Barry Rose: cathedral music's grit in the oyster (2024)

Forever associated with the choirs of Guildford, St Paul's and St. Alban's cathedrals, the first time I met Barry Rose was in 1965. As a small child I was taken out of lessons at my primary school one day by my mother, much to the excitement and jealousy of the other children, and delivered to a strange young man in a strange building and asked to sing hymns and other musical things to him. That man was Barry Rose, and what I was doing was auditioning for a place in the treble line of his recently established Guildford Cathedral Choir. Being rather young at the time, I was invited back for a second audition and also a school entrance exam the following year and presumably did OK in both, for I was then admitted into the choir and Lanesborough, the de facto choir school. Just ten years before these events, not only were my parents not even married, Guildford Cathedral was still being built, with no date set for a Consecration and Barry Rose was working in insurance in London. Up to that point, his church music experience had been playing hymns at his local Sunday school in Chingford and playing the Compton electronic organ in the then newly-built church at St Anne, Chingford Hatch. However, it was while at Chingford that he and George Guest, the then director of music at St John's Cambridge, became friends-as George later recalled: 'I was invited to visit the church of St Anne, Chingford Hatch on behalf of the Royal School of Church Music …. The music sung on that occasion was of a standard seldom attained in cathedrals let alone parish churches, and it became immediately clear that it was being accompanied by an instinctive director, one who, whilst having the utmost regards to technique was, at the same time, able to bring the music to life by the subtlety of his interpretations.' In 1956, Barry joined Martindale Sidwell's choir at Hampstead Parish Church, an experience he later would say was the most influential of his early musical life. At this time the Hampstead choir was widely regarded as the finest church choir in the country. Then after two years at Hampstead, he was appointed Organist and Choirmaster of St Andrew's Kingsbury, a church with an already strong choral tradition. At about the same time he also set up his own chamber choir, The Jacobean Singers, and was the accompanist for Bruno Turner's Pro Musica Sacra chamber choir. By then Barry and Bruno were sharing a flat, and years later Bruno recalled that 'I always felt that of the two of us Barry was the gifted instinctive musician. He knew what he liked and how he wanted it.'

Cathedral Choirs in the United Kingdom: The Professional Boy Chorister

Springer eBooks, 2011

Review of the book of Martin Thomas 'English Cathedral Music and Liturgy in the Twentieth Century', Ashgate 2015

Review of the book of Martin Thomas 'English Cathedral Music and Liturgy in the Twentieth Century', Ashgate 2015

Anglican ‘Establishment’ Reactions to ‘POP’ Church Music in England, 1956–C.1990

Studies in Church History

The use of popular styles of music in the Church has often proved contentious, and perhaps particularly so in the later twentieth century. Anecdotal evidence abounds of the debate provoked in churches by the introduction of new ‘happy-clappy’ pop-influenced styles, and the supposed wholesale discarding of a glorious heritage of hymnody. In addition, a great deal of literature has appeared elaborating on the inappropriateness of such music. Welcoming a historical study of hymnody in 1996, John Habgood lamented the displacement of traditional hymn singing by ‘trivial and repetitive choruses’. Lionel Dakers, retired Director of the Royal School of Church Music, also saw choruses and worship songs as ‘in many instances little more than trite phrases repeated ad nauseam, often with accompanying body movements’. This paper investigates the reactions of the musical and ecclesiastical establishments to the use of popular music in public worship in the Church of England from 1956 to c. 1990....

J. S. Bach in Everyday Life: The ‘Choral Identity’ of an Amateur ‘Art Music’ Bach Choir and the Concept of ‘Choral Capital’

2012

Rebecca Frost and John-Bede Pauley. “English Cathedral Music from the Nineteenth Century to the Present.” Review of Royal Musical Association July 9, 2008 Study Day. RMA Newsletter XIII:2 (October 2009).

Early Music and the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, 1958 to 2015 (PhD diss., McGill University, 2017)

