Places Where They Sing: Anglican Church Music in South Australia From 1836 to 2003

By Dr Helena Raymond Lauer

This study investigates the music of the Anglican Church in South Australia from 1836 to 2003. The title refers to the Book of Common Prayer Evening Prayer Service, 'In Quires and Places where they sing, here followeth the Anthem'. The migrants to South Australia had religious traditions which supported rich musical cultures and after the Wesleyan-Methodists and the Roman Catholics the Anglicans have had the third largest attendance at services.
An historical musicological method is adopted in this study, and interviews form a valuable primary source and link between past and present in the life of the church and the practice of music. The 120 interviews within provide insight into the liturgical and musical traditions of Anglican parish churches and of St Peter's Cathedral, complementing the study of documents and other printed sources.
This method of study produced an historical narrative of significant events, personalities and circumstances that contributed to the development of Anglican church music in South Australia. From this flowed a consideration of the inherited musical traditions from the English church, the liturgical framework, performance practices, and the development of a repertoire of church music particular to the needs of the Anglican community in South Australia. The changing character of music in the Anglican parishes is considered, and a principal objective is to assess how music has become an integral part of the worship.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Apr 27, 2024
• ISBN: 9781779419958

Dr Helena Raymond Lauer

Dr Helena Raymond Lauer was born in Adelaide (1945). Dr H.R. Lauer attended PGC for her primary and secondary education, with her first round of tertiary education occurring at University of Adelaide and Elder Conservatorium where Bachelor of Arts and Music I, II, III were completed, respectively. Helena began piano lessons at aged four and began organ lessons aged sixteen; the latter with James Govenlock at St Francis Xavier Cathedral.In 1972 Helena married German anthropologist Dr Peter K. P. Lauer, and lived in Brisbane, Queensland for 22 years, where her three sons were born. Helena earned a Teaching Diploma from Trinity College London in 1983 and taught piano in a private studio, both in Queensland and upon returning to Adelaide, South Australia from 1991. Helena became an organist at St David's Anglican Church, Burnside South Australia in 1994 and still holds that position at the time of publication in 2020. In 2000, Helena earned a Licentiate in Organ Performance from Trinity College London.Since returning to Adelaide, Helena has continued her tertiary education at University of Adelaide and Elder Conservatorium, completing Master of Educational Studies, Master of Arts (thesis explored the role of the Elder Professors of Music in South Australia) and a Master of Music (thesis on the history of Anglican church music in South Australia). Following the conferral of these degrees, Helena attended University of South Australia where she was awarded a Master of Education prior to a Doctor of Philosophy (thesis exploring women music educators, as presented by this publication).

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Places Where They Sing

Copyright © 2024 by Dr Helena Raymond Lauer

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Tellwell Talent

www.tellwell.ca

ISBN

978-1-77941-996-5 (Hardcover)

978-1-77941-994-1 (Paperback)

978-1-77941-995-8 (eBook)

Places Where They Sing: Anglican Church Music in South Australia from 1836 to 2003

by

Helena Raymond Lauer

B.A., A.T.C.L., M.Ed.St., M.A., L.T.C.L., M.Mus., M.Ed., M.I.M.T., PhD

March 2024

Table of Contents

Glossary

Abstract

Declaration and copyright

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1   Introduction

1.1 Introduction

1.1.1 Objectives

1.2 Literature Review

1.2.1 Other Literature in the Field and Subject Catalogue Search

1.3 Conceptual Basis or Framework for this Research

1.3.1 Overview of Chapters

Chapter 2   Anglican Musical Traditions Inherited from the English Church

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Anglican Reformation and Its Music

