Soundboard No. 28 - Church Music Dublin

SOUNDBOARD
DECEMBER 2012 1
SOUNDBOARD
CHURCH MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
THE MAGAZINE OF CHURCH MUSIC DUBLIN
▪
Giving worship a vibrant voice through music
Gathering
ISSUE 28 DECEMBER 2012
In this issue
Welcome to another issue of Soundboard. Isn’t it amusing how words and phrases
commonly used in church find their way into the general psyche? The latest
buzzword is the Gathering. We are being encouraged to invite our relations and
friends to Ireland. Nice advertising campaign. We also think of gathering as part of
our worship. It is the first liturgical action of the body of Christ, called ‘the gathering
of God’s people’.
On a bright Saturday morning in November a group of people ‘gathered’ in
Powerscourt Church, south of Dublin, for a particular purpose: our aim was to make
an educational video on the subject of music in the Eucharist. Present were students
from the choir of St Columba’s College, with Tristan Clarke, a member of Church
Music Dublin’s Executive. Also there were choir members from St Matthias’ Church,
Killiney-Ballybrack and from St Patrick’s Church, Greystones. While members of each
of the groups knew one another and were used to singing together, the groups as a
whole had never done so. A risk, perhaps? We joined in singing one of the hymns
chosen for the video, just to warm up and get some vocal cords working. It
happened! Suddenly a single group emerged, not three – we had gathered.
The following couple of hours became a demonstration of energy, enthusiasm, and
lots of fun. Despite the fact that two cameras were constantly recording (thank you
to James and Tom from Big Red Box Media), all of the participants gave of their very
best. This is evident from the video, now available on our website along with a
resource page and sound files. The good news is that people within our
worshipping community, both young and old, despite busy lives, will give
generously of their time and talent to assist others. Thank you to each and every
one of them. There is more information about the video on page 3.
A few days later, we had another ‘gathering’, this time in Co. Kildare. Three
members of our Executive piled into a minibus driven by the chairman, Archdeacon
Ricky Rountree, with a keyboard, bells, music stand, books and other resources, and
headed for Timolin to meet musicians and clergy from the West Glendalough rural
deanery. Church Music Dublin on tour!! Read about it on page 6.
A NEW TRAINING COURSE … 2
MUSIC, EUCHARIST, AND YOU
an innovative presentation … 3
ON THE RECORD
Recent and forthcoming releases … 5
TOP TEN TIPS for keeping your
church’s music thriving … 6
We had a lovely evening meeting with colleagues, singing together, exploring
possibilities for Advent and Christmas, and were well fortified by supper before
returning home. Thank you to those who came along and made it such an
enjoyable evening.
So, as we gather as the community of Christ to remember the tiny baby who has
come among us; as we welcome family and friends to share happy times with us; let
us be assured that, despite recessionary times and all the stresses and strains of
daily living, we may still gather to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. All of
us at Church Music Dublin wish you a blessed Christmas and offer our good wishes
(and assistance, should you require it) for the New Year.
Pay your Soundboard subscription online
Subscriptions for 2013 are now due
A SIMPLE HYMN ACCOMPANIMENT
for Christmas, at Christmas … 7
SHARING THE ORGAN STOOL … 8
€15 or £13 (3 issues)
THE RSCM IN IRELAND … 9
Use your debit or credit card and avoid cheque and postage charges
FORTY YEARS OF FOLK … 10
Go to www.churchmusicdublin.org/payment
Note: You can use this facility even if you do not have a PayPal account
LETTERS AND LIVING WORSHIP … 11
2 SOUNDBOARD DECEMBER 2012
Church Hymnal
Supplement: An Update
Hearts and Hands and Voices
Introducing a new course in church music
Do you play the organ/piano/keyboard in church?
Would you like to play in church?
How about a little help and support in a friendly environment?
Hearts and Hands and Voices: a four-session course spread over eight weeks
to provide practical training and support to serving church musicians and those
interested in pursuing this important role.
The course will be piloted early in 2013 by Church Music Dublin. The aim is to
provide practical training and support for those who would like to play the
organ, piano or keyboard in their local church or who already do so but require
further guidance and tuition. Those with reasonable competence on keyboard whether piano, pipe or electronic organ or digital keyboard - will be given the
opportunity to explore the role of the church musician in an informal setting.
Both group and individual sessions will be incorporated.
Work on producing a supplement to
CH5 is progressing well. The subcommittee has been busy considering
texts, editing words, and preparing a
draft edition. There have been some
small changes to the draft list of hymns
as the overall shape and direction of the
book becomes clearer. The words
edition should be ready to be presented
to General Synod in May 2013.
Musical editing is at an earlier stage,
because it is dependent, to a certain
extent, on the final selection of texts. It
is still hoped that, subject to copyright
approvals, the book will be published
during 2014.
Musical items from the supplement
have been used at a number of events
and have been well received. Members
of the sub-committee are open to
invitations to lead workshops and to
introduce some examples of the hymns
and songs.
