Mozart Requiem

If you have seen the film 'Amadeus' then you will be familiar with the myths surrounding the composition and completion of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem (1971.)

Yesterday saw the first in what is hoped will be a series of collaborations between the Leeds University Symphony Orchestra and the Choirs of Leeds Cathedral. A packed Cathedral yesterday witnessed a passionate performance of the Mozart Requiem conducted by Diocese of Leeds Choral Director, Christopher Johns.

The soloists were all drawn from the Cathedral choir itself: Laura Lamph (Soprano) Eleanor Corcoran (Alto) Peter Davoren (Tenor) and Dominic Rose (Bass.) The Cathedral Adult choir was joined by the Cathedral Boys' Choir for this performance.

Pictures were taken during the final rehearsal (hence the relaxed dress sense!) as not to disturb the actual performance!

BYC Gala Concert 2007

A packed house at St. Bedes Grammar school last night enjoyed the singing over 150 children from Bradford Catholic Secondary and Primary schools. Despite the warm climate in the Great Hall, the children managed to keep their cool (pardon the pun!) and give outstanding performances all around!

Here are a few pictures of the concert: more will be posted over the next few days when I got my breath back!

Holy Family, Keighley

Chris Johns and St Walburgas Primary School Choir

Soloist Djesi Kabeya with St. Cuthert and the First Martyrs Primary School Choir

The St. Bedes MVC on their Debut performance!

St. Anthony's Primary School, Shipley

St. Josephs Catholic College Choir

Yorkshire Martyrs Catholic College Choir,

YORKSHIRE SCHOOLS CHOIR OF THE YEAR 2006-2007

St. George

St. Georges Day, Patron Saint of England was this year marked by a very special Mass in Leeds Cathedral. The principal celebrant was HE, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster and president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England & Wales.

The Cardinal was joined by all the Bishops' of England and Wales who are currently in Leeds for plenary session of the Bishops' Conference. The Mass was offered for the intentions of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, who recently celebrated his 80th Birthday.

The universality of the Roman Catholic church was acknowledged in the introit sung by the choir: Duruflé's setting of 'Tu es Petrus' - You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. Following this, the choir, servers, concelebrating priests and bishops all processed into the Cathedral singing a 8 verses of the great Hymn 'For all the Saints.' The Mass was sung to Victoria's 'Missa O Quam Gloriosam,' with motets by Viadana and Colin Mawby. The service concluded with the rousing singing of the acclamations 'Christus Vincit!'

For a slideshow of pictures from the Mass, click here.

Celebrate Leeds 2007 Awards Dinner

The Bradford Girls' Choir returned to Leeds Town Hall last night to perform at the Celebrate Leeds 2007 Awards Dinner.

Over the last month, the girls have been working hard on learning sign language! At the request of the organisers, the choir sang 'What a wonderful world' in both song and sign language, led by

Terry Harton, Janet Scarfe and children from the Leeds Society for Deaf and Blind People.

The choirs performance was very well received, with the attendees praising the beautiful sound made by the choir.

3 Choirs concert

In May the Bradford Girls' Choir will join the Yorkshire Youth Choir and Oldham Youth Choir on the Stage of Huddersfield Town Hall for a concert in aid of the West Yorkshire Forget me not Trust.

Get your tickets now for what promises to be a very exciting evening of choral music sung by some of the North of England's finest young singers.

Cathedral Organs I: Phoenix

At the present time the temporary organ in Leeds Cathedral is an electronic model by Phoenix organs. The Cathedral pipe organ is presently in storage in Germany, and it is hoped that it will be renovated and restored in the near future.

The Phoenix organ was designed and built in 2005.

A full stop list and details on the layout on the organ can be found here

To hear the organ played by yours truly, click here (you can even listen to tracks from the Cathedral Choir's 2005 CD Lauda Sion)

As far as electronic organs go, this has to be one of the most realistic I have ever played.

Triduum III: Easter Vigil

For those choir members who had made sacrifices over Lent (chocolate and alcohol being among the top things being given up!) the end of Lent couldn't come quick enough. Well, it didn't exactly come as quickly as they might have hoped as the Easter Vigil lasted 2 1/2 hours! There is a lot to pack in: the lighting of the the fire, the singing of the Exsultet, the readings and psalms, the initiation rites - and that's all before we reach the preparation of the Gifts!

This liturgy also saw the debut of our new chamber organ, purchased for used in weekday services of Mass and Vespers which are sung each day during term time. The chamber organ was used both as a continuo instrument (Gabrieli's Jubilate Deo) and in alternum with the main organ (In Corea d'Axauro's Lauda Sion Salvatorem.) More on the organs in a future post.