2.2.1 The Evangelical Revival (1760-1830)

2.2.2 The Oxford Movement

2.2.3 Later Victorian Church Music

2.3 The 20th century Liturgical Movement

2.3.1 Liturgical changes in England

2.3.2 Prayer Book Revisions

2.3.3 Cathedral musical traditions in England 1800-2000

2.3.4 Psalms

2.4 Conclusion

Chapter 3   Historical Overview from Colonists to Federation 1836 to 1901

3.1 Introduction

3.1.1 Liturgical Framework and Practices

3.2 Services

3.2.1 Special Services

3.3 Diocesan Issues

3.4 Organists

3.5 Choirs

3.5.1 Lay Clerks

3.6 Organ Blowers

3.6.1 The Organ

3.6.2 Bells

3.7 Repertoire and Practice

3.7.1 Hymn Books

3.7.2 Psalms

3.7.3 Anthems

3.8 Conclusion

Chapter 4   From Federation to 1962

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Liturgical Framework

4.2.1 Royal School of Church Music

4.3 Services

4.3.1 Special Services

4.3.2 Broadcasting

4.3.3 The Rector

4.3.4 Organist and Choirmaster

4.3.5 Choir

4.3.6 The Building

4.3.7 Organ

4.3.8 Bells

4.3.9 Repertoire and Practice

4.3.10 Hymns

4.3.11 Psalms

4.3.12 Anthems

4.3.13 Passion Music

4.3.14 Service Settings

4.4 Conclusion

Chapter 5   From 1962 to 2003

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Liturgy

5.2.1 Royal School of Church Music

5.2.2 St Barnabas Theological College

5.2.3 Services and Population

5.2.4 Services

5.2.5 Parish Structures: The Rector

5.2.6 Organist

5.2.7 Choir

5.2.8 Material Contexts: The Building

5.2.9 Organ

5.2.10 Instrumental Groups

5.2.11 Bells

5.2.12 Hymn Books

5.2.13 Psalms

5.2.14 Anthems

5.2.15 Carols

5.2.16 Service Settings

5.2.17 Holy Communion Settings

5.2.18 Passion Music

5.3 Conclusion

Chapter 6   St Peter’s Cathedral 1869 to 2003

6.1 Introduction

6.1.1 Organ

6.1.2 Precentor

6.1.3 The Organist and Choirmaster

6.1.4 Assistant Organist

6.1.5 Choir

6.1.6 Liturgy and Worship

6.1.7 Special Services

6.1.8 Bells

6.1.9 Hymns

6.1.10 Psalms

6.1.11 Anthems

6.1.12 Service Settings

6.1.13 Broadcasting and Recording

6.1.14 Choir

6.2 Conclusion

Chapter 7   Some Case Histories

7.1 St Paul’s Port Adelaide

7.1.1 Organist and Choirmaster

7.1.2 Choir

7.1.3 The Organ

7.1.4 Conclusion

7.2 St Matthew’s Kensington

7.2.1 Services

7.2.2 The Rector

7.2.3 Organists

7.2.4 Buildings and Organ

7.2.5 Organ and Bell

7.2.6 Hymn Books

7.3 St David’s Burnside

7.3.1 Services

7.3.2 Special Services

7.3.3 The Rector

7.3.4 Organ

7.3.5 Organists

7.3.6 Choir

7.3.7 Building

7.3.8 Bells

7.3.9 Hymn Book

7.4 Conclusion

Chapter 8   Conclusion

8.1 Worship and Music

8.2 Holy Communion Settings

8.3 Choir Schools

8.4 Psalms

8.5 Hymn Books

8.6 Organists

8.7 Choirs

8.8 Final Conclusions

Bibliography

9.1 Primary Sources

9.1.1 Archival Material

9.2 Secondary Sources

9.2.1 Books

9.2.2 Published Histories of Churches

9.2.3 Articles Journals and Magazines

9.2.4 Prayer Books

9.2.5 Hymn Books

Appendices

Appendix 1: Information sheet sent to participants.

Appendix 2: Interview questions

Appendix 3: Interviewees contributing to this study.

