ISSN 2633-9528

Possibly the first ever advertisement for our predecessor, the Guild of Organists! Laudate The Magazine of the Guild of Church Musicians Laudate is typeset by Michael Walsh HonFGCM and printed by St Richard’s Press, No 103 January 2021 Leigh Road, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 8TU [email protected] 01243 782988 From the Editor of Laudate www. People beginning new jobs often refer to their predecessors as ‘hard acts to follow’. As your new editor, I can use that conventional expression with sincerity and conviction. Michael Walsh has done a wonderful job over many years, and I am delighted that he is continuing as typesetter and is assisting in other ways. The first issue of 2021 has the usual varied content (see the list below). Although reference to COVID-19 is inevitable, the primary message is one of renewal and hope. Finally, a personal word or two. I have served as organist and choir director for 50 years in a Hampshire parish church a mile from my home. Many years have also been spent writing about and editing early Tudor music, in teaching, and in examining. More recently Convivium Records have released two CDs of my sacred choral music. And work for the Guild, as Patrons: Rt Revd & Rt Hon Dr Richard Chartres, former Lord Bishop of London Chairman of the Academic Board, Fellowship Director and joint editor with Roger Wilkes of Guild Publications, Professor Dr Ian Tracey, Organist Titulaire of Liverpool Cathedral Dame Patricia Routledge, internationally renowned soprano & actress currently takes care of many hours. I am married and have a daughter, son-in-law, and two young grandchildren Master: Rt Revd Dr Richard Fenwick whose singing and ‘playing’ lead me to hope that music (whether or not for the church) may continue to give Secretary General: John Balsdon Membership Secretary: Mandy Balsdon them, as it does me, great joy and fulfilment. Treasurer & Magazine Editor: Dr Michael Walsh he Guild of Musicians and Singers was formed in Oxford in June 1993 with the aim of bringing together amateur and professional musicians in working and fraternal Tways. One major aim has always been to encourage young musicians in the pursuit CONTENTS of their studies and the Guild has set up a fund with bursaries for students to help them with examination fees and other aspects of their careers in music. The Guild is non-denominational From the Acting Warden ...... 1 and covers all genres of music. From the President...... 2 The Guild has many distinguished musicians among its Hon Fellows, including Sir Mark Elder, Dr Vasily Petrenko, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Dame Patricia Routledge, Dr. From the Administrator...... 3 Francis Jackson, Andrew Carwood, Benjamin Grosvenor, Rick Wakeman, and From our Patrons...... 4 sadly, all too briefly, Dame Vera Lynn. Academic Dress is available and membership is From the Treasurer...... 5 only £20 a year. A Presentation to Jonathan Buchan...... 5 Full details are available from the Guild’s website: www.musiciansandsingers.org.uk GCM Officers 2021...... 6 Honorary Fellows and Members of the Guild...... 8 The Guild is proud to announce that it is working in association with: The Organ in King’s College, Cambridge: a Legend Reborn ~ Steven Benson...... 10 The National College of Music & Arts, London Holier than Thou? How Sacred is the Church’s Song? ~ Ian Sharp...... 16 The Sacred Cantatas of JS Bach: BWV 106 ~ Bernard Salter...... 21 he National College of Music & Arts, London was established over 125 years ago and specialises in external music St Edward’s Leek – the 700th Anniversary of its Foundation ~ Josephine Smith...... 26 Texaminations and speech subjects. The College has music The Beginnings of the Church Choir Guild ~ Dr Stewart Thompson...... 27 examination centres throughout the United Kingdom and in various The 2020 Hymn Tune Competition ~ the winning entry by Stephen Barber...... 31 countries overseas. Established 1894 From the GCM Newsletter in Australia...... 34 The College has recently introduced two new diplomas which Incorporated 1898 Guild Publications 2021 ...... 35 are proving of considerable interest to church musicians: Sermons – the Long and the Short ~ Hugh Benham...... 36 FNFCM – Fellow of the National Federation of Church Musicians Cover photo: statue of the young Johann Sebastian Bach at Mühlhausen, Germany and the higher award of AFNCollM – Associate Fellow of the National College of Music YOUR ARTICLES AND OPINIONS ARE EAGERLY SOUGHT Both these diplomas attract academic dress. Please send copy to the Editor at [email protected] or text 07765007708 for postal address. The copy deadline for the May edition is Friday 23 April. Full details may be obtained by visiting the College’s brand new website: You are welcome to contact the Editor at [email protected] www.ncm-london.co.uk Please visit our website – www.gcm.org.uk A Message from the Acting Warden

was once at a conference at which a series of papers on music and theology were given. One paper in particular has stayed with me. It I was a very personal presentation, examining the disillusionment of the author after 18 years as music director of a large church. It wasn’t at first apparent that the speaker was the subject: the paper had all the academic objectivity you might expect, but the chair commented on the lack of examples and the presenter said simply, ‘I am the example: it was my 18 years’ experience that brought me to this point.’ A key point in the argument was that he had become involved and committed to the particular tradition of church music by hearing, singing and playing much of the repertoire and being moved by it. Understandably, he had a desire to share his experience with others, to enable others to be similarly moved. However, as he put it, the process of disillusionment was something already articulated by philosophers, notably Adorno who writes of the way in which a passionate desire to share something with others can be effective for them while, at the same time, emptying it of meaning for the performer, the donor. The focus of the paper, and the ensuing discussion, was on the fragility of meaning when it is too closely tied to a particular performance tradition (and when that tradition is itself too closely bound up with commercial music making). As a small personal discipline during the first lockdown, I made a point of playing the B minor Prelude and Fugue from the end of Book 1 of the 48 every day. I was not attempting to hand on a perceived meaning to anyone else; I was, in one sense, not even aware of ‘having been moved’ by the music. Each day was a new beginning, a new learning from that intense intimacy. It was, it seemed, a journey of infinite possibility. When the second lockdown came in November, I returned to the same Prelude and Fugue, but the circumstances were different. The infinite possibilities were still there, but my focus was not, and with some disappointment I had to recognise that this second attempt would be less successful. This very difficult year has made us all think again about the ways in which we discover meaning, not least as we have been deprived of so many of the spontaneous ways of communicating meaning – for instance, through touch. As church musicians there is something more. We do not make our own meaning out of music; we do not depend on others being moved by sharing the same experience that we had. Like the preacher who is so often confronted by a parishioner saying ‘Thank you for the sermon, when you talked about x I felt you were speaking directly to me’ – leaving the preacher baffled, because they hadn’t actually said that! Our experience is that meaning is both less precisely located than we might think, but also much richer and deeper. It has more the character of gift. I worry that rituals like the ‘Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols’ do, perhaps unintentionally, perpetuate a particular experience and meaning. The danger is that, once we think we know what it means, God is no longer able to open to us the new riches of the kingdom. May this coming year be for us all a new opportunity to attend to the gift of meaning God wills to give us in and through the medium of the music we are privileged to make. Fr Peter Allan CR

January 2021 1 A Message from the President

Dame Mary Archer

ooking back on a year which has been like no other, I’d like to start by thanking the Acting Warden, Officers and Council members for their continuing quiet and devoted work for the LGuild as we think through how best to prepare for a future which may never be quite the same again as the past. Every church musician will start the New Year with the fervent hope that they will soon be back, supporting live worship in church, Sunday by Sunday. But before we start feeling too sorry for ourselves about what we have all missed, we might reflect that we have been able to access some wonderful services from, as they say, the comfort of our own armchairs. We’re pretty well all expert Zoomers and YouTubers now, and if some online worship continues in tandem with church attendance, we shall have the best of both worlds: re-engaged with our own worshipping community, but able to see, hear and draw metaphorically close to churches and church music around the world From the Solemn Eucharist of the Resurrection at Saint Thomas Church, New York, on Easter Day, via the Prom featuring Beethoven’s majestic Missa solemnis performed by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Arnold Schoenberg Choir under conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, to the traditional Christmas Day Choral Evensong from Canterbury Cathedral, there have been some wonderful offerings. But the one that has ‘spoken’ to me most powerfully is a 4-minute recording of a candle-lit introit to the Advent Carol Service at Trinity College, Cambridge, which you can find at https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=HSfZGkIGi1A. This beautiful responsory was composed by my former Trinity colleague and the College’s former Director of Music, the late Richard Marlow. He intended it to be sung by the choir spread all over the chapel and ante-chapel: little did he know how apt this would prove for our ‘socially distanced’ covid generation. May I wish all members of the Guild a bright and healthy New Year, in which we can meet each other unmasked!

2 Laudate 103 A Message from the Administrator

ay I take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy new year. Be assured of my prayers for 2021; I know Mmany of us will be wondering what it will hold for us but there is much to encourage and uplift – church services online are providing greater access for worship and concerts and musical events are being live streamed, some with access for a small charge. The long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine is now being rolled out and I am certain many of us will be very pleased to receive it! Here at the Guild we are delighted to welcome two new Council members – John Sharples and Robert Sholl. Both have extensive experience as church musicians and are delighted to be part of the Guild’s Council. John Sharples began organ lessons in Halifax Parish Church, in Yorkshire, while still at school. As a student he was organ scholar at Chester College, and sang in Chester Cathedral’s choirs. Later John continued his organ studies with Ian Curror in London. Having held organist/choirmaster posts in a number of churches in the South East of England since 1984, he joined the music team playing for services in Arundel Cathedral in 2015. John has accompanied many choirs and choral societies, as well as giving solo recitals in this country and abroad, most notably in St Paul’s Cathedral in London and St Thomas’ Church in New York’s 5th Avenue. John is a Fellow of the London College of Music and holds the Associate Diploma of the Royal College of Organists. Robert Sholl is a Professor of Music at the University of West London and teaches at the Royal Academy of Music. His publications on twentieth-century music include Messiaen Studies (Cambridge University Press), and Contemporary Music and Spirituality (Routledge, 2017) with Sander van Maas. Robert is currently writing books on Messiaen and Arvo Pärt. He is editor (with George Parsons) of James MacMillan Studies (Cambridge University Press) and editor of Olivier Messiaen in Context (Cambridge University Press). Robert is a trained Feldenkrais Practitioner and has published a study of the Method and musical performance in the Journal of the Royal Musical Association. He is also the editor of forthcoming book The Feldenkrais Method in Creative Practice: Dance, Music and Theatre, which contains a separate study of Feldenkrais’s work, psychoanalysis, and Glenn Gould. Robert studied the organ with Olivier Latry (Notre-Dame de Paris), and in 2016-17 he performed all of the organ works of Messiaen at Arundel Cathedral. Improvisation has become a regular part of Robert’s recitals and he has released improvisations to silent films. He has played at St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, St John’s, Smith Square, and twice both at the Madeleine and at Notre-Dame de Paris. He regularly plays the organ for worship at a number of churches in and around London.

January 2021 3 A Message from the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster

acred music is inextricably bound up with the primary work of the church – its liturgy. SIndeed sacred music often moves us to raise our hearts and minds to God. It is when it is contributing prayerfully to liturgy that its highest purpose is fulfilled. Liturgy is ‘the work of the Church.’ Musicians can enrich that work by their effort and dedication. One of the unfortunate realities of the Covid-19 pandemic is that it has temporarily deprived us of much of our liturgy and with it much church music. These are difficult times, but there is hope in view. I read with interest that the Guild of Church Musicians has visited the beautiful cathedral in Arundel, with its fine tradition of music. I know that the Guild’s members, with other church musicians, are striving to provide music for the churches as best can be done at the present time. May God bless you all in your work, and in all that you do.

A Message from the Archbishop of Canterbury

his year has been disruptive for everyone. How we work, socialise, and live has had to change profoundly. The Covid-19 Tcrisis has made our normal worship difficult at times, and usually very different indeed. We have all had to be creative, adapting how we work and worship to a very different way of life. As I write this, singing is only permitted in very limited circumstances, and yet church musicians are adapting and providing music however they can. Even simple organ music can add much to a service broadcast via Zoom or other media. Some churches are able to provide soloists, small choirs, or instrumentalists in support of the services. All of this is immensely helpful, offering a semblance of normality at a most unfortunate time for people across the world. As Christians we have just celebrated Christmas, the coming of our Saviour to redeem us from sin. Our Christmas hymns and carols are ubiquitous during this season. They help us experience the wonder and the divine possibility that the birth of Christ brings. Our music has a vital part to play in reminding people of that message: that even in trying times, God offers joy and hope to each of us.