The draft list of contents is on the
Church Music Dublin website.
‘Hearts and Hands and Voices’ will take place on Saturdays in Holy Trinity
Church, Castlemacadam, Avoca, Co. Wicklow during March and April 2013.
Specific dates will be advertised early in the New Year on our website and in
diocesan publications. Anyone wishing to travel from beyond the dioceses to
attend will be most welcome.
The opening session, to involve clergy and musicians, will include service
planning, music selection relevant to particular situations and good
communication. The more traditional ‘one-to-one’ lessons will cover keyboard
skills, sightreading, and accompaniment.
Material will include hymns from Church Hymnal (fifth edition) and some
contemporary praise songs. Simplified hymn tunes in lower keys will be an
important part of the course alongside ways of introducing new hymns and
songs to a congregation.
‘Hearts and Hands and Voices’ has been devised as a direct response to the
Church Music Survey carried out by Church Music Dublin in 2011. It will not
replace the Archbishop’s Certificate in Church Music, but for some, may be a
step towards it. ‘Hearts and Hands and Voices’ provides a first step on the
ladder to being a competent church musician.
The cost of the course per person (for 4 sessions) will be €80.
Queries to the Hon. Secretary, Jacqueline Mullen
Email: honsec@churchmusicdublin.org
or telephone (01) 298 8923
Congratulations!
At Choral Evensong in Christ Church
Cathedral on Sunday 25 November,
Archbishop Michael Jackson presented
certificates to six students on the
Archbishop’s Certificate in Church
Music course. In the photo above are,
left to right: The Archbishop, Róisín
Rowley-Brooke (final year), Stephanie
Maxwell, Róisín Burbridge (final year),
Inga Hutchinson and Matthew
Breen. Three students were unable to
be present.
SOUNDBOARD
DECEMBER 2012 3
Music, Eucharist & You:
A training video for musicians
One of the most significant developments in Church of
Ireland worship during the past 40 years has been the
move centre-stage of the Eucharist. In many churches, the
Eucharist is now the principal Sunday morning service at
least twice a month. A comparison of the Church Notices
page in the Irish Times for Easter Day 2012 with the same
occasion, say, in 1972, will reveal that during the
intervening period, virtually every church in the Dublin
diocese, if not all, has come to regard the Eucharist as
appropriate for the principal Easter Day celebration.
The Eucharist requires a rather different type of
presentation than when reading the more static Office
(Morning and Evening Prayer). A number of speakers at the
Living Worship course in Dublin each year have drawn
attention to this. With this in mind, Church Music Dublin
has produced a short training video Music, Eucharist and
You. We have posted it on YouTube and you can access it
via our website.
In the space of ten minutes, Archdeacon Ricky
Rountree, assisted by singers from St Columba’s
College and the choirs of St Matthias (KillineyBallybrack) and Greystones parishes, guides viewers
through the Eucharist, explaining generally accepted
best practice on the choice and placing of liturgical
texts and hymns.
We hope the video will encourage everyone who views it
to move away from thinking of the Eucharist as a said
service, to which hymns and other items may be an addon. Rather, we should regard song as integral to the
liturgy, so that words, music, and movement become a
single liturgical act.
www.churchmusicdublin.org/video
Notes from the North
It seems strange to be writing "Notes from the north" sitting
in the choir room of Christ Church Cathedral, but that's the
way it goes at this rather hectic time of the year. I did try
doing it on the train, but the constant motion meant writing
descended to a new level of illegibility. In my previous life in
industry, days and weeks were equal, seven hours to work in
each day and five days in every week with two off to pursue
your own interests. Plus evenings of course... Church music
doesn't quite work out that way.
Limerick lasses sing in Bath
Over the summer, Emily Howes and Lauren Hannon of St Mary's
Cathedral, Limerick, attended a course run by the RSCM (of which
more on page 9) in Bath Abbey. Here they are with some of the many
friends they met and made.
So here I am on a whistle-stop tour with a school choir, full of
boundless energy in spite of two nights of very sparse sleep, it
would seem. So, there is only a short while to rehearse a half
hour programme in this wonderful space, and then hare a
hundred and some miles up the country to Belfast in a bus to
do the same (ish) programme in a very different space with a
very different organ. So at the minute, I'm trying to tell myself
that extreme pedal notes are further away than you
think! Tonight I'll be trying not to fling my legs out too
far. Hopefully the audiences today might excuse the odd
‘wrong bit of wood’.
Continued on page 10
4 SOUNDBOARD DECEMBER 2012
Heinrich Bewerunge, 1862-1923
Darina McCarthy writes about a significant influence on the
development of Catholic church music in Ireland
The Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829
was the successful endpoint of the
Catholic Emancipation movement in
Ireland. Church-building around the
country and the training of priests at
Maynooth and other centres flourished
as restrictions on Catholics were lifted.
