Music
| Choir | Membership | Music staff | Organ | Bell ringing |
For details of the Choral Outreach Programme, please see the Education page.
To celebrate 40 years as a professional organist the Cathedral's Director of Music, Jonathan Bielby, has released two recordings. The Organ Works of Jonathan Bielby is a disc of his own compositions played on the organs of Wakefield Cathedral. 40 years at Wakefield contains a selection of choral music by, or commissioned by, Jonathan Bielby sung by the choirs of Wakefield Cathedral. You can hear edited snippets of several tracks by clicking on the links below (which should open in Windows Media Player).
The Organ Works of Jonathan Bielby Track Listing:
1 Carillon de Wakefield (1995) Three Hymn Preludes (1987) Little Suite (2002) 11 Deo Gratias (2005) |
Cornish Holiday (2009) 18 Francis’ Fandango (2007/9) Nine Variations on a Well-known Tune (1994) |
40 Years at Wakefield Track Listing:
1 Except the Lord build the house 2 Let the roring Organs loudly play 4 Exsultet 5 Love's endeavour, love's expense 6 Finale from Sequence for All Saints - music by Kenneth Leighton 7 When I needed a neighbour 8 Carol of the birds 9 Three kings are here 10 Carol for Grimethorpe 12 Sans Day Carol 13 It is a thing most wonderful - music by Philip Moore
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14 Kyrie from Millennium Mass 15 Psalm 66 16 Psalm 119 vv 49-56 17 Magnificat from Trebles Service 18 Nunc Dimittis from Wakefield Service - music by Andrew Carter 19 O taste and see 20 The Lord from out of Sion 21 Lord, I have loved the habitation 22 Millennium Resolution 23 God's Garden 24 Strengthen for service - music by Sean Farrell 25 O my Saviour, lifted (Carharrack)
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The CDs are available to purchase from the Cathedral Bookshop, priced £11.75 each.
Cathedral Choir
The Parish Church of All Saints became the Cathedral for the new Diocese of Wakefield in 1888. Wakefield Cathedral has developed a splendid tradition of liturgy and music which attracts congregations from a wide area. Wakefield has long had a traditional choir of men and boys. In 1992 we became only the second cathedral in Britain to establish a girls choir.
The Cathedral Choir consists of boys, girls and lay clerks. Most of the boys are educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School and receive choral scholarships. They are aged from 8 to 13. Girl choristers were introduced in 1992, shortly after their introduction at Salisbury Cathedral. Aged from 8 to 18 they are recruited from various schools. The lay clerks in some cases travel vast distances in their devotion to the musical worship and liturgy for which the Cathedral is famed.
The Choir sings choral evensong on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and occasionally Friday. Sunday sung services are the Parish Eucharist, Solemn Eucharist and Evensong. Usually the boys and girls sing separately, either by themselves or with the men. On very special occasions we can amalgamate all our resources. The boys, girls and men undertake a full programme of services, concerts, recordings and TV appearances. Recently they produced their first CD to feature the whole choral foundation. Despite the various extra activities outlined below, which enable the Cathedral's ministry and worship to be spread more widely, the Choir's primary work remains, and will always remain, the offering of the highest standards of music in the regular services of the Cathedral.
In the 1970s the Cathedral Choir took an active part in the West Riding Cathedrals Festival (together with the choirs of Bradford and Sheffield Cathedrals). Since 1981 it has teamed up with the choirs of Ripon Cathedral and Leeds Parish Church in the Yorkshire Three Choirs Festival. The first Yorkshire Girls' Choirs Festival took place at Wakefield in 1998 (girls and men from York Minster, Ripon, Sheffield and Wakefield Cathedrals, and Leeds Parish Church).
National tours started in 1975 with a visit to Wells Cathedral (also in 1976); Winchester, Salisbury, Chichester, Portsmouth and Arundel followed in 1977, and St. Paul's Cathedral in 1980.Overseas tours started with two visits to Germany: Unna in 1979, and Braunschweig in 1981.The 1983 tour was to Le Puy in France, and three years later the choir made a return visit to Unna. The two American tours in 1991 and 1995 were to the eastern seaboard of the United States, from Boston through New York and Baltimore to Washington. A tour of Scotland in 1993 featured the music of Leighton. In 1999 the Choir visited Salzburg and southern Germany and in 2003 the venue was Rome and Tuscany. The girls have been on tour to Ely and London. Their first overseas tour with the men was to Sweden in 2001, followed by a week's residency at Chichester in 2004.
Joining the choir
There are currently vacancies in Wakefield Cathedral Choir for Girl Choristers. If you would like to hear more in general about joining the choir as a boy, girl or adult lay clerk, please contact Thomas Moore on 01924 434487 or by email.
Ten reasons for joining:
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Enjoy singing as an enthralling leisure activity for life.
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Benefit from expert musical training and individual singing tuition only available in a few centres of musical excellence.
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Have the chance to sing in front of the Queen and at other important occasions.
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Sing live on national radio.
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Learn how CDs are made and be part of the recording.
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Take part in the annual Yorkshire Three Choirs Festival with the choirs of Ripon Cathedral and Leeds Parish Church.
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Go on singing tours both here and abroad - Cathedral Boy Choristers have sung in America (twice), Germany (4 times), Austria and Italy.
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Sing in glorious buildings like York Minster and Leeds Town Hall, Salzburg Cathedral and on Broadway.
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Be part of the English Cathedral Music tradition, famed the world over.
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There are only 42 cathedrals in mainland England - so being a Cathedral Chorister is something special!
