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English Cathedral Choirs in the Nineteenth Century
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 March 2011
Extract
An important feature of the ecclesiastical history of the Church of England since the Reformation has been the unique and precious tradition of a choir of men and boys singing daily choral services in the cathedrals of this country. There have been several studies of this tradition and the music written for cathedral services, but there has not yet been a full account of cathedral choirs in the last century. There have been useful brief surveys by Owen Chadwick and Bernarr Rainbow, but these have been only parts of larger works whose main emphasis is elsewhere. Plenty of material exists, however, and the contemporary conditions which led S. S. Wesley to write his polemical pamphlet A Few Words on Cathedral Music in 1849 demand detailed investigation.
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References
page 15 note 1 Among the more important are: Bumpus, J. S., A History of English Church Music, London 1908Google Scholar; Chappell, M. P., Music and Worship in the Anglican Church, London 1968Google Scholar; Dearnley, C. H., English Church Music, 1650–1750, London 1970Google Scholar; Fellowes, E. H., English Cathedral Music, London 1941 (revised ed. by Westrup, J. A., London 1969)Google Scholar; Huray, P. le, Music and Reformation in England, 1549–1660, London 1967Google Scholar; Long, K. R., The Music of the English Church, London 1972Google Scholar; Nicholson, S. H., Quires and Places Where They Sing, London 1932Google Scholar; Phillips, C. H., The Singing Church, London 1945 (revised ed. by Hutchings, Arthur, 1968)Google Scholar; and Stevens, D., Tudor Church Music, London 1961 (revised ed. 1966).Google Scholar More detailed books and articles on various aspects of the subject can be found in the bibliographies of these books.
page 15 note 2 Chadwick, W. O., The Victorian Church, London 1970, ii. 366–400.Google Scholar
page 15 note 3 Rainbow, Bernarr, The Choral Revival in the Anglican Church 1839–72, London 1970, 243–62.Google Scholar
page 15 note 4 A reprint of this pamphlet, with an introduction by W. F. Westbrook and notes by Spink, G. W., was published in London in 1965.Google Scholar
page 15 note 5 Parliamentary Papers (hereafter PP.) 1854, xxv, 3.
page 15 note 6 Ibid., 931.
page 16 note 1 Ibid.
page 16 note 2 Bishop of Salisbury, 1854–69; one of the leading cathedral reformers of the last century.
page 16 note 3 PP. (1854), xxv. 944.
page 16 note 4 PP. (1854), xxv. 936.
page 16 note 5 Ibid., 934–5.
page 16 note 6 Ibid., 937.
page 16 note 7 Ibid., 920–2.
page 16 note 8 B. Rainbow, The Choral Revival in the Anglican Church 1839–72, 209.
page 16 note 9 PP. (1854), xxv. 933.
page 16 note 10 Ibid., 27.
page 16 note 11 PP. (1854), xxv. 919; cf. W. O. Chadwick, op. cit., ii. 374.
page 17 note 1 Act Book of the Dean and Chapter (hereafter cited as ABDC) of Worcester Cathedral, 4 November 1816.
page 17 note 2 ABDC Worcester, 25 November 1816, 25 November 1820, 5 February 1821.
page 17 note 3 Worcester Cathedral Attendance Book 1836–42, entries for 4 September 1837, 29 November 1837, 2 December 1837, 3 December 1837, etc.
page 17 note 4 Moore, P. C., ‘Cathedral Worship in England from the Reformation to the Nineteenth Century’ (unpublished Oxford D.Phil. thesis, 1954), 184 n. 1Google Scholar (quoting Scholes, P., Oxford Companion to Music, 10th edition, ed. Ward, J. O., London 1970, 162–3).Google Scholar In Bannister, A. T., The Cathedral Church of Hereford, London 1924, 106Google Scholar it is said that since 1800 those of the Hereford vicars choral who also held livings were allowed to be absent from the cathedral on Sunday mornings to attend to their parochial duties. No direct evidence can be found to support this statement, but cf. ABDC Hereford 25 June 1792, 25 June 1795 (quoting ABDC Hereford 13 December 1680, 9 November 1739), 13 November 1800. The absence of the vicars choral from services was certainly causing concern to the chapter in the 1830s and dean Merewether fought a spirited battle with the vicars over this matter. Cf. ABDC Hereford 14 February 1832, 9 August 1834, 18 October 1834) 17 November 1834 and 1 December 1834; dean to succentor, 15 July 1834, dean to each of the vicars, 19 July 1834, 28 July 1834, succentor to dean, 29 July 1834, custos and vicars to dean, 6 August 1834, dean to succentor 6 August 1834, 16 October 1834.
