5.30pm, Friday 19 May 2023
St Pancras Parish Church, NW1 2BA

Performers

The Choir of St Pancras Parish Church
Christopher Batchelor Direction

Programme

A beautiful recital of sacred music by two of the United Kingdom’s most prolific church music composers, honouring both the 80th birthday of Philip Moore and the 10th anniversary of the death of Stephen Dodgson.

Philip Moore

The name of Philip Moore conjures up the dreamy picture of the beautiful and imposing towers of York Minster, where, for more than 20 years, he held the post of Organist and Master of the Music, having succeeded Dr Francis Jackson in 1983. However, if you peruse the catalogues of those British publishers who specialise in choral music, you’ll also see his name in most of them, as a composer and arranger.

Philip Moore was born in London and received his musical education at the Royal College of Music, where he studied organ, piano, composition, and conducting. His career has since led him through a succession of the UK’s most respected choral institutions, where he has built on his expertise on the great Cathedral performance traditions.

Stephen Dodgson

Stephen Dodgson Stephen Dodgson was born in London in 1924 and lived there with few interruptions all his life. He was educated at Stowe and served in the Royal Navy during World War II. He received his musical training at the Royal College of Music, and was subsequently for many years a member of its teaching staff in theory and composition. He started working at the College in the Junior Department where he also conducted the orchestra, for which he wrote several pieces. In 1950 he lived in Italy on a scholarship.

From 1957 he was often employed by the BBC; as provider of incidental music for many major drama productions, as well as a frequent and familiar broadcaster of reviews and other musical topics.

Stephen’s output is prolific and his compositions cover almost every genre, including opera (Margaret Catchpole, 1979), seven piano sonatas, nine string quartets, and much other chamber music. There is also a substantial body of music for symphony orchestra and many concertos with chamber orchestra. His large output of vocal music ranges from a Magnificat and a Te Deum for chorus, soloists and orchestra, through to music for unaccompanied choir and songs for one or two singers with instrumental accompaniment. As Chairman of The National Youth Wind Orchestra for many years, Stephen also wrote music for this and other wind orchestras. For the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble he wrote and arranged music for various combinations of brass instruments. He is, however, probably best known worldwide for his numerous works for guitar. His interest in this instrument was prompted by Julian Bream.

Much of this music has now been recorded, including six orchestral Essays, all the String Quartets, a String Sextet, Quintets for Clarinet, Flute and Guitar, all the Piano Sonatas, Bagatelles, and Piano Trios, other chamber and vocal music, and most of the guitar music.

Christopher Batchelor

Christopher Batchelor Christopher Batchelor was an organ scholar of Hertford College, Oxford, during which time he was taught by James Dalton. After graduating he moved to Cambridge where, under the supervision of Peter le Huray, he pursued research into 17th century English church music, being awarded both an MPhil and a PhD. During this time he held positions at both Downing and Gonville & Caius Colleges.

Christopher moved to London in 1988, succeeding Christopher Bowers-Broadbent as Director of Music and Organist of St Pancras Parish Church. He has taught at a number of institutions, including University College School and the Royal Military School of Music where he was Professor of Orchestration and Arranging.

Following the re-establishment of the London College of Music in 2006, Christopher became head of the institution, working with many well-known colleagues and establishing a modern conservatoire. His contributions to education and contemporary church music have recently been acknowledged by the award of an Hon. FLCM.

Alongside his performing experience, he has a long-standing practical interest in the organ and was Managing Director of Harrison & Harrison Organ Builders until July 2017; his legacy has been described as “unprecedented”. He continues his association with the organ as an advisor/consultant.

Christopher founded The London Festival of Contemporary Church Music in 2002.

The Choir of St Pancras Parish Church

The Choir of St Pancras Parish Church is a professional choral ensemble that provides choral music at all liturgical services at St Pancras Parish Church. Most members of the choir have come from a collegiate background and gone on to study as postgraduate students at one of the London conservatoires. This combination of superb sight-reading and world-class vocal training gives the group tremendous flexibility, enabling the performance of a repertory that spans five centuries: ranging from motets from the Eton Choirbook to new commissions by composers such as Roxanna Panufnik, Michael Berkeley, Cecilia McDowall, Howard Skempton, Michael Finnissy, Gabriel Jackson, Francis Pott, Sebastian Forbes, Francis Grier, Kerry Andrew, Antony Pitts, and many more.