dmu3tem wrote:If we return to the original message, I note that it relates to an Anglican church. So, here is a 'narrow' response to the question.
In the Anglican church 'traditional' and 'contemporary' is to some extent determined by the type of liturgy used. So, by this yardstick the following lines could be taken:
Traditional = Book of Common Prayer. Therefore the music is Anglican Chant (psalms and canticles), Merbecke communion service (Renaissance style plainchant refracted through C19th editorial work by Stainer) and other Communion service settings using the Book of Common Prayer texts (also in Cathedrals Anglicans do not flinch from adapted Latin Choral Mass settings), Hymns Ancient and Modern (1950s edition with '100 Hymns for Today' possibly added) or The English Hymnal (original 1906 edition or more modern revised versions).
Plainchant singing - still heavily influenced by Palmer's work (refracting Solesmes as understood in the 1930s) - is still occasionally sung in Cathedrals but appears to be defunct at parish level (though I imagine some might still be sung in a very 'High Church' Bells and Smells place.
Contemporary = Common Worship. Therefore the music is likely to be as follows:
either [1] 'Folk Group' stuff.
or [2] The following materials: Holy Communion: Congregational settings using an Organ led by a choir e.g. the Addington Service. There are many alternative version of the Holy Communion service; but in several cases the relevant texts are identical to those Catholics used between 1973-2011. Theoretically then Mass settings such as Paul Inwood's Gathering Mass could be used for this purpose. What is striking though is that Anglican musicians are very ignorant of much of this repertoire, probably because they do not have access to Catholic hymnals such as Laudate where such settings can be found.
: Psalms: Many parishes have responsorial psalm texts inserted on sheets with readings for the day published by the Redemptorists. All the parishes (not that many) that I know though do not sing them. Superficially they look like many such settings in the Catholic church. However the verse structure does not follow Gelineau patterns; so Gelineau and Bevenot chant cannot easily be used with them.
: Canticles. As far as I know little new music has been written for the new texts supplied by Common Worship. However metricalised texts have been used adapted to well known hymn tunes.
: Hymnals: either Kevin Mayhew's Anglican edition of Hymns Old and New or something like Mission Praise. (1980s publication and already a bit dated).
: Anglicans are familiar with parts of the Taize repertoire and with some of the music composed by Bernadette Farrell and composers of similar ilk. Even so, they are ignorant of many other elements from this 'St Thomas More' style. Anglican choirs, when they 'think modern' tend to reach for Rutter instead. Anthem collections such as that assembled by Knight (in the 1980s) are a fairly common staple. I know of at least one parish, however, that has access to 'modern' editions (by Colin Mawby) of old Cary collections of Catholic Anthems.
My encounters (such as they are) with Anglican musicians suggest that they are still very wedded to SATB choir-Organ setups if they are not 'Folk' musicians. Consequently, outside the field of hymnody, their experience of persuading congregations to sing Holy Communion and Responsorial/Proper settings in church is much more limited than in the English Catholic church. Very little work has been done trying to combine instruments with Organs, choirs and congregations (unlike with stuff from the St Thomas More traditions) and there is a complete divide between Organ-Choir traditions and 'Folk' groups. In addition cantors play are much less significant role than in the Catholic church.
It would be interesting to get more information about what Anglicans are up to; as my information is based on limited experience.
As a confirmed liturgy freak, my exploratory experiences of what happens locally in north London generally supports what you say above. I would add though that the churches near me:
- either chant the whole Psalm congregationally to Anglican chant but the majority sing it Responsorially in the same way that we do. Fewer and fewer seem to use a Gradual hymn.
- Communion settings - The settings used seem to be predominately Dom Gregory Murray, Peter Jones, and Paul Inwood's and the congregations sing these heartily. One church I visited mix and matched different settings for different parts of the Ordinary. I have noticed they also tend to sing Sursum Corda and the priests chant the first part of the Eucharistic Prayer , up to the Sanctus, and the Amen at the end is normally sung rather than spoken.
-Hymnals : They tend to produce bespoke service books with everything contained therein but the Hymns generally seem to come from the New English Hymnal (1985) or Common Praise (2000)
- Choirs: Robed choirs exist in most parish churches, and they tend to sing an anthem at Communion or lead a Taize style chant. As you say they don't have cantors, but to be honest they don't need seem to need them. Everyone sings the hymns and the sung parts of the service without prompting - including in two cases the Salve Regina at the end of mass which slightly took me aback!.
The position is different in the central London churches most of which have professional choirs where the Ordinary is sung to a setting, though a few have an earlier congregational service. But interestingly places like St Paul's Cathedral and St Martin-in-the-Fields now embrace sung Alleluia's, Gospel acclamations, the Mystery of Faith, something which has certainly come from the Catholic tradition.