Appendix 4: Repertoire

Appendix 4.1: Holy Communion and Other Service Settings (Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer)

Appendix 4.2: Morning and Evening Prayer, Responses and Canticles

Appendix 4.3: Anthems and Motets

Appendix 4.4: Australian Composed Anthems and Hymns

Appendix 4.5: Chanting Services (or Verse Services), Litany, Carols

Appendix 4.6: Cantatas

About the Author

Glossary

Abstract

This study investigates the music of the Anglican Church in South Australia from 1836 to 2003. The title refers to the Book of Common Prayer Evening Prayer Service, ‘In Quires and Places where they sing, here followeth the Anthem.’ The migrants to South Australia had religious traditions which supported rich musical cultures and after the Wesleyan-Methodists and the Roman Catholics the Anglicans have had the third largest attendance at services.

An historical musicological method is adopted in this study and interviews form a valuable primary source and link between past and present in the life of the church and the practice of music. The 120 interviews provide insight into the liturgical and musical traditions of Anglican parish churches and of St Peter’s Cathedral, complementing the study of documents and other printed sources.

This method of study produced an historical narrative of significant events, personalities and circumstances that contributed to the development of Anglican church music in South Australia. From this flowed a consideration of the inherited musical traditions from the English church, the liturgical framework, performance practices, and the development of a repertoire of church music particular to the needs of the Anglican community in South Australia. The changing character of music in the Anglican parishes is considered and a principal objective is to assess how music has become an integral part of the worship.

Declaration and copyright

This book presents work carried out by myself and does not incorporate without acknowledgment any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any university; to the best of my knowledge it does not contain any materials previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text; and all substantive contributions by others to the work presented, including jointly authored publications, are clearly acknowledged.

Copyright has been appropriately considered in the presentation of music, such as hymns and arrangements. In all cases, copyright has expired and material presented is solely in the public domain. Copyright status was determined using the following information: Material type: Artistic, Published status: Published, Publication date: Year. Reason for copyright status: for Australian / United Kingdom publications [Published Date + 70 Years], as per National Library of Australia, last accessed 26/01/2024 and International Copyright Service last accessed 26/01/2024.

Dr Helena Raymond Lauer

February 2024

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank my three kind and patient supervisors, Dr Warren Bourne, Dr David Swale and Professor Charles Bodman Rae, for their unfailing help and endurance during the writing of this study.

I also wish to thank Mrs Robin Radford, Diocesan Archivist at St Peter’s Cathedral, for her help and expertise in locating Guardian photographs and for permission to reproduce them. I am grateful to those who agreed to be interviewed, and to Christine Beal, Chorister of St Peter’s Cathedral, who provided me with the two Cathedral Choir photographs.

Finally, I wish to acknowledge the informed assistance of my youngest son Peter who helped me during this long journey.

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 Introduction

This is a study of Anglican Church music in South Australia from 1836 to 2003, with the arrival of the Anglican Chaplain of HMS Buffalo Charles Beaumont Howard. The title refers to the Book of Common Prayer 1662 Evening Service ‘In Quires and Places where they sing here followeth the Anthem.’ This study investigates the music of the Anglican Church in South Australia from 1836 to 2003, which though a long period (thus far) has shown significant changes in liturgy and music. The migrants to South Australia had religious traditions which supported rich musical cultures and after the Wesleyan-Methodists and the Roman Catholics the Anglicans have had the third largest attendance at services. This was further justification for the study. An historical musicological method is adopted in this study and interviews form a valuable primary source and link between past and present in the life of the church and the practice of music. The 120 interviews provide insight into the liturgical and musical traditions of Anglican parish churches and of St Peter’s Cathedral, complementing the study of documents and other printed sources.

