Music at St Paul's

St Paul's has a strong commitment to music in its worship. Music enhances and inspires worship. In the way in which it moves people, it is a window on the majesty of God and a powerful expression of spirituality. Through music we can experience emotions that cannot be put in words, and at its best the effect of music can be "a glimpse of heaven", as Bishop Owen Dowling once told the congregation at St Paul's.

Our musical tradition is based on the best church music of the last two thousand years, from contemporary to ancient, and from many different countries.

But "traditional" does not mean "boring". The hymns, for example, sparkle along at a good pace with strong rhythm and exciting trumpet descants. The big 3 manual pipe organ can fill the building with sound, while the choir's unaccompanied singing at communion can be quite ethereal.

And "traditional" does not mean "old fashioned". We sing a large selection of hymns, including some of the better contemporary tunes where we sometimes use an electric piano if that is more suitable. The choir sings anthems as old as the 8th century, and as new as this year (sometimes singing anthems specially written for St Paul's).

At 8am and 10am we sing hymns, mostly drawn from the new "Together in Song" hymn book, and usually a congregational setting of the Mass. At 10am the choir sings the psalm, and sings anthems during communion on texts that are connected with the readings of the day. There is a large 3 manual pipe organ, and a strong choir. As well, there is a trumpet scholar who plays every fortnight.

The St Paul's Choir sings every Sunday for the 10am Eucharist. For this Eucharist they prepare the psalm to various different settings including, for example, Anglican chant, plainsong, and contemporary settings (all with a congregational response sung at the end of every second verse). They also sing two or three anthems at communion. Occasionally something special is required, such as a choral setting of the Mass or a special anthem on a particular church festival.

The choir is a full SATB choir. There are no auditions, but it would be helpful if singers could read music. There is no requirement for a choir member to be a committed Anglican, but everyone must remember that this is a choir whose task is to enhance the liturgy of an Anglican Christian service

of worship.

The choir rehearses on Tuesday nights in the church at 7.30pm for 90 minutes, and on Sunday mornings at 9.15 am for half an hour.

The choir also presents special events, notably at Christmas and Easter. Every year the choir joins forces with the choir of St Christopher's Roman Catholic Cathedral, also in Manuka, to present a huge Christmas carol service.

At Easter the choir has a tradition of a special presentation on Good Friday. In some years it has sung Stainer's "Crucifixion", a work which you either love or hate. But it has also, for example, sung Requiems by John Rutter and Gabriel Fauré, augmented by a small orchestra.

THE DIRECTOR OF MUSIC

Leading the music at St Paul's is Rev'd Dr Peter Pocock. Peter is a wonderful asset to the musical life of Canberra and to St Paul's in particular. He has held appointments in Australia and the United States in the fields of Choral Conducting, Church Music and Worship/Liturgy. Peter has lectured and conducted throughout North America, Australia and England. Among other honorary appointments, in 1999 he accepted the National Presidency of the National Association of Church Musicians in the United States. In 2001 Dr Pocock commenced a Master of Divinity degree at Claremont School of Theology. Returning to Australia in 2004, he completed his theology studies and is now Academic Secretary and Lecturer in Theology and Liturgy at St Mark's National Theological Centre, the School of Theology for Charles Sturt University. He was recently ordained Deacon in the diocese of Canberra and Goulburn.

As well as being Director of Music at St Paul's he is Principal Conductor and Music Director of the Canberra Choral Society. Peter is also an accomplished organist.

The St Paul's organ is unique in Australia: the first major combination installation of pipes augmented by electronic ranks in the country. It has three manuals, 57 stops and over 1,500 pipes. There are 5 x 32' ranks on the pedals, the only major organ with such stops in Canberra. The organ sits in a large gallery at the back of the church, with space for 60 singers and half a dozen instrumental players.

For an article describing the history of the organ, both pipe and electronic, and a full specification, click here.

The pipe organ builder is Peter D G Jewkes and Co of Sydney, who also maintains the organ regularly. The electronic augmentation is by Ahlborn-Galanti, and was installed by the Pipeless PipeOrgan Company of Sydney in 2001.

Organist at St Paul's is Christopher Erskine. As well as playing for the 10am Eucharist and special liturgical events during the year, he somehow finds time to compose and arrange anthems and hymns for the choir, trumpet, oboe, harp, brass and timpani to add to the worship of the church. His setting of "God of holy dreaming" was sung for the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to St Paul's in 2000, while his arrangement of "Silent Night" for two choirs, trumpet and organ has been repeated regularly by popular demand at the annual carol services.

To help fund its music program, St Paul's established a tax-deductible Arts Foundation in 2000. Donations of over $2 can be made to the foundation, which will provide you with a receipt to allow you to claim against your tax.

The Foundation supports the arts generally at St Paul's, not just music. In the musical sphere donations have enabled us to augment the organ and fund some of the scholarships.

For more information about making a donation to the Foundation, email the Parish Administrator.

St Paul's is very fortunate to have both Canberra Grammar School and Canberra Girls Grammar School in the neighbourhood. Each has a strong musical tradition and some excellent choirs. Once a term, each school sends one of its choirs to sing at the 10am Eucharist at St Paul's. They also join us for some special events.

When one of the school choirs sings, the St Paul's Choir has the Sunday off. This gives choir members the chance to experience the service from down below in the nave, rather than up above in the back gallery.

At 10am (and also at St David's, Red Hill) we usually sing the mass to a setting written by the former organist and choirmaster of St Paul's, John Barrett. John directed the music at St Paul's for over 20 years until his death in 1981.

During that time the Anglican Church moved away from the old 1662 Book of Common Prayer to a more contemporary prayer book. The parts of the liturgy that had been sung to traditional congregational settings such as Merbecke needed new settings to fit the changed words. There were additional parts to be sung, most notably the two new Eucharist acclamations during the Great Thanksgiving.

John set about writing a setting of his own. The music has clear links with the traditional Merbecke setting, but its simplicity of line has endeared it to the congregation. While we also sing the better-known Dudman setting occasionally, the Barrett setting is easily the congregation's preference. Over time the congregation has somewhat modified John Barrett's original music in places, changing a tempo here or a pause mark there. In 2001 an edited version of the Barrett setting was written out by the organist, Christopher Erskine, attempting to record the way the congregation now sings Barrett.

The Barrett setting deserves to be better known. The original version was commercially published in the early 1980s, and copies can still be found through the music shops.

Last modified: July 01, 2008