What is Anglican Church Music?

Information about Anglican Church Music

Anglican church music is music that is written for liturgical performance in Anglican church services.

Almost all of it is written for choir with or without organ accompaniment. The choir typically uses "SATB" voices (soprano or treble, alto or counter-tenor, tenor, and bass), though in many works some or all of these voices are divided into two for part or all of the piece; in this case the two halves of the choir (one on each side of the aisle) are traditionally named decani (or 1, for the higher voice) and cantoris (or 2, for the lower voice). There may also be soloists, usually only for part of the piece. There are also works for fewer voices, such as those written for solely men's voices or boys'/women's voices.

Many more recent works were written for, or dedicated to, one of the many famous cathedral or collegiate choirs of England.

The chief musical forms are: In all but the smallest churches the congregation was until recently confined to the singing of hymns. Over the past half century or so efforts have been made to increase the role of the congregation and also to introduce more "popular" musical styles. Not all churches can boast a full SATB choir, and a repertoire of one-, two- and three-part music is more suitable for many parish church choirs, a fact which is recognised in the current work of the Royal School of Church Music.

Anglican churches also frequently draw upon the musical traditions of other Christian denominations. This is particularly the case in music for the Mass, much of which is taken from the work of Roman Catholic composers.

See also

External links

A liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to their particular traditions. In religion, it may refer to, or include, an elaborate formal ritual such as the Catholic Mass, or a daily activity such as the Muslim Salats (see
..... Read more.
Anglicanism most commonly refers to the beliefs and practices of the Anglican Communion, a world-wide affiliation of Christian Churches. There is no single "Anglican Church" with universal juridical authority, since each national or regional church has full autonomy.
..... Read more.
church is an association of people who share a particular belief system. The term church originated from Greek "κυριακή" - "kyriake",[1] meaning "of the lord".
..... Read more.
A choir, chorale, or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers.

A body of singers who perform together is called a choir or chorus. The former term is very often applied to groups affiliated with a church (whether or not they actually occupy the quire) and the
..... Read more.
organ is a keyboard instrument played using one or more manuals and a pedalboard. It uses wind moving through metal or wood pipes and/or it uses sampled organ sounds or oscillators to produce sound, which remains constant while a key is depressed.
..... Read more.
soprano is a singer with a voice range from approximately middle C (C4) to "high A" (A5) in choral music, or to "soprano C" (C6, two octaves above middle C) or higher in operatic music.
..... Read more.
Treble (or Boy Soprano in colloquial English) is a term applied in music to a young male singer with an unchanged voice in the soprano range. Occasionally boys whose voices have changed can continue to sing in the soprano range for a period of time.
..... Read more.
alto or contralto is a singer with a vocal range somewhere between a tenor and a mezzo-soprano. The term is used to refer to the lowest female singing voice, or to a kind of male singing voice utilizing falsetto called a countertenor.
..... Read more.
A countertenor is an adult male who sings in an alto, mezzo or soprano range, often through use of falsetto, or sometimes natural head voice. This term is used almost exclusively in the context of the classical vocal tradition, although numerous popular artists have
..... Read more.
tenor is a singer with a voice range from approximately C3 (one octave below middle C) to A4 (above middle C) in choral music, or up to "tenor C" (C5, one octave above middle C) or higher in operatic music (see voice type).
..... Read more.
A bass (or basso in Italian) is a male singer who sings in the deepest vocal range of the human voice. According to Grove Music Online, a bass has a range extending from around the F below low C to the E above middle C (i.e., F2–E4).
..... Read more.
For the city in Kosovo, see Dečani.
The side of a church choir occupied by the Dean. In English churches this is typically the choir stalls on the south side of the chancel, although there are some notable exceptions, such as Durham Cathedral.
..... Read more.
Cantoris is the side of a church choir occupied by the Cantor. In English churches this is typically the choir stalls on the north side of the chancel, although there are some notable exceptions, such as Durham Cathedral. The opposite side is known as Decani.
..... Read more.
cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop. It is a religious building for worship, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox and some Lutheran churches, which serves as a bishop's seat, and
..... Read more.
Preces (Latin preces, plural of prex, "prayer") are, in liturgical worship, short petitions that are said or sung as versicle and response by the officiant and congregation respectively.
..... Read more.
antiphon is a response, usually sung in Gregorian chant, to a psalm or some other part of a religious service, such as at Vespers or at a Mass. This meaning gave rise to the antiphony style of singing, see call and response.
..... Read more.
A cantor or chanter is the chief singer (and oft times instructor) employed in a church with responsibilities for the ecclesiastical choir; also called the precentor.
..... Read more.
Tanakh
Torah | Nevi'im | Ketuvim
Books of Ketuvim
Three Poetic Books
1. Psalms
2. Proverbs
3. Job
Five Megillot
4. Song of Songs
5. Ruth
6.
..... Read more.
Anglican chant is a method of singing prose translations of the Psalms, canticles, and other, similar texts. As the name implies, it is used primarily in Anglican churches.
..... Read more.
In Anglican church music, a Service is a musical setting of certain parts of the liturgy, generally for choir with or without organ accompaniment.


The parts of the liturgy available for musical setting are:

Morning Prayer

..... Read more.
This article discusses the Mass as a standard form of classical music composition. For the Mass and its meaning as a part of the Eucharistic liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, see Mass (liturgy). For mass as a concept in physics, see mass.

..... Read more.
A canticle (from the Latin canticulum, a diminutive of canticum, song) is a hymn (strictly excluding the Psalms) taken from the Bible. The term is often expanded to included ancient non-biblical hymns such as the Te Deum and certain psalms used liturgically.
..... Read more.
An anthem is a composition to an English religious text sung in the context of an Anglican service. The term has evolved to mean a song of celebration, usually acting as a symbol for a certain group of people, as in the term "national anthem". See below for other uses.
..... Read more.
In Western music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.

The name comes either from the Latin movere, ("to move") or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance.
..... Read more.
For other meanings see hymn (disambiguation)


A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a god or other religiously significant figure.
..... Read more.
The largest church music organisation in Britain, the Royal School of Church Music was founded in 1927 by Sir Sydney Nicholson and has 11,000 members worldwide; it was originally named the School of English Church Music.
..... Read more.
Christianity

Foundations
Jesus Christ
Church Theology
New Covenant Supersessionism
Dispensationalism
Apostles Kingdom Gospel
History of Christianity Timeline
Bible
Old Testament New Testament
Books Canon Apocrypha
..... Read more.
Composers who have made significant contributions to the repertory of Anglican church music.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
See also 

A

  • Thomas Armstrong
  • Thomas Attwood

..... Read more.
Morning Prayer (also Mattins or Matins), in the various editions of the Book of Common Prayer and other Anglican liturgical texts, was, until the last quarter of the twentieth century, the main Sunday morning service on most Sundays in all but the most high
..... Read more.
Evening Prayer is a liturgy used in the Anglican Communion (and other churches in the Anglican tradition, such as the Continuing Anglican Movement) used in the late afternoon or evening.
..... Read more.