The basis of this study is an historical narrative of significant events, personalities and circumstances that contributed to the development of Anglican church music in South Australia. From this flowed a consideration of the inherited musical traditions from the English church, the liturgical framework, performance practices, and the development of a repertoire of church music particular to the needs of the Anglican community in South Australia. The changing character of music in the Anglican parishes is considered and a principal objective is to assess how music has become an integral part of the worship. This study begins in 1836 with the arrival of the Anglican Chaplain of H.M.S. Buffalo Charles Beaumont Howard, to 2003, a period of one hundred and sixty-seven years.

The study includes the initial research into what liturgy was used, and which musical settings of the liturgy were employed by each church. This scrutiny then extended to the use of psalms, hymns and anthems in church services. When this material was collected, largely through interviewing clergy and organists, and studying church histories, present pew sheets and music programs.

The music was catalogued according to the Dewey library classification then the results were compared and conclusions drawn. The process of cataloguing and comparing took place immediately after each interview so that a running commentary was maintained. It was no part of this study to undertake detailed musical analysis or comparison of individual tunes, but it was important to establish and classify the music in each parish church and the Cathedral and to portray and label its characteristics. Since this topic is Places Where They Sing it is relevant to include in the objectives of the research how they (the choir) sing, why they sing, and who directs them.

An historical musicological method is adopted in this study and interviews form a valuable primary source and link between past and present in the life of the church and the practice of music. The 120 interviews provide insight into the liturgical and musical traditions of Anglican parish churches and of St Peter’s Cathedral, complementing the study of documents and other printed sources. The basis of this study is an historical narrative of significant events, personalities and circumstances that contributed to the development of Anglican church music in South Australia. From this flowed a consideration of the musical traditions inherited from the English church, the liturgical framework, performance practices, and the development of a repertoire of church music particular to the needs of the Anglican community in South Australia. The changing character of music in the Anglican parishes is considered and a principal objective is to assess how music has become an integral part of the worship.

The culture of South Australia in 1836 was a transplanted culture and this was reflected in the church music. As Andrew McCredie observed:

From the founding of the colony in 1836 to Federation in 1901 the predominant parent culture was that of Victorian Britain.¹

Because of this an account of inherited traditions from the English church will be included, and styles of church music will be traced as they change into Australian styles with updated titles. This study has not included detailed research into Anglican Church Schools and other religious Schools and Colleges, except where it directly affects the topic. The only exceptions to this rule are St Peter’s College, Pulteney Grammar School and St Barnabas Theological College.

Some of the religious denominations and migrants to South Australia, such as the Wesleyan Methodists, had traditions which supported rich musical cultures and some of these have already been studied. The history of the Lutheran Church Music in South Australia has been researched, and so has Roman Catholic Church music it is therefore desirable to study the Anglican Church Music as this has not yet been done and would contribute to the overall picture.² As the Anglicans represent 16.5 % of the population in the Adelaide metropolitan area and 16 % in the State of S.A. this is a justification for researching the history of Anglican Church Music in South Australia, as a significant portion of the population of S.A. is represented and may be interested in the results.³

The early history of the province of South Australia was redolent with ecclesiastical overtones and church music similarly echoed this. The description of the province as a "Paradise of Dissent" is witness to the diversity of religious life in this State.⁴ The Wesleyan-Methodists had the largest average congregation in the State of South Australia, with the Roman Catholics next, then the Anglicans. As the Anglicans had the third largest attendance at services this was a further justification for the study. In 1859 the total Anglican average congregation was 4,516 with three permanent churches, and 24 temporary places of worship (see Plates 1.1 and 1.2). These figures include Adelaide as part of the whole State, and the three permanent churches were Holy Trinity (1838) St John’s Halifax Street (1841) and St Paul’s Port Adelaide (1841).⁵

Plate 1.2: The Diocese of Adelaide 1897.⁶

Plate 1.1: The Diocese of Adelaide 1847.⁷

In 1915 the Provisional Provincial Council was established, concomitant with the Diocese of Willochra; the former provided a platform to co-ordinate inter-diocesan activities between the Diocese of Adelaide and Willochra. In 1970 the Diocese of The Murray was established, and together the three South Australian dioceses formed the Province of South Australia (see Plate 1.3).⁸

