Dr Francis Jackson’s work at York Minster, coupled with his activities as a world famous recitalist, made it impossible for him to devote regular hours to composition. That he has composed such a large body of work in a variety of different genres is testimony to his talent as a composer and his devotion to the craft.

In this article originally appearing in the RCO Journal of 2017, Philip Moore analyses Jackson’s compositional techniques, his approach to word-setting, and gives some suggestions on the interpretation and registration of Jackson’s choral and liturgical works.

“500 uploads on YouTube!” tweeted the Archive of Recorded Church Music, triumphantly, last week. Colin Brownlee who runs the archive has been gathering recordings – LPs, 78s, cassettes, reel-to-reel, CDs, commercial and private – for 15 years, and has created a collection of cathedral and church choral music which is now seen as definitive, illustrating the changes in choral sound since 1902.

This pre-concert talk was recorded at the world premiere at the Royal Festival Hall of the Legend of Melusine, which was commissioned as part of the RCO’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 2014.

Philip Moore’s new Requiem will be given its world premiere on Friday 18 November 2016 at 2pm at St Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge in a concert to be given by the BBC Singers, conducted by David Hill. The concert will also be broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
Dedicated to the memory of his Mother and Father, Philip Moore’s Requiem is written for soprano solo, mixed voices and organ.

Croydon Minster is inviting all Choirmasters and Music Directors to join them in their Hymnathon on 1st and 2nd July, when they will be singing non-stop through the entire New English Hymnal, to support the organ appeal.

Paul Spicer looks at Britten’s music that is performable in church, and suggests that choir directors have a treasure trove of wide-ranging music, from a great musical mind, which needs to be explored beyond the familiar.

The organists and choir-trainers who founded the College of Organists created a new kind of singing voice, which has had a tremendous influence right up to the present day.  Just before the Second World War, music critics from around Europe remarked that the outstanding contribution of England to the music of the world was the […]

The ‘essence’ of the cathedral choir said one authority in 1952 is ‘the boy’s voice’, and its men are ‘at their best when they blend with that clean white tone’. If asked to give an example of a choir which exemplified this ideal in 1952 many music-lovers and many cathedral musicians too would have unhesitatingly […]