With church-building came
ecclesiastical art and liturgical music,
and ornate concert masses in vogue in
Europe became fashionable in Dublin
and other Irish cities. Concert masses
were so called because the
performance of lengthy musical items –
choral and instrumental – took
precedence over correct liturgical
procedures. Another feature of mass
music during this time was the use of
secular music. Thus the sacred function
of mass was usurped both by the
duration of the music and by its secular
genesis.
The Cecilian reform movement began
in Germany in the 1860s. Cecilianism
(named after St Cecilia, the patron saint
of musicians and church music) aimed
to restore Gregorian chant and
Renaissance polyphony as the primary
forms of church music. The Irish Society
of St Cecilia was founded in 1878 by
Bishop Nicholas Donnelly, who had
close associations with the school of
church music in Regensburg, Germany,
where Cecilianism began. Nicholas
Donnelly’s contacts in Regensburg
resulted in the appointment of Heinrich
Bewerunge as first Professor of Church
Chant and Organ at St Patrick’s College
Maynooth.
Born in 1862, Bewerunge was only
twenty-five years old when he took his
position at Maynooth in 1888, and
began teaching more than 500
seminarians the rudiments of
plainchant. He founded a schola
cantorum to perform polyphony and
complex chants. He arranged music of
the Renaissance masters, principally
Palestrina, Lassus and Vittoria, to suit
an all-male choir. He composed a
number of settings himself, including
tones of the Magnificat and Benedictus
which are still in regular use.
Bewerunge also taught at a number of
convents in and around Dublin, for
instance at Rathfarnham, where the
nuns and schoolchildren benefited
from his tuition in chant and
polyphony. His private organ pupils
included Samuel Myerscough, founder
of the Leinster School of Music.
Over a span of thirty-five years, from
1888 until his death in 1923,
Bewerunge provided a musical
education for thousands of priests.
These men spread their understanding
of appropriate sacred music into every
parish throughout Ireland, and on
missions abroad. This legacy of sacred
music, of chant and polyphony,
continued in Maynooth until Vatican 2.
Radio Telefís Éireann broadcasts of
services from Maynooth in the 1960s
contain Bewerunge arrangements, so it
is safe to assume that these works were
in constant use for almost eighty years.
In addition to his facility as pedagogue
and performer, Bewerunge was also a
scholar. He translated some notable
publications from German to English,
the most well-known of which is
probably Hugo Riemann’s Catechism of
Musical Aesthetics. He contributed
many articles to journals and
newspapers in Ireland, England and
Europe, covering liturgical music, music
education, and Irish music. He edited
Lyra Ecclesiastica, the journal of the
Irish Society of St Cecilia, from 1891 to
1893. From 1902 to 1903 he edited the
Irish Musical Monthly, a journal
dedicated to sacred music and music
education.
His most famous articles are probably
those in The Irish Ecclesiastical Record
(a monthly journal with wide circulation
After concert on 6 December: College Chapel Choir,
Schola Gregoriana Maynooth, and NUIM Chamber
Choir, with some of the speakers at the
Bewerunge Conference [photo: Paul Kay]
founded in 1864 by Cardinal Cullen),
concerning new Vatican editions of
plainchant which were published in the
early twentieth century. Bewerunge
strenuously disapproved of methods
used by the President of the Vatican
Commission in the restitution of chant
from old chant sources (see footnote).
Bewerunge’s savage critiques of the
Vatican-approved restitution methods,
which were published in journals and in
pamphlet form in German, English and
Italian, had a significant impact on the
direction taken by later Vatican
editions.
The debate on appropriate liturgical
music is ongoing. It formed an essential
element in the conference
commemorating Bewerunge’s 150th
birthday: ‘Remembering Heinrich
Bewerunge (1862–1923): Perspectives
on 150 Years of Church Music’, an
event jointly hosted by St Patrick’s
College Maynooth and NUI Maynooth
Music Department on 6 and 7
December 2012. Bewerunge’s
engagement with the debates of his
time were fuelled by his deep belief
that the music must serve the liturgy,
not the other way around. This
principle might also guide us in the
ongoing confusion of the post-Vatican
2 era.
Darina McCarthy is a postgraduate John
Hume scholar at NUI Maynooth.
darina.mccarthy@nuim.ie
Footnote:
During the seventeenth century, chant
rhythm and melody had greatly changed,
following edicts from the Council of Trent,
and traditional performance styles of the
middle ages were lost. Revival of interest in
chant during the nineteenth century set
scholars to the task of reviving old chant
forms, an impossible task to perfect because
the sparse notation symbols of early
manuscripts gave insufficient information.
SOUNDBOARD
DECEMBER 2012 5
This is me with Tom Fitches
(Organist and Director of Music at St
Clements' Anglican Church, Toronto).
It was taken at the organ of the
Metropolitan United Church,
Toronto, which is actually the largest
organ in Canada (built by Casavant,
mainly in 1930). We are in fancy
dress (the Grim Reapers!) because
this was at a special Hallowe'en
concert (called 'Phantoms of the
Organ'!).
Canada Calling!
