CE Chapel of Keble College, Oxford Wed, Dec 6th 2017

[W.Kearns]

My impression in the 1980s was that Oxford Colleges apart from the three choral foundations appointed every two years, and Cambridge ones two in every thee years. So i don’t think there has been a huge increase in the number of organ scholars. There are also now more women; there were almost none in the 1980s even though almost all colleges had gone mixed.

'Almost none' perhaps, but there were a few. I have clear memories of an impressive female organ scholar at St Edmund Hall, who must have taken up her post about 1980. She was very able performer, a fine singer, and a well-liked director of the small-ish and friendly choir.

[Dafydd y G.W.]

"Dean of Chapel" is a title unique, I think, to Cambridge. At Oxford the college chaplains all combined their chapel and pastoral duties with academic teaching. That chaplain at Merton, whom I met a few times, was unusual in teaching Russian, rather than some aspect of Theology.

Before the nineteenth century changes all Cambridge fellows, like those at Oxford, were in holy orders (and celibate) and the Dean was the fellow who had charge of both chapel and discipline.

For a long time there were still plenty of fellows in orders so not much changed, but in time lay fellows began to be appointed to the office of Dean (seen primarily as a disciplinary post), and a chaplain would be appointed to officiate in chapel. The chaplain was not a fellow, tho' he might do some academic teaching. The fact that the person with responsibility for chapel and for the spiritual care of college members was not a fellow (and not a member of the college's governing body) proved problematic, so colleges began to appoint a priest as a fellow with these responsibilities (and also academic ones - usually theological) and created the title "Dean of Chapel" for this post. (Richer colleges might also have one or more chaplains to assist him in his liturgical and pastoral duties.)

[Androcles]

Very fine - an hour of excellence - thank you.

[Keraulophone]

The fine qualities of this choir displayed in this CE are even more remarkable when one realises that, according to their website, they sing just one Evensong per week during term time (on Wednesdays), in addition to a sung Eucharist on Sundays and Compline on Thursdays.

As others have remarked, the psalm-singing was particularly beautiful. The Kenneth Tickell organ made some lovely sounds in ‘perhaps the finest acoustic in Oxford’ (Tickell website). IIRC, the Copeman Hart that did duty there in former years came from having performed a similar role in Truro Cathedral while the Father Willis had a spring clean during the early 1990s. David Briggs added a Flûte Harmonique, while the harpsichord stop was used sparingly!

[chitreb]

Agree with all the above on the excellent quality of the singing and playing.

As I have never been an organist anywhere I thought I would instead declare two very tenuous associations with this broadcast, my father having been at Keble in the 20s and John Playford being an ancestor (although I'm not sure what current thinking is on the origins of the last hymn tune).

[ardcarp]

Agree with all the above on the excellent quality of the singing and playing.

As I have never been an organist anywhere I thought I would instead declare two very tenuous associations with this broadcast, my father having been at Keble in the 20s and John Playford being an ancestor (although I'm not sure what current thinking is on the origins of the last hymn tune).

Ah, I see the tune London New was adapted from Playford's Psalms...whatever they were. (This was the era of so-called 'metrical psalms' ...anything to avoid Popery...so I guess it was one of those.) I know Playford better as a publisher, e.g. of The Dancing Master. Is he one and the same?

[chitreb]

Ah, I see the tune London New was adapted from Playford's Psalms...whatever they were. (This was the era of so-called 'metrical psalms' ...anything to avoid Popery...so I guess it was one of those.) I know Playford better as a publisher, e.g. of The Dancing Master. Is he one and the same?

Yes, the same John Playford.

[Nevilevelis]

Not to diminish the achievement of this choir - I enjoyed it thoroughly - but they were joined by at least three professionals on this occasion. Hence the.modest vibrato on the soprano line which I enjoyed very much!

[Wolsey]

A female organ pupil of mine got an organ scholarship to Corpus Christi Cambridge in the early 90s. (I think she was one of the first Oxbridge female organ scholars.)

Sorry, but am I reading this correctly? Are you really saying that there have been no female Oxbridge organ scholars until the early 90s? If that is what's being stated, then it's nonsense. From the 70s, there have been Catherine Ennis (St Hugh's - O); Fiona Brown née Lumb (Trinity Hall - C); Bridget Chatterley (Sidney Sussex - C); Jacqueline Pott née Parr (Girton - C). Marilyn Harper sets the record straight here.

...Last year I read in the Downing college magazine that there was a great shortage of organ scholars of a suitable standard.

Downing, however, has set an excellent new model in recent years in not having a DoM like many others but having a Mentor - and the best there could ever be...

[ardcarp]

Ok, not quite accurate Wolsey. But there were I think rather few.

[mopsus]

As Marilyn Harper says: "There are increasing numbers of women seeking organ scholarships since the two senior universities opened their doors properly to women." I recall a woman organ scholar at Lady Margaret Hall when I was at Oxford in the early 80's, but I cannot remember encountering one at that time at a former men's college (which doesn't mean, though, that there weren't any). My point was that the 'increasing' numbers of women applying should mean there is fiercer competition for organ scholarships now, but the opposite seems to be the case.

[Caussade]

Ok, not quite accurate Wolsey. But there were I think rather few.

Sidney Sussex had a number of female organ scholars from the mid 1980s, and both Selwyn and Trinity Hall had them during the same period. It is certainly not the case that a female organ scholar in the 1990s would have been one of only a few, by any stretch.

[mopsus]

A beautifully sung service with superb blend of voices with a lovely warm quality well caught by the engineering.

Listening to the repeat there seems to be something odd going on about 14:58 (just before the last psalm), as if a couple of seconds had been cut out. Perhaps it was just a noisy vehicle going down Parks Road (one is audible earlier in the broadcast). And I'd rather have had no office hymn and more than 3 short verses of the second hymn (3 more verses were omitted).