Following on from Jeffrey’s interesting article about typical music lists in US parishes, I thought it would be an interesting exercise if I looked around London
There is no particular order to the music list, simply the fist places that sprang to mind! It is also worth pointing out that London is, given its sheer size, split over 3 Dioceses. Two of the Cathedrals are in Central London (Westminster and Southwark) and are less than a mile from each other (one north and one south of the River Thames). The East End of London is largely covered by the Diocese of Brentwood whose Cathedral, though not strictly IN London, is very close and has diocesan territory in the City, hence its inclusion here.
The London (Brompton) Oratory deserves special mention. The London Oratory School Schola sings a the Brompton Oratory for the Saturday Vigil Mass. It has been listed separately here because there are two SATB choirs, one for Saturday (LOS Schola) and one for Sunday (The London Oratory Choir). The Sunday Choir, under the expert baton of Patrick Russill (Head of Choral Conducting and Church Music Studies at the Royal Academy of Music) also sings Solemn Vespers and Benediction every Sunday of the year, plus Solemnities. It also sings a regular Missa Cantata for major feasts in the Little Oratory. The LOS Schola, under the inspired direction of Lee Ward, is an internationally renowned liturgical and recording choir and is responsible for the soundtracks of all of the Lord of the Rings films and some of the Harry Potter films, to name but a few! It also sings, frequently with professional orchestral accompaniment, for the School Masses. The London Oratory Church also has a Junior Choir, under the talented direction of Charles Cole. This Choir sings the Family Mass every Sunday at the Oratory Church and has a diet of Chant and polyphony combined with congregational music. This Choir can also be heard on John Eliot Gardiner’s legendary CD of the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610, recorded in San Marco, Venice, for Deutsche Grammaphon’s Archiv label.
Music for Sunday 20 June 2010, London , UK
1) St James, Spanish Place
St James, Spanish Place
2) London Oratory School
The LOS Schola in concert
3) Immaculate Conception, Farm Street Elizabeth
Immaculate Conception, Farm Street
4) Brompton Oratory (Latin, OF): Mixed adult professional choir; Organ: Reger Benedictus Op. 59 No. 9; Rheinberger Mass in E flat (Cantus Missae); Clemens non Papa Ego flos campi; Lassus O sacrum convivium; Organ: Rheinberger Introduction & Passacaglia (Sonata No.8); Full Gregorian propers plus Credo I
The London (Brompton) Oratory
5) Westminster
Westminster Cathedral
6) St George’s
St George’s Cathedral, Southwark
7) Ealing Abbey (English/Latin, OF): Boys and adult male professional singers; Duruflé Messe ‘Cum Jubilo’; Boyce The Lord is King; Palestrina Super flumina Babylonis; (Coincidentally, this Sunday is also a men’s voices Sunday, the Ealing Abbey boys too have the day off!)
Ealing Abbey
8) St Etheldreda, Ely Place
St Etheldreda, Ely Place
9) Sacred Heart, Wimbledon (Latin, OF): Mixed adult amateur choir; Grayston Ives Missa Brevis; Stanford Beati quorum via; Wood Occuli omnium
Church of the Sacred Heart, Wimbledon
10) Carmelite Church Latin Mass.
The Carmelite Church,
Kensington
11) Brentwood Cathedral (English/Latin, OF – 20 mins from London but whose Diocese covers a considerable part of the East End of London, hence its inclusion here
Brentwood Cathedral
12) Our Most Holy Redeemer and St Thomas More, Chelsea
David Bevan, Director of Music, rehearses the
Choir of Holy Redeemer
13) St Dominic’s Priory, Hampstead: Mixed amateur choir singing Chant and polyphony. No details available for this Sunday.
St Dominic’s Priory, Hampstead
I offer my apologies to any churches which offer traditional music at their Sunday Masses – I merely blogged about those I know of. Please do add further details in the comment box below if you know of any other places with similar musical offerings.
The Church of St Bede, Clapham Park, offers a sung Solemn High Mass in the Usus Antiquior every Sunday and a Low Mass daily. There is occasionally a visiting professional choir for Solemnities. Otherwise, there is a small schola to lead the ordinary and propers on Sundays.
St Bede, Clapham Park
The Church of Our Lady
Our Lady of the Rosary, Blackfen
The Oratory and St James, Spanish Place, have a Low Mass every Sunday. Many of these churches also offer a Solemn High Mass (with choir) in the Usus Antiquior on a reasonably regular basis.
Solemn High Mass at St George’s Cathedral, Southwark
(the Cathedral Choir can just be seen in the background)
Clergy and the blogger (NG – far right)
preparing for Solemn High Mass at Southwark
Whilst this is all very encouraging for Londoners, we can but hope and pray that this wonderful musical provision be extended to all the great cities and towns of Christendom.
Martin Baker, Master of Music, and
the Choir of Westminster Cathedral
Don't forget some other amateur choirs who too sing a plainchant/polyphonic setting – St Dominic's Priory, St Patrick's Soho Square, and a few more. Occassionally I know that the Card Vaughan Schola sings Mass at Our Lady of Victories but Im unsure if they have a choir which sings weekly sunday masses. Does Assumption and St Gregory no longer do their sung masses?
Apologies for any missed. I did try to find out about Warwick Street and Soho but their websites are short on detail. NG
Eight years since I left London, so things may have changed, but St Mary's, Lisson Grove also had a fine choir. For a time, St Joseph's, Bunhill Row even had a Latin plainsong Mass (OF) at 9 a.m., but the glory days of the Hill of Buns have long since departed. Good church music in profusion is the only thing I miss about London!
I can imagine Ben – great to see you at the Oratory School workshop. Hope the Orkney Schola is going well. Nick
Out in Blackfen(zone 5, but still London), we have a sung EF Mass every Sunday, plus Holy Days – plainsong Ordinary, plus Rossini Propers.
First Saturday the LMS London Schola sing the Propers from the LU.
I didn't realise Black Fen was in Zone 5! I will add it!
That's for adding us. An honour.
David Bevan's choir at Holy Redeemer is, as you say, excellent. One of the nice things about it is that it that some of the semi-regulars are professionals, who enjoy turning up to sing for David when not gainfully elsewhere. That says something about the man and the choir.
It's no coincidence that the late Martin Parry was DoM of two of the churches on this list – Sacred Heart, Wimbledon and Farm Street. One of the reasons for the concentration of outstanding Catholic liturgical music-making in London is the number of excellent, dedicated Catholic music directors who live there.
Indeed. It's also worth pointing out that the DoMs at Westminster Abbey and St Paul's Cathedral are also both Catholics! I believe Southwark Anglican Cathedral is the only boys and men choir in a London cathedral/abbey run by a non-Catholic! But the number 2 at Southwark CofE is a Catholic! Such a shame that there aren't more employment opportunities for Catholic musicians – there are a good many working in the Anglican Church because there aren't enough paid posts in the Roman Church.
Until 2010, Our Lady of Victories, Kensington, had a Latin Mass every Sunday, with plainchant, polyphony and a large repertoire of Mass settings and motets from all periods, sung by a professional choir. The clergy has now reduced the frequency of these Masses from weekly to monthly.