S O U N D B O A R D D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5 1

SOUNDBOARD THE MAGAZINE OF CHURCH MUSIC DUBLIN ▪ Giving worship a vibrant voice through music ISSUE 34 DECEMBER 2015

CHURCH MUSIC AND MUSICIANS

Peregryne in the West Country The vocal ensemble Peregryne, which has enjoyed singing compline in Dublin churches throughout the year, was delighted to be the choir-in-residence at Bristol Cathedral from Monday 24th to Sunday 30th August. The music for each service took different geographical themes. Monday, St Bartholomew’s day, was Franco-Flemish, with works by Adrian Willaert, Melchior Franck and Josquin de Prez. Tuesday was Irish with, unusually for England, the responses and canticles as Gaeilge, composed by Caitríona Ní Dhubhghaill, who had prudently set ‘A Thiarna, saor an Bhanríon’. The anthem was by Hugo Kellyk (fl. c. 1480), the orthography of whose name (Ceallaigh?) suggests a Gaelic origin. Two of Spain’s greatest 16th-century composers, Tomás Luis de Victoria and Francisco Guerrero featured on Wednesday, while Friday was auf

Deutsch including canticles by Schütz and Bach’s motet, Singet dem Herrn. Saturday featured an eclectic Celtic fringe of composers, while Sunday morning was decidedly Francophile: Frank Martin’s double-choir mass married with Messiaen. The final evensong was an all-English affair, concluding with John Browne’s sumptuous Stabat Mater. The group rehearsed daily in the resonant Romanesque chapter house, but also made forays outside, singing a lunchtime recital in nearby St Mary Redcliffe on Wednesday, and travelling on Thursday to Bath Abbey to give a lunchtime concert, followed by an informal concert at St Michael’s Without. On Saturday, after evensong, Peregryne scaled Bristol’s hills to sing compline in Clifton Cathedral, bookending it with Eton Choirbook works by Kellyk and Browne. Stuart Kinsella

Living Worship 2016: Saturdays in January, 10.30am–12.30pm 16th January (Mageough Hall, Cowper Road): Bishop Harold Miller discusses music for Holy Week and Easter Day. 23rd January (Mageough Hall, Cowper Road): Archdeacon Ricky Rountree looks at options for the use of music at the Eucharist when it includes the liturgy of Holy Baptism. 30th January (Sandford Parish Church, Ranelagh): Gerard Brooks leads a workshop on service accompaniment. (See page 6.)

Above: Members of Peregryne in the quire of Bristol Cathedral. (Photo: Stuart Kinsella)

Below: Students on the Archbishop’s Certificate in Church Music with their certificates at the recent awards ceremony in Christ Church Cathedral. (Photo: Philip Good)

Archbishop’s Certificate in Church Music Awards The annual presentation of certificates to ACCM students took place during evensong at Christ Church Cathedral on 22nd November. Emma Galloway (Waterford) received the final certificate, recognising three years of successful study. Year 1 students, Janet Armstrong (Newcastle, Co. Wicklow), Arthur Greene (Christ Church Cathedral), Thomas Maxwell (Taney) and Jonathan Stanley (Bray) also received certificates, as did Denise Guidera, the first person to complete the new Foundation Course in Church Music.

2 S O U N D B O A R D D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5

Share Soundboard Once you have finished reading your copy of Soundboard, perhaps you might like to share it with clergy or other church musicians, or perhaps with your choir members. Additional copies can be provided if you would like to leave a few copies in the choir pews.

Photos and feedback For future issues, we need good images of people singing, chatting, enjoying themselves—images that reflect the singing church in action. We are particularly interested to hear about new projects and events, and we are happy to offer publicity for any new endeavours in church music. We are always very happy to receive constructive feedback on the content of Soundboard. Please send photographs, news items, articles and feedback via email to soundboard@churchmusicdublin.org.

Deputy organists If you are on the deputy organist list, be sure to let us know when your contact details change. We receive occasional advice that the contact numbers are incorrect or that organists are no longer available. The list can be found online at www.churchmusicdublin.org/deputy.

Remuneration guidelines The guidelines and recommendations are on the website. The suggested rates continue at the 2009 level. The guidelines are published jointly by Church Music Dublin and the Advisory Committee on Church Music of the Roman Catholic bishops.

