Nicholls Final Thesis Text

The Liturgical Music of Inner-City Melbourne Anglican Worshipping Communities by Philip Laurence Nicholls BMus GradDipTheol A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy University of Divinity 2017 Abstract In 2000, church musician and scholar Geoffrey Cox made the following statement regarding the state of church music in the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne: As in many other denominations, liturgical renewal has been accompanied by an increasing diversity of musical styles, which has too often been the cause of conflict between clergy and musicians, or between members of the same congregation. Perhaps there is nothing new about any of this! Most of the conflicts outlined in the Church of England’s latest report on church music, In Tune With Heaven: The Report of the Archbishops’ Commission on Church Music (1992), are evident in the local church, and there remains a diversity of musical approaches that sometimes suggests little common ground, especially between those who strive to maintain choirs and those who see most traditional church music as no longer relevant.1 This thesis considers six themes drawn from this statement: what does Cox mean by ‘traditional church music’, and, once defined, is it no longer relevant to the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne? Does ‘a diversity of musical styles’ exist in the Diocese, and, if so, where has this diversity come from? Is this diversity necessarily a bad thing? And, does it matter if there is ‘little common ground’? A review of relevant scholarship and a brief survey of church music history provide the bases for this study, which goes on to develop a questionnaire and catchment for a survey of current liturgical music praxis within a small geographical area of the Diocese. The results of the survey are presented and analysed critically to test Cox’s claims. This thesis proposes a definition for Cox’s ‘traditional church music’; shows how this music is relevant to (at least the surveyed part of) the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne; highlights ‘a diversity of musical styles’ between worshipping communities and proposes sources for these styles; argues that this diversity is not a negative thing; and highlights the problems with, and proposes remedies for, the lack of musical common ground. 1 Geoffrey Cox, ‘Church Music in the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, 1847-1997’, People of the Past? The Culture of Melbourne Anglicanism and Anglicanism in Melbourne's Culture, ed. Colin Holden (Melbourne: The History Department, University of Melbourne, 2000), 83. i Declaration of Originality I hereby certify that this thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other institution, and affirm that to the best of my knowledge, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made in the text of the thesis. 2 February 2017 ii Acknowledgements I am indebted to my supervisor Professor Peter Sherlock, my wife Dr Miriam Pollard, and my children, Jemima and Theodore Nicholls. Peter’s patience, advice, trust, and wisdom have been crucial, and Miriam’s input, understanding and support have spurred me on to complete it. Miriam’s mother, the Revd Canon Professor Dorothy Lee, first encouraged me to take up theological studies; I’m grateful for that, and her continuing support. An understanding of liturgical music comes only from the generosity of the worshipping communities one serves. This began for me at Trinity College, University of Divinity and University of Melbourne under the Revd Canon Dr David Cole (sometime Dean of Theology and Senior Chaplain), and Director of Music, Mr Michael Leighton Jones. At Christ Church South Yarra, my vicars the Revd Des Benfield (2001-06) and the Revd Dr Richard Treloar (2007-13), and organist Mr Siegfried Franke; and, more recently, Dean the Very Revd Dr Andreas Loewe, Precentor the Revd Canon Heather Patacca, minor canons the Revd Dr Ruth Redpath, the Revd James Brady, the Revd Christopher Carolane, and the Revd Dr Stephen Ames, and my music staff at St Paul’s Cathedral (where I have served as Director of Music since 2013) have taught me more than I can express, and allowed me to grow as a church musician and scholar. These three communities have also supported my research practically, for which I’m most grateful. Academically, the staff of the Leeper Library at Trinity College and the staff of the Dalton McCaughey Theological Library within the University of Divinity have helped me by discussing ideas, locating sources and forgiving me when they’ve been returned late. I’m grateful to those worshipping communities that were able to participate in the survey component of this project, and their representatives who took the time to complete the