixtures and fittings like wainscott As a new generation of canons take as they entered a new house. From up the challenge, and great pleasure, Lying between the Dean’s Cloister to these documents we can see that the of custodianship of the Lower Ward’s the south and the north curtain wall of noted European scholar Isaac Vossius historic buildings, we might only Windsor Castle, Canons’ Cloister was occupied the speculate as to what discoveries largely built between 1352 and 1355 to house in the 1680s. are yet to be made in the future. accommodate the twelve canons and Later, in 1820, old Documentary evidence and recent thirteen priest-vicars of the College of links with Eton dendrochronological analysis have St George. Accommodation originally were maintained suggested that timber used in the consisted of between twenty-two when the school’s construction of number 6 may have
and twenty-six bays providing rather Headmaster come from the same wood (Cagham External elevation of No.6 by A.Y. Nutt, 1876. ‘Sketch in cramped quarters for members of and then Wood) as Edward III’s timber residence Upper Cloisters upon portion of plaster being removed’. the College. In the early 15th century Provost, Canon within the Round Tower. Should this, Photograph: David Clare the priest-vicars left to occupy new Joseph Goodall, for example, be confirmed it would tell accommodation, in the Woodhaw (an moved into the us a great deal about the constructional area to the east of the Vicars’ Hall), Canon Joseph Goodall property. Plans sequence of Windsor Castle as a The architectural history of the Lower Ward of Windsor allowing the canons to expand their in the Archives whole. Clearly we still have a great homes into the newly vacant lodgings. demonstrate that circa 1840, shortly deal to learn about a building that has Castle is one of construction and demolition. Indeed, the Treasurer’s roll for 1415- after Goodall’s occupancy, numbers 6 already stood for over 650 years. 1416 records that money was spent and 7 were combined into one even Since the later years of the reign of King ‘in making new in the cloister of the larger property. Tim Tatton-Brown Consultant Archaeologist to the Dean Henry II, when it was the location for a canons’. and Canons of Windsor Also to be found in the Archives are new royal palace, the site has evolved into & Number 6 is situated on the north side a series of documents recording the what today stands as a unique collection Richard Wragg of the cloister, built against the Castle’s 1960s restoration work undertaken by Assistant Archivist, St George’s of buildings. Nowhere is this more evident curtain wall with views out towards Seely and Paget. In 1967, during works Chapel Archives than in Canons’ Cloister and, in particular, Eton. The building would once have on 5, 6 and 7 Canons’ Cloister, number No.6 Canons’ Cloister, Lower Ward, exterior, 1968. 6 Canons’ Cloister. been a fine home for a canon. In the 6’s Tudor façade was uncovered. Shows No.6 after Seely and Paget works. Plan of Chapter Buildings by A.Y. Nutt (detail), 1884. Shows 6 and 7 combined.
14 The Companion • The magazine for the College of St George 15 OUR COMMUNITY LOOSE CANON
www.stgeorges-windsor.org where you don’t have to dig too deep One hundred metres below Geneva’s to find what you are looking for. If you I feel full. Come to think of it, I’ve always felt full. want something specific we need to western suburbs is an amazing laboratory deliver it quickly, but we also want to Information coming from all directions, and my appetite increase dwell time and encourage network of Bond-like proportion. lateral movement within the site. for it appears to grow with the seemingly endless Navigating a site is a personal journey. There it is that the now famous Large Hadron Collider, We can define paths to follow but also running for some 27km, is poised to unlock the great secrets variety of channels invented to provide it. need to provide the opportunities to of the universe. It is an enormous piece of scientific kit, the entice the browser into making their purpose of which is to discover as yet unknown particles. The internet has made access to primary objectives were identitified. own unexpected discoveries. Science walks around the room of human knowledge with information, and misinformation, easier First, to present the College of St an assured swagger but this posturing is a bit of a cover-up. than ever. We expect success when George with its different departments Having worked with the College Much is known about 5% of the universe. The other 95%? trying to find more of something and alongside each other, opening up to over the last four years I’ve become Well, not much. Terms like ‘dark matter’ and ‘dark energy’ we desire it to be simple and immediate. the browser a more complete picture very aware of the breadth, quality get wheeled out to explain the as yet unexplained. But this is Our problem now is not how to acquire of what the College does. and quantity of its output. It is rich, where the Large Hadron Collider may come into its own. By creating conditions startlingly close to the original Big Bang it is hoped that much more can be discovered about the missing 95%.
