Interview: Father Guy Nicholls

- You are an Oratorian: tell us about that.

 

I first became interested in the Oratory when I was a schoolboy, having been acquainted with the figure of Cardinal Newman from my early years. My parish priest encouraged my sense of priestly vocation, and after university I offered myself to the Archdiocese of Birmingham and was accepted by Archbishop Dwyer who sent me to study in Rome. There I became familiar with the Roman Oratory and the figure of its founder, St Philip Neri, who had lived for many years just opposite the room in which I spent my six years in the Eternal City…This growing familiarity with St Philip deepened my interest in the Oratory and after ordination I was appointed to a parish not far from the Birmingham Oratory. I began to visit, especially to take part in the singing of Sunday Vespers and Benediction. The life of the Oratorian priests appealed, being that of a community sharing a common life yet, as secular priests, retaining their own property and a certain degree of independence. Their beautiful church, and their tradition of liturgy adorned with the finest examples of the ‘Church’s treasury of sacred music’ appealed to me.

 

- Are there any good English chants?

 

There are good settings of the texts of the Mass becoming available all the time. It is certainly important to begin from the requirement that anything sung in the Liturgy should be settings of the actual words of the missal and lectionary, and avoiding the use of paraphrases or ‘substitute chants’ such as hymns or ‘worship songs’. There are the simple Gregorian settings in Latin and English of the introits and (in the near future) the Communion antiphons in the Graduale Parvum, or those in Adam Bartlett’s Simple English Propers, which can be recommended straight away. The Graduale Parvum introits also have an accompanying set of CDs showing how each and every introit sounds. Such chants as these can be sung by a cantor and a congregation or a choir and congregation, with or without the accompaniment of an organ. That makes for very flexible performance styles in a wide variety of circumstances. Minimal training is required, and the [St] John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music is available to come round to parishes and deaneries to offer tutorials and days of musical education and liturgical experience.

 

- Tell us something about your own experiences with parish choirs. Can people without

special gifts or musical training sing?

 

I have sung with parish choirs, deanery choirs and accompanied them and directed them at different times as well, so my experience is pretty broad and comprehensive. In those choirs there have been some where nobody has had a formal musical training, but who can all benefit from direction by a sensitive and well trained choirmaster, and others where some or even most of the singers have been well trained and capable not only of reading music competently, but of doing so at sight. The range of ability is the thing. No two choirs are ever the same in this. The important thing is that volunteers who are genuinely interested and willing can always benefit from training even if they have not had any before joining a choir. But they must have the benefit of someone who has some musical training. A director, like an organist, needs some formal training in order to be able to pass on the necessary knowledge and skills to choir members. It is important to note that choirs need never simply ‘lead’ the singing of the congregation. Choirs can and should assist the congregation, but they have a vital role in their own right as the Second Vatican Council Document on the Liturgy recognised. Choirs should be fostered because their contribution to the liturgy can deepen the appreciation and participation of the congregation. ‘Active Participation’ also includes listening in silence to a celebrant, cantor, choir or organist singing or playing music which is designed for the enhancing of the true spirit of the liturgy.