Westminster Cathedral Master of Music resigns

The Archdiocese of Westminster announced that Martin Baker had resigned, effective 31 December 2019. Further details can be found at https://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2020/01/07/westminster-cathedrals-master-of-music-resigns/

The choir is the premier Roman Catholic choir in the country, with a boarding school from which boy choristers are drawn. Recently the school announced it was changing from a 7-days-a-week boarding policy to 5 days a week. This caused a furore (as reported at https://praytellblog.com/index.php/2019/05/20/disharmony-at-westminster-cathedral-choir-school/ ), effectively limiting choristers to those living in the London area. The full choir no longer sings on Fridays and Saturdays.

Three of the best trebles left and are now at Christchurch, Oxford, and elsewhere, and other singers are said to have left in addition. It also appears that Baker was not consulted ahead of the decision to change the boarding policy.

The grapevine says that Baker had not been seen at the Cathedral since mid-October, missing liturgies including a joint Evensong with Westminster Abbey, although his resignation on 31 December was only announced today, 7 January. The loss of this gifted musician, well known as an organist and brilliant improviser as well as a choral director, will be keenly felt.

Others have said that a boarding school is an anachronism in today’s day and age, and some have crticised Baker for maintaining a full choral Eucharist that excludes the assembly from the Sanctus, etc, despite the statement in the 1967 Vatican document Musicam Sacram, para 16c, that ” the usage of entrusting to the choir alone the entire singing of the whole Proper and of the whole Ordinary, to the complete exclusion of the people’s participation in the singing, is to be deprecated. “

Posted

January 7, 2020

1_NEWS

Paul Inwood

Tags:

Music, Musicam sacram

Comments

18 responses to “Westminster Cathedral Master of Music resigns”

Alexander Worthington

January 7, 2020

Dear Mr Inwood,

Many thanks for this update.

If I may add to your comment about the Sanctus, as a parishioner of Westminster Cathedral, I am not aware that the Cathedral Choir often sang a Sanctus that excluded participation of the assembly. Certainly, on most Sundays at the 10.30 am Masses sung by the Full Choir, the Sanctus is a chant Sanctus (Mass I, VIII, IX, XI, XVII or XVIII depending on season / feast) with notation provided in the people’s music sheet and an appropriate organ accompaniment.

It is otherwise true that occasionally a polyphonic Sanctus is sung, and sometimes it is just the choir singing the chant Sanctus during the week.

Other element of the Ordinary and Propers are obviously (and uniquely) focused on polyphony and chant. As you must be aware, there are many other services at Westminster Cathedral with more provision for singing by the assembly.

Hope that helps the discussion.

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1. Paul Inwood
  
  January 7, 2020
  
  Thank you, Alexander.
  
  I should perhaps clarify that I am simply reporting what others are saying in various online forums. And yes, I am aware that the assembly sings at a number of Westminster Cathedral liturgies.
  
  I hope you will continue to contribute to this thread as others join in.
  
  Reply
2. Maria Barry
  
  January 10, 2020
  
  Involve a congregation in Britain and worse in Ireland, and the level of the music goes plummeting down! But there are other Masses in the Cathedral and most churches whereby the congregation can sing along as much as they like. Perhaps more hymns is a possibility in that Mass. Singing along to Latin plainchant at the Cathedral for the sake of a Sanctus badly sung, and complying with VCII rules is hardly the answer, and neither being ‘entertained’ and passive is the answer either. I am all for Vatican Council in any double figure but not singing an inferior Sanctus!
  
  Reply
Doug O’Neill

January 8, 2020

St. Thomas, NYC considers their mission as a choir boarding school to be crucial in today’s society, hardly a relic of history. While we may associate boarding schools in America with the elite, St. Thomas is not like that, because financial aid is such that any willing and capable boy is able to attend. There are benefits to living in a community with teachers, tutors, clergy, etc. as well that a day school cannot match.

Regarding the Sanctus, it’s a sticky wicket, but I am of the mind that polyphonic choral Ordinaries (including the Sanctus, which is the most contentious of them) ought to be preserved in select institutions capable of doing them well, and Westminster Cathedral is one of them. Anyhow, that instruction cited simply says that the choir should not do the entire Ordinary AND the entire Propers. Give the congregation one thing to do, and you are compliant. For more, see this: https://media.musicasacra.com/pdf/choralsanctus.pdf

Reply
1. Paul Inwood
  
  January 9, 2020
  
  Doug,
  
  We’ve had this discussion before. The canonical opinion you link to is 20 years old now. In the meantime, GIRM 79b seems pretty clear:
  
  This acclamation, which constitutes part of the Eucharistic Prayer itself, is pronounced by all the people with the Priest.
  