page 17 note 5 Sinclair, W., Memorials of St. Paul's Cathedral, London 1909, 309Google Scholar. For details of choir attendance at services in St. Paul's in 1834, cf. P. C. Moore, op. cit., 317–20; for the situation in 1870, cf. Prestige, G. L., St. Paul's in its Glory, 1831–1911, London 1955. 148.Google Scholar
page 17 note 6 S. S. Wesley, op. cit., 9.
page 17 note 7 Robertson, D., Sarum Close, London 1938 (new ed. Bath 1969), 284.Google Scholar
page 17 note 8 For a description of the custom at Salisbury c. 1830, cf. Ibid., 278–9.
page 18 note 1 P. C. Moore, op. cit., 256, quoting ABDC Lichfield, 25 September 1842.
page 18 note 2 ABDC Worcester, 21 November 1834; cf. Ibid., 24 February 1837.
page 18 note 3 P. C. Moore, op. cit., 256 n. 1, quoting Chapter Minutes, 4 May 1847.
page 18 note 4 G. L. Prestige, op. cit., 96–8.
page 18 note 5 B. Rainbow, op. cit., 254.
page 18 note 6 Worcester Cathedral MS. (Music Library) A/1/6(5).
page 18 note 7 P. C. Moore, op. cit., 189 n. 1.
page 18 note 8 ABDC Worcester, 4 November 1816.
page 19 note 1 ABDC Worcester, 2 February 1861.
page 19 note 2 ABDC Worcester, 23 November 1865.
page 19 note 3 ABDC Worcester, 23 November 1865.
page 19 note 4 ABDC Worcester, 1 August 1889.
page 19 note 5 Rawnsley, H. D., Harvey Goodwin, London 1896, 111.Google Scholar
page 19 note 6 D. Robertson, op. cit., 279–80.
page 19 note 7 P. C. Moore, op. cit., 317–20.
page 20 note 1 Essays on Cathedrals by Various Writers, ed. Howson, J. S., London 1872, 228.Google Scholar
page 20 note 2 Worcester Cathedral Attendance Book, 1836–42, 27 September 1839.
page 20 note 3 ABDC Worcester, 2 February 1861.
page 20 note 4 Worcester Cathedral Add. MS. 137—the anthem being, of course, The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble by John Blow.
page 20 note 5 B. Rainbow, op. cit., 256, quoting The Parish Choir, i. 135.
page 20 note 6 W. H. Havergal to Maria Hackett, 23 September 1846, quoted in P. C. Moore, op. cit., 297–8.
page 20 note 7 The Guardian, 1852, 617 (henceforth cited thus: G 52/617).
page 20 note 8 PP. (1854), xxv. 925.
page 20 note 9 Ibid., 923.
page 20 note 10 PP. (1854–5), xv. 52.
page 20 note 11 Cf. P. C. Moore, op. cit., supplement (at Hereford it is bound with ‘A Collection of Anthems used at Hereford’ by W. Cooke, n.d.)
page 21 note 1 Op. cit., 329 ff. The following cathedrals are represented: York, Chester, Lichfield, Salisbury, St. Asaph, Bristol, Carlisle, Hereford, Ripon, Gloucester, Lincoln, Peterborough, Manchester, and St. Paul's—in addition to various other foundations.
page 21 note 2 Cf. Maria Hackett's notes quoted in P. C. Moore, op. cit., 317–20.
page 21 note 3 For the old method of copying these lists and the introduction of printed lists, cf. H. Woodward (Precentor) to J. Hooper (Chapter Clerk), 20 November 1896 (Worcester Cathedral MS., Precentor's Bundle, uncatalogued).
page 21 note 4 Worcester Cathedral MS., Bundle of Precentor's Reports, etc., uncatalogued.
page 21 note 5 Worcester Cathedral MS., Precentor's Report 1890, uncatalogued.
page 21 note 6 S. S. Wesley to H. E. Ford, 19 September 1858, quoted in P. C. Moore, op. cit., 357 ff.