Above: Members of the Culwick Choral Society, with conductor Bernie Sherlock and organist David O’Shea, performing Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem at Sandford Parish Church, Ranelagh, on Remembrance Day, 11th November. (Photo: Arnaud Cras)

Simplified hymn accompaniments This issue’s hymn accompaniment is Irby, to which the hymn ’Once in royal David’s city’ is sung. Many other simplified accompaniments are available on our website at www.churchmusicdublin.org/Education. These are a useful resource for organists who find the harmonisations in Church Hymnal challenging to play fluently. If you require a specific tune not yet available, please let us know.

New website: churchmusicdublin.org Church Music Dublin’s new website was launched recently. The previous website dates from 2006 and developed somewhat haphazardly since then. A team comprising Philip Good, David McConnell, Jacqueline Mullen and James Pasley has produced a menu structure that reflects how parish musicians go about their work. All the information from the previous site has been transferred, but is classified in a more logical way. A gallery page has been added and photos of church music events will be very welcome. An innovative feature of the site is that its background colour changes appropriately as the church’s liturgical year passes by. Have a look and let us know what you think. The site was designed and developed by Sándor Gera of getonline.ie in Dublin and his colleagues in Hungary. Existing URLs continue to function and redirect automatically.

Soundboard subscriptions (€15/£13) are now due

You may pay online: Go to the Make a Payment page on

www.churchmusicdublin.org

S O U N D B O A R D D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5 3

News from Donegal Daniel Braddell discusses musical endeavours in the northwest

North Donegal is not normally associated with Anglican choral music, but we have a sizeable Church of Ireland community compared with other parts of the Republic of Ireland. In 2013, I founded Gaudium Chamber Choir, an amateur adult group counting members from across all denominations, dedicated to presenting high-quality performances of sacred music, especially from the Anglican tradition. The first evensong, given in Conwal Parish Church, Letterkenny in November 2013, included Reading’s responses, Stanford in G, and Wesley’s Thou

wilt keep him in perfect peace. Much of this music was new to both singers and audience, and made a big impression. Since then, we have continued to sing choral services as well as presenting concerts of sacred and secular music. A recent highlight was solemn vespers for Pentecost in St John the Baptist church, Carrigart last May, where we were joined by young soprano, Harriet Burns, who sang Mozart’s Laudate

Dominum and Schubert’s Ave Maria. Vespers was followed by a short concert including Stanford’s settings of The Blue Bird and My love’s an arbutus as well as Michael McGlynn’s Siúil a Rúin. On Saturday 28th November last we presented a concert entitled ‘The King of Love: songs of penitence and praise’ in Trinity Presbyterian Church, Letterkenny, a mixture of sacred choral and organ music, interspersed with readings linked to the music Our programmes include solo organ music in an attempt to raise the profile of the instrument and to allow the audience to hear good organ music well performed, even on instruments with limited capabilities. Letterkenny cathedral possesses a modest-sized instrument originally by Telford, altered by Kenneth Jones in the 1980s and recently overhauled by Stephen Adams; it sounds marvellous and I have been privileged to give a couple of solo recitals there to small but enthusiastic audiences, including music from the French and German symphonic repertoire. I have also recently presented a programme of Mendelssohn, Wesley and 18th-century English music in Donegal Town Church of Ireland, which possesses a small unaltered Telford organ from the 1870s. You can follow Gaudium Chamber Choir on Facebook at www.facebook.com/gaudiumchoir.

Above: Some members of Gaudium Chamber Choir after morning service in Conwal Parish Church on Sunday 6th September, which was broadcast on Highland Radio.

Appointment of Organists It is a long-standing practice that vacant organist positions in the Dublin area are advertised publicly. This supports the organist profession by giving younger musicians the opportunity to apply and by facilitating established organists, who may seek a change. However, Church Music Dublin has become concerned at what seems to be a trend for select vestries and clergy to rely on informal means to make a vacancy known, rather than advertising. Whenever a position falls vacant, we urge that it is advertised publicly. This procedure has become all the more important as a consequence of the recent implementation of new charities legislation. Rectors and members of select vestries are now deemed to be charity trustees, which implies a responsibility to follow best practice throughout the non-profit and voluntary sector as regards all aspects of governance.

