June 2006
Church Music in Christ Church Cathedral Waterford	Show Menu

Eric Sweeney writes about the choir and music in Waterford's Church of Ireland Cathedral

The choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Waterford numbers some twenty singers and is robed. There is a weekly rehearsal on Thursdays at 6 p.m. and a short rehearsal before the 10 a.m. service on Sunday mornings. As is the tradition in many churches, the choir sings a setting of the Eucharist and a communion anthem on the first and third Sundays of the month and Mattins on the second with a setting of at least one of the canticles, together with the psalm and other music.

On the fourth Sunday (Service of the Word) a junior choir takes over in the morning while the choir sings a traditional Choral Evensong at 6.30 p.m. with an introit, settings of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, an anthem, sung responses and special organ music. For the month of May the introit was Cast thy burden upon the Lord (Mendelssohn), Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in d minor, (Walmisley), anthem: Kyrie, (Sweeney), and the voluntary was the final movement from Elgar's Sonata for Organ.

The anniversary year of Mozart's birth was marked at the Festival Eucharist on Easter Sunday, when the music included Mozart's Coronation Mass and Laudate Dominum and the organ postlude was the composer's Fantasia and Fugue in f minor.

The choir has participated in many choral festivals and events including, in recent times, a ‘Three Choirs Festival' with Lismore and Kilkenny athedrals and their respective organists Jan van Putten and Malcolm Proud. Both Malcolm Proud and Eric Sweeney work in the music depart-ment of Waterford Institute of Technology which offers a full time BA Music degree in music with specialisations in classical music, Irish traditional music and jazz and popular music together with postgraduate programmes of MA and PhD. In addition, the Institute plans to offer a part-time certificate and diploma in church music from next year. Since the Kenneth Jones rebuild in 2003 of the historic Elliot organ, the cathedral runs a regular concert series throughout the year including the popular ‘Coffee Concerts' normally on the first Sunday of the month at noon. During the summer there will be three such concerts, on 4 June (Eric Sweeney), 16 July (Guttorm Guleng, winner of the 2005 Pipeworks Organ Festival) and 6 August (the Australian virtuoso Thomas Heywood). Other events in the current series include the Irish Baroque Orchestra (28 June), National Youth Choir of Wales (29 July), Cologne New Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra (11 August) and St Brigid's Cathedral Choir (27 August) as well several traditional Irish music and world music concerts.

Further details available from mailto:info@christchurchwaterford.com or info@christchurchwaterford.com

Dr Eric Sweeney is Head of Music at Waterford Institute of Technology and Organist and Choir Director at Christ Church Cathedral, Waterford. Eric is a recitalist, composer and a member of Aosdána. His e-mail address is: esweeney@wit.ie and his website is http://www.ericsweeney.com/.

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