Ian Graham is one of the founders of the Schola Gregoriana of Northumbria and is now its director.
I was born in Alnwick in Northumberland, where I attended the Duke’s School, acquiring some good practical experience of choir training from Aileen Willcox, the school’s music teacher. It was more G&S than Gregorian Chant in those days! After school I won an exhibition to Christ Church Oxford. I was fortunate enough to be there at the time when Simon Preston was organist and choir master at Christ Church Cathedral and regular contact with the music making in the Cathedral awakened in me a deep and abiding interest in high quality liturgical music.
After being awarded a degree in Jurisprudence, I moved to the Middle Temple in London on a Harmsworth Exhibition and Astbury Scholarship to study for the bar. After qualifying as a barrister, I returned to the northeast and now practice as a barrister based in Newcastle, specialising in criminal work. I also sit as a recorder on the Northeastern Circuit.
My first encounter with performing Chant came at the Anglican church of Christ Church Shieldfield in Newcastle, but I never really got to grips with “Briggs and Frear” (I think that’s what it was called).
My first serious experience of Chant came with the “Durham Holy Week” in the late 1980s. This was a wonderful if highly eccentric event, in which the traditional (pre-Pius XII) ceremonies of the Easter Triduum were celebrated in the debating chamber of the Durham Union. It was here that I met Richard Hoban, from whom I learned more about Chant singing and how it works than from anyone else. Richard and I became good friends and his death at the age of 33 I still feel as a terrible loss.
Another big influence on my knowledge and understanding of Chant is Dr Mary Berry. Although I was never one of Dr Berry’s “singers” I was able to sing with her at the 1000 year celebrations of Durham Cathedral and also at a Chant weekend in Manchester organised by the Latin Mass Society. I own all her Chant recordings and am an associate of her Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge.
Away from liturgical music my other great passion is opera, particularly the great romantic operas of the nineteenth century. My musical heroes include Reginald Goodall, Joan Sutherland, Rita Hunter and Carlo Bergonzi. Of musicians still active today I have immense respect for Antonio Pappano, music director of the Royal Opera House, and I adore the singing of the brilliant Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Monday, November 27, 2006
Brinkburn Priory
This is one of the loveliest ecclesiastical heritage sites in the North of England and has a very special place in the history of the Schola. Every year since 1995 an annual Latin Mass has been celebrated at the priory with music led by the Schola. The priory is set on the banks of the River Coquet, in the midst of beautiful Northumberland countryside and is a place of intense peace and tranquillity.
The priory church is the only complete surviving building of a monastery founded as a house for Augustinian canons in the twelfth century. Its original dedication was to St Peter, later modified to include St Paul. The house was never a large one and by the fourteenth century numbered only some twelve canons. In 1536 the monastery was dissolved and its buildings fell into ruin. Careful restoration work in the nineteenth century, instigated by Brinkburn's then owner Cadogan Hodgson Cadogan, restored the church building. This work involved the rebuilding of collapsed walls, the replacement of the roof and floor tiles and even the insertion of stained glass windows and an organ. Unlike some 'restorations' of the Victorian period the work at Brinkburn was carried out in a sensitive and restrained manner.
The building as it now stands is very close in layout to the church as it would have been when completed in the early 1200s. Later changes were minor and most of those were additions rather than rebuilding. The church is considered a fine example of northern transitional architecture and incorporates elements of both Norman and Early English styles.
One of the many remarkable qualities of the building is its wonderful acoustic. This was noted by Paul McCreesh, Director of the Gabrieli Consort. He has used the priory for recording some of his liturgical reconstructions and in 1993 he founded the Brinkburn Music Festival which has brought musicians of international standing to Brinkburn.
It was following an invitation to the Schola Gregoriana of Northumbria to sing at the first of those festivals that the idea was conceived by the singers of the Schola, along with a diocesan priest interested in traditional liturgy, of using Brinkburn for an annual Traditional LatinMass. Permission was obtained from the Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle and from English Heritage (who now look after the priory) and that annual Mass continues, more than ten years on.
It has been a great privilege to be able to fill this beautifully restored piece of history once again with the prayers and music of the Church. The Schola has led the music at every Brinkburn Mass, always singing the Proper of the Mass and sometimes a Chant Ordinary as well. On other occasions we have been joined by a polyphonic choir. Cappella Novocastriensis, Antiphon and the Rudgate Singers have all joined us to sing Mass settings by Palestrina, Victoria and Josquin.
The priory church is the only complete surviving building of a monastery founded as a house for Augustinian canons in the twelfth century. Its original dedication was to St Peter, later modified to include St Paul. The house was never a large one and by the fourteenth century numbered only some twelve canons. In 1536 the monastery was dissolved and its buildings fell into ruin. Careful restoration work in the nineteenth century, instigated by Brinkburn's then owner Cadogan Hodgson Cadogan, restored the church building. This work involved the rebuilding of collapsed walls, the replacement of the roof and floor tiles and even the insertion of stained glass windows and an organ. Unlike some 'restorations' of the Victorian period the work at Brinkburn was carried out in a sensitive and restrained manner.
The building as it now stands is very close in layout to the church as it would have been when completed in the early 1200s. Later changes were minor and most of those were additions rather than rebuilding. The church is considered a fine example of northern transitional architecture and incorporates elements of both Norman and Early English styles.
One of the many remarkable qualities of the building is its wonderful acoustic. This was noted by Paul McCreesh, Director of the Gabrieli Consort. He has used the priory for recording some of his liturgical reconstructions and in 1993 he founded the Brinkburn Music Festival which has brought musicians of international standing to Brinkburn.