Plate 1.3: The Diocese of Willochra 1915.⁹

In this publication the term ‘Anglican’ rather than ‘Church of England’ has been used, because from 1962 the Church of England in Australia became an independent Church within the Anglican Communion. The name of the Church was changed in 1981 from the ‘Church of England’ in Australia to the ‘Anglican Church of Australia’.¹⁰

The study also included comparisons with other Anglican and Christian religious denominations in South Australia, Australia and overseas, as the need arose. The music practices in the 1830’s in South Australia were based on transplanted traditions brought mainly from English and German settlers. Whilst the Germans followed mainly Lutheran traditions the English settlers were from different denominational backgrounds. However, as the Anglican churches such as Holy Trinity, Adelaide, were established soon after settlement (1838) this provided ample opportunity for the continued development of their music.

The desire of the transplanted colonists was generally to replicate the music to which they were accustomed in their countries of origin. As these countries were primarily England for the majority, and Germany for the greater number of the remainder, the traditions were based on the English church, and the Lutheran church, both with strong musical cultures. It is reasonable to suppose that the Anglicans and the Lutherans represented some of the most dominant and vocal religious groups in Adelaide in the nineteenth century and therefore justified closer research. Further, many of the ‘establishment’ families were represented in the Anglican Church at this time, and this was certainly shown by their large donations towards the establishment of city churches, schools and The University of Adelaide. This was a further justification for this research as it allied itself not only to the foundation of the Anglican Church in South Australia, but also to the establishment of educational and musical institutions. The influence of Anglican congregations on the character of South Australian life, through both wealthy ‘establishment’ families and more modestly placed parishioners, could not be underestimated.

In Music in the Church Dr Sidney Campbell wrote, quoting Archbishop Lang:

The great tradition of English Church Music is a sacred trust, and the offering of music is a true act of worship. A cathedral choir exists to maintain a repertoire of music of all degrees of elaboration, and it is more or less accepted that unless the cathedral is also a parish church with a regular parish congregation, vocal participation from the Nave is not expected unless a hymn is inserted for that particular purpose. A parish church however exists for corporate worship, and it is the duty of the parish priest, organist, and choir not to hamper this.¹¹

Here music is accepted as part of the worship whilst Walford Davies and Harvey Grace referred to church music in the following way:

Church music is like no other music in that a failure to co-ordinate the team into an ensemble as simple and perfect as possible is not only a musical shortcoming but also a defeat of the very spirit of worship which the music sets out to serve.¹²

In the history of the church music seemed to take on a life of its own and developed in spite of poor conditions and of events in history which failed to help the advancement of the church. As in Puritan times when only psalms were allowed for religious worship and the tradition of church music survived, it was equally true to say that in the period from 1836 until the end of the nineteenth century, when conditions for the church in South Australia became better, the music of the Anglican Church in South Australia proceeded and improved in spite of adverse conditions. Therefore, it was worthwhile documenting the struggle and development of this Anglican Church music in South Australia, which gradually changed under sociological conditions until different Australian versions of Anglican church music emerged. One of the initial tasks of this research was to define what the Anglican Church and the liturgy in South Australia was and what it had become. To do this a study of the liturgy and the music which preceded it was essential.

1.1.1 Objectives

The aim of the research is to investigate the musical habits of the Anglican church in South Australia from 1836 to the present. The study identifies aspects of organization, repertoire, and performance practices, it then demonstrates their role in the life and liturgy of the cathedral and parish churches. From the study it should be possible to determine the variations between the music and liturgy used in St Peter’s Cathedral and the different Anglican parishes in the Diocese of Adelaide. The documentation of the used in each Parish by interviewing at least the Rector and organist of each parish, should be a major contribution to the discipline since no such research has been done in South Australia. As a result, it may be possible to discern how the character of worship in each Parish was reflected in the music used, and to attach a designation to the type of music.