Bigger is better In particular there are many scientists who believe that this great apparatus under the turf will prove the existence of the Higgs particle, the so-called God particle. The standard model underpinning much of particle physics depends on if you’re looking this Higgs particle but no one has ever found it. It really would be exciting if these gigantic experiments were able to for smaller! reveal this tiny but heavy particle. The discovery of the Higgs particle – if that is what comes about – will tell us, however, very little if anything about God. The Higgs particle may well be known in the journalistic world as the God particle but its discovery, while enormously significant, will only tell us more about how knowledge or its availability, it is having Secondly, to be current. St George’s diverse and relevant. And yet so the world is put together. It will not be able to tell us about the time to discern and absorb it. has a rich past and this carries forward much passes in a moment... gone. why there is something rather than nothing. To answer that I need more time! to the present in all that it does and God question would be to enter the mind of God. achieves. To be current is to be new The internet provides an opportunity We make snap judgements on and this requires change. The site has to stretch that moment a little further, Canon Dr Hueston Finlay whether it is worth investing even been designed so that it can be easily enough to cross oceans and open a small amount of time in reading, managed from within the College. If the doors to visitors returned home, watching or listening. If it doesn’t we can keep the site fresh it will be or those who have not yet had the appear we need it, we’re not receptive more relevant and this will encourage opportunity to visit. BBC ‘Songs of Praise’ Recording for two ‘Songs of Praise’ programmes will take place in St George’s to it. But one thing that we are very repeat visits enabling the browser to Chapel in early March 2009. One programme will be broadcast in April on the Sunday after St George’s Day and the other later good at, is noticing change, not the gain a better insight and engage. As the website develops and grows in the year. Details of how to apply for free tickets will be placed on the website (www.stgeorges-windsor.org) and promulgated detail, just the fact that something has I hope that you are not too full to locally as soon as they are known. changed. Change is our opportunity; Thirdly, to make a complex story discover more of, and participate in, 21 September – Baptism of Isaac Watts • 12 October – Baptism of Christabella the opportunity to communicate the appear simple. There is a lot to this community of St George. COMMUNITY News vibrant and active life of the College communicate about St George’s and Alice Manners Manners • 14 October – Funeral of Phyllis Dimond • 25 October – Wedding of Sophie Roberts and Richard of St George. browsers won’t give it a chance if David Clare Goulding • 4 November – Memorial Evensong and interment of ashes of Mary Downward • 6 November – Memorial Evensong looks complicated. This has meant Exposed Design Consultants and interment of ashes of Connie Wollaston • 16 November – Memorial Evensong for Alfred Fisher • 23 November – Admission In designing the new website three developing a site which is broad but of Ben Giddens as Acting Assistant Organist and Laurence Williams as Organ Scholar • 30 November – Baptism of Elizabeth Grace Toker and Jack Thomas Franklin Toker • 6 December – Wedding of Henrietta Webb and David Colvin St George’s would like to thank the generous benefactor who met all the costs of the website development.
16 The Companion • The magazine for the College of St George 17 ST GEORGE’S CHAPEL
Darkness and lighT
One of the interesting hymn (sung to the lovely Welsh tune light will expand across the whole ‘Ard hyd y nos’) begins, ‘God, who width of the Altar on Christmas Day and regular tasks the madest earth and heaven, Darkness when the best white frontal replaces and light’, likewise the second hymn the Advent one. Succentor has is to choose starts ‘Glory to thee, my God, this night’, the third hymn ‘…fast falls the From darkness to light is an image of the hymns for services in eventide’ and the final hymn ends reassurance and hope. Light may fail ‘Your peace in our hearts, Lord, at the and the night may frighten but sleep the Chapel. end of the day’. refreshes the weary and the new day dawns with hope and expectation. The At the end of October, during the The theme, of course, was Evening. joyful light of Christmas strengthens School half term, the weekend It was the first evening service after and grows, turning the year towards services were said – without the Summer Time had ended and by the the sun. A good thought to have last Choir – but with hymns accompanied time it was over night had fallen like a thing at night. by the organ scholar. For Evening curtain, the darkness had deepened. Prayer on 26 October we sang four The Reverend Michael Boag hymns from the New English Hymnal, Darkness and light are Advent themes, Succentor and Dean’s Vicar numbers 245, 244, 331 and 239. There beautifully illustrated by the Advent was a theme running through these frontal for the High Altar. From the hymns which most people spotted deep dark blue background the central immediately. The first verse of the first flowers emerge like stars. Their golden
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