Positions currently vacant Christ Church Cathedral group. The new position of Director of Music for the three churches, All

Saints, Grangegorman, St Michan’s, Church

Street, and St Werburgh’s, Werburgh Street will be advertised shortly and auditions will take place before the end of January. Castleknock Group. The Director of Music position is advertised on the back page of this issue.

ACCM Syllabus The organ-playing syllabus for the Archbishop’s Certificate in Church Music has remained substantially unchanged for over twenty years. For some time the Executive Committee has felt that the syllabus is unnecessarily orientated towards organ repertoire. A completely fresh syllabus will be implemented from September 2016, with emphasis on effective hymn-playing. Varied selections of hymns have been chosen for each year. Six must be prepared in Year 1, an additional ten in Year 2 and a further twelve in Year 3. A simple transposition test has been introduced in Years 2 and 3. The new syllabus will be on the website from early in 2016.

4 S O U N D B O A R D D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5

Let the children sing! Suzanne Chadwick discusses the challenges of working with children’s choirs

Sunday 11th October was our Harvest Family Gift Service at Taney, one of the most joyful services in the calendar for the Junior Choir. The children performed their own song, ‘Beautiful World’, helped the congregation to learn a new hymn and sang a special blessing at the baptismal font, as is our custom. They sang gloriously, the congregation was uplifted, and their parents were full of pride! My role as Director of the Junior Choir happened by accident, or by grand design depending on how you look at it. My background is as a classical singer, and my experience of church music eclectic, from cathedral services to contemporary evangelical worship. Arriving in Dublin eight years ago, I had some experience of directing choirs, but none working with children. My own child was then six years old and, although there were many young families in the parish, I was surprised to find that there was no singing for children. The Rector approached me along with another parent, and that’s how it all began. Taney Junior Choir currently has 22 members, all of whom are pupils at the parish primary school. Numbers vary from year to year, but the current group is strong and their parents are very supportive. The choir’s main duty is to sing at Family Service on the second Sunday of every month. Typically, the choir sings a song related to the theme of the service and also sings a blessing for the newly baptized babies, as there is usually a baptism during Family Service. Rehearsals and repertoire

Choir practice takes place on Wednesday afternoons, and it can be rather chaotic with excitable children straight out of school. Being organized is the key—have every minute planned, but be prepared to be flexible as necessary. Children often come up with surprising observations and inventive ideas, so it is not always necessary to subdue their interruptions! We start with warm-ups (exercises, chants, tongue-twisters and singing games that work on breathing, listening, rhythm and unison singing), and then we work on preparing usually two or three songs for upcoming services. The choir sings from memory and I am always amazed at how quickly children memorize words. We practise for only thirty minutes and finish with the sung blessing that we sing at baptism services. There is also a twenty-minute practice on Sunday mornings before any services at which the choir sings. Over the years I have built up quite a repertoire of child-friendly songs. The challenge is to find material that is appropriate for the theme of the service, fun for the children, and within their capabilities in terms of both lyrics and music. Sometimes I use arrangements of hymns, worship songs or simple anthems, but more often I use material from resources such as Out of the Ark Music, which contains fabulous songs for primary-school aged children. Occasionally the children come together to sing with the parish choir in order to bring the generations together. Other activities

The Junior Choir’s activities are not limited to singing at services in Taney, and we always have several opportunities to go further afield. One of the highlights each December is to take part in carol singing for the Black Santa Appeal at St Ann’s, Dawson Street. Last year we also sang carols for the blessing of the crib at Dundrum Town Centre, joining with the youth choir from neighbouring Holy Cross parish. We had the opportunity to learn about the process of recording last year, as two separate recording projects came our way. In the autumn we were invited to record an item for an RTÉ Radio documentary—it was quite a thrill to hear ourselves on the radio! Then in January we recorded some items from Thanks & Praise for Recorded Church Music, and we were subsequently invited to sing at the launch of the book in St Patrick’s Cathedral.

