Glasgow Archdiocesan
Church Music Committee Brochure

Aims Since the 2nd Vatican Council the Church has made the “full conscious and active participation” by all the faithful in the liturgy a fundamental aim for all those involved in public worship. In practice, sacred music—whether “making prayer more pleasing, promoting unity of minds or conferring greater solemnity” has been amongst the most significant tools of such participation. Accordingly, the Archdiocese’s Music Committee seeks to identify & encourage good liturgical music practice in the archdiocese, supporting and encouraging collaboration among those involved in its preparation, and providing resources for cantors, psalmists, choirs, musicians, clergy, congregation, schools, composers, and liturgists. We recognise that it is important to be convincing in putting across to people involved in liturgy that the essential purpose of music in the liturgy is to encourage, support and enrich people in prayer. Structure The Committee’s membership is drawn from across the Archdiocese, with associate members from beyond, including choir directors, organists, musicians, clergy and teachers. The Convenor is Mgr Gerry Fitzpatrick, the Director of Music, and the secretary is Mrs Mary Bradley. Mary can be contacted at maryklembradley@btopenworld.com or tel 0141 427 6740. It pursues its objective through the initiation and support of services and liturgical events Archdiocesan (including at deanery and parish level) Ecumenical - through Glasgow Churches Together (GCT) and Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS) Civic Educational and through the production and provision of resources through workshops, publications and CDs. Associates To be effective, the Committee works with a pool of resources and collaborators. These include the St Mungo Singers, musicians and instrumentalists (with participants from the Scots, Irish and Christian Asian communities), the RSAMD and many schools, the Sacred Threads (Embroiderers), the liturgy commission, and the Music and Worship Committee of GCT with the Salvation Army Band. Some of the St Mungo Singers at a special mass in the Cathedral The Singers rehearse in St Leo’s, Dumbreck on Sunday evenings from 7.00 to 9.00. They sing for Archdiocesan and parish liturgies, for Glasgow Churches Together celebrations and for some civic events. Their repertoire balances the richness of music of the past while developing resources for the needs of people at prayer today. They are directed by Mgr Gerry Fitzpatrick, Dr Noel S Donnelly, and Dr Elaine Moohan with Jane McKenna as organist. New members are always welcome. Prospective members are welcome to the choir should speak to one of the directors or telephone St Leo’s at 0141 427 0293 Members of ‘The Sacred Threads’ with the Archbishop at their Silver Jubilee Mass. They have been involved in projects in St Albert’s, St Leo’s, St Flannan’s, Kirkintilloch, St Joseph’s, Tollcross, St Stephen’s, Dalmuir, Dreghorn and Renfield St Stephen’s Church of Scotland —to mention but a few! The National Music Advisory Board meets twice yearly so that representatives of the dioceses of Scotland can share ideas and resources and discuss developments in music for the liturgy. School For school events the Committee supports the Teachers’ Committee for Annual School Liturgy which organises Cantatas and Masses. A children’s Cantata in St George’s, Penilee Ecumenism For ecumenical events, it works primarily through and with the Music and Worship Committee of Glasgow Churches Together (GCT). Archbishop Conti with Church leaders at a Glasgow Churches Together ecumenical service Review of 2005 Archdiocese In addition to those services which are regular features within the Archdiocese, such as the St Mungo Mass and St Andrew’s Day, there were, as in previous years, a significant number of additional services in 2005, including Mass and Vespers for the Year of the Eucharist, the Masses for the late Pope John Paul 11 and for the election of Pope Benedict XV1, the SCIAF Stations of the Cross, and the Mass for the Dead at St Agnes’ Lambhill. Ecumenism Highlights on the ecumenical front included the service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the 75th Anniversary Service for the Scottish World Day of Prayer Committee and the Memorial Service for the victims of the Stockline tragedy Cantata Jesus Journey To Jerusalem Much of the preparation for the 2006 Childrens’ Cantata “Jesus’ Journey to Jerusalem” took place in 2005. St Eunan’s Primary had requested a new school song for the 14th centenary of St Eunan or Adamnan and this was included in a St Andrew’s celebration and circulated to lots of schools. A number of