4 Laudate 103 A Message from the Treasurer

Subscriptions anuary is the month when subscriptions to the Guild fall due and we have kept our annual Jsubscription at £20 for this year. Many of you already pay by standing order, but if you don’t then we would ask you to pay as soon as possible. Since last year we have introduced the facility to pay by card which may particularly appeal to our overseas members. If you wish to pay by card or by online banking please email me at [email protected] and I will send you the necessary details. Alternatively, we still accept cheques which should be made payable to ‘The Guild of Church Musicians’ and sent to me at 3 Sewards End, Wickford, Essex SS12 9PB. Robert Andrews

Presentation to Jonathan Buchan King’s Park Church of Scotland on Sunday, 25th October 2020

everend David Easton, the minister at Jonathan’s church said: ‘It is my happy privilege to present to Jonathan, our organist, Rthe Archbishops’ Preliminary Certificate in Church Music which has been awarded to him by the Guild of Church Musicians. ‘The certificate was to have been presented to him by Lord Gill at a service back in April, but that did not take place because at the time the church wasn’t open for worship due to the lockdown. But we are glad to present it now, though I am a poor substitute for Lord Gill who lives in London and who for obvious reasons has been unable to make the trip north to be with us this morning. ‘Jonathan, since 2003 you have served as organist here at King’s Park during the ministries of Stewart Smith and Sandra Boyd. Before that you played at Pollokshields Congregational Church and at the West Church in Hamilton. During the year and a half that I have served as locum, I have appreciated the contribution you have made to our services through playing the organ and conducting the choir. What has struck me about your musicianship (and I understand that you have had no formal training) is your ability to improvise on the tune of a hymn, usually during the offering which comes after the sermon, by way of reminding us of words in the hymn which echo themes which have been sounded in the sermon – and all on the spur of the moment! That is a great gift which few organists possess. ‘Jonathan, we congratulate you on the award of this certificate and thank you warmly for the contribution you have made, not just at the organ but in other ways as well, to our life together as a congregation here at King’s Park.’

January 2021 5 The Guild of Church Musicians

PATRONS The Most Reverend and Right Hon the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury The Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster

PRESIDENT Dame Mary Archer, DBE HonFGCM

VICE-PRESIDENTS The Right Reverend Dr Richard Fenwick HonFGCM The Right Reverend Richard Hurford OAM HonFGCM Dr Philip V Matthias HonFGCM His Honour Anthony Russell QC HonFGCM June Williams HonFGCM

ELECTED COUNCIL Acting Warden: ...... The Reverend Fr Peter Allan CR Administrator: ...... Dr Elizabeth Stratford FGCM Cathedral House, Parsons Hill, Arundel, West Sussex BN18 9AY email: [email protected]

Treasurer: ...... Robert Andrews HonGCM 3 Sewards End, Wickford, Essex SS12 9PB email: [email protected]

Chairman of the Academic Board: ...... Dr Hugh Benham HonFGCM c/o The Parish Office, Hursley Road, Eastleigh. SO53 2FT email: [email protected]

Fellowship Secretary: ...... Edward Scott HonFGCM 5 Brackenley Grove, Embsay, Skipton, North Yorks, BD23 6QW email: [email protected]

Academic Board Secretary: ...... Roger Wilkes HonFGCM Events Coordinator:...... Rowland Hughes

Councillors: Carl Jackson MVO HonFGCM, Dr Robert Sholl, John Sharples

MEMBERS OF THE ACADEMIC BOARD The Warden The Administrator The Chairman of the Academic Board The Academic Board Secretary The Fellowship Secretary Revd Canon Dr Gordon Giles Nicholas King HonFGCM

6 Laudate 103 GCM Australian Council

Warden:...... The Reverend Dr Daniel M Dries Chair:...... Ms Madeleine A Rowles-Olliffe HonFGCM Vice Chair:...... Mr Phillip L Bongers Director of Studies: ...... Assoc Prof Neil A McEwan AM HonFGCM Secretary and Public Officer:...... Mr Donald S Yorath HonGCM Treasurer:...... Mr Phillip L Bongers Councillor:...... Mr Callum A F Close Councillor: ...... Very Reverend Andrew P Doohan Councillor:...... Dr Philip V Matthias HonFGCM Councillor:...... The Reverend Gregory R D Woolnough

GCM Academic Board Assoc Prof Neil A McEwan AM HonFGCM (Chair) ~ Dr Joanna M Barlow ~ Dr James Forsyth HonFGCM ~ Antony Pitts ~ Barry N Walmsley

The Guild Church St John the Evangelist Anglican Church 754 Pacific Highway, GORDON NSW 2072 PO Box 295, GORDON NSW 2072 Telephone: +61 2 9498 2744 Website http://guildofchurchmusicians.org.au/

USA REPRESENTATIVE Professor Hugh McLean 7664 Oleander Gate Drive, #201 Naples, Florida, 34109-2634 USA

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER The Reverend A Clements 15 Carleton Road, Great Knowley, Chorley, Lancs PR6 8TQ

BANKERS Unity Trust Bank, Nine Brindleyplace, Birmingham B1 2HB

THE REGISTERED OFFICE OF THE GUILD 3 Sewards End Wickford Essex SS12 9PB Company Reg. No. 83329, England Registered Charity: 230931

January 2021 7 Honorary Fellows of the Guild

The Revd Preb Newell E Wallbank (RIP 1996) The Most Revd & Rt Hon Professor Sir Bernard Lovell, OBE (RIP 2012) Rowan Williams Ronald Maynard (RIP 2002) Donald Withey (RIP 2017) 1987 Ronald Cayless Peter Wright 1988 The Most Revd Robin Eames 2001 Christopher Gower Martin How MBE Peter Moorse (RIP 2018) Dr Harry Bramma Anthony Russell QC Ernest Warrell, MBE (RIP 2010) 2002 Dr James Bowman CBE Colin Mawby (RIP 2019) The Most Revd Walton Empey Christopher Moore Canon Dr James Lancelot Dennis Puxty (RIP 1995) Martin White Dr John Rutter CBE 2003 Maurice Bevan (RIP 2006) Edward Scott Julian Elloway Henry Washington (RIP 1988) Ronald Frost (RIP 2015) 1989 Dr Barry Smith Dr Christopher Robinson CVO The Revd Matt Esau Dr John Sanders OBE (RIP 2003) The Revd David Parkes (RIP) 2004 Jonathan Bielby MBE 1990 Professor Nicholas Temperley Very Revd Dr Richard Fenwick John Cooke (RIP 1995) Dr Francis Jackson OBE 1991 Dr Mary Berry (RIP 2008) Terry Lovatt 1992 The Rt Revd Graham James Professor John Morehen 1993 Gordon Appleton James C Peet The Revd Canon Alan Luff (RIP 2019) Dr Barry Rose The Revd Canon Arthur Dobb (RIP 2009) Madeleine Rowles-Olliffe 1994 The Most Revd David Hope KCVO Dr Alan Thurlow Philip Duffy KSG 2005 Malcolm Archer The Revd Bill Barlow Dr Robert Ashfield (RIP 2006) 1995 Professor Peter Aston (RIP 2013) Revd Dr Professor Paul Bradshaw The Revd Dr David Cole Dr Stephen Cleobury CBE (RIP 2019) Dr Philip Matthias Simon Lole Dr Michael Nicholas Sir David Lumsden Roger Wilkes Dr Philip Moore 1996 Professor John Harper Dr James Rae Anthony Harvey (RIP 2005) The Rt Revd David Stancliffe The Rt Revd Richard Hurford OAM The Very Revd Robert Willis Dr John Scott LVO (RIP 2015) 2006 Christopher Barton Frank Sellens (RIP 2018) The Rt Revd Edward Darling 1997 Dr Anne Howard Richard Lloyd Dame Mary Archer Andrew Lucas The Rt Revd Dr Richard Chartres Geoffrey Morgan Dr David Hill MBE George McPhee, MBE Patrick Russill The Very Revd Michael Tavinor 1998 Dr Christopher Dearnley (RIP 2000) The Most Revd Desmond Tutu Janette Cooper 2007 Dr John Bertalot Michael Fleming (RIP 2006) Revd Canon Anthony Caesar CVO (RIP 2018) 1999 Dr Graham Elliott David Dunnett 2000 Professor Robert Constable David Gedge MBE (RIP 2016) Dr David Flood Hazel Gedge (RIP 2019) Dr Edward Higginbottom Paul Hale Dr Simon Lindley Robert Sharpe Dr Roy Massey MBE The Very Reverend Charles Taylor Andrew Millington James O’Donnell

8 Laudate 103 2008 John Belcher 2016 Carleton Etherington Revd Canon Jeremy Haselock Lindsay Gray Andrew Lumsden Dr Peter Litman Sir James Macmillan CBE June Williams HonGCM Dr Keith Murree-Allen OAM 2017 Dr Helen Burrows HonGCM Dr Peter Nardone Dr William Clark OAM Andrew Nethsingha Ross Cobb David Poulter Professor Neil McEwan AM Richard Tanner Warren Trevelyan-Jones Andrew Wright KSG Monsignor Peter Williams 2009 Ian Harrison 2018 Rosemary Field John Keys Katherine Dienes-Williams HonGCM Dr Gordon Stewart Rt Revd Timothy Dudley-Smith Jeremy Suter Rt Hon Lord Gill James Thomas Dr Michael Walsh HonGCM Professor Ian Tracey 2020 Daniel Moult Richard White MBE Dr Andrew Padmore 2010 John Barnard Dr Howard Goodall CBE Nigel Groome Megan Inglesant (RIP 2016) Honorary Members Carl Jackson MVO 1995 Mrs Kathleen Dobb Garth Mansfield OAM Jeffrey Conway The Reverend Canon Peter Moger 1996 The Revd Kevin Ashby Ben Saunders The Revd Canon Gerald 2011 Geraint Bowen Hudson (RIP 2009) Dr Stephen Darlington MBE Anthony Wilding (RIP 2012) Nicholas King 1998 Jill Kerr Timothy Noon 1999 Jack Taylor (RIP 2016) Dr Darryl Roland 2000 Geoffrey Barber Professor Jeffrey Smith 2001 Ronald Bayfield Paul Trepte Michael Maine 2012 Adrian Adams 2002 Dr Michael Walsh HonFGCM Dr James Forsyth 2003 Thomas Lambshead Matthew Owens 2004 Angela Boschi (RIP 2009) Rt Revd Stephen Platten Dr Brett McKern FGCM Dr Richard Shephard MBE 2005 Dr Helen Burrows HonFGCM Geoffrey Pearce Surgeon Vice Admiral Tony Revell CB (RIP 2018) 2013 Humphrey Clucas The Revd Canon Angela Tilby Professor Jeremy Dibble 2006 Hilary Llystyn Jones Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam Joy George Dr Joe McKee OBE 2007 Revd Canon Dr Peter Mortimer MBE Dr David Price 2008 Katherine Dienes-Williams HonFGCM Professor Jonathan Wainwright June Williams HonFGCM 2014 Ralph Allwood 2009 Christine Best Dr Hugh Benham 2011 Susan Howell Evans Judith Bingham Chris Price The Revd Canon Perran Gay Gordon Knights Canon Peter Gould 2012 Dr Terry Worroll Christopher Stokes 2014 Tom Corfield 2015 Martin Baker 2015 Don Yorath Timothy Brown 2017 Robert Leach John Catterall MBE Licentiates and Fellows Barry Williams The Reverend Michael Deasey OAM by examination 2018 Robert Andrews are listed on Dr Donald Hunt OBE 2020 David Wells page 26. Bruce Buchanan

January 2021 9 A Legend Reborn Steven Benson

Former BBC TV Producer, Steven Benson, the restoration of the King’s College organ which records how he came to have the ultimate inside took place in 2016. access to what is surely the most famous musical instrument in the world. With the kind permission of both King’s College and Harrison and Harrison I was uniquely poised to record this once-in-a-lifetime event in the form t’s sometimes difficult to know where a story of a documentary. By this time I had left the BBC begins. I think this one begins over 50 years and was working as a freelance producer, and had Iago when, on a Saturday evening in the church hoped that the BBC would be interested in such in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, where my father a film to complement their Christmas Eve output was rector, the blower of an elderly Rushworth in the year in which the rebuilt organ was used for and Draper organ gave up in the middle of a the first time. They weren’t, so I later joined forces rehearsal for a live BBC Radio 4 Sunday Worship with Fugue State Films – a production company the following morning. Radio 4 listeners had to specialising in performances and documentaries suffer an equally old and embarrassing piano for about organs and organ music. The resultant DVD/ the accompaniment of the following morning’s CD box set has just been released. David Briggs heavenward offering. – organ scholar at King’s from 1981 to 1984 – In the months that followed however, simply by presents the documentary, and along with six other being resident in the rectory, I was able to see first- former organ scholars takes part in a recital which hand what was involved in the planning of an organ includes music from Bach to Bingham and shows rebuild, including the addition of a third manual. I off the restored instrument to full effect. was 9 years old, interested in technical ‘stuff’, and, For those organists and choir directors across taken by my father to visit the factory in Belfast, the country and around the world who come saw the basic building blocks taking shape before to a console, switch on, play, switch off and go eventually watching the installation take place. It home, there is another equally engaging world was almost certainly this glimpse into the world beyond the ivory keys and pedalboard; those of design and building – especially in the context who stop at the organ stool miss out on an of music (I was already studying for Grade 4 piano understanding which can only go to enhance exams and learning the French Horn) – that led their playing of the instrument. me later to take a degree in engineering and simultaneously take my ACertCM exams. Wind the clock forward 20 years and I was a staff producer and director in the BBC’s Religious Programmes Department working with Stephen Cleobury on ‘Carols from King’s’. I got to know the building, the instrument (up to a point) and the people. Later still, through a chance introduction to Chris Batchelor (then MD at the organ building Many organists never go beyond the stops, keys and firm Harrison and Harrison) I discovered that they pedals and have little idea what it is that makes the had just been awarded the contract to undertake sound they so love

