London archdiocese releases choir videos to share ‘power of worship through music’

CNA Staff, Oct 4, 2024 / 16:15 pm (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Southwark in London released a series of choir videos this week in the hopes of helping to “preserve [the] great tradition” of liturgical music and leading more people to the Catholic Church. 

The archdiocese, centered in central London at St. George’s Cathedral, Southwark, said on its website that the cathedral released the videos “to promote the power of worship through music and song.”

“The Church’s musical tradition is a treasure of inestimable value, and musicians have a duty to preserve this great tradition,” Jonathan Schranz, the director of music for the archdiocese, said in the release.

“In our own way, in Southwark, we are privileged to be able to use our voices to direct hearts and minds upwards on a weekly basis through liturgical singing,” he said.

St. George’s has an extensive choir program featuring singers of multiple ages and skill levels. The church’s Cathedral Choir, which dates back to the 1840s, “is made up of boy and girl choristers aged 7 to 12 along with nine professional singers known as Lay Clerks,” the cathedral’s website says.

The Cathedral Consort, meanwhile, was formed in 2019 and consists of “a select group of teenagers aged 13 and upwards.”

The Southwark Singing Program, meanwhile, was launched in 2022 as “a diocesan music education program which works in partnership with schools and parishes to develop musical provision and sacred singing across the diocese.” 

That program features “whole-class singing sessions in primary and secondary schools on a weekly basis,” which “feed into local after-school choirs which serve parish and school liturgies.”

Archdiocesan spokesman Patrick Kinsella told CNA that the choirs “are always performing and practicing.”

“We put on these sessions to promote the power of worship through music, showcasing the talented choirs,” he said. “By using social media, we hope to reach as many people as possible.” 

“It’s not just people who go to Mass every day or week we want to inspire, but those who haven’t been for a while too,” he said.

“By hearing the beauty of the music, we pray it leads to people returning to church.”

‘A particular joy to work with children’

The performances recently shared by the archdiocese include modern songs such as “10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)” and “The Power of the Cross,” performed by children in the Southwark Singing Programme.

Also featured are more traditional and ancient works such as “O nata lux” and “Tantum ergo,” performed by the Cathedral Consort and the Cathedral Choir.

Also among the musical performances published by the archdiocese is the Gregorian chant “Veni Creator Spiritus” performed by the Lay Clerks. 

Schranz said in the archdiocese’s release that it was “a particular joy to work with children from our archdiocesan schools on these recordings.”

“The passion the children have for singing and music is one we should not only embrace but fervently encourage,” he said. 

On its website St. George’s Cathedral says its original choir “was formed in 1848 when the cathedral was opened.”

The choir sings weekly at Sunday Mass “and on major events of the year, such as Advent, Christmas, Holy Week, and Easter.”