We are delighted to bring good
tidings from former Organist of
St Patrick’s Cathedral Peter Barley
On the record
Canadians are open to cultural
exchange. There are interesting cross
-currents of influence - American,
English and not least French, and
several renowned organ building
firms are based in the Frenchspeaking part of Canada. One of the
most promising students here has
recently been awarded a cathedral
organ scholarship in England and
there are a number of such
scholarships available here. The
organ and church music community
The concert was arranged by the
here is a warm and welcoming one
Toronto branch of the RCCO
and I have enjoyed meeting many
(Royal Canadian College of
new colleagues and playing
Organists), and was given late at
numerous different instruments.
night in a darkened church to a
Although Toronto is a city of around
capacity audience. About nine
5.5m (if you include the GTA different organists played their
Greater Toronto Area) the organist
scariest music!
community is a tightly knit and
friendly one, with a distinguished
This concert was to raise funds for
and hard-working group of people
student scholarships. There is a
strong awareness of encouraging the at its core. In 2008 a new Master
of Sacred Music course was
next generation here, and the
established at the University of
Toronto centre of RCCO promotes
classes in organ playing and church Toronto. This is a very interesting in
that it is actually taught (and
music, as well as concerts by
administered) at a theological
distinguished visiting recitalists and
college, and so there is strong sense
competitions. It is also responsible
of music being a ministry (the
for maintaining a database of
programme naturally also includes
organists who are available for
some tuition in the Faculty of Music).
deputising work.
A whistle-stop tour of releases both finished and forthcoming
In Dublin’s Fair City is the first disc to be recorded solely by the Choristers of St
Patrick’s Cathedral. Many of the tracks have special links with the Cathedral: the
extract from Handel’s Messiah links us to 1742 and the work’s first performance by
the combined cathedral choirs, while four pieces are either written or arranged by
past or present Cathedral musicians. The disc is designed to appeal to a wide
audience and to help raise the profile of the Choristers and of Ireland’s oldest choral
foundation. The disc is available from the Cathedral Shop and online from
www.stpatrickscathedral.ie
Salutation proves that there is life after Ireland for former Director of Music of St
Bartholomew’s in Dublin, Fraser Wilson. Made in his new home of Sheffield with his
new group Albion, Salutation contains new arrangements of six well-loved Advent &
Christmas carols including Away in a manger and The truth from above, as well as the
14th-century Salutation Carol and the medieval Advent Antiphons. The musical
influences of his time in Ireland are much in evidence. You can listen to & buy the
whole record (including the digital version, for instant download, which admittedly is
harder to wrap up for your grandmother) at www.albionchoir.org.uk
Here are the boys and men of St Bartholomew’s, Dublin, with their director Tristan
Russcher, during a recent recording session for their next CD release. Though at the
moment it is without a title, the programme is in place and the choir has already
recorded Haydn’s Little Organ Mass and The heavens are telling, plus Teach me O
Lord by Byrd. The centrepiece of the record will be Benjamin Britten’s Rejoice in the
Lamb, with its bizarre text by the genius Christopher Smart, and the disc will be
released in Britten’s centenary year. Further information and updates will appear at
www.stbartholomews.ie
6 SOUNDBOARD DECEMBER 2012
Refreshing Worship in West Wicklow
Big steps forward from the Executive
In replying to the 2011 Church Music
Survey, some respondents in parishes
in the Glendalough diocese requested
practical help and guidance.
Setting out from Dublin
To address this clear need, on 15
November four members of the Church
Music Dublin Executive travelled to
Timolin, Co. Kildare to lead an informal
evening introducing some new ideas
for worship. They shared ideas and
experiences on the theme Refreshing
Worship, with particular reference to
Advent and Christmas. Twenty people
from the West Glendalough rural
deanery attended, including 11
organists and 6 clergy – an excellent
response.
To support this liturgy, Derek Verso and
Jacqueline Mullen demonstrated,
through singing, three songs, which
were enthusiastically picked up by all
present. This showed that, with only a
few minutes of practice immediately
before a service, congregations, too,
could pick up simple music. Derek and
Jacqueline then introduced other ways
of refreshing worship during the
Advent and Christmas period. These
were summarised in documentary
handouts.
Finally, Derek urged those present to
use the psalms regularly in our services.
Taking two psalms from the Advent
season as examples, he demonstrated
how a congregation can literally
To start with, everyone sang ‘Prepare ye
‘compose’ a simple tune as a refrain
the way of the Lord’ from the musical
and then intersperse it between groups
Godspell. Archdeacon Ricky Rountree
of verses which would be read by one
then introduced the idea that the four
voice, using the layout in the Book of
weeks of Advent can be used to
Common Prayer. This proved popular
encourage different groups and
and many felt they could try it.
families to participate in simple and
effective liturgies using the Advent
The evening ended with refreshments
and with Derek suggesting 10 tips to
wreath and lighting candles.
help us in our ministry of music:
Derek’s Top Ten Tips
In action at Timolin
1.
Be enthusiastic and positive - all the time and more so than anyone else.
This is infectious and helps to silence the begrudgers and any “no change
here” folk
2.