It is a real privilege to be able to sing in Wakefield Cathedral Choir which has a national reputation for excellence in worship. All choristers receive payment from the Cathedral. The commitment normally involves singing at four services each week, but the duties are sensibly phased in. We are looking for boys aged 7-10.
Music staff
Thomas Moore (Acting Director of Music) was born in Leicester, and started his musical career early, beginning to play the piano at the age of
four. He was a treble in Leicester Cathedral Choir, and was inspired to start organ lessons with the Cathedral Assistant Organist, Geoffrey Carter. After Tom had completed his schooling in Leicester, he moved to Huddersfield to take a Bachelor of Music degree at the University. He majored in organ studies, studying under Keith Jarvis, and taking part in master classes given by Dame Gillian Weir, David Titterington, and Peter Hurford. During his time in West Yorkshire, he broadcast on radio and television, and was successively organ Scholar at Huddersfield Parish Church, and Bradford Cathedral, playing the organ for the Royal Maundy Thursday service, in March 1997.Following graduation in September 1998, Tom was appointed Assistant Organist at Peterborough Cathedral, and eventually returned to Huddersfield University to study for his Master of Arts in Music, graduating in September 1999. In September 2002, Tom assumed his present appointment as Assistant Director of Music at Wakefield Cathedral, and Director of the girl choristers of the Cathedral Choir. In April 2010 Tom was appointed Acting Director of Music following the retirement of Jonathan Bielby after 40 years as Cathedral Organist. Tom is also regularly in demand as a freelance recitalist and accompanist/repetiteur; his engagements in the latter capacity have included accompanist for the Halifax Choral Society, the Yorkshire Philharmonic Choir, and the Overgate Hospice Choir. He is on the teaching staff at Huddersfield University, Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, and has also taught for Leeds College of Music.
Daniel Justin (Acting As
sistant Director of Music) was born in Bristol in 1990. He began Organ lessons with Ian Ball at Clifton Cathedral at age 6, before studying with Robert Fielding and Rosemary Thomas. At age 10, he won a Music Scholarship to Downside School in Somerset, and began studying under Christopher Tambling. When he entered the Sixth Form, he began Organ lessons with David Bednall and was appointed Organ Scholar, regularly playing for services in the Abbey and accompanying the Choir. Daniel has performed recitals at Downside, and in several Churches in the Bristol area, notably at St Mary Redcliffe and the Colston Hall in Bristol. He has taken part in the Oundle course for Prospective Organ Scholars and attended a masterclass with Wayne Marshall. Daniel scored 143/150 in his Grade 8 in 2007, and gained the Associateship Diploma of the Royal College of Organists (ARCO) in January 2009. He is also a singer, having received lessons from Christopher Sheldrake, a Vicar Choral of Wells Cathedral, where he deputised regularly during 2008. At School, he was the director of the Compline Choir and Barbershop Ensemble. His interests lie in improvising and composition, with some of his compositions receiving performance in Downside Abbey and the surrounding area. Appointed Organ Scholar in 2008, Daniel is currently working towards a BMus at the University of Huddersfield. Daniel has been Acting Assistant Director of Music since April 2010.
Organ
The present organ was constructed in three stages:
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1905 - Abbot and Smith (using a small amount of earlier pipework)
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1951 - John Compton (much new pipework except in Swell and Choir)
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1985 - Wood of Huddersfield (much new upperwork, some rearrangement)
The action is electro-pneumatic. Unusually, all the pipework except the Choir Organ and the Tuba is enclosed in swell boxes. Compton's work was based on the use of unit chests of the sort pioneered by Robert Hope-Jones. At Wakefield, the Great, Solo, Bombarde and Pedal divisions retain these unit chests, one for each rank, with substantial extension. The Swell and Choir divisions are on conventional chests, without extension. Wind pressures are relatively high, especially for the Great and Solo reeds - approximately 10" and 15" respectively. The Pedal 'Contrabass' - also on high pressure is in fact a 'Diaphone' with wooden tubes. The large number of low-pitched stops reflects the particular acoustic of Wakefield Cathedral, where the lower pitches do not carry well through the building. This is particularly true when there is a large congregation. While Wakefield Cathedral Organ is unmistakably English in character, well-suited to accompanying both choir and congregation, it is also remarkably versatile for recital work. We often feel it sounds better in the building than its designs suggests it should! This is largely due to the sensitive rebuilding by Mr David Wood in 1985. There have only been four organists at Wakefield since the church became a cathedral in 1888. The present Organist and Director of Music, Mr Jonathan Bielby, has been in post since 1970 and retires at Easter 2010 after 40 years service. He is the longest serving organist in any English Cathedral.
Download the specification.
Bell ringing at Wakefield Cathedral
The Cathedral has 14 bells, tenor 35-1-0 cwt in C, including a flat 6th (note B flat), and extra treble (note A), to give a light 10 in F (tenor 14 cwt). We do not normally ring more than 12 bells at one time.
Normal Ringing Times:
Sundays:
8.45 am to 9.10 am
10.25 am to 10.55 am
3.00 pm to 4.00 pm (From the last Sunday in October until Easter Day)
5.30 pm to 6.30 pm (From Low Sunday until the third Sunday in October)
Tuesday Practice:
7.00 pm to 9.00 pm
Visiting ringers are very welcome. Our practices range from rounds and call changes on six up to Surprise Maximus. Entrance on practice night is through the West Door. This is usually manned between 7.00 pm to 7.30 pm then locked.