Above: Members of Kilternan and Taney junior choirs singing at the launch of Thanks & Praise in the Lady Chapel of St Patrick’s Cathedral on 11th September. (Photo: Lynn Glanville)

S O U N D B O A R D D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5 5

Young people and parish choirs Jacqueline Mullen suggests some ways to get teenagers involved in parish music

Some churches are fortunate to have junior choirs in association with the parish primary school. However, once students move to secondary level it can be difficult for them to commit alongside the demands of study and other activities. Some manage to continue their choral involvement in church, but for those who have never been involved there is a way to facilitate them, especially those students in Transition Year who may be looking for ways to get involved in the local community. Some Transition Year students may be able to use church choir as a way to satisfy requirements for community involvement, or may be encouraged to join for a short time as an extra-curricular project. Singing anthems and experiencing music in worship is invaluable to singers of all abilities. Some schools offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme, which includes a ‘Creativity, Action and Service’ module that obliges students to take on a community project. Joining our parish choir has been a useful project for one such student so far, as detailed below. Many schools encourage Transition Year students to take Gaisce awards (www.gaisce.ie). For Gaisce one must donate one’s time on a weekly basis to a particular cause for at least an hour, demonstrating regular commitment, progress and improvement. These stipulations match the commitment required to be a member of a church choir. Should you wish to facilitate a student to join your parish choir, you must be sure that existing members of your choir understand the role the student will take and will make him or her welcome, including them in the general ‘chat’ that occurs as people arrive and leave, for example. (If some members are fussy about sitting in a particular place, or having a special book or folder that nobody may touch, you may need to reconsider.) Hannah has joined our choir as part of the Silver Gaisce award scheme and had the following to say: ‘I was about to sign up for my Silver Gaisce and was looking for something interesting to do for an hour a week when I saw a note from our church Music Director on the information sheet, looking for help. This suited me perfectly as I very much enjoy singing and am happy to help putting the sheet music away after practice. The other choir members are so friendly and welcoming and I am especially looking forward to singing Christmas carols with them.’ Hannah comes for the practice and stays for the service that follows: her Mum gives her a lift and sings with us too—an added bonus! A contact within the local school is a useful starting point, and it is worthwhile encouraging interest from all students who enjoy singing, whether or not they already have a link with the parish. It is always sensible to contact parents rather than the students directly, as Transition Year/Fifth Year students are generally under 18 years of age. If the student’s parents are not familiar with the worship of the church, it might be wise to invite them to a rehearsal to see what happens there (perhaps they would like to join too, particularly if they are involved in providing lifts). Obviously all Safeguarding Trust guidelines should be followed. We need to ensure that our choirs/singing groups are accessible to newcomers of all ages. The simple task of putting a regular note in your parish newsletter may provoke some thought and add a member or two to your choir. It is especially worthwhile to do this in late August/early September stating that those involved in school community projects are welcome. Jacqueline Mullen is choir leader at St Patrick’s Church, Greystones. honsec@churchmusicdublin.org

Organisation

Any activity involving children requires some formality in organisation. Following the Safeguarding Trust guidelines, all children attending choir need to be registered. At the beginning of every school year all parents are given a summary of what sort of commitment is expected, and they must sign a permission form and a medical permission statement. A weekly register of attendance should be kept, as well as a note of any incidents which might occur during choir practice (though so far for us nothing has occurred). Ideally, there should be at least two adults in the room with a group of children of this age—I request that parents volunteer to sit in on a rota basis. I have found that the choir is best suited to children from Second Class onward, as by that stage they are able to read and have the maturity to sit through choir practice. Retaining the older members as they reach Sixth Class is often a challenge, as they can be involved in so many conflicting activities and will also be less likely to attend if their friends are no longer also in the choir. Throughout the year it is vital to keep in constant communication with parents. I send home notes, newsletters, and reminders on a regular basis, as well as sending out reminders or advance notices by text message. Of course there are times when running the choir can be frustrating and I feel my patience stretched to a thread! Some days the children can be more than usually lively and the half hour seems to be spent just dealing with crowd control. Then there are the Sunday mornings when only seven children appear, despite the full turnout on Wednesday afternoon, but these times are more than balanced out by the joyous occasions when the children sing with such enthusiasm and enjoyment. I trust that the opportunity to contribute to music in church as well as a sense of belonging to a special team will go some way towards helping our young people in their journey of faith and in their growth as members of our community. The greatest joy is when we see those young people, after starting out in the Junior Choir, moving on to become valued members of choirs in their secondary schools and beyond. We often speak about our children being the future of our church, but perhaps it is more accurate to see them as very much a part of the present, as important members of our worshipping community. Suzanne Chadwick is director of the junior choir at Taney Parish. chadmax@mac.com