  Reply
  1. Anthony Hawkins
    
    January 9, 2020
    
    And checking the Westminster Cathedral music lists for December, the Sanctus was Gregorian every day, and the Credo when sung.
  2. Doug O’Neill
    
    January 9, 2020
    
    I forgot about that one – thanks; the Madeleine in Salt Lake used to do choral settings of the Sanctus but moved away from it for that reason. It appears as if that has been Westminster’s custom as well.
  3. Paul Inwood
    
    January 12, 2020
    
    Since we are talking about Gregorian chant settings of the Sanctus (not the original purpose of this thread at all), it might be worth pointing out that simply putting on one of these will not necessarily guarantee participation by the assembly. Alex Worthington lists Mass I, VIII, IX, XI, XVII or XVIII as being the staple repertoire at Westminster, but not all of these are assembly-friendly. Many assemblies know XVIII and remember VIII, but I, IX, XI and XVII are asking a lot. V and X would be more manageable for the average congregation.
2. Sean Connolly
  
  January 12, 2020
  
  Respectfully, Mr Inwood, if you had asked me for a list of staple congregation-friendly Gregorian Ordinaries, it would have been i, viii, ix, xi, xvii, xviii.
  
  I have worked and worshipped in multiple assemblies that sang all of these. Maybe a function of what the school sisters of yore taught on this side of the Pond?
  
  Reply
  1. Martin Barry
    
    January 29, 2020
    
    When I was musical director at Salford Cathedral we – choir and congregation together – regularly sang XI, XVII and XVIII, all of which were effective vehicles for participation.
Alexander Worthington

January 9, 2020

The Telegraph and Slipped Disc have more on this developing story, which is a little more serious than the Sanctus issue at the present time I hope we can all agree (important though that assuredly is)!

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/01/09/westminster-cathedral-choir-row-deepens-head-music-quits-boarding/

https://slippedisc.com/2020/01/breaking-westminster-cathedrals-music-chief-walks-out/

I have made comments on Slipped Disc so shall not repeat those here

Reply
Peter Haydon

January 11, 2020

I am reminded of the actions of the diocese and Cardinal in the Cardinal Vaughan school case. In both cases this has been the opposite of leaving well alone. In this case the diocese wished to alter the admissions policy in a school that had many more applicants than places to offer.

Reply
Paul Inwood

January 20, 2020

Today the Archdiocese of Westminster announced a review of music at the Cathedral, interestingly within the total mission of the Cathedral. https://rcdow.org.uk/news/strategic-review-of-sacred-music-in-the-mission-of-westminster-cathedral/ Perhaps they should have done this before embarking on a move that has significantly affected the cathedral’s choir school.

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1. Alan Johnson
  
  January 21, 2020
  
  They seem to be directing their focus on music alone rather than the liturgy and the place of music within it. It seems to me there are wider questions to be asked than just the role of the choir.
  
  Reply
Stella Cordingley

February 1, 2020

I have only just come across this correspondence so may be voicing an opinion ‘out of turn’ but why
is there no reference to mass settings in English ? Gregorian chant is beautiful but needs to be sung correctly. Why impose it on congregations when there are so many masses in English. I refer to such composers as Christopher Walker, Dan Schutte Paul Inwood and others.
I think we forget that the congregation is the most important part of the Assembly.

Reply
1. Alexander Worthington
  
  February 3, 2020
  
  Stella,
  
  FYI, Westminster Cathedral has many Masses during the week, with the music being provided by the incomparable Westminster Cathedral Choir (whose heritage is at risk – the principal thrust of this posting). Its Sunday Masses (Sat Vigil through to Sun Eve) are varied. Only 1 contains Gregorian chant (the Choir-led 10.30 am Mass). The others do, indeed, have congregational Mass settings in English, including by James MacMillan. It’s wonderful to have such choice, I’m sure you’ll agree.
  
  Reply
  1. Anthony Hawkins
    
    February 26, 2020
    
    Westminster Cathedral 5:30 pm Mass has Latin chant, cantor led sung alternatim with congregation for Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus Dei. I was there on Feb 2, I chose to be there. In a city where one in ten of the population are foreigners, and with an enormous number of visitors from abroad, it is important to have such international options available.
Sean Connolly

February 26, 2020

—“Why impose it on congregations when there are so many masses in English.”—

Why can’t the question be reversed? Can’t someone ask why we impose English settings (nearly all the time) on (nearly all) congregations in the English-speaking world, when there are abundant and beautiful Gregorian Ordinaries?

Especially when the Council asked that the faithful be taught to sing, in Latin, those parts of the Mass which pertain to them. A request explicitly underlined, after the implementation of the new missal, by St. Paul VI in 1974, when he issued “Jubilate Deo.”

—“I think we forget that the congregation is the most important part of the Assembly.”—

‘The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”’ 1 Corinthians 12:21

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