Music

Music at Saint George's finds its noblest expression in liturgy and prayer.

It draws inspiration from the logic and beauty of Book of Common Prayer worship, as well as the shape and substance of the liturgical year. Whether it be robust congregational singing of hymns and psalms, polyphonic masses and motets sung by the choir, or the sweet singing of children's voices, music at Saint George's aspires to tune our hearts and minds to prayer and praise.

A Message from Music Director, Garth MacPhee

September, 2025

Cantate Domino, canticum novum – ‘Sing to the Lord a new song’ (Psalm 98)

These words, so familiar, have recently landed on my ears as if for the first time. Last Sunday, when the Music Room was blessed, the choir sang a 16th century motet based on this text, by Hans Leo Hassler. It’s self-evident that a psalm text about singing praise to God is suitable for such an occasion. We may well ponder a bit more deeply the psalmist’s exhortation to ‘sing a new song’. Ever since his arrival in our midst last September, Fr Thorne has been challenging Saint George’s to do just that.

In a sermon given at choral evensong last Sunday at St Thomas Fifth Avenue, Rev’d Canon Carl Turner addressed the newly appointed music director by quoting these words, emphasizing the ‘new song’. He went on to quote the late Dr Jaroslav Pelikan, widely regarded as America’s greatest historical theologian, who said that,

Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. Tradition lives in conversation with the past, while remembering where we are and when we are and that it is we who have to decide. Traditionalism supposes that nothing should ever be done for the first time, so all that is needed to solve any problem is to arrive at the supposedly unanimous testimony of this homogenized tradition.

Rev’d Carl Turner went on to say:

We need to open up opportunity, sharing what we do best with others, bringing more people into our orbit by which you can preserve that which is core to the mission.

Turner’s words, meant to galvanize his congregation at St Thomas’s at a time when their world-famous choral tradition is facing an uncertain future, might just as well have been preached from our pulpit at Saint George’s. In fact, if we’ve been paying close attention, this is the message our Priest-in-Charge has been issuing forth, week by week.

I think most of us at the Round Church cherish tradition: our patterns of prayer set forth in the Prayer Book, the beauty of liturgy, the preaching of God’s Holy Word that is both edifying and exhortative, the music of our choirs and organ. We are steeped in an ancient tradition that many argue is no longer relevant, and worse still, is stuffy and exclusive.

Last Sunday, our Priest-in-Charge asked us to consider what our neighbours might think it is we believe at Saint George’s; not, I hasten to add, what we would like them to think.

How do we answer the call to ‘opening up opportunity’, to ‘share what we do best with others’, to ‘bring more people into our orbit’? As Director of Music, these questions loom large, not only in relation to the shape and substance of the music programme, but how music contributes to this ‘opening up’.

It’s my conviction that the music we offer at Saint George’s must be entirely to the Glory of God, whether it be the Parish Choir singing Palestrina on a Sunday morning, or cherub choir singing ‘Mister Cow’ in the Guild Room. Our music is not for entertainment or show, but instead for the strengthening of faith and the edification of prayer and praise.

My aspiration for the Song School is that it helps us ‘Sing to the Lord a new song’. I long to see bridges of connection between the Junior Choir children and their families with ours in the Parish. Over the fourteen years since I returned to Saint George’s, the Junior Choir- and now, the Song School- has drawn many children whose families have no affiliation with our Parish. While it’s evident that a Junior Choir brings joy to our midst, I feel many opportunities have been missed over the years. This past year, for the first time, efforts to build relationships have been made, notably Matthew Vanderkwaak’s concert and family BBQ in June. Over the years, when the children have sung at the Kiwanis or when they performed their Spring concerts, only a handful of parishioners came out to support them. When the children sing at 10:30 services, their families have mostly always departed after their ‘performance’. I look upon this as a personal failing, that I have not succeeded in helping to ‘draw people into our orbit’. Matthew’s event brilliantly answered what is so desperately needed. I was, however, disappointed not to see many more parishioners at that event. Nowadays, there’s a sense that we’re competing for people’s attention, that unless there’s a compelling reason to do otherwise, it’s easy to suppose our participation isn’t all that meaningful or necessary. We have only to look out into the church on a Sunday morning to see the truth of the matter. In so many ways, we have never needed one another more.

When Tammy Bast approached me over a year ago to offer her assistance with the Song School, I was truly at a loss to know what to say. When I finally got it together to meet with her and explore the possibilities, I suddenly made a new friend. We decided upon a monthly newsletter that she helps me to curate, something I would never have thought to do on my own. I’m so thankful for her interest and support. I like to think that our friendship is one of those bridges of connection that we’re meant to nourish in this Parish community of ours. I’d like to do for someone what Tammy did for me.

In the sermon at St Thomas Fifth Avenue, the Rector reminded folks that the soup kitchen that is now a longstanding ministry there began with the choristers asking if they might share their meals with the homeless people they encountered every day on their way to and from church.

What an inspiring story, and a homely one at that. Many years ago, Mabel Wainwright asked herself, ‘what can a poor chappie do?’ and the St George’s Soup Kitchen was born.

I share all of this with Parish Council, as one who yearns to serve and contribute to the great project of ‘opening up opportunity, to share what we do best with others and to draw more people into our orbit’.

Garth MacPhee