It was following an invitation to the Schola Gregoriana of Northumbria to sing at the first of those festivals that the idea was conceived by the singers of the Schola, along with a diocesan priest interested in traditional liturgy, of using Brinkburn for an annual Traditional LatinMass. Permission was obtained from the Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle and from English Heritage (who now look after the priory) and that annual Mass continues, more than ten years on.
It has been a great privilege to be able to fill this beautifully restored piece of history once again with the prayers and music of the Church. The Schola has led the music at every Brinkburn Mass, always singing the Proper of the Mass and sometimes a Chant Ordinary as well. On other occasions we have been joined by a polyphonic choir. Cappella Novocastriensis, Antiphon and the Rudgate Singers have all joined us to sing Mass settings by Palestrina, Victoria and Josquin.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
History of the Schola
In 1993 a young priest of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, Fr Michael Brown, freshly returned from his study of canon law at the English College in Rome, obtained from Bishop Ambrose Griffiths permission for a monthly traditional Mass at Morpeth in Northumberland. Fr Brown approached me and asked if I would organise some music for this Mass and thus was the Schola Gregoriana of Northumbria born. Singing Gregorian Chant at the monthly Morpeth Mass was the regular work of the Schola for its first months.
Happily, news of the Schola’s existence and requests for the Schola's services grew. While singing for traditional Masses has always been the backbone of the Schola’s work, the choir has taken Gregorian Chant around the region over the past thirteen years, singing at special parish celebrations, weddings and funerals. We have run a workshop on the Chant and provided the music for Mass at St Mary's Cathedral, Newcastle. We have also sung for a traditional Requiem Mass at Middlesbrough Cathedral, gathering enthusiastic praise in the Middlesbrough diocesan newspaper: ‘the truly superb choir … sang the entire Proper of the Mass with consummate skill’.
An early appearance at the Brinkburn Music Festival, sharing a platform with the Orlando Consort, led to the establishment of the annual traditional Mass at Brinkburn Priory, and to further concert work. One notable concert was a joint event with one of Newcastle’s best choirs, the Cappella Novocastriensis, at which the Schola sang the Chant Requiem interspersed with Durufle’s setting sung by the Cappella.
The success of this concert led to the forging of a successful working relationship with the Cappella, who have now joined us to sing a polyphonic Ordinary at the Brinkburn Mass and Victoria’s Missa O Quam Gloriosum for the visit to Tyneside of Bishop Rifan. One of the interesting things about joint events of this type is the interest of the singers from the visiting choir at an opportunity to sing the music of Palestrina or Victoria in its proper context and interweaved with the Chants of the Proper.
We are also fortunate to have a close working relationship with organist Peter Locke. He is a graduate of the Birmingham Conservatoire and was assistant organist at St Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham. He is now organist at St Dominic's Priory, Newcastle. Peter plays for all major Schola events and also sings with the Schola.
The Schola now sings mainly at St Joseph’s Gateshead, where there is a traditional Mass every Sunday at 12 noon. We now aim to sing one Sunday Mass at St Joseph’s each month. Apart from that our plans include Masses on the major feasts and wherever interesting initiatives and invitations might take us. We have an open invitation to sing Vespers at a remote hermitage on the top of a hill in Northumberland…
The purpose of this blog is to record and report on the Schola's activities and plans. Other matters relating to high quality liturgical music may also appear from time to time.
Happily, news of the Schola’s existence and requests for the Schola's services grew. While singing for traditional Masses has always been the backbone of the Schola’s work, the choir has taken Gregorian Chant around the region over the past thirteen years, singing at special parish celebrations, weddings and funerals. We have run a workshop on the Chant and provided the music for Mass at St Mary's Cathedral, Newcastle. We have also sung for a traditional Requiem Mass at Middlesbrough Cathedral, gathering enthusiastic praise in the Middlesbrough diocesan newspaper: ‘the truly superb choir … sang the entire Proper of the Mass with consummate skill’.
An early appearance at the Brinkburn Music Festival, sharing a platform with the Orlando Consort, led to the establishment of the annual traditional Mass at Brinkburn Priory, and to further concert work. One notable concert was a joint event with one of Newcastle’s best choirs, the Cappella Novocastriensis, at which the Schola sang the Chant Requiem interspersed with Durufle’s setting sung by the Cappella.
The success of this concert led to the forging of a successful working relationship with the Cappella, who have now joined us to sing a polyphonic Ordinary at the Brinkburn Mass and Victoria’s Missa O Quam Gloriosum for the visit to Tyneside of Bishop Rifan. One of the interesting things about joint events of this type is the interest of the singers from the visiting choir at an opportunity to sing the music of Palestrina or Victoria in its proper context and interweaved with the Chants of the Proper.
We are also fortunate to have a close working relationship with organist Peter Locke. He is a graduate of the Birmingham Conservatoire and was assistant organist at St Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham. He is now organist at St Dominic's Priory, Newcastle. Peter plays for all major Schola events and also sings with the Schola.
The Schola now sings mainly at St Joseph’s Gateshead, where there is a traditional Mass every Sunday at 12 noon. We now aim to sing one Sunday Mass at St Joseph’s each month. Apart from that our plans include Masses on the major feasts and wherever interesting initiatives and invitations might take us. We have an open invitation to sing Vespers at a remote hermitage on the top of a hill in Northumberland…
The purpose of this blog is to record and report on the Schola's activities and plans. Other matters relating to high quality liturgical music may also appear from time to time.
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