6 S O U N D B O A R D D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5

Christmas to Candlemas David McConnell offers some ideas for choosing music for the

upcoming liturgical season

When does the season of Christmas end? While most people will answer ‘Epiphany’, the 12th day of Christmas, there are some who will suggest that the liturgical season of Christmas continues until Candlemas Day, 2nd February. For them, the decorations may have been taken down but the crib must stay, reminding us that the outcome and impact of the Incarnation continue to be reflected in the scripture readings and preaching. The Church’s year has two main cycles, Christmas and Easter. The Christmas cycle extends from Advent Sunday to Candlemas. Even before 25th December, musicians should be planning for the forty days that follow. Two psalms are particularly apt and deserve to be repeated. Psalm 85, with its reference to redemption and turning ‘the captivity of Jacob’, particularly suits the period immediately after Christmas Day. Older readers may recall the satisfaction experienced by ordinary parish choirs in skilfully changing chant at verse 8 (e.g. Irish Chant Book nos. 291 and 292). After Epiphany, the great ‘missionary’ Psalm 72 should take pride of place. Chant 598 (Stephen Elvey), with its strong melody and fine bass line, has always seemed to me to reflect the spirit of the words splendidly. On the Sunday(s) after Christmas Day, most of the hymns should continue to be from the Christmas/Incarnation section of Church Hymnal. ‘When all thy mercies, O my God’ is appropriate as the final hymn before the New Year. ‘Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us’ is an obvious choice for the gathering hymn on the first Sunday in January. The choice of hymns available for Epiphanytide is wide. In Thanks & Praise, ‘Christ be our Light’ (no. 89) is appropriate for both Advent and Epiphany; as is ‘Lift high your hearts in blessing’ (no. 84), its tune Zechariah composed by Theo Saunders, until recently organist at Armagh Cathedral. Sunday by Sunday (RSCM), the new edition of Sing to the Word (Darling), and the thematic guides at the end of our hymnals may be consulted. As always, some hymns should be selected with the appointed scripture readings in mind. The Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, also known as Candlemas, may be celebrated on the Sunday between 28th January and 3rd February. Candlemas is a liturgical pivot, as we turn our attention from celebrating the birth and life of Jesus to focusing on the events leading to his suffering, death and resurrection. In some parishes, at the end of the service there is a procession to the place of baptism, each person carrying a lighted candle. Prayers at the font refer first to our own baptism, and then to our Lord’s passion and death. Further significance is added to the celebration when the choir sings the gospel canticle Nunc dimittis during the procession, ideally to simple plainchant. A suggested order for Candlemas will be found in The Promise

of His Glory (Church House Publishing/Mowbray, 1991) and at www.oremus.org/liturgy/pohg. Care should be taken that the music at this service does not dominate the liturgy. In addition to the customary liturgical items, three hymns will be sufficient. ‘In his temple now behold him’ is an obvious choice and ‘Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us’ is appropriate after the concluding prayers. David McConnell will be pleased to email the order for

Candlemas used in Zion Church, Rathgar, on request. davidmcconnell@eircom.net

Gerard Brooks at Living Worship On Saturday 30th January in Sandford Parish Church, Ranelagh, at 10.30, as a module of Living Worship 2016, internationally renowned concert organist Gerard Brooks will lead a workshop on playing contemporary hymns and worship songs on the organ. As a separate event, on Saturday afternoon, Gerard will run a workshop on the basics of improvisation. Places at the afternoon session are limited, and advance booking is essential: contact honsec@churchmusicdublin.org. Gerard is organist at London’s Methodist Central Hall and is an acknowledged expert on French and Belgian organ music. He directs the London Organ Improvisation Course. www.gerardbrooks.co.uk

Above: Organist Gerard Brooks, who visits Dublin in January. (Photo: www.gerardbrooks.org.uk)

Music at Sandford and St Philip’s Sandford and St Philip’s parishes are currently recruiting choral scholars for a new initiative to begin in January. The scheme will provide music students of secondary-school age the opportunity to participate in liturgical choral singing at a high level. Please contact David O’Shea for more information or to organise an audition. doshea3@gmail.com Weekly Choral Compline continues at Sandford Church, every Friday at 6.30pm. The final service of 2015 will be on Friday 18th December, and Compline will resume on 15th January.