The principal objective is to study the voice of the church through its use of music, especially through the choir and congregational singing. Therefore, the topic may be said to include ‘how’ and ‘what’ they sing, not just ‘where’ they sing, furthermore the congregation were included as a valuable voice. One of the objectives is to define changing styles and practices in Anglican Church Music in South Australia and to explore the repertoire of music commonly used. The use of the interviews in this research is invaluable. A list of questions forwarded to the interviewees prior to the appointment is included here (Appendix 1). The interviewees were priests, organists, choirmasters, choir directors, choristers and historians, and any persons interested in the history of their parish music and willing to talk about it (Appendix 2). However, some potential interviewees refused to be interviewed, and some did not wish their names to be published, and no potential country interviewees contacted by post responded.

The most obvious means of comparison for the Anglican Church Music in South Australia is with other States of Australia and England. St Paul’s Cathedral Melbourne provides an accessible comparison with St Peter’s Cathedral Adelaide as interaction occurs between them. The inclusion of a detailed literature study of English church music history books is also justified.

An aspect of the research of particular interest is the identification and labelling of the character of musical worship in the parish communities, and determination of the relationship between the aspirations of continuing personalities such as rectors, music directors, choristers, within the church and the ethos of that church as revealed through a documentation of its musical practice.

For a fundamental theological justification for the practice of music in a church community is that it not only helped to build up the faith of the people but was an essential expression of the relationship of the community with its object of worship. As music was concerned with the public manifestation of religious belief, a study of church music necessarily involved research into how much the congregation and persons outside of the particular church were affected by it, bearing in mind that the church is no longer the focal point for social contact and musical gatherings. The church has become less important to society with the introduction of broadcasting, television, computers, sporting functions and school events. The result is that to gain the public’s interest again worship and music need to appeal to many and to be of the highest caliber.

The organization and practice methods of the choir in Anglican churches has always been a subject of concern, which was expressed by SS Wesley and others.¹³ In the 20th century Sydney Nicholson of the Royal School of Church Music, pointed out the need for organization and proper practice methods for choir training. In Quires and Places Where Octoberng Nicholson wrote that ‘Choir-training may be defined as the power of teaching a choir to register the sensation of making sounds which are acceptable to the listener.’¹⁴ That such concerns continue to be a perennial issue even in the late twentieth century was demonstrated in David Hill’s article in the Church Music Quarterly of October, 1991, even though the circumstances may differ markedly.¹⁵ In this study methods of choir organization and training as adapted by the Anglican church in South Australia forms a primary focus.

One of the concern bases was the nature of adaptation that occurred in South Australia in local communities attempting to come to terms with the powerful historical precedent of the mother church. This emphasized consideration of the transplanted nature of Anglican religious music in South Australia, based as it is largely on English church music.¹⁶ The human element and the contribution of the individual to the practice of church music is a focus of this study. Without the active participation of church officers and parishioners the practice of music in the church is seriously impoverished.

Besides an historical musicological approach the methodology includes a mixture of ethnology and conventional archival research. The Cathedral Library, Diocesan Archives and Mortlock Library of South Australia, have many valuable records of Anglican church music in the form of books, records of services, manuscripts and programs which form the archival research. The bulk of the Cathedral records now reside in the Mortlock Library. As many of these are handwritten and showing signs of age (dating from 1870s) they are almost illegible. In addition, these documents are not to be photocopied due to frailty, so that many hours were required to transcribe them. The Roll Books for the Cathedral choir dating from 1877 provide vital information, but much patience was needed in replicating them, and only in pencil. Often spellings of names had to be guessed at and compared with previous versions if available.