page 22 note 1 G. L. Prestige, op. cit., 153.
page 22 note 2 H. Woodward to J. Hooper, 20 November 1896: Worcester Cathedral MS., bundle of Precentor's Reports, uncatalogued. For W. K. Hamilton's principles in choosing music at Salisbury, cf. B. Rainbow, op. cit., 261.
page 22 note 3 ABDC Worcester, 19 November 1869; cf. Ibid., 21 January 1870.
page 22 note 4 G. L. Prestige, op. cit., 106; ABDC Worcester, 19 June 1882.
page 22 note 5 Worcester Cathedral MS., Precentor's Report, 1882, uncatalogued—cf. also 1883 report.
page 22 note 6 G 84/1960.
page 23 note 1 PP. (1854), xxv. 921–2.
page 23 note 2 P. C. Moore, op. cit., 237.
page 23 note 3 B. Rainbow, op. cit., 245, F. G. Kitton, Zechariah Buck, London 1899, 23–4.
page 23 note 4 G. L. Prestige, op. cit., 23.
page 23 note 5 ABDC Worcester, 24 November 1842.
page 23 note 6 Exeter Cathedral MS., Bundle 7062, quoted in P. C. Moore, op. cit., 353–4.
page 23 note 7 See below, p. 26.
page 23 note 8 G 60/899.
page 23 note 9 P. C. Moore, op. cit., 237.
page 23 note 10 F. G. Kitton, op. cit., 9, quoted in P. C. Moore, op. cit., 295.
page 23 note 11 T. L. Wheeler to Dean and Chapter, 17 November 1869 (Worcester Cathedral MS., Bundle of Precentor's Reports, uncatalogued).
page 23 note 12 Worcester Cathedral Add. MS. 137.
page 23 note 13 P. C. Moore, op. cit., 306 n. 2.
page 23 note 14 B. Rainbow, op. cit., 289; G. L. Prestige, op. cit., 153.
page 24 note 1 Worcester Cathedral MS., Precentor's Report 1882, uncatalogued.
page 24 note 2 Ibid., Precentor's Reports, 1891 and 1892.
page 24 note 3 Worcester Cathedral Add. MS. 137; cf. Printed rules of office for the Precenter (c. 1877), No. 4. (Worcester Cathedral MS., Bundle of Precentor's Reports, uncatalogued).
page 24 note 4 G 84/508.
page 25 note 1 G. L. Prestige, op. cit., 20.
page 25 note 2 John Jebb, The Choral Service of the Church, 246, 439, quoted in B. Rainbow, op. cit., 255.
page 26 note 1 G 48/547. The whole of this letter is interesting, if vituperative.
page 26 note 2 G 48/602.
page 26 note 3 Cf. B. Rainbow, op. cit, 257.
page 26 note 4 G 49/552
page 26 note 5 G 49/668.
page 26 note 6 Act Book of the Vicars Choral, Hereford, 4 December 1853, quoted in P. C. Moore, op. cit., 199–200.
page 26 note 7 Ibid., 202.
page 27 note 1 G 59/872.
page 27 note 2 G 60/924; cf. G 60/8.
page 27 note 3 G 69/1168.
page 27 note 4 W. O. Chadwick, op. cit., ii. 370.
page 27 note 5 G 76/145.
page 27 note 6 Worcester Cathedral MS., Precentor's Report, 1883, uncatalogued.
page 27 note 7 Ibid., Precentor's Report 1889.
page 27 note 8 Cf. J. E. Jebb, Three Lectures on the Cathedral Service of the Church (n.d.), 18; P. C. Moore, op. cit., 168; PP. (1854), XXV. 938.
page 27 note 9 B. Rainbow, op. cit., 244–5, quoting J. Bumpus, op. cit., ii. 356.
page 27 note 10 PP. (1883), xxi. 269.
page 28 note 1 Cf. ‘Rules for the Junior Vicars and Supernumerary Singing Men’ at Lincoln, PP. (1884–5), XXI. 417.Google Scholar
page 28 note 2 PP. (1854), xxv. 923.
page 28 note 3 Worcester Cathedral MS., Treasurer's Accounts, 1800.
