The Southwell Consort

Consort Director Dominic Bevan on the Latin Mass Society’s regular Monday evening Mass and the joys of polyphony

It is now a year since the new musical regime was put in place to accompany the liturgy for the LMS’s regular Monday evening Mass at Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane. A new polyphonic choir of amateur singers was started, and received the name The Southwell Consort. It is named after St Robert Southwell who said Mass to the music of William Byrd. This choir alternates with the existing Houghton Schola that sings Gregorian chant in the lower register only.

There was much concern that the running of a polyphonic choir would be difficult to maintain. The Mass is at a tricky time for the purposes of rehearsal, and polyphony requires much rehearsal. What kind of nonprofessional singer would be able to confidently read music at a high level, be free to rehearse for at least an hour before Mass, and come regularly? As it turns out, many.

I am myself a professional singer, having been lucky enough to study with some of the greats at the Royal College of Music for four wonderful years. However, my journey to singing at a professional level began with years of amateur singing. It takes time to develop the ability to sightread music on the spot. I had already learned to do this at a relatively good level before I started at the Royal College.

On my non-professional musical journey, I sang with many amateur choirs that enjoyed singing music of the European Renaissance, that is the 16th and early 17th centuries. This music is more commonly known as polyphonic music. Why is this popular? In later music, generally, the soprano part has the tune and the other parts (altos, tenors and basses) all sing the harmonies to accompany the sopranos. However, in polyphonic music every part has the tune and all voice parts are on an equal footing with each other. The talent of the composer is to create extraordinary harmonies while each voice part weaves in and out of each other, and all maintaining their own melodic line. The master of this technique (known as counterpoint) was Palestrina, Master of Music at St Peter’s Rome from 1551 and member of the Sistine Chapel choir.

It always seemed strange for me to be performing these extraordinary Mass settings and motets in concerts. This was not what these c16 composers intended. Byrd, Tallis and Tye would be devastated to know that their music, composed often for secret Catholic Masses behind closed doors, was being performed to paid audiences sipping gin and tonic in secular concert venues. Surely it would be a much more satisfying experience for all involved for this music to be heard Surely in the context for which it was intended? This is exactly the premise that pushed me to convince the trustees of the LMS it would be to give this a go, and this is how I managed to convince every good amateur singer I know to come a much more and sing at Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane. A year on, and The satisfying experience Southwell Consort has only scratched the surface of the for all involved for this innumerable treasures of the European polyphonic riches of the music to be heard Renaissance. Two of my colleagues spend their in the context for time transcribing music from facsimiles taken from dusty libraries in which it was Rome, Spain and the British Library. The numbers in the choir continue to grow. It turns intended? out that there are many singers who sang at a high level in chapel choirs or university ensembles, and relish the opportunity to sing this music at an extremely high level in the context for which this music was composed: that is the holy sacrifice of the Mass. Some of them are Catholic, some not, but all extremely sympathetic and there is a real opportunity for apostolising just by being exposed to the Mass regularly in all its glory. I must also mention that the serving at Maiden Lane is really excellent - dignified and un-fussy. This combination of liturgy and music makes the Monday evening Mass at Maiden Lane like a spiritual oasis in an increasingly hostile world. The singers, Christian or not, never fail to be impressed by it.