Accept that introducing change is hard work. Give sufficient time for what
is new
3.
Collaborate. You can’t do all the organising, so ask others for help and
participation... but not five minutes before the service
4.
Plan hymns and other music well in advance – prepare a month at a time
and reflect the liturgical year
5.
Meet colleagues. Clergy and organists should meet over a cup of tea
three times a year to plan and chat - and be amazed how things will grow
naturally
6.
Move off the organ stool and face the people – demonstrate and explain
what you wish to be done and get the congregation to sing from your
example
7.
Rehearse your talk to the congregation privately in the church well in
advance
8.
Check hymns for high notes – avoid higher than D or E flat. Use the
keyboard transposer and/or seek out resources (there are several) which
offer tunes in lower keys, such as on the Church Music Dublin website
9.
Rehearse new music and plan change well in advance in every detail, to
minimise the chances of a disaster. Success the first time can be the best
advertisement for change. Always be aware of the context for new
departures
10.
Reintroduce the psalms, using a blend of homemade music and words
SOUNDBOARD
DECEMBER 2012 7
Music in Straffan Church
In September’s Soundboard Donald McLean told us how he was
pressed into service as an organist in 1991. His story continues...
I continued playing the organ, gaining confidence and
wished to learn to play canticles, To make this easier, I
combined the words and music on a single sheet by the use
of a photocopier. A choir of ten people was gradually built
up and one Christmas we decided that, instead of the choir
standing to sing in the transept beside the organ, they
should stand on the chancel steps. This worked well and the
following year the then Rector, Peter Rhys Thomas, who had
a theatrical background, suggested a Carol Service that
included mince pies, mulled wine, solos, poetry, and other
instruments. Choir robes were borrowed from The King’s
Hospital School and as I was a member of the Steadfast
Band, I was able to bring in a brass quartet.
Once plans became known others joined us, singing in the
choir and offering to play instruments. A string orchestra was
formed and a lighting expert and a video producer became
involved. Such was the interest that the Christmas
Miscellany ran for two nights. This year is the twenty-first
anniversary of this initiative: in the region of €50,000 has
been raised to date. The small church choir has grown and
become a community choir, open to all denominations.
Recently, the choir was presented with a new set of robes.
Performance venues have included Castletown House,
Barberstown Castle, Peamount Hospital and Lyric FM. The
present musical directors are Stephen Higgs and Sean
Moloney. Not only that, but two further organists from
Straffan church have completed the Archbishop of Dublin’s
Certificate in Church Music. Both continue to serve.
Simpler hymn accompaniments
For obvious reasons, this issue’s tune is Christmas, which is an adaptation from the second movement of Felix Mendelssohn’s
Festgesang for male chorus and brass, composed in 1840. The words of Hark! the herald-angels sing that we use today differ
considerably from what Charles Wesley wrote in 1739. Read all about it in Companion to Church Hymnal.
Ten simplified hymn accompaniments are now on our website. Which accompaniments should we upload next? Review the
full list and let us know.
8 SOUNDBOARD DECEMBER 2012
Sharing the
Organ Stool
Judy Cameron looks at the
advantages and pitfalls of
job-sharing
The benefits of having more than one
organist / music director in a parish are
many. The pressures on a single musician
for 52 weeks of the year - planning,
administration, rehearsing a choir, and
keeping up with new trends - is
considerable. The days when such
commitment was not too difficult to find
are long gone. In the average parish the
musicians, players and singers, will all be
“amateurs”, fitting Sunday worship into
lives already chock full of other
responsibilities. In every other area of
parish management, people take their turn:
tea-making, reading lessons, arranging
flowers, cleaning, teaching Sunday school;
the more is truly the merrier. To be able to
take time off without feeling guilty can be a
great relief. It makes sense to share the
work where this can be done without
compromising quality and continuity. The
challenge is how such cooperation can be
accomplished in the musical life of the
church.
The most common form of friendly
collaboration is to be found in those
parishes fortunate enough to have several
organists among the congregation. Our
own has two churches and three organists
– one for each church plus a flying squad,
so to speak. This means that we rarely have
to seek a deputy for holiday periods or to
cover illness. One service follows closely on
another and we can stand in for each other
at short notice. It works because the
weekly services have already been planned
and the two small choirs operate
separately. Payment for the deputy work is
adjusted on an ad-hoc basis.
When considering two posts in the one
church, things are trickier. For a start, if
there is to be an organist and a choir
director, the cost to the parish will be
greater than if there is one musician. This is
likely to be unpopular. Two or more
organists sharing the work may also cause
a problem with the choir, if there is one. It
might be difficult to expect the choir to
adjust to different styles of direction from
week to week. However, one church in Co.
Wicklow managed very successfully with
three (or was it four?) ninety-year-olds
playing in turn. Well, obviously, they didn’t
start at ninety.
In some places, it may be possible to divide
the work by month, or even by season, if
that fits better with the musicians’ lives. Or
one player could play at the morning and
another at the evening service. Then there
is the question of who chooses the hymns.