ICMA Summer School 2016 Next year’s Irish Church Music Association summer school will once again be presented jointly with Church Music Dublin and will take place from 6th to 9th July in Maynooth. The theme will be a celebration of God’s eternal mercy, and the summer school will be directed by three leading musicians from Ireland, the UK and the USA. Further details will follow early in 2016.

S O U N D B O A R D D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5 7

Choral singing for life Rachel Talbot reflects on the role of singing in worship

When I was in fifth class in primary school, my parish church set up a children’s choir to sing in conjunction with the parish choir. The children in the parish national school were invited to join. We had sung a lot in school but this was my first experience of an SATB choir. It was fascinating to become aware of the different roles of the choir members, and how singers identified themselves as their voice type. I was eager to experience singing a harmony part and to have more responsibility, so I asked to sing alto. I think there were only two altos, so there seemed to be a greater opportunity to make a contribution. The first anthem I sang as an alto was Elgar’s Ave Verum. I worked on it so enthusiastically that I remembered the alto line for years afterwards. I aspired to being able to hold a line on my own. I found it interesting to see how the rehearsal was structured and became aware that the adults were adapting the rehearsal to accommodate the children. I particularly enjoyed the director drawing attention to the meaning of the words. He asked us to explain the meaning of ‘He telleth the number of the stars’. I appreciated this opportunity to become more involved in the meaning of what we were singing. As an adult, after a short time as a church organist, I sang in Christ Church Cathedral choir and later in professional choirs in Roman Catholic parishes. This was musically rewarding and contributed to my vocal development but

sometimes the simple pleasure of expressing the words of hymns and psalms was left behind. In a professional situation, the duty to sing reliably, in a prescribed way, has to take precedence over the expression of personal devotion. In congregational singing, a trained voice risks being too conspicuous, and attempts to stifle the sound can make heartfelt expression impossible. I currently sing in St Ann’s, Dawson Street, which has a professional choir employed to lead the congregational singing. It offers a rare opportunity to combine the benefits of having studied vocal technique with personal expression. We have the opportunity to give without restraint to uplift and encourage the congregation.

Below: St Ann’s parish choir with director Charles Marshall. (Photo: Scott Hayes)

Music at St Stephen’s Siobhán Kilkelly, organist of St Stephen’s (’The Pepper Canister’), gives

some details of music and worship there

St Stephen’s Church, the well-known landmark near Merrion Square, Dublin 2, has a proud musical background. These days the church holds services only on the first Sunday of the month, though it has become a popular venue for concerts. Heritage Week in August and Culture Night have seen many people visit the church, often for the first time, and musical events have given new life to the place. There is a regular lunchtime concert series in the spring, presenting students from DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama, which last year featured performers on flute, clarinet, piano, harp, voice and more. Brass concerts, chamber choirs, charity events and fundraisers are frequently presented and prove to be a rewarding experience for performer and audience alike. A particular success in the church’s worship has been the establishment of BelCantar chamber choir as a permanent feature in St Stephen’s for the regular services. Directed jointly by Owen Killian and Cathal Twomey, the choir has been resident in St Stephen’s since 2013. They lead the congregational hymns, chant the psalm and usually sing an unaccompanied anthem or some plainsong after communion. In November the anthem was by Drop, drop slow tears by Gibbons, while the harvest anthem in October was Fear not, O land by Elgar, which was given a particularly rousing and effective performance by the choir, accompanied by resident organist Siobhán Kilkelly. Preparations are now underway for the service of Nine Lessons and Carols on 14th December, which has become a fixture in the Merrion Square calendar. Featuring BelCantar and Classicus Youth Chamber Choir, directed by Máire Ledwith Butler, the past two years have seen capacity crowds appreciate the music, readings, atmosphere and the timelessness of this beautiful church.

Above: St Stephen’s Church, Mount Street Crescent, Dublin 2. (Photo: www.peppercanister.ie)

8 S O U N D B O A R D D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5

Soundboard is published by Church Music Dublin, an agency of the united dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough, set up to support and resource music and musicians in local churches. ISSUE 34: DECEMBER 2015 Editor: David O’Shea Correspondence and material for future issues should be sent to soundboard@churchmusicdublin.org Views expressed in signed articles and letters are not necessarily those of the editors or the Executive Committee. Chair: Archdeacon Ricky Rountree Secretary: Jacqueline Mullen Email: info@churchmusicdublin.org Website: www.churchmusicdublin.org Please send any information for inclusion in the next issue (April 2015) before 15th March.

