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A Catholic in the Cathedral

Some years ago, as I was trying to upskill my musicianship for a career as a professional singer, a fellow soprano suggested I try out for the Christ ChurchCathedral Choir. I had never considered this choir, having assumed that it was a

boys’ choir, and an Anglican establishment, probably not open to dyed-in-the-woolCatholics like myself.

I was wrong on both counts, and pleased to discover that there was a stipendiary position available for a soprano, and an audition was set up.

Mark Duley was director of music in the Cathedral at the time, and I had heard greatthings about him from other musicians. On the day of the audition, he explained theschedule – all day Sunday, Thursday evenings as well, and write-off Christmas andEaster because you’re going to live in the Cathedral. But I’ve never liked half-heartedchoirs so I was OK with this. For my audition, I sang an aria which he loved, and wasthen handed some sight-singing tests. The first one was early music, and I managed itreasonably well. The second was modern music, atonal and rhythmicallyunpredictable, and I crashed.

He hummed and hawed, warning me that I’d have to do a lot of home study to keepup, and said he’d get back to me. About a fortnight later, he offered me a job.

At my first rehearsal I was togged out in the red cassock, cincture and white surplice.My hair was very short at the time, and I looked like an overgrown choirboy – straightoff a Christmas card. I was also given a contract and a document outlining how to bea good Chorister, including rules about not EVER being late, how to process (squarecorners, avoid bovine ambulatory styles, never eye up the congregation no matter how

pleasing to the eye) and not to even dream of turning up without knowing your music.

As the rehearsal progressed, I got my first inkling that possibly this choir was unlikeany I had ever been in before. No note-bashing or sectional rehearsals – the choir washanded 8-part music and just sang it. Before commencing what I would have

previously considered a major work, Mark would issue commands in a whole newterminology: “11, 4, 5, Decani, take a quaver off the minim, 13, 2, 4, all voices clear

before the bass entry, 18, 1, 4, plus two in the new tempo at the double bar.” Pencilsflew to mark up the commands while I was whispering, “ What??” to the person

beside me, who attempted to explain but didn’t really have time. Fifteen minuteslater, having sung through various pieces of the mass, Mark would advise that thatwas fine, and we’d run it again on Sunday before the service. We then proceeded tofly through various anthems, canticles, and a sneak preview at some more difficultmusic for Citizenship and Remembrance Sunday and that was it. An hour and a half later I had trawled through more music than I had done in a year before, and wascompletely shell-shocked.

We didn’t bother rehearsing the hymns and the Anglican Chants – time enoughimmediately before the service. And yet they were all completely new to me – exactly what were those dots and underscores in the text of the Psalm supposed to

mean? And, despite having led congregational singing in Mount Argus for over tenyears, I had never heard of these hymns before, that the cathedral congregation

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seemed to know so well and belted out with an enthusiasm we never quite manage atCatholic services.

The rest of the choir seemed to take it all in their stride, and, nearly three years later,I’m approaching something like that degree of equanimity. But I still find it hard,

hard work. There have been moments that make it all worth it – Durufle’s Requiemwhen I was given the Pie Jesu solo; the organ scholar who managed to sneak in hintsof Jingle Bells and Santa Claus is coming to town during the Organ interlude at theChristmas Midnight Mass; my first Nine Lessons and Carols, when we sang a

programme of serenely beautiful music, contrasted with pieces from all over theworld, including a medieval Dublin piece, complete with Uillean pipes.

I’ll never make an Anglican, and there are still times when I feel like a foreigner inthe Cathedral, but I’ve learned a lot about our fellow Christians and their services inthat time. Music is a real priority in their liturgy – and I subscribe to that belief, thatwe should give of the best of ourselves when giving praise. So I’m hanging in there,sometimes by my fingernails, until someone offers a Catholic alternative, or at leastuntil I can sight-sing any piece of music that gets thrust under my nose to be

performed half an hour later!