Chrysostom wrote:No one has yet mentioned - so I will - another underlying problem: the fact that many musicians working in Catholic cathedrals do not in fact understand all this because - wait for it - they actually aren't Catholic.
The problem underlying this is that the Catholic church is not producing musicians of the quality required. Presumably at least some Catholics apply for at least some of the posts as they become available? Empirically then, the disadvantages of employing a non-Catholic must have been outweighed in the opinions of the selection committees by other factors, presumably relating to musical ability.
There are two ways of approaching this situation: train the non-Catholics or employ only Catholics.
We could train the non Catholic cathedral MDs and support them in learning our ways. There's a parallel with the situation in Catholic schools. These prefer to employ Catholic teachers, but often are unable to do so, because supply is less than demand and because Catholic teachers, like Catholic musicians, can be - and should be - evaluated first against the standards of their profession. There are certification routes available to teachers (Catholic and otherwise) who are responsible for teaching about the faith. There's no reason why a newly appointed Cathedral MD should not be required to train - people in most professions expect induction and on the job training in the specifics of their situation - most would accept it as a condition of employment. As regards support: presumably cathedrals are frequented by people with some knowledge of liturgy? Presumably some process could be agreed for reviewing planned repertoire? Presumably some responsibility could be shared with a liturgy committee? Much of this would apply just as validly to a Catholic appointee - which, together with the fact that the quality would fall, is why I don't believe that restricting the posts to Catholics is a good idea.
I would agree that all other things being equal, it is preferable to have a Catholic. How do we equalise all the other things? How do we get children in at the age of 8, how do we keep them interested aged 12, and what do we do to show them aged 18 that this is something to which they can devote their lives? At the moment, I guess most teenaged Catholic musicians will be unaware that that church music can ever be anything other than a hobby. If they don't know the profession is there, they can't aspire to joining it!
In this context, the decision to replace the boys treble line at one of our Cathedrals with adult singers largely drawn from a nearby Conservetoire has closed one development route for children. (No opinion about boys vs girls vs mixed implied here - I'm all for getting as many singing as possible).
The quality of Premiership football (foreign imports aside) depends on the national network of local clubs which ensures that talented youngsters get noticed. The C of E's network of parish and cathedral choirs produces a steady supply of people with the motivation and talent to train as professional liturgical musicians, and the awareness of the opportunities available when they have done so. Here in the US, it's quite normal to find a professional musician as a parish director of music, whose work in that capacity is a significant part of their living. So you get parishes with several choirs, directed by individuals who become role models for the next generation and reaching the musical standards in parishes that will attract the musically talented to that branch of the musical profession.
What's the equivalent in the UK? It's no use just hoping the people will turn up on the doorstep, qualified and willing. We have to make them. And this applies in the parish as much as in the cathedral. It means sponsored music tuition - and a bit of pocket money - in exchange for commitment to practice and, at the appropriate time, play. It means a welcoming attitude - a recruitment mentality - on our part. It means cross-parish activities, where greater numbers of people can together tackle more challenging music, to extend ambition. It means a lot of organisation and paperwork in regard to child protection. It's what the SSG is for, isn't it?