Or do they plan together in conjunction
with the clergy? And what about conflicting
practise times on the organ ? And finding
precious rehearsal time for the choir?
There is a trend generally towards greater
variety of worship styles from week to
week. Gospel choirs, youth music groups,
bands and children’s choirs abound, often
with their own leaders. While this provides
a break for the organist, such varied
resources will be most effective when there
is cooperation between the traditional and
the new. In the world of work outside the
church, job shares are common, but seem
to function best when each of the pair is in
charge of a different area. Does someone
need to be in overall charge? Or is it
enough to make clear where the different
responsibilities lie.
Three essentials are required in all this. The
first is goodwill. Working together in a
helpful spirit is part of the mission of any
church. The second essential is some kind
of agreed work pattern, which all the
musicians understand. With many different
players, of different ages, it is all too easy
for one group, or one person, to feel
sidelined. The third essential is a need for
regular communication between the
members of the musical team. Clergy and
musicians need to discuss the liturgical
diary and the weekly requirements of
worship so that no part of the work is left
undone.
Judy Cameron is one of the organists in the
Powerscourt and Kilbride group of parishes.
lcameron@eircom.net
SOUNDBOARD
DECEMBER 2012 9
THIS PAGE IS PRESENTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH
The Royal School of Church Music in Ireland
Reflections on Voice for
Life – St Gall’s, Carnalea
At present there are sixteen choristers
under the age of eighteen in St Gall’s
Parish Choir. All are currently working at
various stages of the RSCM Voice for Life
scheme. For the first time, two of our older
choristers gained the Bronze Award,
travelling to Dublin to take the
examination in May.
Events
and awards
Deirdre Macklin with Fr Andrew
McCroskery and Mark Bowyer
The annual RSCM Awards service was held this year in St Bartholomew’s on
Saturday 29 September. It was heartening to be joined by friends and families, in
congratulating candidates, who were successful, in such numbers, in the
examinations of the Bronze and Silver awards of the RSCM Voice for Life chorister
training scheme. Choristers from St Mary’s Pro-cathedral, Dublin, Christ Church
cathedral, Dublin, St Bartholomew’s Church, Dublin and St Gall’s Church,
Carnalea, all received awards this year; 36 candidates in total!
We also presented the very first Church Music Skills award certificate to Deirdre
Macklin (St Macartan’s Cathedral, Monaghan, a first for RSCM Ireland. It is
heartening that we are able to offer these awards to those who are keen to
recognise their skills and abilities and to have them tested by the high standards
set by the RSCM. The work that these musicians do, in preparing for these
examinations, is to be rightly celebrated. In addition to performing a variety of
music, through singing voice or organ playing, they are tested in musicianship
skills, aural and sight reading ability, theoretical, historical and repertoire
knowledge, and on their understanding of liturgy, the Church's Year and the
place of music within the liturgy.
We were delighted that Blánaid Murphy was able to conduct and Tristan
Russcher played the organ during service of Evensong at which the awards were
presented by the Vicar, Fr Andrew McCroskery.
RSCM Ireland was pleased to be able to use St Bartholomew’s again this year for
the ‘Come and Sing’ event which was held on Saturday 20 October. Over 70
people took part from as far away as Newry and Cork and as close by as
Ballbridge! Singers joined forces to perform Fauré’s Requiem and Vivaldi’s Gloria.
We were very glad to have Tristan Russcher as our conductor for the day and
David Grealy as organist. As well as the 70 singers, we welcomed soloists Tanya
Sewell, Catherine Redding (at short notice!) and Michael Lee. The afternoon
started with a rehearsal followed by a short break before the performance at
5pm. We had excellent feedback from all those who took part and we very much
look forward to using St Bartholomew’s again for future events.
Future plans
Plans are underway for a Come and Sing event to be held in Belfast in February
2013, which will be a joint committee (Republic and Northern Ireland) event. It is
hoped that the new RSCM Director, Andrew Reid will conduct this event and it
will be an opportunity for all RSCM affiliates to join together and make music!
Details of the event will be available in the next few weeks via the website and
affiliates will be contacted directly via their committee.
<— Look to the left to see this year’s award winners!
The Voice for Life workbooks encourage
steady progression with achievable
rewards in terms of medals and
certificates. Our children are encouraged
to take their certificates in to school to be
included in their ‘Record of Achievement’
folder. I think it is important that the
amount of time, effort and commitment
that choristers make should be more
widely recognised.
RSCM Songbooks provide lots of
additional appropriate material. A great
deal of what is included in the workbooks
in terms of theory and aural elements is
covered naturally in normal rehearsals.
Very often however, the practicalities of
preparing music for upcoming services,
leaves little time to spend on actually
completing the exercises in the books!
Sometimes we use a whole rehearsal to
get back ‘on track’ with the workbooks,
and often I focus on groups of choristers
at a time rather than try to teach an age
range from 7-17 all together.
Having had a number of years with no
children at all in the choir it is a huge
pleasure to see so many young faces. We
have had to extend our choir stalls!