page 28 note 4 Cathedral, Worcester MS., Bundle marked ‘Corn-Rents—Lay Clerks’, uncatalogued. The lay vicars at Chichester had similar difficulties: cf. PP. (1884–5), xxi. 378.Google Scholar
page 28 note 5 PP. (1854), xxv. 41.
page 28 note 6 H. Goodwin, ‘Recollections of a Dean’ in J. B. Howson, op. cit., 16. Cf. Liddon's, H. P. lecture to the choir at St. Paul's on 25 August 1873Google Scholar, ‘I went at length into the intentions of the Chapter in insisting on having communicants; we wanted religious men first, then if we could get them, accomplished musicians’: Johnston, J. O., Life and Letters of H. P. Liddon, London 1904, 141.Google Scholar
page 29 note 1 Cf. J. B. Howson, op. cit., 222.
page 29 note 2 PP. (1854), xxv. 922; cf. Dean Close's comment in PP. (1884), xxii. 132.
page 29 note 3 PP. (1854), xxv. 939.
page 29 note 4 PP. (1883), xxi. 270.
page 29 note 5 Worcester Cathedral MS.—Precentor's Reports for 1880, 1883, 1885, 1887 and 1889.
page 29 note 6 PP. (1884), xxi. 276.
page 29 note 7 Worcester Cathedral MS., Precentor's Report 1896, uncatalogued.
page 30 note 1 ABDC Worcester, 19 November 1896.
page 30 note 2 P. C. Moore, op. cit., 234.
page 30 note 3 Worcester Cathedral MS., Precentor's Report 1898, uncatalogued.
page 30 note 4 F. G. Kitton, op. cit., 6, 17, 64–5, quoted in P. C. Moore, op. cit., 295 n. 1.
page 30 note 5 ABDC Worcester, 23 December 1875.
page 30 note 6 J. D. Price to Dean and Chapter, 14 February 1876: Worcester Cathedral MS., Choir Bundle, uncatalogued.
page 30 note 7 PP. (1854), xxv. 944.
page 30 note 8 PP. (1884–5), xxi. 416.
page 30 note 9 Worcester Cathedral MS., Precentor T. L. Wheeler to Dean, 4 February 1876 (Bundle of Memorials from Minor Canons), uncatalogued.
page 30 note 10 Worcester Cathedral MS., Precentor's Report 1899.
page 31 note 1 P. C. Moore, op. cit., 278.
page 31 note 2 Ibid., 276.
page 31 note 3 G. L. Prestige, op. cit., 4–5, quoting J. Bumpus, The Organists and Composers of St. Paul's Cathedral, 137 f.; cf. also G. L. Prestige, op. cit., 23–4, 47–8.
page 31 note 4 Maria Hackett in a letter of 4 April 1814, quoted in P. C. Moore, op. cit., 284.
page 31 note 5 Ibid., 286.
page 31 note 6 D. Robertson, op. cit., 260.
page 31 note 7 ABDC Worcester, 6 January 1812.
page 31 note 8 ABDC Winchester, 2 February 1815, quoted in P. C. Moore, op. cit., 246. Cf. Goodman, A. W. and Hutton, W. H., The Statutes governing the Cathedral Church of Winchester, Oxford 1925, 54–5 n. 1.Google Scholar
page 31 note 9 ABDC Worcester, 6 August 1829, 23 September 1842, 25 November 1847.
page 32 note 1 Ibid., 21 November 1834; cf. Craze, M. R., King's School, Worcester 1541–1971, Worcester 1972, 223–4, 246–7.Google Scholar
page 32 note 2 See above, p. 24–5.
page 32 note 3 G. L. Prestige, op. cit., 23–4.
page 32 note 4 ABDC Lincoln, 15 September 1807, quoted in P. C. Moore, op. cit., 265.
page 32 note 5 ABDC Norwich, 1 December 1818, quoted in P. C. Moore, op. cit., 265.
page 32 note 6 D. Robertson, op. cit., 280–1 for Salisbury. Moore, P. C. (op. cit., 229) includes a reference from Notes and Queries, 2nd series, xii (1861)Google Scholar, for this custom at Hereford.
page 32 note 7 D. Robertson, op. cit., 269–70.
page 32 note 8 ABDC 10 October 1866, quoted in P. C. Moore, op. cit., 253–4. Similar forms were used at Norwich (ABDC 2 June 1868, quoted in P. C. Moore, op. cit., 253–4) and St. Paul's (G. L. Prestige, op. cit., 157).