10 Laudate 103 In this documentary, the story of the King’s College organ in particular, but also the story of every organ, is told by those who are completely hands-on in the design, building and maintenance of some of the finest pipe instruments in the country. We meet first Stephen Alliss who for many years has been coming to the chapel every two weeks to keep the organ in tune. But increasingly his time is spent attending to an ever growing list of faults, mostly caused by a failure of leatherwork, and much of that in some very inaccessible parts of the organ below the soundboards. A build up of dirt in the organ is not helping the sound, and the distance between the console and some of the pedal pipes makes it difficult for the Animated 3-D graphics allow us to see inside the organist to gauge what sound is actually being organ to see its layout and demonstrate which heard on the chapel floor. Stephen Cleobury elements will change in this rebuild explains how this problem is being addressed We meet Colin Palmer who pre-fabricates the and also talks about how his association with many wiring loops needed to connect the keys, the instrument has developed since he first pedals, stops, pistons, sequencer and pedal divide played it as a student at St John’s College in the to the computer at the heart of the organ’s late 60s. He explains why he has asked for two operation, and from the output of the computer to ranks of pipes to be replaced in this rebuild. the solenoids and valves which switch air through the soundboards to the pipes. We join the team as they start to remove the pipes (over 4,000), label and pack them ready for shipping to the factory at Durham. We discover how the scaffolding design allows soundboards weighing almost ½ tonne to be lowered to the floor without coming near the intricately carved oak case, and find out how the discovery of asbestos in three locations around the organ jeopardises the project’s timetable.

The late Stephen Cleobury, speaking in 2015 about the plans for this tightly scheduled restoration

While the golden pipes and the 17th-century oak case on top of the stone screen have become an icon of the chapel’s music and recognised all over the world, this documentary uses 3-D graphics to strip away the wood and stone and allow the viewer to move freely round the instrument and so understand in Soundboards weighing almost half a tonne each have schematic form the layout and how it will to be manually removed through the oak case before change in this rebuild. they can be lowered almost 40' to the chapel floor

January 2021 11 Not seen before: drone footage allowing a new perspective on the instrument in its glorious location

Project leader Jim Reeves takes us on a tour of the And those iconic golden pipes, recognised around golden façade pipes, some of which he hopes to the world, which perhaps more than anything else return to speech in this restoration (although he’s say “King’s”… would it be regarded as sacrilege to appalled to find out that most of them are held in take a hacksaw to them? Watch and learn! position by nothing more than a woodscrew drilled though the pipe’s front face). He explains why so many of the pipes have ‘collapsed’ and what the solution is. Drone footage allows us to see the organ in the chapel from a new perspective and the film follows the team removing the 32' double ophicleide along a route up and over the top of the organ since the door leading to the pedal division beside where they stand at floor level isn’t large enough for egress. Below: The 32'ophicleide – too large to come through Above: Les Cooper begins work on making zinc the door beside which it usually stands in ‘the pit’ linings to go inside the foot section of the iconic gilded pipes of the organ case.

As all this is happening, the keyboards are shipped to a manufacturing specialist to have the original ivory spliced on to new keys. Steve Long describes his work on this part of the console as his ‘legacy’, conscious that his new four-manual creation may be in use in the chapel for hundreds of years.

12 Laudate 103 1. 2. 3.

1. How the old ivory coverings are spliced on to the new keys 2. Steve Long who sees these new manuals for the King’s College organ as his ‘legacy’ 3. The new keys in a specially made jig so they can be sanded

To explain the operation of this instrument and to talk about the processes involved in its restoration could be to dehumanise the project into simply a collection of processes. The team represents Geoff Pollard discovering the pipes vast experience in the process of taking organs made by his great-uncle. apart and putting them back together again, but in At the heart of any organ, of course, are its pipes. the case of this organ there’s an added personal All but two of the original ranks are remaining: the dimension. Geoff Pollard – involved in this project pedal Violoncello is making way for a 4' Principal and both at the factory and on site – is a fifth-generation the old wooden Wald Flute on the Great is being organ builder. He proudly shows us his family replaced by a metal Rohr (chimney) Flute. Andy tree where his great-great-grandfather (born in Scott, Harrison and Harrison’s head voicer, takes 1836) was an organ metal pipemaker working for us through the process of voicing this new rank, Harrison and Harrison over 150 years ago. initially at the factory and then on site where it is blended in with the other ranks.

Geoff’s grandfather also kept a diary, showing where he worked on the Solo tuba soundboard Head Voicer Andy Scott begins voicing the new rank for the King’s College organ in 1928. On the day for the Great division: a Rohr Flute we were filming with Geoff, he was working on the Andy sits at a temporary remote console placed replacement for the very same section of the organ. on the chapel floor between the choir stalls. And the connection didn’t stop there … Geoff’s Next page: From this remote console Andy can access great-uncle was also a pipe maker, and when Geoff every pipe on the organ (including pipes in the pedal was dismantling the organ in the college chapel, he division). This enables him to hear the organ from a came to talk to the camera holding the CC pipe position of his choice – in this case just beside where of the pedal mixture with his great-uncle’s marking the Director of Music would stand stamped into the metal.

January 2021 13 before to page-turn for a previous organist (Ashley Grote). And throughout the whole broadcast, tuner Stephen Alliss sits behind the console during rehearsal and transmission ‘just in case anything goes wrong’. And if those new to the world of organ building wonder why there is such variation in the shape, scale and materials used in different ranks of pipes, we travel to the laboratory of Professor Murray This lets him hear the sound of the organ from Campbell in Edinburgh University – a specialist in the ideal position and he uses special codes to the acoustics of wind instruments – who explains communicate with his assistant inside the organ how harmonics affect our perception of sound in and request adjustments to the pipes’ sounds. pitched notes and what the organ builder does to This process of voicing (which in the case of this control these. instrument will take six weeks) will be the final stage of the rebuild and will be the thing by which the success of the restoration will be judged. The film draws in some characters, who, while not technically organ builders, are very much part of the ‘King’s organ’ story. Martin Hebblewhite talks us through the delicate process of gilding the pipes and admits that while he spends so much of his time working with gold, he can’t tolerate any of it in his house!

Professor Murray Campbell uses harmonic analysis to explain how organ builders achieve a variety of sounds by blowing air across different shapes of pipe

Perhaps the most telling comment comes from Stephen Alliss – the person whose job it is every two weeks to keep the organ at pitch: ‘No matter what anyone one else says, I’ve got the best job in the world.’

Gilder Martin Hebblewhite has the task of restoring the external pipes to their former golden glory We’re given unique access to the BBC Outside Broadcast team and their vehicle on the morning of Christmas Eve 2015 – the last time the ‘old’ organ was to be used. Here we meet BBC Radio Engineering Manager Steve Richards, who for 27 years has been involved in relaying the sound of King’s to millions of people all over the world. We talk to organ scholar Tom Etheridge, playing for the live broadcast for the first Keeping the show on the road: Stephen Alliss tunes time, and hear how he was inspired to take up the the organ every two weeks. “I have the best job in organ after being invited as a choirboy many years the world.”

14 Laudate 103 This documentary is a paced telling of a story during its reinstallation, we were able to place which can be told only once in each generation. It’s microphones over each of the soundboards so made for ordinary people, but those with particular that in the documentary we could contrast the interest in the ‘king of instruments’ will find it sound coming directly from the pipes with the fascinating. Those, like me, who grew up with the sound heard on the floor of the chapel. And in the sound of King’s College chapel as a benchmark in Recital DVD, we used (among other positions) church music, will surely count it a privilege to be the classic ‘Decca tree’ configuration level with able to see this global icon taken apart, explained, the Great and Swell soundboards over 30' in the and put back together again. It is in every sense the air on the east side using a specially constructed story of A Legend Reborn. stand, so that we could hear the detail of the organ LAUDATE readers can obtain their copy of the box before it was lost in the acoustics of the building. set at a 20% discount by going to the website www. This configuration allowed us to get a little closer fuguestatefilms.co.uk and using the code FSFKINGS20 than most recordings normally require. when they come to the payment section. This offer is available until 1st February 2021. The box set comprises the documentary (on one DVD) and a recital (on another) by seven former organ scholars in which five cameras placed around the new console allow us to watch performances by Dónal McCann, Henry Websdale, Richard Gowers, Tom Winpenny, Ashley Grote, Robert Quinney and David Briggs. The music of Bingham, Dupré, Vierne, Messiaen, Bridge, and Howells take their place alongside that of Mendelssohn and Bach. The recital also comes separately on two CDs. The recital finishes with presenter David Briggs’ 3 microphones in the Decca Tree configuration but own seven-movement improvisation on the Great on a specially-constructed stand to allow us to get level with the Great and Swell soundboards. Advent Antiphon “O Sapientia” culminating in a spectacular toccata. For cameras too, a challenge: the extreme contrast between the dark oak case in shadow and sunlight Presenter and former organ scholar David Briggs pouring in through the window – a challenge met leads us on the journey of restoration very adequately by Sony’s broadcast spec camera, the FS7.

Behind the Scenes… The organ in King’s College has featured on Viewers get the variety of five cameras watching this many recordings and broadcasts, but because of recital. Here Tom Winpenny has his last run-through the unique access we were given to the organ of the Howells’ Rhapsody before we record

January 2021 15 Holier than Thou? How Sacred Is the church’s song?1

Ian Sharp isten to us! Some of us are singing ‘Holy, holy, whereas religious music is characterised as ‘music holy’, and others are singing ‘Holy, holy, holy is of the soul’, secular music is ‘music of the body’. In Lthe Lord’. We sing with great conviction, but such a mindset attitudes about what constitutes how can we be sure that our singing is truly holy? Is suitably holy music can become blatantly polarised. it the words? Is it the tune? Is it the location? Is it the For instance, to the question ‘is jazz music spiritual liturgy? Is holiness enhanced by the commitment or sinful?’, an extreme fundamentalist website has of the singers and can the holiness of our song be this answer: quantified and measured? These questions inevitably The world’s music, in any era, has never throw up challenges for those of us who habitually enhanced the Lord’s message. The devil engage in the singing of hymns and sacred songs. was not able to be as blatant in the jazz What, then, do we mean when we talk about ‘holy’ era as he is in the rock generation, but singing? the same raunchy fellow is behind both Basically, something which is holy is dedicated to styles. Both mediums represent classic God, it is set aside, it is worthy, and is sacred, as in worldliness.2 ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy’. We learn from our bible dictionary that the concept The view expressed here is unambiguous; rock of holiness is rooted in the very essence of the music and jazz music can never be spiritual. Jewish faith, for ‘whatever is connected with the Similar reservations about so-called popular worship of the holy Yahweh is itself holy. Nothing music styles have been expressed in traditional is holy in itself, but anything becomes holy by its Catholic theology, notably in several articles on consecration to Him.’ Holiness, is, then, the state music by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. He is careful to of being wholly devoted to the perfection of God. observe that theologians ‘cannot enter into musical It is the highest quality one can aim for, and, in our discussions per se, but they can nonetheless ask singing, as in all aspects of our daily life, holiness is where the seams are, so to speak, that link faith the utmost level of purity and morality. Holiness is and art.’ When it comes to distinctions between the complete opposite of wickedness or profanity. It holiness and unholiness in relation to music, he is to be found in those actions and thoughts which has this to say: are sacred and God-centred, and which are not the Not every kind of music can have a result of mere human endeavours. place in Christian worship. It has its How does this work out in practice, as we embark standards, and that standard is the upon our quest for a creditable measure of the Logos. If we want to know whom we holiness of the church’s song? One question are dealing with, the Holy Spirit or the brings up others: questions about style, about unholy spirit, we have to remember that taste, about historical awareness and, inevitably, it is the Holy Spirit who moves us to say, about the distinction between what is sacred and ‘Jesus is Lord’ (1 Cor. 12:3). The Holy what is secular. A simplistic answer would be that, Spirit leads us to the Logos, and he leads us to a music that serves the Logos as

1 This article, which first appeared in The Hymn Society Bulletin (Autumn 2020), is reprinted by kind permission of the Editor, the Revd Dr Andrew Pratt, and the author. It is a version of a talk originally intended for the Hymn Society’s July 2020 Conference. Several of the hymns mentioned would have been sung by the assembled company; only extracts are given here. 2 ‘Quoted in David Arrivet (2007): ‘Jazz: Sinful or Spiritual?’. Christian Artists Network.