Being an RSCM affiliated choir involved in
the Voice for Life scheme has been a
fantastic way of monitoring and
encouraging each individual chorister to
maximise his or her potential and
recognising the value of the role that
music can play in enhancing worship in
the church.
Rosemary Smyth
Choir Director, St Gall’s Parish Church,
Carnalea, Co. Down
For more information
Full details of the work of the RSCM are
available at www.rscmireland.com,
www.facebook.com/rscmireland and via
twitter @rscmireland.
Mark Bowyer - RSCM Ireland
Coordinator +353 (0) 87 117 2995
10 S O U N D B O A R D D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 2
Past and present members
Rathmines Folk Group – 40 Years On
Celebrating a Dublin musical institution. Reprinted, by kind permission, from The Irish Catholic
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin joined
parishioners in the Church of Mary
Immaculate, Refuge of Sinners in
Dublin’s Rathmines on Sunday 4
November to mark the fortieth
anniversary of the parish’s folk group;
the longest running folk group in the
country. The Mass was attended by
former members of the group, priests
and parishioners alike, who came
together for an evening of music and
prayer at the Rathmines church.
Speaking at the Mass, Archbishop
Martin said “fifty years ago in these
days, the Second Vatican Council
opened. It was to bring change and
renewal to the life of the Church.” “The
Rathmines Folk Group was child of the
change and the ferment that was
taking place in the Church in Dublin at
that time,” he said.
According to Kevin McNamara, a
founding member of the folk group,
because of the celebratory nature of
the Mass, “the group selected songs
from the four decades of the folk
group’s existence”. He said former
members were also asked “to come up
at the end of the Mass to join in the
singing”.
The folk group played to a packed-out
church which was reminiscent of the
initial years of the folk Mass when,
Kevin said, “you couldn’t get in the
door”. Also of note at the Mass was the
large number of young people in
attendance. According to Mr
McNamara “over the years a rise in the
student population has meant we have
had a relatively young congregation”.
After the Mass the group retired to the
Leinster Cricket Club to continue in
their celebrations. Here, more music
and singing was enjoyed “well into the
early hours of the morning,” Mr
McNamara said.
The popular Rathmines Folk Group
puts their continued success in
attracting a large and loyal
congregation down to “making the
liturgy relevant to the everyday lives of
people”. That is according to Maria
Whitmore, a current member of the
folk group. This approach has managed
to “stand the test of time,” she said.
“We still highlight important social
issues in our liturgies”.
Since its inception in 1972, the
Rathmines Folk Group has sung and
played at Mass every Sunday. Over the
four decades, more than 200 people
have been involved as singers or
nowadays. Everybody is ‘doing’ Advent
now. The trouble is that Advent has
Continued from page 3
loads of lead-up time and because it's
This of course is the panic season for all newish to many choirs which don't have
a long tradition of its music, more time
church musicians, too much to do and
seems to be spent on learning new
too little time within which to get it all
done, and I have to admit that I feel it's things. Then comes the realisation as
getting worse every year. Number one you're finishing the last verse of that
wonderful tune Helmsley, that you'll be
culprit is Advent which seems now to
rival Christmas as a music-fest. Ten years doing the same in just three weeks but
ago we certainly had Advent as a season with a totally different repertoire.
but there weren't many big carol
Three weeks! Of course, I should be
services like there are
much better prepared and have some of
Notes from the North
instrumentalists. At the beginning, the
music was mostly simple folk melodies.
However, as time went by more
sophisticated music was added,
including secular songs which
contribute to the relevance and interest
of the theme of the Mass.
Currently, the wide range of songs that
are sung are chosen for their
appropriateness and relevance to the
Mass. Songs for the Mass are selected
on a weekly basis to reflect wide
ranging themes, such as homelessness
and drug abuse.
In addition to singing at Mass every
week, the group is regularly asked to
sing in other parishes and at fundraising events, as well as taking part in
television appearances. In 1997 they
were presented with a papal blessing
for their contribution to Rathmines
parish. Apart from all their hard work,
the group finds time for an active social
life. Many good friendships have been
made in the group over the past four
decades, not to mention a number of
marriages.
The Folk Group sings 6pm Sunday Mass in
Rathmines Parish, as it has done since 1972.
Next Sunday’s songs, and lots more, can be
found at www.rathminesfolkgroup.org
the groundwork already done. Work and here I mean learning new music always expands to fill all the available
time prior to performance. Then again
we can always do exactly the same
service as we did last year. I sometimes
wonder would the congregation really
notice. Even if they did, would they be
bothered? But - and this is the sixty four
thousand dollar question - would the
choir actually remember the stuff from
last year?
Doubleopenwood
SOUNDBOARD
Transported by Taizé
Whilst visiting friends recently in Ayr I
attended a service in Alloway Parish
Church (Church of Scotland). During the
intercessions the intercessor and
assembly did not use a spoken versicle
and response (’Lord, in your mercy –
hear our prayer’, or similar). Instead,
everyone sang the Taizé invocation ‘O
Lord, hear my prayer, O Lord, hear my
prayer: when I call, answer me. O Lord,
hear my prayer, O Lord, hear my prayer:
come and listen to me’ (CH 620), a chord
having first been played on the organ.