page 33 note 1 For the full story, cf. Arnold, R., The Whiston Matter, London 1961.Google Scholar
page 33 note 2 P. C. Moore, op. cit., 352.
page 33 note 3 PP. (1854), xxv. 927.
page 33 note 4 PP. (1854), xxv. 42.
page 33 note 5 D. Robertson, op. cit., 52.
page 33 note 6 B. Rainbow, op. cit., 245; F. G. Kitton, op. cit., 76.
page 33 note 7 Worcester Cathedral Add. MSS. 128 and 137.
page 34 note 1 ABDC Worcester, 3 August 1876.
page 34 note 2 ABDC Worcester, 28 February 1880.
page 34 note 3 ABDC Worcester, 27 June 1895.
page 34 note 4 ABDC Worcester, 19 November 1897; cf. also Worcester Cathedral Add. MS. 137 and Precentor's Report, 1897, uncatalogued.
page 34 note 5 G. L. Prestige, op. cit., 154.
page 34 note 6 William Done to Dean and Chapter, 17 November 1869 (Worcester Cathedral MS., Bundle of Precentor's Reports, uncatalogued). For further complaints about the education of choristers, cf. Precentor's Report 1878 and ABDC Worcester, 10 July 1878.
page 34 note 7 ABDC Worcester, 6 February 1875.
page 34 note 8 ABDC Worcester, 26 April 1876.
page 35 note 1 Report of Parratt to Dean and Chapter, 23 July 1877 (Worcester Cathedral MS., Bundle of Precentor's Reports, uncatalogued). For some general details of the choristers at another Cathedral (Norwich) at this time, cf. PP. (1884), xxii. 95.
page 35 note 2 ABDC Worcester, 31 March 1877.
page 35 note 3 Precentor's Report, 1878; cf. also ABDC Worcester, 19 January 1878, 10 July 1878.
page 35 note 4 Worcester Cathedral MS., Precentor's Report, 1879, uncatalogued; ABDC Worcester 3 December 1879.
page 35 note 5 ABDC Worcester, 26 January 1879, 21 November 1881.
page 35 note 6 ABDC Worcester, 20 March 1882.
page 35 note 7 The new Choir School at St. Paul's had opened in 1875; cf. G. L. Prestige, op. cit., 157. W. J. Butler was vicar of Wantage, 1846–80; canon of Worcester, 1880–5; dean of Lincoln, 1885–94.
page 35 note 8 Creighton was canon of Worcester, 1885–91; bishop of Peterborough 1891–7; bishop of London, 1897–1901. Cf. M. R. Craze, op. cit., 223–4; ABDC Worcester, 22 November 1881, 7 August 1882, 19 June 1882; Creighton, L., Life and Letters of Mandell Creighton, London 1904, i. 311Google Scholar; Worcester Cathedral MS., Precentor's Report 1893, uncatalogued.
page 35 note 9 ABDC Worcester, 22 January 1884.
page 35 note 10 L. Creighton, op. cit., i. 397; cf. Alford, F., Life and Letters of Henry Alford, London, 1873, 284, 472Google Scholar, for a similar custom at Canterbury.
page 36 note 1 Worcester Cathedral MS., Precentor's Report 1893, uncatalogued; M. R. Craze, op. cit., 246–7.
page 36 note 2 ‘Noted English Choirs’, The Churchman, lxxvii (1898)Google Scholar, no. 2765, 15 January 1898.
page 36 note 3 I. Atkins to Dean and Chapter, 22 November 1900: Worcester Cathedral MS., Bundle marked ‘Duties of Organist, etc.’, uncatalogued.
page 36 note 4 G 98/564.
page 36 note 5 G 98/1143.
page 36 note 6 G 98/1142–3.
page 36 note 7 G 58/564.
page 36 note 8 G. L. Prestige, op. cit., 156.
page 37 note 1 ABDC Worcester, 12 January 1888, 27 February 1888, 17 November 1888.
page 37 note 2 H. Woodward to Canon Melville, 8 January 1888: Worcester Cathedral MS., Precentor's Bundle, uncatalogued.
page 37 note 3 Worcester Cathedral MS., Precentor's Report 1890, uncatalogued.