Vacancy The parishes of Castleknock and Mulhuddart with Clonsilla wish to appoint an enthusiastic and motivated Organist and Choir-Director. Sunday services take place in St Mary’s, Clonsilla at 10.00am and in St Brigid’s, Castleknock at 11.30am. St Mary’s has an Allen organ, and St Brigid’s has a two-manual and pedal Forster and Andrews pipe organ, both well maintained. The choir meets once a month for practice. Both modern and traditional music is used. An attractive salary in accordance with the rates published by Church Music Dublin will apply. Please contact the Rector, the Rev’d Canon Paul Houston at revpaulhouston@hotmail.com, giving details of relevant experience, qualifications and two referees. The closing date is Friday 18th December, and interviews and audition will take place in early January.

Erratum On Page 3 of September’s issue we incorrectly reported that Thomas Maxwell of Taney Parish had achieved an honours mark in the recent ACCM examinations, when in fact he had achieved distinction. We apologise for this inaccuracy and congratulate Thomas on his excellent result.

Learning from one another

Michael Commane OP reflects on ecumenical relations and participation in

worship

Máirt Hanley, Church of Ireland rector in Baltinglass, invited me to talk at the Harvest liturgy in his church in September. It was an honour, a privilege, but above all a lovely experience. It was great to see how people in a country church take part in the service. They all had their books open and were singing. A great sense of participation. People praying together. While living in Germany, I was always impressed with how German Catholics sing their hymns and pray out loud the prayers at Mass. Alas, it’s not exactly the same story in Ireland. While great strides have been made here to get people singing and participating, there’s still a lot to do. I’m not too often at non-Roman Catholic services in Ireland and shame on me, but from the few times I have, I’ve been impressed with how the congregation participates. Last summer I went on holiday to Berlin with a family from Kerry: Mum, Dad and three children. We went to Mass in St Hedwig’s Cathedral in Berlin and they were gobsmacked with the singing and prayerful response to the prayers. Apart from the poor singing, it has struck me on many occasions that even when responding to the prayers of the Mass, Irish Catholics are slow to pray out loud. Why can that be? Has it something to do with the tradition of the Tridentine Mass where the priest was ‘away up there’ and the congregation was, in a sense, simply ‘lookers on’? There was/is an expression in the Catholic tradition of people ‘attending Mass’. Are they merely onlookers? Spectators attend football matches but surely people at Mass are not spectators? But is it as simple as that? German, French and Italian Catholics sing to the rafters in their churches. Indeed, they always get a shock when they come to Mass in Ireland. I believe that people can be cajoled into fuller participation in the Mass, but it takes time, work, patience, intelligence, and cooperation too, but never by edict or by talking down to people. Are there traces of a patronising gene in the DNA of Irish Catholic priests? In the heady early days after the Second Vatican Council there was great emphasis on priests exchanging notes with one another. We in the Dominicans had far more open and interesting meetings about liturgy and preaching then than more recently. More is the pity that that enthusiasm and discussion is on the wane. Has there ever been a forum where Anglican and Roman Catholic clergy can meet for a mix of chat and theological debate? There is a whiff of tokenism about turning up once in a blue moon to talk in one another’s churches. We all could do much more to get to know one another better. It might even help us make our prayer more uplifting and more meaningful. How easily we develop the silliest of ideas about other people. Barriers collapse when we engage with them. Shouldn’t we, ministers of religion, be at the vanguard in breaking down barriers? There’s so much we can learn from each another. michael.commane@gmail.com

8 S O U N D B O A R D D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5

Musicians on the Move Caroline Richards leaves Castleknock and Clonsilla to become organist at Terenure College from January 2016. Nathan Barrett has become Director of Music at St Paul’s, Glenageary. Edward Cetto has been appointed Interim Director of Music at All Saints’, Raheny. Róisín Burbridge has been appointed organist of the Church of Our Lady, Mother of the Church, Castleknock. Matthew Breen has been appointed organist of St Patrick’s, Dalkey.