2017

(Une traduction française suit) This dissertation is the first in-depth exploration of the connections between the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge (“King’s”) and the early music revival since the mid-twentieth century. It is also one of the first detailed considerations of the role of choirs in the revival. The central question I aim to answer is: How has the vocal style of King’s influenced the development of the vocal style of the early music revival in Britain? I show how the choir’s 109 albums featuring music written before 1750 have helped spread and popularize what I call the “King’s sound.” This sound is characterized by a high level of blend within choral sections, an even balancing of sections with one another, little vibrato, few changes in tempo and dynamics, and a light, bright, and breathy timbre. It is similar to a broader “English sound” found among other Oxbridge college choirs as well as British vocal ensembles specializing in early music. I argue that King’s was an important precursor to these specialist early music ensembles, as the choir began issuing many albums in the 1950s, before a large number of specialist groups formed in the 1970s and 1980s. King’s was also compatible with and helped bolster the valuing of historical authenticity in the early music revival. Because the choir has sung frequently in church services since its foundation in the fifteenth century, listeners can see King’s as exemplifying longstanding English sacred traditions. In addition, the King’s sound itself seems more historically sensitive for early music than a singing style with hallmarks of nineteenth-century performance practice, such as heavy vibrato and frequent or large changes in tempo and dynamics. I also argue that the close links between King’s and powerful and wealthy British institutions—particularly the University of Cambridge and the Church of England—aided in spreading the King’s sound. In addition, the all-male and mostly Caucasian composition of the choir allows listeners to see it as a remnant of Britain before twentieth-century feminist movements and modern waves of immigration. This reinforces the choir’s sense of historical authenticity as well as its appeal given the hegemonic status of whiteness and masculinity. I also suggest that the King’s sound itself reflects the relatively homogeneous identity of choir members by way of its exclusion of “other” sounds (and bodies) in favor of choral blend. To conclude, I examine how King’s has influenced the early music revival by training performers, by making premiere recordings of Renaissance and Baroque compositions, and by collaborating with instrumental ensembles. I also consider how other ensembles and trends in the revival have influenced King’s, particularly the rise of historically informed performance. « La musique ancienne et le Chœur du King’s College, Cambridge, 1958 à 2015 » Cette thèse est la première exploration en profondeur des liens existant entre le Chœur du King’s College, Cambridge (« King’s ») et le mouvement pour le renouveau de la musique ancienne depuis le milieu du XXe siècle. C’est également l’une des premières considérations du rôle des chœurs au sein de ce renouveau. La question centrale à laquelle je tenterai de répondre est la suivante : comment le style vocal du King’s a-t-il influencé le développement du style vocal du renouveau de la musique ancienne en Grande-Bretagne ? Je démontre comment les 109 albums du chœur sur lesquels l’on retrouve de la musique composée avant 1750 ont aidé à disséminer et populariser ce que j’appelle le « King’s sound » (le « son King’s »). Ce son se caractérise par un haut degré de fondu choral (« blend »), un équilibre uniforme des sections chorales entre elles, peu de vibrato, peu de changements de tempo et de dynamiques, ainsi qu’un timbre sonore qui est léger, brillant et aéré. Il est semblable au « English sound » (« son anglais ») que l’on retrouve parmi d’autres chœurs des collèges d’Oxbridge ainsi que des chœurs britanniques se spécialisant dans la musique ancienne. Je démontre que King’s fut un précurseur important de ces ensembles spécialisés parce que le chœur ayant commencé à produire des albums dès les années 1950, avant la formation de nombreux groupes spécialisés de musique ancienne dans les années 1970 et 1980. King’s était également compatible avec, et contribua à fortifier, la valorisation de l’authenticité historique au sein du renouveau de la musique ancienne. Puisque le chœur a fréquemment chanté dans des services religieux depuis sa fondation au XVe siècle, les auditeurs peuvent percevoir King’s comme illustrant des traditions sacrées anglaises très anciennes. En outre, le son King’s lui-même apparaissait plus historiquement sensible pour la musique ancienne qu’un style vocal qui a des caractéristiques rappelant les pratiques d’interprétation du XIXe siècle, telles qu’un fort vibrato et des changements fréquents ou prononcés de tempi et dynamiques. Je propose également que les liens étroits entre King’s et des institutions britanniques puissantes et riches– particulièrement l’Université de Cambridge et l’Église d’Angleterre – ont contribué à la dissémination du son King’s. De plus, la composition entièrement masculine et principalement caucasienne du chœur permet aux auditeurs de le percevoir comme un vestige de la Grande-Bretagne avant les mouvements féministes du XXe siècle et les vagues d’immigrations contemporaines. Ceci renforce le sentiment d’authenticité historique du chœur ainsi que son attrait, étant donné le statut hégémonique de la race blanche et de la masculinité. Je suggère aussi que le son King’s lui-même reflète l’identité relativement homogène des membres du chœur par son exclusion des sons alternatifs (et de différent types de personnes) en faveur d’une homogénéité chorale. En conclusion, j’examine de quelle manière King’s a influencé le renouveau de la musique ancienne grâce à la formation d’interprètes, par l’enregistrement d’œuvres de la Renaissance et de la période baroque qui n’a jamais été enregistré auparavant, et par la collaboration avec des ensembles instrumentaux. Je m’intéresse également à la manière dont d’autres ensembles et tendances au cours de ce renouveau ont influencé King’s, particulièrement l’essor d’interprétations historiques. (Traduction par Claudine Jacques)

Revisiting a Forgotten Handbook for Church Musicians: Everett Titcomb's Anglican Ways

Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians 32, no. 4 (July/August 2023)

Cambridge Companions Online The Cambridge Companion to Choral Music

Establishing Vocal Lineage: A.E. Floyd and the Voice Production of the Choirboys of St Paul's Cathedral Melbourne, 1915-1947

2002

Alfred Ernest Floyd, who arrived in Melbourne to take charge of the music at St Paul's Cathedral in February 1915, was never a choirboy at a cathedral. An attempt is made to ascertain whether a tradition or lineage could be established from which Floyd developed his own ideas that manifested themselves in the tone production of the choirboys of St Paul's in Melbourne.

An emerging local musical voice at Grahamstown Anglican Cathedral: experiments in localisation

Culture and Religion, 2018