16 Laudate 103 a sign of the sursum corda, the lifting up Bright the vision that delighted of the human heart. Does it integrate once the sight of Judah’s seer; man by drawing him to what is above, sweet the countless tongues united or does it cause his disintegration to entrance the prophet’s ear. into formless intoxication or mere sensuality?3 Round the Lord in glory seated For Ratzinger, both pop music and music which is cherubim and seraphim perceived as being too elitist, that is, music which filled his temple, and repeated appears to exist as ‘art for art’s sake’: should not each to each the alternate hymn: have a place in Christian worship. The sacred imperatives of the liturgy should not be sullied with ‘Lord, thy glory fills the heaven; such sensuous sounds. earth is with its fullness stored; unto thee be glory given, Feelings about the power of music to rouse human holy, holy, holy Lord.’ … passions are not new. St. Augustine, who was, as he put it, ‘inclined to approve of the custom of singing in church’: admitted that there were dangers Bishop Richard Mant’s text is skilfully constructed inherent in the use of music in worship. In an oft- to provide a poetic commentary on a selection of quoted passage he writes: verses from Isaiah 6. And when sung to Richard Redhead’s LAUS DEO, with the repetition of the Yet when I find the singing itself more refrain, ‘Lord, thy glory’ and its three-fold, ‘Holy, moving than the truth which it conveys, holy, holy’ (which is made even more glorious by I confess that this is a grievous sin, and the addition of Sir Sydney Nicholson’s descant) the at those times I would prefer not to worshipper feels exhilarated to exclaim with the 4 hear the singer. prophet, ‘Here I am! Send me.’ ‘Bright the vision’ How then do these strictures relate to hymnody? can, indeed, be an expression of sacred singing of How is today’s worship leader to distinguish the highest order, in both communal and personal between the holy and the unholy, between the worship. sacred and the secular? How can we best attempt However, to gain more than a vague impression of to follow the advice in 1 Peter 1:14-16 about the meaning of the hymn and of the significance holiness? of Isaiah’s vision, one has to decipher a code. As obedient children, do not conform Who, exactly, was ‘Judah’s seer’ (here conveniently to the evil desires you had when you rhymed with ‘ear’)? And what were the cherubim lived in ignorance. But just as he who doing? Such questions would be immediately called you is holy, so be holy in all you answered by Hymn Society members, but the do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I general run of choristers and congregational singers am holy.’ might well be hard put to it to make sense of the Why not start by consulting the plethora of hymn references. Does this matter? Surely there is a place books and worship materials, those collections for mystery, and for noble language which stimulates which reflect all shades of theological and cultural different levels of appreciation and understanding! endeavour? Surely they will contain nothing but Absolutely, but there is always a suspicion that, distilled holiness! So, I open my hymnal and turn just by using complex language, we are going to to one of my favourite hymns, a hymn which is be nearer to heaven. Are we necessarily higher up impeccably ‘holy’, in more senses than one. the slope of sanctity, are we ‘holier than thou’, just because we find ourselves comfortable with some 3 Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (2000): ‘Music and of the established conventions of holy chant and Liturgy’ in The Spirit of the Liturgy. psalm? Admittedly, there is much to be said for the 4 Saint Augustine: Confessions, trs. R.S. Pine-Coffin (1961) Penguin, pp.238-239. continued use of archaisms, such as thee and thou,

January 2021 17 and we know from experience that contexts are all text. In the 1980s, Elizabeth Cosnett wrote a hymn, important. It is also true that what is appropriate in ‘Praise the Lord with sound-waves’, illustrating the one setting might be totally off-putting in another. theme ‘Music and Praise’. Her words could have But in our analysis of the holiness of hymnody let’s been sung to any of the tunes mentioned above, not be so ‘conjubilant’ with our own singing that but I decided to write a livelier setting, entitled we fail to engage with folk around us who are not SOUND-WAVES, which attempted to illustrate devotees of the linguistic intricacies of St Bernard the mention of the ‘silence’ which completes each of Cluny and John Mason Neale! verse. Here is verse one. We could imagine it This is not the place for a detailed discussion of sung to EVELYNS, and then, by way of contrast, to the relevance of language in the liturgy, but one SOUND-WAVES. EVELYNS is typical of traditional further illustration might reinforce the point that congregational singing supported by a four-part all brands of language should be welcomed in our choir with organ accompaniment, whereas my tune congregational song. Take the many fine texts which is not so redolent of hassocks and hymn books, relate to the Virgin Mary: ‘Tell out my soul, ‘For and, unsurprisingly, it only really works when given Mary, Mother of our Lord’ and ‘Ye who own the an upbeat instrumental accompaniment. Does that faith of Jesus (Hail Mary, full of grace)’ to name but mean that it is, potentially, any less suitable for use three. But Fred Kaan’s ‘Sing we a song of high revolt’ in a sacred context? And because of its jocular, even appears to be going out of fashion. Could this be secular, style, is its holiness somewhat diminished? because of the hymn’s final two lines, ‘to sing and Praise the Lord with sound-waves live Magnificat / in crowded street and council flat’? Praise with open ears, Does this imagery make us feel uncomfortable, as Praise with lungs and larynx, we rise from the security of our saintly pew? Or Feelings and ideas. could we risk being even more relevant by singing Praise with pitch and rhythm and living the Magnificat in a ‘high-rise flat’? Balance and control We have already noted that questions of style and Praise as well with silence 5 taste influence our notions of what is appropriate Which completes the whole. for sacred song. This is particularly noticeable in Mention of the sacred/secular dichotomy reminds the choice of music, and our own preferences us that many hymns which are now commonly might well reflect our own cultural background. accepted as fit for use in worship, have secular Take the hymn, ‘At the name of Jesus’. We are origins. One of the most famous is what we know offered a choice of four tunes: W.H. Monk’s as the PASSION CHORALE, ‘O sacred head, EVELYNS, Michael Brierley’s CAMBERWELL, sore wounded’ in one of the harmonisations by Ralph Vaughan Williams’ KING’S WESTON or J.S. Bach. Originally a secular song addressed to W.H. Ferguson’s CUDDESDON. All these tunes a ‘tender maid’, ‘Mein G’muth ist mir verwirret’ fit the metre and meaning of the words, but (‘Confused are all my feelings’), this music was do we go for the respectable Ancient & Modern first set to a hymn text by the composer Hans Leo coupling, for mid-twentieth century ‘light music’, Hassler in 1613, and now its religious associations for the English Hymnal’s folksong idiom, or for the are inexorably fixed in Christian worship of all dignified sonority of public school hymnody? Which traditions. It is interesting to note that Vaughan of these four tunes is better suited to cathedral Williams felt very strongly that secular sources evensong and which to a Songs of Praise televised could indeed become hymn tunes. In a letter to presentation? Instinctively, we would know which Percy Dearmer (written in 1929 or later) he states to select, but why? Do our preconceptions of what that he cares nothing for ‘origins’ and he makes makes for true holiness colour our reactions? 5 No. 12 in New Songs of Praise 4 (OUP/BBC Tunes in this particular 65 65D metre lead me to Publications, 1988); and also in Elizabeth Cosnett: a personal reflection of the effect of music on a Hymns for Everyday Saints (Stainer and Bell, 2001), pp. 34-5.

18 Laudate 103 the point that many of the ‘noblest hymn tunes in skilfully crafted to enhance the message of Psalm the world’ have secular origins. He cites, among 46: ‘God the Lord of hosts / is with us evermore!’ others: O FILII ET FILIAE (‘Ye sons and daughters Our quest for a secure definition of holiness in of the King’) which is adapted from a presumably hymnody leads us into many pastures. Along the pagan song in praise of Spring; HELMSLEY (‘Lo! he way we might find some guidance by looking comes with clouds descending’) which is ‘probably at the signposts. We have already explored the an adaptation of a stage song (sung by a female parameters of sacred versus secular, but there are actor)’, ‘Where’s the mortal can resist me?’; and many other polarities which are related to our JESU MEINE FREUDE (‘Jesus, priceless treasure’) main theme. There’s high-brow versus low-brow, 6 which was originally ‘Flora meine Freude’. popular versus elitist, church versus society, and, of Vaughan Williams’ championship of the adaptation course, holy versus profane. When we attempt to of folk material for use in sacred song has been of measure the extent of genuine holiness there are immense significance in the development of the many hymnological areas we could investigate. For English hymn. Where would we be without, say, instance, was the ‘Holiness Hymnody’, a movement FOREST GREEN, MONK’S GATE or ROYAL OAK? that grew out of American Methodism in the late More recently, our hymn books now contain ‘Spirit 1830s, exclusively holy? Were the Sacred Songs of God, unseen as the wind’ to the Scottish folk and Solos of Moody and Sankey sacred because melody, THE SKYE BOAT SONG. And the poignant of their contents or because of their contexts? text by Shirley Erena Murray, ‘When human voices (And how does one account for their enormous cannot sing’, has been set to the folk melody, popularity from the 1870s onwards?) Relating BARBARA ALLEN. Secular sources are here forged to our own times, are the musical offerings on into a hymnic unity which then becomes sanctified contemporary Christian radio stations necessarily and is truly worthy of the praise of Almighty God. more Christian because of their style or because of So, we can ask, do these revelations about the their evangelising stance? Questions such as these secular antecedents of some hymns shock the open up many facets of society and culture, and average worshipper? Hardly at all, because the it is right that our faith and our worship should conventions of religious observance are such that, always be related to the experiences of ordinary once material becomes accepted in a hymnological people. And to adapt an old chestnut, there’s no guise, its background is irrelevant. It is only when point being so heavenly minded that our singing is the originals are still well-known to worshippers of no earthly use! that cultural unease might be felt. For instance, This leads me to a discussion of a practical concern anyone with school-time memories of singing which is faced by most of us, namely the role of Purcell’s ‘Fairest Isle, all isles excelling’ might find hymns and songs in funerals. What is sung, and why? the tune a strange companion for ‘Love Divine’, In the Hymn Society Short Guide 22: Funeral Hymns although this was an original pairing of words and (2016) Gordon Giles offers some timely advice and music. Similarly, people who recall Eric Coates’ words of comfort. He acknowledges that: music for the 1955 film The Dam Busters might avoiding the hackneyed, sometimes have a double take when they find it set to Richard inappropriate, but potentially valuable Bewes’ ‘God is our strength and refuge’. Indeed, choices is difficult, and there is little some might even recall the lyrics in the sheet music opportunity to learn new funeral version of the march: ‘Proudly, with high endeavour, hymns except at a funeral, when it is / We, who are young forever, / Won the freedom likely to be unrealistic to try them out. of the skies. / We shall never die’. That said, the In extremis people stick to what they matching of tune and texts makes a fine hymn, know. 6 Quoted in Judith Blezzard (1990): Borrowings in The reality is that the use of music in funerals will English Church Music 1550–1950 (Stainer and Bell, pp.93–4). vary according to personal circumstances and local

