The School of English Church Music was founded by Sir Sydney Nicholson on St. Nicholas's Day, 6th December, 1927 in the Jerusalem Chamber of Westminster Abbey. 75 years later, to the day, the Choir of All Saints' Church was very well represented at a Festival Service, held at Westminster Roman Catholic Cathedral to celebrate the anniversary of the foundation of RSCM, and graced by the presence of HRH the Duchess of Gloucester. The Festival Choir, which numbered about 250, drew its members from many parts of the country. I sang next to a tenor from Morecombe Parish Church and processed with another tenor from Thorner near Wetherby. Officiating clergy included the Revd. Douglas Galbraith (Church of Scotland), the Rt. Revd. Peter Hullah (Bishop of Ramsbury), the Rt. Revd. Alan Rees OSB (Belmont Abbey) and the Revd. Mark Langham (Westminster Cathedral). The choir was conducted by David Ogden while Robert Quinney, Assistant Master of the Music at Westminster Cathedral, accompanied the service, using both east and west consoles of the cathedral organ.

The framework of the service used three sections from The Light of Life, the 75th anniversary service book published by RSCM in 2002. The book contains much new material and, even when hymn tunes like Abbot's Leigh, Kingsfold and Crucifer are well known, they accompany relatively new words by Fred Pratt Green, Timothy Dudley Smith and Shirley Murray, respectively. The text and music in the book bring together the work of a number of Christian denominations in several continents, representing a range of spirituality, musical traditions and styles that demonstrate the richness of Christian resources available for use in worship. The service included three major choral compositions. The Spirit's gift by Ian McKinley, first performed in Canberra in January 2001, sets the words of the 4th century office hymn "Rejoice! the year upon its way" and included a section in which the different choral parts speak simultaneously in English and foreign languages to illustrate the Whitsuntide theme "to all in every tongue they spoke". In the city of the Lord, an anthem by RSCM Director General John Harper, uses words for the blessing of a bell from the Bangor Pontifical of c. 1300. The Te Deum laudamus from Charles Villiers Stanford's B flat setting provided the musical climax of the service.

Before the service, Robert Quinney played J. S. Bach's canonic variations on Von Himmel hoch (BWV 769) and, appropriately in Advent, the closing voluntary was the fugue from Max Reger's fantasia on Wachet auf!

It was a rare privilege for us to have been able to participate in such an important and dignified service and one which celebrated church music throughout the English speaking world, irrespective of Christian denomination. May we hope that those who follow will carry the torch in 2027.

KEITH ATKINSON