Interviews form a major part of ethnological study, providing a valuable link between past and present in the lives of the churches and of the musicians. These were recorded on cassette tapes and transcribed. Some interviewees refused permission for taping. The interviews contributed insight into the music used in past and present in Anglican churches in South Australia. It would have been possible to conduct this study centred only on manuscripts and books, but that would have been somewhat limited as valuable sources of information, especially if the later period would be sadly ignored. Interviews included not only the liturgical and musical specialists in the churches, but also the lay people as it was for the congregation, as it expressed its relationship with God, that the music for the church was created as a particular language.

In terms of the repertoire of music used in South Australian churches, the use of psalms and psalm chants is still a matter for discussion as it was from the time of St Augustine.¹⁷ From the earliest times the link between texts and music has been a significant issue and this continued to be an important study in church music. One of the tasks of this study was to determine the usage of texts for music in South Australian Anglican Churches. Denis Towner discussed its current use in the Roman Catholic and Anglican parish churches ‘Hymnody in the Twentieth Century.’¹⁸ In These Are The Hymns, Alan Dunstan discussed the uses of Anglican hymns in the churches.¹⁹ He observed that many books have been written about Anglican hymns but not about choosing them, and their place in Anglican worship. He continued to explain that the ‘parson’ not the organist should ultimately be responsible for the choice of hymns, so that the interactions and respective contributions of both clergy and musicians to the practice of music, are an important theme in this research.

Psalms and anthems are still important in the Anglican church services by the 21st century and research and both are examples of the use of words and music in the Service. Liturgical settings including services, masses, communions, seasonal music, and organ music, are also studied and discussed. As it is possible that much of the current music repertoire of the Anglican Church in South Australia is borrowed from English sources, any Australian compositions are viewed with enthusiasm.

Part of the aim of this research is to discover how Anglicanism and one of its shaping forces music has affected the wider public in South Australia. The method used was to establish an historical narrative of facts by research in the Mortlock Library of South Australia, in the Diocesan Archives at St Peter’s Cathedral, and by interviews within the parishes and the Cathedral of priests, musical directors, organists, choristers and parishioners. Since there are 70 parishes in the Diocese of Adelaide, and 90 churches, the study needed to be planned, so that the variations in music used were apparent, hence the use of a set of questions for the interviews.

Discussion of the music used in the Holy Communion settings, and for the services of Evensong and Morning Prayer, were categorized and described as the study proceeded. Similarly, the use of psalms, hymns and anthems was compared with historical precedents and present practice. As the anthem was regarded as the principal feature of the English ‘Cathedral Service’ the use of anthems in parish churches and cathedrals was noted.²⁰ In 1550 John Merbecke published Booke of Common Praier Noted which set a standard of music in which the parish congregation could participate, and also provided a point at which serious study of relevant services could begin (see Plates 1.4 and 1.5).²¹ This service setting remained in common use until the 1970’s in Australia but was still used in some parish churches in South Australia in the 21st century.²²

The approach to studying the Cathedral music history needed to differ from that for researching the parish church music history, as for many aspects of liturgy and worship different music was used from those of the parishes. As the Cathedral deals with a wider public than the parish church, the music needs to be more specialized but patterns of worship still need to be assessed.

Plate 1.4: Plainsong, Kyries (Merbecke, Booke of Common Praier Noted, Oxford University Press, London, 1954).

1.2 Literature Review

The first point of reference in this research was David Hilliard’s book Godliness and Good Order.²³ This book provided a detailed survey of the Anglican Church in South Australia from the 1830’s to 1986. The only other available history of the Anglican Church in South Australia was by Dean Jose who wrote The Church of England in South Australia from 1836 to 1905.²⁴

Plate 1.5: Plainsong, Sanctus Benedictus (Merbecke, Booke of

Common Praier Noted, Oxford University Press, London, 1954).