January 2021 19 usage. It was my privilege recently to play for three being sanctimonious. And if we are ever tempted to church funerals in one week. This is what I found. think that we might be ‘holier than thou’, if we find One had two traditional hymns, ‘Guide me, O thou comfort in retreating into our ecclesiastical shells, great redeemer’ and ‘Abide with me’. Another also and, in the words of Fred Pratt Green, we ‘shut the had two hymns, ‘All things bright and beautiful’ and outer door, lest the noise of traffic drown the voice ‘Abide with me’ and additionally, recorded music of prayer’; if we are tempted in these ways, then for the entry and exit, ‘The Prayer’ and ‘Time to we must recognise that true holiness is not ours say Goodbye’. to define, but ours to receive. As Frederick Faber The third service started with ‘Ave Maria’ as entry reminds us, there really is ‘a wideness in God’s music, and the hymns were ‘I watch the sun rise mercy, like the wideness of the sea’. lighting the sky’ (which the internet Funeral Guide For the love of God is broader describes as ‘a traditional Christian hymn about than the measures of man’s mind; reflection, peace and faith’) and ‘Going home, going and the heart of the Eternal home, I’m just going home’ (the tune being taken is most wonderfully kind. from Dvorák’sv ‘New World Symphony’, and this is But we make his love too narrow the version of the text which includes the line, ‘Jesus by false limits of our own; is the door’). Finally, the music at the crematorium and we magnify his strictness was ‘Forever Autumn’ and ‘Remember Me’. with a zeal he will not own. I mention the details of all the music in these And finally, everyone probably needs cheering up at funerals to emphasise the variety of styles which, the present time, especially when communal singing typically, is available to people today. Clearly, there is banned and hymn books are objects which cannot is a world of difference between the theological be handled. We all know when a hymn is not really implications of, on the one hand, ‘I watch the a hymn, and what better example do we have than moonlight guarding the night, / waiting till morning John Betjeman’s poem, masquerading as a ‘Hymn’. comes. / The air is silent, earth is at rest, / only your We cannot take this ‘wholly’ seriously, but what peace is near me’, and, for instance, the words of better way to end our little discourse on hymnic the Russian Kontakion of the Dead, ‘Give rest, O holiness than ‘The Church’s Restoration’. Imagine Christ, / to thy servant with thy saints, / where its four verses sung to AURELIA, a worthy exemplar sorrow and pain are no more, / neither sighing, but of harmonic propriety, as we stand to ‘sing art and life everlasting’. ‘I watch the sunrise’ might be more crafty praise!’. in the mode of Radio 2, and the Russian Kontakion, The Church’s Restoration Radio 3, but both can be equally effective as agents In eighteen-eighty-three of spiritual and emotional support. In the context Has left for contemplation of music for funerals and memorial services it Not what there used to be. would be insensitive, to say the least, to attempt How well the ancient woodwork to measure levels of holiness, or to suggest that Looks round the Rect’ry hall, sanctity is somehow diminished the further one Memorial of the good work gets from the church porch. Sanctity is an intangible Of him who plann’d it all.7 quality, but it can be felt in terms of atmosphere and intention, whether in a consecrated church building or on the journey to the crematorium. As I draw this brief discussion of ‘holy’ singing Ian Sharp is a Past Executive President of the Hymn to a conclusion it will be obvious that there are Society, musician, composer and hymnologist. many issues still to be addressed. But I hope I have suggested that we should never confuse being pious with being pompous, or being saintly with 7 John Betjeman’s Collected Poems, (1962) John Murray, p.3.

20 Laudate 103 The Sacred Cantatas of J.S. Bach

Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit God’s Time is Best BWV 106 (‘Actus Tragicus’) Bernard Salter here are many ways in which music can mediate the divine. The sacred cantatas of J.S. Bach are a supreme example. It is hoped that this article Twill help readers of Laudate to appreciate one particular Cantata, written in Bach’s youth. To get the best from my comments, you are urged to listen (as you read) to a recording of the Cantata, unless you already know the music well. Some readers may even have the resources to perform it, as I did some years ago at a church in Sutton Coldfield. A number of recordings (not of my performance!) are available on CDs, but for quick access, you could just google BWV 106 (videos). This will offer you a choice including the following:- The Netherlands Bach Society, conducted by Jos van Veldhoven https://www.bachvereniging.nl/en/bwv/bwv-106/ The Schola Cantorum of Basel, directed (from the organ) by Ana Maria Fonseca https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K42gs0Qmg0 The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir directed by Ton Koopman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i5O923PzeQ The Hanover Boy’s Choir, with Collegium Vocale of Ghent, directed by Gustav Leonhard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snqxsCFY48U In both A and B the chorus consists purely of the four soloists, and there is a live audience. C is performed in an otherwise empty church. In D you do not see the performers, but you can follow the music (with lyrics and translations) on a scrolling score. The approximate duration of the Cantata on all recordings is 20 minutes. This cantata is thought to have been written in 1707 (when Bach was aged 22) for the funeral of one of his uncles. The subject-matter is death, but (in spite of the sub-title Actus Tragicus the work is in no way gloomy. The text (whose author is not known for certain) makes a comparison between the Old Testament attitude to death and the more positive approach of the Gospels, as epitomised in the words of Jesus to the penitent thief ‘Today you will be with me in paradise’ (Luke 23:43). Whilst I believe that BWV 106 is undoubtedly a good starting point for getting to know and enjoy the Bach Cantatas, it is not typical of the genre. Indeed, it is hard to find a typical Cantata, because Bach varies the format so much. This one is similar to the others in terms of length; and some of them, like this, have an instrumental prelude. The theme of death is also very common in the texts which Bach uses: it should be noted that, in his day, death was much more difficult to hide or ignore than it is in our modern society, and Bach (so far as we can tell) shared the view of death that is common to all Christian theology, namely that it is a gateway to a greater life. He is therefore able to set texts about death in a major key; but at the same time (as is clear in this Cantata) he does not ignore the painful realities of suffering and loss. Just as in the other Cantatas, we have here an abundance of actual quotations of phrases or verses from the Bible; but often (as in most of the Cantatas) these seem to be given an equal status with the non-scriptural words, and specifically Lutheran doctrines, of the librettist. This Cantata is unusual in the way that its central movements are split into so many different (and short) sections. It is also untypical in that it contains no recitatives or self-contained arias. The first part of Section 3 is sometimes described as an aria, and this is the term I have used in the notes which follow; but it

January 2021 21 turns out to be the beginning of a duet between the Alto and Bass soloists. The term arioso (used for some other aria-like passages) might therefore be more appropriate. Here is my detailed commentary on the four movements:- SONATINA This beautiful instrumental introduction (for two recorders, two violas da gamba, ’cello and organ) begins solemnly, but the mood is lightened by the lovely ‘pastoral’ melodies of the recorders, as they intertwine with each other. The viola da gamba was a precursor of the modern ’cello: Bach wrote sonatas for it, but its use in his vocal music is rare, the most noted example being its occurrence in the St Matthew Passion as the obbligato instrument for the bass aria towards the end of Part 2 (‘Come, healing cross’ in most English versions). The instrument that we usually describe as the ‘recorder’ should more correctly be called the blockflöte or wooden flute. Here the two flutes play in unison for most of the movement, but their lines diverge occasionally. It has been suggested that Bach associated the viola da gamba with death, perhaps because he was aware that (following the invention of the ‘cello) the older instrument was dying out! It has also been suggested that the flutes in this movement are a musical representation of doves, thus symbolizing God the Holy Spirit. (i) CHORUS Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit. ‘God’s time is the best time of all.’ A very positive opening statement, in a lively style, or on some recordings more solemn. In ihm leben, weben, und sind wir, solange er will. ‘In him we live and move and have our being, as long as he wills it.’ A quotation from Acts 17:28, with a little gloss by the librettist after the comma. Note the increase in tempo, plus Bach’s running quavers when he sets the words meaning live and move, and also the long held note on lange (long). In ihm sterben wir zur rechten Zeit, wenn er will. ‘In him we die, at the right time, when he wishes.’ Here the pace slows, and the harmony is much darker, as the painful realities of death are confronted. 2 (ii) ARIOSO (Tenor) Ach, Herr, lehre uns bedenken, daß wir sterben müssen, auf daß wir klug werden. ‘O Lord, teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.’ The text here is a quotation from Psalm 90:12, one of the classic Old Testament statements about human mortality. 2 (iii) ARIOSO (Bass) Bestelle dein Haus; den du wirst sterben und nicht lebendig bleiben! ‘Set your house in order, for you will die and not live.’ This famous phrase comes from Isaiah 38:1, where the prophet is telling King Hezekiah that he must get ready to die. A notable feature of the music here is the way in which the restless semiquavers of the accompaniment suggest that time is rapidly fleeing. 2 (iv) CHORUS & ARIOSO (Soprano) Es ist der alte Bund: Mensch, du mußt sterben! ‘This is the old covenant: Man you must die!’ Ja, komm, Herr Jesu! ‘Yes, come, Lord Jesus!’ This section might be described as the turning point of the whole composition. It starts with a text about dying under the old covenant, based on Ecclesiasticus 14:17. The music is the beginning of a slow

22 Laudate 103 fugue, sung by the three lower voices, in a deliberately archaic style to represent the old order. After 15 bars the fugal music is answered by the Soprano, announcing the new covenant brought about by Christ’s victory over death; the words are from Revelation 22:20, the final words of the Bible. The fugue is then resumed, in ever shorter and more repetitious phrases, with melismas on sterben (‘die’), and is then combined with the Soprano solo, leading to an intense climax. A few bars after the Soprano solo begins, and as the gambas enter again, there is a ‘hidden’ chorale, played by the flutes (hardly audible on some recordings). This may have been one of the hymns which were traditionally sung at Lutheran funerals; the version of the chorale which Bach uses here begins as follows, and is shown with the words traditionally associated with it:-

‘I have entrusted my case to God; let him do with me as he chooses…’ ARIA (Alto), ARIOSO (Bass),CHORALE In deine Hände befehl ich meinen Geist; du hast mich erlöset, Herr, du getreuer Gott. ‘Into your hand I commend my spirit, for you have redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth.’ The text of the Alto aria is from Psalm 31:5—one of the Seven Last Words of Jesus on the cross. The five-syllable phrase In deine Hände is reflected by Bach in the little scales of the continuo part (played on organ and ’cello) – five fingers representing one hand! Heute wirst du mit mir im Paradies sein. ‘Today you shall be with me in paradise.’ This is perhaps the most memorable section of the whole cantata, where we have the voice of Christ, represented by the Bass soloist, using a sentence from Luke 23:43, the words of the dying Jesus to the penitent thief. Notice the ‘heavenly’ heights to which the bass part ascends! Notice also how the word Paradies is repeated many times (seven times in the first sequence alone) and accentuated even further with the melisma shown below. The accompaniment shows that the melisma is just an ornamentation of the rising scale in the continuo part, and the fact that it is a rising scale is also symbolic.

Immediately after this cadence (about half-way through the Bass solo) there is another chorale: - Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin in Gottes Willen. Getrost ist mir mein Herz und Sinn, sanft und stille, wie Gott mir verheißen hat: der Tod ist mein Schlafworden. ‘With peace and joy I go there, by God’s will. My heart and mind are consoled, mellow and tranquil, as God has promised me: death has become like sleep to me.’ This is Luther’s ‘deathbed’ hymn, written in 1524, and the chorale melody (shown below) is voiced by the Alto(s) in long notes. The final part of this section has been described as truly breathtaking: the Bass solo (the voice of Christ) comes to a stop whilst the chorale continues pianissimo on the word stille (‘tranquil’), and a little later the music comes to an almost complete halt on the word Schlaf (‘sleep’) – another moment of great beauty.

January 2021 23 CHORUS Glorie, Lob, Ehr und Herrlichkeit Sei dir Gott, Vater und Sohn bereit’, Dem Heilgen Geist mit Namen! Die göttlich Kraft Mach uns sieghaft Durch Jesum Christum. Amen. Glory, praise, honour and majesty be given to you O God, Father and Son, and to the Holy Spirit above all. The divine power makes us victorious through Jesus Christ. Amen. The final chorus, praising the Trinity, has a calm but joyful beginning, with an unusual, but not unique, syncopated off-the-beat accompaniment, and instrumental echoes after each line. The music features yet another chorale: ‘In dich hab’ ich gehoffet, Herr’ (see below). The text is from a hymn by Adam Reusner, written in 1533. Some brief details of Reusner’s life can be found at www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Reusner. htm where there is also a link to the full text of this chorale. The movement concludes with an energetic section in fugal style on durch Jesum Christum, (‘through Jesus Christ’) Amen, with snatches of the chorale melody in long notes, and one of Bach’s more abrupt endings! The chorale melody is shown here with the words of Reusner’s opening verse:

‘I have put my hope in you, Lord. Help me to avoid disgrace and everlasting scorn. This I beg of you: keep me in your faithfulness, my God.’ The Cantata uses the words of the final verse of the hymn, which is a doxology.

Viola da Gamba The Viola da Gamba is a member of the viol family, which is illustrated in the photographs overleaf. These instruments were the precursors of the violin family, from which they differ in several respects. They usually have six or seven strings, unlike the violin family which only have four. The strings are fretted, but the frets are not fixed (as they are on the guitar); they can therefore be moved to suit different tonalities. Frets are an aid to good intonation, but they impose limits on the type of music that can be played; the violin family (instruments without frets) can be used for much more chromatic music.