formalities. iii Table of Contents Abstract i Declaration of Originality ii Acknowledgements iii Introduction 1 Relevant Scholarship 2 Reference Works 2 Biblical Witness 3 Historical Works 3 Theological and Aesthetical Works 6 Instructive Works 9 Methodology and Structure 13 Chapter 1: The Historical and Conceptual Bases of Anglican Liturgical Music 15 Before the Reformations: The Development of English Church Music 15 The Reformations: Church Music in England 18 The Evangelical Revivals and the Oxford Movement 22 The Church of England in Melbourne 24 Summary 27 Chapter 2: A Review and Critique of Recent Surveys of Liturgical Music Praxis 29 Surveys and Reviews undertaken by the Archbishops’ Commission on Church Music and its Predecessors 29 Music in Worship, 1922 30 Music in Church, 1951 32 In Tune with Heaven, 1992 33 Anglican Liturgical Music in the 1980s in Newcastle, Australia 38 Wales in 2010 40 How can these surveys inform that which is used here? 41 Summary 42 Chapter 3: The Sample Communities 44 Establishment of a Survey Sample 44 Historical Overview of Survey Sample Communities 47 St James’ Old Cathedral 47 St Mary’s North Melbourne 48 Holy Trinity East Melbourne 49 St Jude’s Carlton 51 St Paul’s Cathedral 52 Similarities and Differences 53 Summary 57 iv Chapter 4: Critical Analysis of the Survey Results 58 Survey Conduct 58 St Paul’s Cathedral 59 St James’ Old Cathedral 62 St Mary’s North Melbourne 65 Holy Trinity East Melbourne 67 St Jude’s Carlton 69 A Comparison of the Survey Material 71 Summary 74 Conclusion 77 Historical Shifts 77 Contemporary Shifts 79 Contemporary Practices: Embracing Diversity 82 Future Research 84 What’s at Stake? 86 Works Cited 89 Appendices 98 Appendix 1: The Recommendations of the Archbishops’ Committee’s In Tune with Heaven: The Report of the Archbishops’ Commission on Church Music Appointed in 1988 ITWH). 98 Appendix 2: The questionnaire sent to the eight Anglican worshipping communities within a two-kilometre radius of the Melbourne General Post Office. 104 Appendix 3: Participant worshipping communities’ selected statistics. 117 Appendix 4: Summarised responses from participant worshipping communities. 120 v Introduction This thesis examines the notion that inner-city Melbourne Anglican worshipping communities have developed individual styles of worship that reflect the influence of broad theological and liturgical movements in the wider Anglican church. These worship styles may be partly defined by the way they employ music in worship. This diversity is important to the Anglican Diocese as it provides a range of liturgically varied communities, which attract members who share or agree with the style represented in each. Drawing on scholarship which makes claims about the liturgical music of parishes in the Diocese of Melbourne, this project utilises a qualitative survey to ascertain the diversity of liturgical music currently employed in a small section of the Diocese. The style of music that accompanies worship and the way that it is performed have changed radically in many Christian communities since the late twentieth-century liturgical revolution. In the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, some church leaders have removed pipe organs and choirs altogether, replacing them with worship bands. Others have introduced music groups leading worship songs to work alongside organists and choirs. Others still have resisted change altogether, maintaining organs and choirs and taking pride in maintaining and strengthening traditions considered outmoded by many. The changes in the styles and performance of worship music in individual communities may be traced to their worshipping modes, all of which have developed in the wake of various movements in the wider church. Because of its date of establishment (1847), the Evangelical and Oxford Movements particularly influenced the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne and its worshipping communities. These movements within the Anglican Church strengthened the dichotomies that define the worshipping styles of individual Anglican communities: Evangelical or Anglo-Catholic? Liturgically traditional or progressive? High Church (Ritualist/Liturgical) or Low Church? Today, diversity in these traditions exists by degree wherever there is more than one Anglican church. This is certainly the case in the Diocese of Melbourne. As worshipping styles changed from 1960 onwards, traditionalists bemoaned the demise of the traditional church choir, whilst progressives hailed the introduction of contemporary music. At the time, these two musical styles represented opposing sides of a cultural maturation that was taking place in Australia more broadly, heralded by the sexual revolution and the spread of

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