See the anthems/hymns sections above for books of music - these are books about church music.
Church choirs
The Church Gallery Minstrels of Old Sussex by the Reverend K. H. MacDermott (2006)
Considering how many people are involved in making church music, most of them enthusiasts, it's sad that there really aren't that many books out there aimed at this audience. This is an exception, a fascinating reprint of a 1922 book, looking back at music making in Sussex churches between the 1600s and the end of nineteenth century. Although the text is over 80 years old, it hasn't got the stodginess of much writing of the period, and it gives a living link back to the living memory of those who sang and played in Victorian churches, as the author was able to interview the last of the old musicians. It is very specific to the county of Sussex, but that really doesn't make much difference - the experience would not be dissimilar across the UK.
Part of what makes the book so fascinating is the parallels with the present day. Village choirs with members who have sung there for 70+ years. Choirs where the top part is mostly girls. The difficulty of getting people to play, and the shift from organs to bands. And yet at the same time it's a very different world. Strange instruments, a central focus on the psalms with hymns very much a sideline (metrical psalms, though, not chanted), tunes in the tenor line (there's still the odd optional tune like this in Ancient & Modern), dress of smocks for the men and cloaks for the ladies - it all makes an engaging read. Sometimes entertaining too, as when we hear of the habit of putting decoration into psalm tunes, resulting in the necessity to repeat syllables, coming up with such wonders as:
"Oh take thy mourning pil./ Oh take thy mourning pil./ Oh take thy mourning pil./ Oh take thy mourning pilgrim home!" or "Ci. Cities and Holds, Ci. Ci. Cities and Holds..."
After the main text there is a more recently added section giving detail of the collection of church instruments and books left by the author to a local museum, plus a fun bonus in a CD of 13 Victorian Sussex carols, which though not directly linked to the text gives some idea of the sort of music in use back then.
Two small points that could be better, one from the original text, the other from the reprint. The author tells us of the old manuscript music books and the occasional (expensive) printed book used by the village choirs. Some contained anthems, and we also hear how many of the singers knew the (few) anthems they used and the psalms off by heart, as they couldn't read. But we don't hear anything about which anthems were sung - the text concentrates on psalms and hymns, which to a modern church music eye is a shame. I would have been really interested to know more about the anthems they sang.
The reprint problem is that the text appears to have been scanned and optically read by computer, without having a strict enough proof read afterwards, so there are an unusually high number of typographical errors, some odd ones that humans are unlikely to make, like "bis" for "his" and "fche" for "the". Some pages are okay, but some have several errors on one page, which is a touch irritating, and a shame because otherwise it's a nicely put together little book.
Overall a delightful peek
into the past of church music.
Copies are also available at £14.50, free postage, from the publisher, Country Books, Courtyard Cottage, Little Longstone, Bakewell, Derbyshire DE45 1NN info@country-books.co.uk
Church choir humour by Reginald Frary
We have recently come across a range of anecdotes about UK church choirs by Reginald Frary. If you enjoy one, you'll enjoy them all - there's really not a lot of point distinguishing between the titles.
The choirs Frary visits (whether factually or in imagination is left to the reader) are mostly very old fashioned. They delight in heavy duty Victorian music, haven't the subtly for Tudor music and don't get the point of modern church music. They all seem to sing matins and have plenty of boys in the choir (both have pretty well disappeared from much of the real world), and most strangely, despite the fact that several are apparently award winning all seem to sing from Ancient & Modern rather than English Hymnal (despite the fact that almost every cathedral and many top notch parish choirs use the latter). A cynic might point out that Frary is published by the people who publish Ancient & Modern - could this be a gentle version of product placement?
However, the stories are gently pleasing and will raise a smile or a laugh from anyone who has sung with a church choir, especially a village choir - particularly the way the choir seems to operate as a separate fiefdom from the rest of the congregation, and the constant battles between young would-be modernising vicars (often women in the more recent books), anxious to get in guitars and win over the young folk, and the usually very traditional choir and choir director.
A must for any choir enthusiast.
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Hearts to Heaven and Tempers Raise (2005)
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It'll be all wrong on the night (2002)
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We sang it our way (2001)
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What a Performance (2004)
Church music
A Brief History of
Christian Music by Andrew Wilson-Dickson (1992)
Not all that brief at over 470 pages, but a very useful background to where church music came from. The thematic arrangement of periods doesn't always match where you would expect to find some composers, and it is more about the development of church music itself than the composers, but even so provides the sort of background that anyone who leads a church choir or is interested in the origins of the music that they sing should take in.
You can also get
Wilson-Dickson's less technical illustrated version The Story of
Christian Music (2003).
Looking for a particular type of music or a CD with a particular piece on? Drop us an e-mail and we'll try to help. Do let us know also if you can recommend on online resource and we'll add it to our lists.
Copyright © Creativity
Unleashed Limited 2006
Last update 18 November 2006
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