24 Laudate 103 The top picture shows a consort of viols: the smaller members of the family are held well off the floor, and sometimes sit on the player’s lap. The middle picture shows a viola da gamba, where the frets can be clearly seen. The lower picture illustrates the underhand method of bowing, used for every member of this family of instruments. The sloping shoulders of the instrument are also a distinctive feature: the only modern instrument to retain this design is the double bass. Viols are tuned differently from the violin family, not in fifths but mainly in fourths, with the interval of a third between the third and fourth strings, just like a lute and almost like a guitar. Chords can easily be played on the viol with the bow and are often included in solo music. Viols have a long history. They were perhaps most popular in the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries, from about the time of Henry VIII of England, who played them, to that of Louis XIV

of France (the Sun King). The sound of the viol is sweet and shimmering, quieter than that of violins, violas, or cellos. But many people today love the particular timbre of viols and the Renaissance and Baroque music written for them. Concerts are usually given in small halls or churches, which suit viols well.

January 2021 25 St Edward’s Church, Leek in Staffordshire’s 700th Anniversary of the Dedication to St Edward the Confessor Josephine Smith uring the Covid-19 pandemic, on Sunday 18th October 2020, St Edward’s Church in Leek celebrated the 700th Danniversary of its dedication, hence its nickname of ‘The Old Church’. A large, gold ‘700’ balloon was glinting in situ behind the makeshift altar, and this greeted us as we entered the ‘socially distanced’ church, fully masked-up. The organist struck up some gentle music while Bishop Michael Ipgrave took instructions from Reverend Nigel Irons and we sat and took in the calm preparation time. The service ran smoothly with screens for the congregation to follow from, rather than handling booklets, and in place of the first hymn, a recording of ‘Crown Him with Many Crowns’ from the Albert Hall was played. Sadly, due to Covid-19, we were unable to sing ourselves, but we sat, watched and listened, longing for the day that we can sing again. Bishop Michael preached a beautiful sermon which involved his four-year-old granddaughter and the martlet, which is a small bird usually depicted with no legs, indicating that it just keeps on flying and never gives up. He also talked about how the pandemic has made us all realise that there is more to life than materialism, and that material things are just not enough. We have learned to appreciate the bird soaring in the sky and to put seeking the Kingdom of God before all things, so that we can learn to fly on the breath of the Spirit because our Christian life is a continual journey. This beautiful, old church is the chosen venue for our Instrumental Workshop for Music Group Leaders, Teachers and Other Musicians – which is due to take place on Saturday 11th September 2021. If you would like to come and join us, and see St Edward’s Church for yourselves, then please put the date in your diaries. If you would like more information, please contact myself on [email protected] or Roger Wilkes on [email protected]. I hope by the time you read this we will be making progress through the pandemic and our voices and instruments can all soar again, like the martlet, right up to the heavens, whilst seeking the Kingdom of God on our Christian journey. Fellows by Examination

Licentiates by John Ewington obe (RIP 2015) Dr Brett McKern HonGCM Examination Jeremy Ducker Sister Avril Foster op 2015 Rockley Battye Jack Robbins Alan Cook Gillian Appleton Thornhill Keith Hotham Jocelyn Armstrong The Revd Susan Anne Wynne Phillipson-Masters William Lupton David Guthrie House Elizabeth Stratford 2017 Paul Hayward Ronald Fletcher The Revd Bernard Salter Dr Martin Llewellyn John A. Bostock Paul Hayward Philip Willatt Massimo Varricchio 2019 The Revd Neil Roberts Major John Martin Revd Canon Dr Peter Thompson

26 Laudate 103 Discord, Disunity and The Beginnings of Harmony – The Church Choir Guild

Dr Stewart Thompson

Introduction the Royal College of Music (RCM) to reform uring the course of initial research into the system into the beginnings of the Associated 2 the wider field of the smaller music Board we know today. As a result even those colleges, my research began naturally from considered as established figures must be carefully D weighed against their interests, especially relating my own home institution, the Victoria College of Music (VCM) and those people involved with it. to the formation of possible challengers to their All were recognised in musical circles for their positions. Minor figures were often subject to such professional achievements, educational experience behaviour solely upon the grounds of being amateur and connections but among them, one figure stood or new. Truth magazine was especially virulent in ahead of the field for connections, notoriety and this area, almost to the point of obsession beyond column space in the Victorian and Edwardian sensationalist journalism. press – as we shall soon see. Some of the people Materials are also difficult to access due to both encountered in the course of my research are physical location during the 2020 pandemic as well connected specifically with the formation of the as many materials being either non-digitalised or Church Choir Guild (CCG), the ‘parent body’ of in obscure archives. In the United Kingdom, access the present Guild of Church Musicians (GCM). to the British Library has been highly restricted At the behest of Michael Walsh after discussion despite a substantial amount of related material about the interconnection of the early years of being held by them. Key to this is the location of one the Guild of Church Musicians (GCM) with VCM, I of only two known full sets of the CCG’s journal, 3 focused my work upon the formation of the Guild. Church Musician published 1890 to 1895. The At present, I would categorise this not only as work other, being in the United States is also currently in progress but as a field still with much to explore. inaccessible and it is of key importance for the long One of the difficulties encountered in this field is term of research to gain access to this source as attempting not only to access materials but then to much of the Guild’s own perspective on this era is place them within a fair and balanced perspective. only currently available via secondary sources. The British Newspaper Archive has proven an invaluable Many of those musical figures who are considered location for much of this, while the Musical Times the principal figures in English music of the era provided a more professional, if still problematic were themselves not of the most exemplary perspective. character. Elgar was not above stepping on the work of other composers when persuaded he had I am thankful to Dr. Nicholas Groves for information such a right to do so1 while even much respected via his own research into this field which worked institutions themselves were not exempt from such alongside my own, and to Richard West, great behaviour. The venerable Royal Academy of Music grandson of James Henry Lewis, the founder of (RAM) was subject to charges of corruption and both the CCG and VCM, for information from the misconduct in the handling of its local examinations family’s archives. Sadly, the other principal source in the 1880s to the extent that the Principal, Sir of information on Lewis, the records of Victoria Alexander McKenzie, had no option but to dismiss College of Music, were mostly lost during the the College secretary for fraud and to approach 2 Wright (2013), pp.46–47. 1 Elgar.org. For fuller details of sources, see the 3 The Church Musician: a monthly journal of the Bibliography at the end of the article. Church Choir Guild (British Library, 2020).

January 2021 27 sale of the College from the Lewis family in 1959, in his lifetime but over 90 years after his death are and only fragments have been found by current still operating and probably stronger parts of the VCM Chief Executive Robin Wood, to whom I musical establishment than they ever were in his am indebted for providing information from the life. His name was James Henry Lewis. personal belongings of his late partner Dr Jeffrey As a historical figure, James Henry Lewis is now Tillett. In addition, great support has been provided little more than a footnote to most people and by Mandi Johnson, Director of the University until very recently no research had been carried Archives at the University of the South, Tennessee, out except for some basic information on his relating to Lewis and the matter of his doctorates. compositions in the VCM archives. However, a combination of work by his great-grandson Richard James Henry Lewis – a West and by the author as part of an ongoing Biographical Sketch exploration of Victoria College’s history has led to a very different picture. Born the son of a blacksmith, Lewis rose through the musical ranks of Victorian society in a manner similar to many others. Born 23rd February 1856 in Great Malvern, he was a member of St. Peter’s Church and by the age of 19 he was a proficient enough organist to be appointed at St. Cuthbert’s, Hawick.5 Later, as parish organist at West Hartlepool and a well-reputed conductor of both orchestral and choral work, Lewis was offered an appointment at Twickenham and moved closer to London. By 1887, Lewis had received a number of awards from a variety of English institutions: • Senior examination in music from Trinity Open any copy of The Musical Times in the very College, London late 1800s and you would almost certainly be • Licentiate in Music from the Society of Science, guaranteed to find heated debate between both Letters and Arts of London learned academics and enthusiastic amateurs over • Fellow of the Musical International College numerous subjects. One of the most frequent topics in this era of rapid growth in the fledgling • Fellow of the Edinburgh Geological Society higher music education sector was the legitimacy as well as having a substantial body of compositions of awards, both domestic and foreign.4 Frequently published and performed.6 As a result, he was able named within these various colleges and guilds to gain the support of the then Bishop of London, was a man considered divisive, heralded by some later Archbishop of Canterbury Frederick Temple as the champion of inclusiveness yet lambasted in his application for his Doctor of Music degree.7 by others as a charlatan, a purveyor of diplomas He was also keen to exploit this connection on intended only to make money for himself and his several occasions over the coming years. Following cronies. Yet of the various institutions which he was his appointment as Honorary Secretary to the key in founding he remained connected primarily Guild of Organists, Temple was appointed patron8 to two throughout his lifetime. The Church Choir Guild, now the Guild of Church Musicians, and the 5 The Church Musician (September 1893). Victoria College of Music, London not only thrived 6 University of the South ( August 1897). 7 Temple (1886). 4 Musical Times (January 1892). 8 Musical Times (1887).

28 Laudate 103 and this was not the last time he would be invoked Having had over forty candidates present for by Lewis, who curried favour with several figures in diploma examinations, three public lectures and the ‘establishment’. While it’s difficult to ascertain twelve council meetings, it had also announced entirely how Lewis and Temple became connected, a composition award for a new anthem13. Yet not it was without doubt a rocky but misunderstood only had Oakeley departed as President by this relationship and one that is currently being re- time but Stainer failed to attend the annual general evaluated as more materials come to light. meeting14 and by August the warden, Dr. Vincent had resigned as an examiner and severed his ties New Starts with the Guild. 15 The Guild of Organists was, alongside the College There is, however, little doubt that some form of Organists (later the Royal College), a significant of serious disagreement had occurred that led musical institution of the period and can frequently to major changes. Among the papers of Oakeley, be found advertising in the front pages of the deposited at Edinburgh University Library, is his Musical Times [see back cover of this edition Fellowship of the Guild certificate dated 1889 and of Laudate] alongside such bodies as the Royal awarded after his resignation.16 Taken in isolation Academy of Music, the Royal College and the music this could be considered an attempt to re-establish departments of the universities. While it has been links or simply a late issue, but the Musical Times difficult to ascertain much detail on its very early of June 1889 reveals that he had returned to his years, by 1887 it was sufficiently established to position as President and that Lewis had been have Temple as patron and Sir Herbert Oakeley as replaced as secretary by Moreton Hand. 17 President.9 A major figure in Scottish music of the Interestingly, the Guild had moved its offices to period, Oakeley lent the Guild musical legitimacy Chancery Lane from Strand, where it had been in his roles as Professor of Music at Edinburgh a tenant of the English Church Union (which still and composer-in-residence to Queen Victoria in exists in 2020 as the Church Union).18The ECU, Scotland.10 In addition, as the son of a baronet he, founded in 1859, was an overtly Anglo-Catholic along with the patronage of Temple as Bishop of body19, and this appears to give an indicator of the London with his elevation to Canterbury over a churchmanship of Lewis and the Guild of Organists’ decade away, gave the Guild at least the appearance hierarchy. Just to dwell on this point a little longer, of a well-supported endeavour. the ECU campaigned, with substantial support, for There is though some question of how well ‘the frank recognition on the part of the State, of regarded those who gave their initial support held the Church’s inherent right to interpret her own the Guild. In the biography written shortly after formularies in all matters concerning the Faith and Oakeley’s death there is no mention of the Guild. the conduct of divine worship20. There is however a reference to the College of However, what was to follow saw the links severed Organists, later the Royal College as the main body and the eventual death of the Guild of Organists of the profession which points to Oakeley having as the Church Choir Guild was born. It would also little regard for the organisation.11 In fact by 1888, see the beginnings of a prejudice that would last the first AGM of the Guild, Oakeley had resigned beyond the lifetime of Lewis, Temple, and become his position as President and been replaced by involved in an academic wrangle across the seas. the equally respected Sir John Stainer12 despite a highly successful first year. At the first annual 13 Musical Times (1888). general meeting held at the Guild offices in the 14 Spark (1888). Strand, London, the Guild was in an apparently 15 Musical Times (August 1888). enviable position as an independent institution. 16 Eddie (2006). 9 Musical Times (1887). 17 Musical Times (June 1889). 10 Hadden (1912). 18 Openlibrary (n.d.). 11 Oakeley (1904), p.152. 19 The Church Union (n.d.). 12 Spark (1888). 20 The Church Union (n.d.).