schools participated in the recording of teaching CDs for schools taking part in the Cantata, plus material for a St Andrew’s Day CD and a planned CD of the Children’s Eucharistic Prayer to be made available in autumn 2006 Civic The year saw a number of developments involving Glasgow City Council. While the Carols for Peace service has been taking place for a number of years, the Lord Provost invited us to organise some kind of celebration or service which could be held in the early summer and would reflect the history of the city and be of interest to visitors. This developed into “Glasgow the Welcoming City “ – a service which celebrated Glasgow’s Christian heritage and its varied cultural inputs from the Celtic to the more recently arrived refugee and asylum- seeker communities. The service has been very well received and will be further developed this year. Members of the Paragon Ensemble at an ecumenical celebration in the City Chambers and some of the instrumentalists at the Mass of our Celtic Roots in St Aloysius. In December, together with GCT, the Committee developed a service for the Blessing of the Crib in George Square. Last year the Lord Provost, the Hon Liz Cameron, became patron of the St Mungo Singers in recognition of their service to the city. The chorus of ‘Let Glasgow Flourish’ can be heard on the GCT website: www.glasgowchurches.org.uk Workshops Two sets of workshops were held during the year. The first, in May, covered music for the Year of the Eucharist. In addition parishes were given a CD and leaflet for Vespers and Benediction for the Year of the Eucharist. In October, the Autumn Workshop dealt with: the use of the Psalms in the liturgy and devotional life, music for St Andrew’s Day and Feasts of the Celtic Saints, and music for All Soul’s Day and Requiems. In addition to the traditional workshops, mini-workshops were held in a number of parishes. The Committee is reviewing the effectiveness of diocese-wide workshops. Attendance at these has been reducing, a trend noted by colleagues in other dioceses, and it was decided, particularly in the light of requests for assistance from individual parishes, to pilot workshops at parish level to see if these would prove more useful. In the same vein, the opportunity was taken to support liturgies in individual parishes to give them the experience of a fuller liturgy and hopefully encourage development at parish level. The committee welcomes requests for workshops in individual parishes. Newsletter: St Mungo’s Music The committee publish the “St Mungo’s Music” newsletter which is circulated to all parishes in the archdiocese and to many music contacts throughout Scotland. It aims at increasing awareness of events, developments and resources. The Committee is always happy to disseminate information from other dioceses and groups. Flexibility In addition to planning a programme for each year, the Committee recognises the need to retain flexibility to respond to developing requirements which arise, often at short notice, during the course of the year Publications 2005 saw the launch of “Psalms of the Seasons” published by Kevin Mayhew Ltd), providing a variety of Psalms and Gospel Verses for the seasons of the liturgical year by Scottish composers. The book was edited by Mgr Fitzpatrick with a foreword by Archbishop Mario Conti, Archbishop of Glasgow. The committee is producing a set of CDs to support this book and the first of these is now available. The year 2005 also saw the extension of the use of CDs to promote awareness of musical resources. St Mungo Music also began a new series of publications/editions with the St Andrew Cantata, the Story of Adamnan’s Law, Litany of Celtic Saints, Newman’s Prayer, the St Brigid Cantata, The Mass of St Gregory, the Dunkeld Mass of St Columba and a Song of Farewell (Receive) – many of these supported by CDs. Ongoing developments and Catalogue New publications/editions can be seen in our revised catalogue which will be available in October. It is intended to look also at how we develop support for parishes through workshops and liturgies further publications through Kevin Mayhew with music for the Eucharistic Acclamations and the Communion Rite available in autumn 2006 further publications from St Mungo Music including Morning and Evening Prayers on CD and leaflets. developing our network contacts and website continue to support the National Music Advisory board and to respond to requests for support outwith the archdiocese of Glasgow nationally and internationally. Artwork and graphics for this page © Netta Ewing. Photographs © Paul McSherry. Printed by Martin McGinty, Milton Press, South St., Clydebank Business Park. Clydebank.