About Alberta
Among the unfortunate casualties from
Church Hymnal, 4th edition, when CH5
was produced was the magnificent tune
‘Alberta’, previously set for the hymn,
Lead Kindly Light, by Cardinal Newman,
as an alternative to the feeble Sandon.
Whilst I expect that this will be a familiar
practice in some Church of Ireland
parishes, I found that it focussed and
involved the assembly in the prayers to a
greater extent than if we had used a
spoken response, and of course the
singing and the repetition creates a
fervency and has an uplifting effect on
the participants.
Sarah Murphy
Trafalgar Road, Greystones
Co. Wicklow
another hymn. It has an unusual metre.
It would be worth a resurrection. Its
composer, Sir William Henry Harris
(1883 –1973) was a considerable force
in English church music, organist at
several cathedrals, at Christ Church,
I sometimes think that to print Alberta
Oxford and St George’s Chapel,
in the absurd key of five flats would
Windsor, and composer of much church
challenge many organ-players, at least music. He is said to have written Alberta
in lesser churches. While this key can be while crossing Canada by train in the
transposed in situ to two sharps, the
1920s.
large number of accidentals, which help
to provide the tune with its fascinating Adrian Somerfield
character, beauty and drive could cause St Thomas’s Church
problems. It was published in the key
Mount Merrion
of C in Hymns for Today’s Church to
Co. Dublin
Well Well WELLS !
D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 2 11
Living Worship
2013
Learn – Sing – Meet – Greet
Debate – Relate – Great!
Saturday 12 January
The Revd Dr Stanley Monkhouse
Rector: Portlaoise group
A priest-musician reflects thoughtfully
(but not too reverently)
on church musicians, their role, and
their quirks
Saturday 19 January
The Revd Dr Peter Thompson
Rector: Donaghmore parish
Choosing the hymns – favourite or fit?
and
Supplement to Church Hymnal 2000
Venue: The Mageough Hall, Cowper Rd,
Rathmines (beside Luas stop)
10 am to 12 noon
Fee €25 for two sessions,
including refreshments
Book online or call 087 668 3998
This summer, six past and present musicians from St Bartholomew’s,
Dublin, spent a week singing the choral services in Wells Cathedral
with the Rivelin Singers. Here are their highlights...
A few days after the trip, Richard Bannister was driving
through Dublin with his sunroof down and Brewer in D
playing at top volume. It's a shame he didn't manage to
capture a photo of the expression on the face of the cyclist
that overtook him...
Killian Rogan said that it was “a week of music and
merriment that I will never forget.”
Cliona Rogan admitted that “sometimes I was so entranced
by the other people singing that I forgot I was in the choir.”
Emmet Kiberd felt that "singing Wilson's God be in my head
in the wonderful acoustic of the beautiful cathedral chapter
house was an experience I won't soon forget."
Kate Somers said “it was a truly amazing experience to
spend a week in a beautiful Cathedral.”
And Fraser Wilson sighed contentedly, poured himself a
large gin, and looked forward to a trip to Norwich in 2013…
12 S O U N D B O A R D D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 2
New pipes
for St Peter’s
A new two-manual organ by Kenneth Jones & Associates has recently been installed in St Peter’s Church, Little Bray. The
instrument is designed in a contemporary style, complementing the new architectural siting; it has a detached reversed
console with two manuals and pedals, mechanical key action, and electric drawstop action. The hand-finished case is of solid
oak. The organ, which was specially commissioned as part of the recent renovation of the church, was completed during the
summer. Professor Gerard Gillen gave an inaugural recital at the end of October.
Snippets
Appointments
Kevin O’Sullivan (formerly of the Chapel of Trinity College, Dublin) is now
organist at Kiltiernan parish church. Eoghan Ward (formerly of St Kevin’s,
Harrington Street) has moved to St John the Evangelist’s, Sandymount. Dr Paul
McKeever (formerly of Adam & Eve’s Franciscan Church, Merchant’s Quay) has
moved to St Kevin’s, Harrington Street.
A Brilliant Bit of Bach
Early in 2013, JSB’s wonderful Cantata 78 - a set work for the Leaving Certificate will be both performed and illuminated in a special event at St Mary’s Cathedral,
Limerick: unmissable for anyone who’s studying it (or, indeed, likes music!). On
Saturday 6 March 2013 at the Cathedral, there will be a talk at 6.30pm followed
by a performance at 7.30. For more details email peterandrewbarley@gmail.com
or telephone the cathedral on 061 310 293. The event is presented in association
with the Post Primary Music Teachers’ Association (www.ppmta.ie).
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ISSUE 28: DECEMBER 2012
Edited & designed by Fraser Wilson
Photography by FW, named contributors,
& public domain sources
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