January 2021 29 To follow in May’s Laudate: Available at Publisher: Office of the English Church Union, 35, Wellington Street, Strand, W.C. | Open 1889–1929 – The Birth of the Library. (Accessed on 22nd November 2020). Church Choir Guild and the Spark, William ‘Music and Musicians’ Leeds Times (July 14, Foreign Degree Scandal 1888), p.3. Temple, Frederick Certificate of Good Standing 29th April 1896 University of the South, Board of Trustees Minutes, August 1897 Bibliography Wright, David C.H., (2013) The Associated Board of the Royal Church Musician ‘Counterpoint Catechism’. The Church Schools of Music Woodbridge: The Boydell Press Musician (Sept. 1893) p.155 Church Union n.d. A History of the Church Union.[online] Available at https://www.churchunion.co.uk/history.php (Accessed on 25th November 2020). Eddie, Graeme D. ‘Music Collection of Professor Sir Herbert Stanley Oakley (1830-1903)’[online]. Available at https://web.archive.org/web/20100922172435/ http://www.archives.lib.ed.ac.uk/polopoly/amspu. php?cat=Coll-450. (Accessed on 14th November 2020). Elgar.org ‘The Spirit of England’ All About Elgar [Online]. Available at Elgar – His Music : The Spirit of England. (Accessed on 22nd November 2020) Explore.bl.uk. 2020. The Church Musician : A Monthly Journal Of The Church Choir Guild. – British Library. [online] Available at: http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/ action/display.do;jsessionid=3B7618CA63AB9EFFAE45 D349AEA4BDCC?tabs=moreTab&ct=display&fn=searc h&doc=BLL01002841347&indx=1&recIds=BLL0100284 1347&recIdxs=0&elementId=0&renderMode=poppedO ut&displayMode=full&frbrVersion=&query=any%2Ccon tains%2Cchurch+choir+Guild&search_scope=LSCOP- ALL&dscnt=0&scp.scps=scope%3A%28BLCONTENT %29&vl(2084770704UI0)=any&vid=BLVU1&institution =BL&tab=local_tab&vl(freeText0)=church%20choir%20 Guild&dstmp=1606048808154 (Accessed 22 November 2020). Hadden, James Cuthbert ‘Oakeley, Herbert Stanley’. Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement, Volume [online]. Available at https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/ Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1912_supplement/ William Temple (15 October 1881 – 26 October Oakeley,_Herbert_Stanley. (Accessed on 1st November 1944) was an English Anglican priest, who served as 2020). Bishop of Manchester (1921–1929), Archbishop of Musical Times ‘Front Matter’. The Musical Times Vol. 28, No. York (1929–1942) and Archbishop of Canterbury 533 (Jul. 1, 1887), p.385 (1942–1944). Musical Times ‘Front Matter’. The Musical Times Vol.29, The son of an Archbishop of Canterbury, Temple had No.542 (April 1, 1888), p.198 a traditional education after which he was briefly a Musical Times The Musical Times Vol.29, No.546 (Sept. 1, lecturer at the University of Oxford before becoming 1888) headmaster of Repton School from 1910 to 1914. Musical Times ‘Front Matter’ The Musical Times Vol.29, After serving as a parish priest in London from 1914 No.547 (June 1, 1889) to 1917 and as a canon of Westminster Abbey, he was Musical Times ‘Correspondence’. The Musical Times Vol. 30, appointed Bishop of Manchester in 1921. He worked No. 558 (Aug. 1, 1889), p. 492 for improved social conditions for workers and for Musical Times ‘Fact, Rumours and Remarks’. The Musical closer ties with other Christian Churches. Times vol. 33, No. 587 (Jan. 1, 1892), pp.17-21 Despite being a socialist, he was nominated by the Oakley, Edward, The life of Sir Herbert Stanley Oakeley Conservative government for the Archbishopric [online]. Available at https://archive.org/details/ lifeofsirherbert00oakeuoft/page/156/mode/2up. of York in 1928 and took office the following year. (Accessed on 14th November 2020). In 1942 he was translated to be Archbishop of Openlibrary ‘Office of the English Church Union, 35, Canterbury, and died in post after two and a half Wellington Street, Strand, W.C’ Open Library [online]. years, aged 63.

30 Laudate 103 The Hymn-Tune Competition 2020

The Guild is pleased to announce that the winner of the Hymn Tune Competition is Stephen Barber. His piece, on a given text by Bishop Timothy Dudley-Smith, is published in this issue, and it will be performed at a future Guild event. TheG entryLO ofR PeterY T MogerO G wasO DHighly B ECommended, GIVEN and the entry of Ephrem Feeley was Commended. Our thanks to the judge, Malcolm Archer, and to the other competitors. Tune: Dunnerdale GLORY TO GOD BE GIVEN Tune: Dunnerdale Timothy Dudley-Smith Stephen Barber Unison # 4 & # 4 œ œ œ œ œ ™ j œ œ ™ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ 1. Glo - ry to God be given and hal - lowed be his name, su - œ œ œ œ œ œ ?# 4 ˙œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ # 4 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ {5 # ™ j # œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙™ & œ œ œ œ œ ##œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ preme a - like in earth and heaven, un - change - ab - ly the same, Praise œ œ œ œ œ ?# œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ # œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ nœ n˙œ œ œ œ œ œ œ {9 # j ™ ™ j & # ™ j #œ œ ™ œ™ œ œ ˙ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ˙ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ #œ œ œ œ him, the great I AM, whose Spir - it dwells with - in, who gave his Son, the œ n œ œ ?# ˙ œ #œ œ#œ œ œ œ˙ œ #œ #œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ # œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ #œ œ œ {14 ## ™ j & œ œ œ ˙ ˙œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ w spot - less Lamb, to bear a - way our sin. œ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ ?## œ œ ˙œ œ ˙œ ˙ œ œ œ w { œ œ ˙ œ ˙

18 SATB and organ (unaccomp. ad lib.) ## j & œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ™ œ œ œ ™ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙œ ˙ œ 2. Praise him as na - ture's Lord, for from his throne on high he ™ ?# œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ { # œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ January 2021 31 2 22 # ™ j & # œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ ˙™ œ œ œ œ œ # œ œ œ #œ œ n˙™ œ formed by his cre - a - tive word our earth and sea and sky. Un - œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ ˙œ™ ˙ œ {?## œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 26 ## j œ ™ j œ ˙™ œ & œ™œ œ #œ ˙™ œ œ œ œ œ œ #˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ num - bered liv - ing things his laws of life o - bey, whose n œ œ œ #œ ™ œ œ œ #œ œ #œ œ nœ {?## œ œ œ œ œ ˙™ œ œ œ œ œ #˙ œ 30 ™ j ## œ œ ™ j & œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ ˙ ˙œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ w glo - ries ev - ery plan - et sings, and shin - ing stars dis - play. œ ?# œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙œ œ œ w { # œ œ œ œ œ ˙ w

35 Descant ° # œ œ œ œ œ ˙™ & # œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 3. God of ma - jes - tic might, all thrones and powers a - bove, from Tune # # œ ™ j œ ™ ¢& ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ 3. God of ma - jes - tic might, all thrones and powers a - bove, froœm

# œ œ ˙™ & # œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ ˙ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙œ™ œ œ œœ ?## œ œ œ œ œ ™ œ { ˙™ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ Œ

32 Laudate 103 3 39 ™ ° # ™ œ™ œ ™ œ ˙™ # œ œ œ œ œ #œ #œ nœ œ œ Œ & œ J J J him a - lone are Life and Light, and all em - brac - ing Love. # # œ œ™ œ œ œ œ ™ ¢& œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ J ˙ œ him a - lone are Life and Light, and all em - brac - ing Love. Our ™ # ™ j ˙ ™ j œ ˙ # œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ #œ nœ œ œ nœ œ œ ™ Œ & œ œ œ œ # œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙œ œ œ œÓ #œ œ œ œ œ ?## œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ { œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ

43 ° # œ # Œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ & œ Œ ‰ J Our Fath - er and our friend, the Shep - herd of our days, to

## j ™ j ˙™ œ ¢& œ™ œ #œ œ ˙™ œ œ œ œ œ Fath - er and our friend, the Shep - herd of our days, to

# Œ œ Œ œ œ œ œ œ & # ™ œ #œ œ œ ˙ œ™ œ œ œ œ ˙˙ #œ œ œ Jœ ˙™ œ J œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ w œ ?# ˙ œ #œ œ #œ œ nœœ ˙ ˙ ˙ #œ œ # w œ œ œ { nœ ˙ œ œ ˙™ œ

47 [small notes optional] ™ ° # œ œ œ œ œ œ˙ œ œ w & # œ œ œ œ ˙ Œ œ œ œ œ him whose mer-cies ne - ver end be glo - ry, love and praise. # ™ j # œ œ œ ™ ¢& J œ œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ ˙ w him whose mer-cies ne - ver end be glo - ry, love and praise. # œ Œ ˙™ w # ˙œ œ œ œ œ™ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ w & ˙ œ J œ œ ˙ ˙ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œœ œ w ?# ˙œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ w # ˙ œ ˙ { ˙ œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ ˙ w

January 2021 33  

  

    Dear Members of the Guild in Many will also be familiar with that particular tone in the Australia and New Zealand, voice of clergy (and the look of “how long, O Lord?” on their faces) on that day as they patiently explain to the umpteenth Singing the Lord’s Song in a parishioner asking why they are dressed in pink that the Strange Land vestments are, in point of fact, not pink, but rose. For that Zoom Afternoon Tea reason I’m tempted to call the occasion Pink Drinks, so Sunday 25 October at 3:00pm please do join us with your rosé, sparkling burgundy, cranberry juice, pink lemonade, strawberry smoothie or From the GCM in AustraliaOur “virtual” afternoon Newsletter tea at the whatever else takes your fancy regardless of colour for a time of the (sadly) cancelled 2020 Annual Festival Service moment of pre-Christmas fellowship. The Zoom meeting link was our first attempt at this new (for us, at least) way of is below in blue for copying and pasting into your browser. I Decembermeeting 2020 and,No. as 17 you can see from the smiling faces below, hope to see as many of you as possible then for “Pink Drinks was a happy occasion enjoyed by the ten members and at the Blue Link”. one special guest in shot and also Jan Kneeshaw, of https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89700028977?pwd=MjRJT2t1bG9U Singing thecorporate Lord’s memberSong in ‘The a Strange Cathedral LandSingers’ ~, whoZoom Afternoon Tea UkNzUFQ2eC9IeG9BUT09 Sunday 25 Octoberunfortunately at 3.00pm had to leave before the screenshot was

Our ‘virtual’ afternoontaken. Videotea at the conferencing time of the (sadly) of course cancelled allows 2020 Guild Annual members Festival Service was our first

attempt at this tonew join (for in us, conversation at least) way withof meeting fellow and, memb as youers canfrom see from the smiling faces below, Australian Council Meeting was a happy occasionanywhere enjoyed in Australia by the ten and members New Zealand shown ,below, and we plus intend one special to guest, and also Jan On a more serious note, Council met by video conference Kneeshaw, of corporatemake greater member use ‘The of it Cathedral in future Singers’, to increase who interactionunfortunately had to leave before the on 9 November. A short summary of the main business of screenshot wasamong taken. Video members conferencing and as of a courseway of allows eliciting to join wider in conversation input to with fellow members the meeting follows: anywhere in AustraliaCouncil and decision-making. New Zealand, and Which we intend leads makenicely greater into the use next of it in future to increase contacts amongtopic members, … and as a way of eliciting wider Council decision-making.  Treasurer Phillip Bongers advised that the 2020 surplus is larger than usual, as the AFS budget was not used. Council resolved to retain the surplus with the objective of supplementing the Scholarship and/or Bursary funds to promote the Guild’s courses.  Director of Studies, Neil McEwan, reported he had reviewed the ACertPW syllabus to make it more attractive to candidates and completed the review, begun by Brett McKern, of the ACertCM syllabus. Neil and the Academic Board are also to consider the suitability of the UK’s new Archbishops’ Chorister Medal study course for Australia and New Zealand. Gemma Dashwood – GuildCongratulations! Virtual Social Evening Monday, 14th December 2020  Council resolved to ask members once again for their The Revd Dr Gemma Dashwood6pm OAM- 7pm is AEDTin the final (NSW, stages VIC, of specialistACT, TAS) training in Intensive Carehelp Medicine, on two matters: and also has degrees in medical ethics,5pm medical – 6pm law, AEST speech (QLD) pathology, and recently has completedAssistance her in promoting Guild study courses Bachelor of Theology degree at St5.30pm Francis –College, 6.30pm Brisbane, ACDT as(SA) a formation student. She is aPlease Diocesan do encourage your church music colleagues to Council member, worships at 8pmSt Paul’s – 9pm Anglican NZDT Church, (New Ipswich Zealand) and sings in one of the choirsundertake at St or at least consider one of the Guild’s John’s Cathedral.As the recent Council meeting agreed that we should hold study courses–from the Preliminary Certificate Gemma is a Guildmore member Zoom get-togethers, of long standing I proposed and we extendthat pre warmest-Christmas congratulations through following to the Fellowship, there is pretty much announcement virtualof her recent drinks ordination would be to a thegood diaconate. start, and We italso seemed note from to me a report on the “somethingSt Francis for everyone” and the courses are College websitethat of the Gaudete valedictory Sunday Eucharist (or for close graduating enough) students, would that be Gemma an received the Archdeacondesigned to suit amateurs, professionals and Reginald Masseyappropriate Award for contribution time. Many to theof us will celebrate, or at least be students. As noted above, some financial assistance musical life of Stfamiliar Francis withCollege. the tradition of, the third Sunday of Advent as a may be available to approved candidates, so bear that in mind as well. Guild membersday may of be special interested joy in to the follow relative austerity of the season.