These three small volumes provided a wealth of information about Anglicans in early South Australia and presented a marked contrast with the implied ecclesiastical background in books such as Kenneth Long’s The Music of the English Church.²⁵ Conditions in early South Australian parishes were so harsh that many clergy gave up and returned to Britain. Some died, from the stress and health risks in the young colony. Consequently, the Bishop had difficulty expanding the work of the church, let alone the music. Other informative books by clerics included the writings of Dr T.T. Reed, Bishop of Adelaide from 1957 to 1974. He wrote several books on the Anglican church in South Australia, Anglican Clergymen in South Australia in the Nineteenth Century; and A History of the Cathedral Church of St Peter, which have both proved useful.²⁶ These two books have suggested a modus operandum for this study, that was to trace the establishment of the first Adelaide and South Australian Anglican churches then to note the arrival of their first organs and from these facts to trace the liturgy and music employed.²⁷

Bishop Reed stated in Anglican Clergymen in South Australia in the Nineteenth Century that one of his motives for writing the book was to assist parish chroniclers in writing their own church histories. Many Anglican parishes in South Australia produced brief histories and these provide great insight, often into the choir, and some provided details of the organ and the music used for services. Many of these histories, published and unpublished, were consulted in the Mortlock Library or kindly donated by interviewees. Holy Trinity was such a book and was larger than most of the histories.²⁸ But in all of its 200-odd pages some details of organs, organists and music, and hymns only were given, but in 5 pages of office-bearers no organists or choir members were mentioned.

A booklet on St David’s Church Burnside by John Tuffley gave details of the Rectors from 1886 to 1985 but only provided one small photograph of the organ and organist. However, in the second section of the booklet entitled ‘The New Church’ a description of the Wolff-Dodd organ is given.²⁹ The booklet on St Michael and All Angels’ Anglican Church Henley Beach was more detailed providing a list of organists and choir masters from 1915 to 1984 and a section on music and the liturgy from 1972 to 1982 including a description of the organ. There was a section on The Reminiscences of a Choir Boy in the 1930s in this book.³⁰

Because so much of the repertoire and practice of Anglican church music in South Australia derived from the tradition of music in the Church of England in Great Britain, an important part of the literary review included a survey of books about English church music. Books discussing such musical traditions in the nineteenth and twentieth century often shed light on revived practices in South Australia, because of the strongly transplanted nature of Anglican church music in this state.

Major studies of English church music both for cathedral and parish included The Singing Church by C Henry Phillip³¹ and Nicholas Temperley’s The Music of the English Parish Church, Kenneth R. Long’s The Music of the English Church, and English Cathedral Music by Edmund Fellowes all proved invaluable.³² Watkins Shaw’s article ‘Church Music in England from the Reformation to the Present Day’ in Protestant Church Music edited by Friedrich Blume was very informative.³³ As cathedral and church choirs formed a major part of this study the book entitled Quires and Places Where They Sing by Sir Sydney Nicholson, was of particular interest. In the preface he said:

The book is addressed in the main to the general reader in the hope that he may find some interest in a subject which is too often regarded as one concerning only the specialist.³⁴

One of the purposes of this thesis is to examine this concept while suggesting that in the realm of cathedrals specialists are still required, but in parish churches musicians still need to be multi-faceted specialists. In the parish churches it is often considered that the music should be attainable by all, and that congregational participation in all aspect of worship is desirable. Therefore, the organist needs to be an excellent musician who ministers to the needs of the congregation.

Sir Sydney Nicholson founded the School of English Church Music (SECM) in 1927 and visited Australia in 1932 and gave lectures and talks on Church Music and Choirs. The SECM was the forerunner of the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) and had members in Australia by 1933. In Quires and Places Where They Sing, he wrote:

In the realm of music there is nothing which can more justly claim to be regarded as an English national institution than the Church choir.³⁵

The RSCM has proved to be, from its inception, a powerful agent of transplantation as the many Anglican churches around the world looked to the Society for continuous guidance. In South Australia Canon Horace Percy Finnis MA, Mus Bac, a graduate of