Concluding the service a rather tired organist managed to find the energy to play Jehan Alain's Litanies: a work particularly well suited to the Easter Vigil.

Triduum II: Good Friday

Red is the colour of the Day. The service is broken into three parts - the Liturgy of the word (with the reading of the passion - we hope that next year this will be sung) the Veneration of the Cross and Holy Communion.

Musically, the service is a feast of unaccompanied singing. This year the reproaches where sung to a haunting setting in Greek by Hungarian composer Lajos Bárdos - a real find. The music of John Shepherd was featured (Salvator mundi, In manus tuus) alongside William Byrd's magnificent 'Infelix ego.'

Triduum I: Holy Thursday

After the packed celebration of the Chrism Mass on Wednesday evening, it all seems much more still and solemn on Thursday evening for the first of the liturgies of the Triduum. The Triduum ('three days') consists of the liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil. They are seen as one 'event' spread over the three days.

Many of the greatest musical treasures from the churches heritage were written for use in the liturgical services and offices of Holy Week. This is the first year we have celebrated the passion and Resurrection of Christ back in our newly restored and renovated Cathedral so it was a particularly memorable occasion.

The Mass on Holy Thursday is traditionally called the 'Mass of the Lord's Supper' - the night on which we particularly recall the Last Supper. The Mass also included the 'washing of feet- where the Bishop washed the feet of twelve members of the congregation as Jesus himself did.

The celebration began with the Latin introit 'Nos autem' (Let us glory in the cross) which set the scene for the the coming days. The setting of the ordinary was Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli (complete with bell ringing...) and motets included 'If ye Love me' and 'O Sacrum Convivium' by Tallis. The service drew to a close with the traditional procession of the Blessed Sacrament, during which the choir led the singing of Pange Lingua, before concluding the hymn with Victoria's setting of the Tantum Ergo.

Chrism Mass

Each year on the Wednesday of Holy Week the Bishop and priests of our Diocese come together for the celebration of the Chrism Mass. This Mass has two special purposes - firstly, to bless the holy oils used in the churches ministry throughout the year. Secondly, for the priests to renew their commitment to the church.

The Chrism Mass is held in the Cathedral, and this year the music was led by the Cathedral Boys' and Adult choirs. During the procession of priests at the beginning of the Mass, the choir sang the words of the psalmist 'I was glad, when they said unto me, let us go up to the house of the Lord!' However, this was not in the well known setting by Parry (sung at the coronation of British Monarchs) but to the original Latin text 'Laetatus Sum' set to music by Juan García de Salazar. You can read more about this piece, and even hear clips on the Amazon website.

Other music for the Mass included Colin Mawby's popular 'Ave Verum,' a movement of the Vivaldi Gloria and parts of the Mass of St. Anne by James McMillan. A notable feature of large diocesan celebrations in the Leeds Diocese is the communal singing of the Eucharistic Prayer by the Bishop and Priests accompanied by the organ: a very powerful sound indeed!

Holy Week music in Selby

If you can't make it to the Cathedral in Holy Week, then we'll come to you!

Well that's what happened this week for parishioners at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Selby. The Cathedral Adult choir presented a program of music for this most sacred of weeks, all of which will be heard in the liturgies of Holy Week in Cathedral this coming week.

The concert opened with the choir singing the Holy Thursday Hymn 'Pange Lingua' followed by Victoria's setting of the conclusion 'Tantum ergo.' The repertoire featured polyphonic repertoire from both England (Tallis, Shepperd, Taverner) and the Continent (Auraxo, Pallestrina) alongside more contemporary works including Avro Pärt's Beatitudes and the moving setting of the Good Friday Reproaches by Bardos.

The choirs singing was complemented by passiontide chorale preludes by Bach and Buxtehude played on the organ by Assistant Director of Music, Christopher McElroy.

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the busiest seven days each year in a Catholic liturgical musicians calendar: Holy Week!

In Leeds, the choirs of the Cathedral and Parish Church traditionally begin the Palm Sunday Liturgy together in an ecumenical celebration in the presence of the Lord Mayor. This takes place in Millennium Square, a short procession away from the Cathedral.

The service opened with the joint Cathedral and Parish Church Choirs singing the opening antiphon 'Hossana Filio David' to a setting by Victoria. After the reading of the first Gospel and the sprinkling of Palms by the Bishop, the choirs and congregations processed singing the 9th Century hymn of St Theodulph of Orleans: 'All Glory, laud and honour.'

The Cathedral choir of Girls and Men then continued the Palm Sunday Mass in the Cathedral with music by Kenneth Leighton (Solus ad Victimam) and John Ireland's 'Greater Love.'