the link below to the ABC report following Gemma’s ordination to read more about her remarkable career, not least her achievements    as a Paralympian. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12- 06/paralympian doctor-deacon-gemma- dashwood/12947330

34 Laudate 103 2 2 ° 0 # & # ˙ Bl ess - e Œ d i ™ s th œ e m œ j an ? ˙ œ œ , ¢ # mp œ bl ble ˙™ ess # ss , - e œ œ d i - s th ∑ œ œ ™ e m ed œ j an, œ˙™ œ t # œ œ œ hat & # œ i œ œ tr # œ s ˙ ust œœ ˙ œ - n ˙™ the œ œ œ m œ œ eth œ œ œ an œ œ , th ? œ œ œ at # ˙ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ tr # œ œ tha œ œ , us { Œ œ t tru œ t œ œ - # œ st œ œ # Œ œ cre œ œ sc. - œœ œ œ et œ œ 2 ∑ œ œ h, t œ œ œ 8 œ œ hat œ ° - Œ œ œ œ tru et œ œ œ st # h, t Œ ∑ - & hat œ œ # t œ Guild Publications 2021 œ , rus ∑ œ œ œ t ∑ œ œ œ œ - œ œ œ - n œ eth ∑ œ et œ œ œ in ∑ h, t nœ œ hat œ œ œ him tr œ œ . ∑ ∑ ? ust œ # uild Publications is currently establishing a varied ¢ # œœ œœ ˙ ™ # œœ - ˙™ ∑ ∑ nœ eth œ catalogue of articles on church music and liturgy and #œ œ n in #œ Œ œ œ œ him ∑ œ œ œœ œ . Œ of original compositions and editions. This new venture #is #œ œ Te ∑ G & # œ ˙™ nor ∑ so under the general editorship of Roger Wilkes and Hugh Benham. Th lo ( ˙ e c or f ∑ ™ œ p up ull) of ∑ ? œ ble # ∑ ‰ j ss - Please order from The Better Book Company, 5 Lime Close, Chichester# œ # ing ∑ { Ó œ œ # w ˙ h ∑ ∑ ich PO19 6SW (email [email protected]), tel. 01243 788315. we ∑ œ œ bl 3 ∑ # ess The Treasurer will invoice you for the goods, plus postage7 and packing. ∑ ∑ œ , ° œ # is ˙™ it # ∑ ∑ ∑ no & # œ ™ t a Items in the ‘S’ series are priced at £5.00, except for the Bibliography (£7). Items in the ∑‘M’ series are #˙™™ œj ˙˙™ ∑ nœ ∑ pp nœ priced at £2.50, except for the Vaughan Williams Passacaglia and Norman Harper’s A solis (£5.00).∑ # ˙™™ ∑ s ˙˙™ har ∑ ˙™ -in p the s # ™ There are discounts for buying ‘M’ series publications in bulkg (10% for 8 copies, 20% for 15 copies,oft 3 ˙˙™ ? of Œ blo 2' ˙ ™ ˙™ ¢ # œ the od ˙™ n˙™ # blo Œ n ˙™™ and 25% for 25 or more copies). œ od œœ ™ ™ ˙ œ œ of ˙˙ ˙ ˙™ n C ∑ ˙ h the n ™ rist œ ™ o ˙ œ bl ˙ f ˙™ ood ˙™ & # ∑ ˙™ ˙™ # ™ th # GUILD PUBLICATIONS Organ˙™ and Choral MusicŒ series e ˙™ ˙ # bl ˙™ ˙™ Œ œ ˙ ood p n˙™ œ of ˙ ™ M001 Passacaglia on BGC for organ ? n Ralph Vaughant Williams # ˙™ ˙™™ he œ ˙™ # ˙ b of C { n˙ ™ loo ˙™ œ hr M002 God be with you till we meet again SAATB ™ Michaeld Walsh œ ist? ˙™ ˙˙™ œ ˙ ™ n˙™ œ ∑ M003 ‘Cecilian’ Preces and Responses SAATB Roger Wilkes œ ˙ ˙™ ∑ of ˙ ™ ™ ˙™ M004 Preces and Responses SSATB adapted from the hymn tune C #˙™ ∑ hr ist? Westminster Abbey by Henry Purcell arr. Norman∑ Harper ∑ ∑ ∑ Œ M005 From far away SATB Norman Harper m ‰ ∑ p œ j M006 Welcome Yule SATB or AATB Norman Harper ‰ j œ œ ˙ ™ ˙™ œ ˙˙ ˙˙ œœ M007 Gabriel fram Heven-King SATB Norman Harper ˙™ ˙™ M008 A solis ortus cardine SATB Norman Harper M009 O taste and see SATB Michael Walsh

GUILD PUBLICATIONS Study Booklet Series S001 The Psalms in Christian Worship Paul Bradshaw S002 A General Bibliography of Christian Liturgy & Worship, and Church Music Why Worship? Roger Wilkes and Hugh Benham There are a number of reasons to be explored: S003 The Eucharist as meal Revd Tomás Creagh-Fuller (i) Because of the Majesty and Glory of the Lord in heaven S004 The Biblical Foundations[God] ‘is not of far Christian from each one Worship of us, for in Him weRevd live and Canon move, Arthur Dobb in Him we exist’ (Acts 17:28). When St. Paul spoke these words, he was contrasting ‘the God who created the world’ with the pantheon of Greek mythology. The statues of these gods were enshrined in temples and, so far as the preacher was concerned in Athens on that day, these ‘deities’ were represented on the Acropolis by the Temple to Athena known as the Parthenon.

January 2021 35 True worship ‘in spirit and in truth’ (John 4:23) is for all faithful people, not just for a select few guardians of a temple and the related priestesses who utter their oracles. The worshippers whom the Father wants (ibid.) are those who seek to lift themselves to Heaven ‘with angels and archangels’ (Sanctus) and are assured, in return, that the presence of God will enter into their midst. Jesus promised that ‘where two or three are gathered in my Name, there am I in the midst of them’ (Matthew 18:20).

3

Dobb v1 body.indd 3 08/12/2020 12:00 Sermons – the Long and the Short

aurence Chaderton (1536–1640), first Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge and one of those who worked on the King James Bible of 1611, was a most popular preacher. Once, when he had Lbeen preaching for two hours and had begun to draw to a close, someone called out – quite without irony – ‘For God’s sake, sir, go on!’. For Chaderton not only his sermons were long, because in an age when few survived until their 70s or 80s, he lived to 103. At the brief end of sermon-making, note the case of Cyrus, a fifth-century Egyptian who became bishop of a riotous town in Phrygia – four previous bishops had been lynched. Cyrus won over his new charges with very short sermons, his first Christmas sermon consisting of just one sentence (see H. Chadwick, The Early Church (Penguin, 1967), page 172). In more recent times the expression ‘sermonettes make Christianettes’ has circulated widely among those who believe that short sermons are in principle less valuable than long one. Matthew Kruse, writing in America in December 2007, cites this, saying that he ‘loves it’.* His advice to pastors is ‘Preach a full-loaded, Bible-drenched, high-caffeine, Gospel-saturated sermon every week (or at least try) and see what happens. People are in desperate need of the unfolding of the Gospel and its ramifications as found in Scripture with clarity, sincerity, patience, depth, and passion.’ This may not be everyone’s cup of tea (or coffee), and to mix metaphors, it may be good to take a pinch of salt with it. But anything that engages and enrages to the extent that preaching does is a powerful medium indeed! * https://sevenmileroad.wordpress.com/2007/12/22/semonettes-make-christianettes/ Hugh Benham

Please note that the 5 June Guild event scheduled to be held at Caterham URC has been postponed. Depending on the progress of COVID-19 and, more importantly, progress from 10:00-4:30 on vaccinations, please see the May edition of Laudate for news of future Guild events.

36 Laudate 103 From the Editor of Laudate www. People beginning new jobs often refer to their predecessors as ‘hard acts to follow’. As your new editor, I can use that conventional expression with sincerity and conviction. Michael Walsh has done a wonderful job over many years, and I am delighted that he is continuing as typesetter and is assisting in other ways. The first issue of 2021 has the usual varied content (see the list below). Although reference to COVID-19 is inevitable, the primary message is one of renewal and hope. Finally, a personal word or two. I have served as organist and choir director for 50 years in a Hampshire parish church a mile from my home. Many years have also been spent writing about and editing early Tudor music, in teaching, and in examining. More recently Convivium Records have released two CDs of my sacred choral music. And work for the Guild, as Patrons: Rt Revd & Rt Hon Dr Richard Chartres, former Lord Bishop of London Chairman of the Academic Board, Fellowship Director and joint editor with Roger Wilkes of Guild Publications, Professor Dr Ian Tracey, Organist Titulaire of Liverpool Cathedral Dame Patricia Routledge, internationally renowned soprano & actress currently takes care of many hours. I am married and have a daughter, son-in-law, and two young grandchildren Master: Rt Revd Dr Richard Fenwick whose singing and ‘playing’ lead me to hope that music (whether or not for the church) may continue to give Secretary General: John Balsdon Membership Secretary: Mandy Balsdon them, as it does me, great joy and fulfilment. Treasurer & Magazine Editor: Dr Michael Walsh he Guild of Musicians and Singers was formed in Oxford in June 1993 with the aim of bringing together amateur and professional musicians in working and fraternal Tways. One major aim has always been to encourage young musicians in the pursuit CONTENTS of their studies and the Guild has set up a fund with bursaries for students to help them with examination fees and other aspects of their careers in music. The Guild is non-denominational From the Acting Warden ...... 1 and covers all genres of music. From the President...... 2 The Guild has many distinguished musicians among its Hon Fellows, including Sir Mark Elder, Dr Vasily Petrenko, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Dame Patricia Routledge, Dr. From the Administrator...... 3 Francis Jackson, Andrew Carwood, Benjamin Grosvenor, Rick Wakeman, and From our Patrons...... 4 sadly, all too briefly, Dame Vera Lynn. Academic Dress is available and membership is From the Treasurer...... 5 only £20 a year. A Presentation to Jonathan Buchan...... 5 Full details are available from the Guild’s website: www.musiciansandsingers.org.uk GCM Officers 2021...... 6 Honorary Fellows and Members of the Guild...... 8 The Guild is proud to announce that it is working in association with: The Organ in King’s College, Cambridge: a Legend Reborn ~ Steven Benson...... 10 The National College of Music & Arts, London Holier than Thou? How Sacred is the Church’s Song? ~ Ian Sharp...... 16 The Sacred Cantatas of JS Bach: BWV 106 ~ Bernard Salter...... 21 he National College of Music & Arts, London was established over 125 years ago and specialises in external music St Edward’s Leek – the 700th Anniversary of its Foundation ~ Josephine Smith...... 26 Texaminations and speech subjects. The College has music The Beginnings of the Church Choir Guild ~ Dr Stewart Thompson...... 27 examination centres throughout the United Kingdom and in various The 2020 Hymn Tune Competition ~ the winning entry by Stephen Barber...... 31 countries overseas. Established 1894 From the GCM Newsletter in Australia...... 34 The College has recently introduced two new diplomas which Incorporated 1898 Guild Publications 2021 ...... 35 are proving of considerable interest to church musicians: Sermons – the Long and the Short ~ Hugh Benham...... 36 FNFCM – Fellow of the National Federation of Church Musicians Cover photo: statue of the young Johann Sebastian Bach at Mühlhausen, Germany and the higher award of AFNCollM – Associate Fellow of the National College of Music YOUR ARTICLES AND OPINIONS ARE EAGERLY SOUGHT Both these diplomas attract academic dress. Please send copy to the Editor at [email protected] or text 07765007708 for postal address. The copy deadline for the May edition is Friday 23 April. Full details may be obtained by visiting the College’s brand new website: You are welcome to contact the Editor at [email protected] www.ncm-london.co.uk Please visit our website – www.gcm.org.uk ISSN 2633-9528

Possibly the first ever advertisement for our predecessor, the Guild of Organists! Laudate The Magazine of the Guild of Church Musicians Laudate is typeset by Michael Walsh HonFGCM and printed by St Richard’s Press, No 103 January 2021 Leigh Road, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 8TU [email protected] 01243 782988