Organ & Choir
Contact Melvin Hughes
Pipe Organ Appeal
The current pipe organ has been rebuilt and remodelled a number of times since the Victorian period and for some time has failed to provide predictable and reliable performance. The pipe organ continues to deteriorate and has produced audible misbehaviour on a number of occasions. The PCC agreed unanimously in September 2006, after an extended process of considering options, that subject to raising the necessary funds, a new mechanical action pipe organ should be commissioned.
We are looking to build a new mechanical action organ of 2 manuals and pedal with about 25 stops on the south side of the chancel (where the console is now). The project will permit the construction of a new vestry/meeting room where the current organ stands.
An Organ Fund Raising Committee continues to plan events and launched a major fund raising appeal in November 2008. The Appeal Leaflet, with Messages of Support from our Patrons (Lady Hamilton, the Bishop of Southwark and the Organist of Southwark Cathedral) and others (including Susan Gritton and John Rutter) is obtainable on request from betchworthorganappeal@hotmail.co.uk. So far (March 2010) we have raised £170,000 and we need to raise the balance of £260,000. Donations are welcome whether immediately or as a pledge for the future. Pipe sponsorship is available for the 1639 pipes in the new organ.
The firm of Kenneth Tickell & Co Ltd of Northampton have been selected, subject to contract, to build the new pipe organ. The firm are one of the UK's leading pipe organ designers and builders. During 2008 they installed their new 4 manual Quire organ in Worcester Cathedral. The new organ when it arrives will enhance worship, concerts, recitals and will provide a teaching instrument for the next generation.
Please click on the link below to open the Appeal Leaflet (PDF format) and make a donation:
Choir
The main services at Betchworth are led by an adult Choir. There is a tradition of singing an anthem at each service. A range of sung Communion settings are used for the Parish Eucharist. The monthly Evensong is a full Choral Evensong with a choral setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, as well as sung Responses. Choral Matins each month is predominantly based on Anglican chant versions of the Canticles (although the Jubilate is often sung to a setting).
The music covers the standard repertoire with some more unusual/difficult items drawn down from larger Parish Church/Cathedral repertoire. We use traditional hymns with a selection of the best of modern hymnody.
There is a tradition of singing an anthem at each service and the Choir repertoire has continued to expand during 2009. The music covers the standard repertoire with some more unusual/difficult items drawn down from larger Parish Church/Cathedral repertoire. We continue to use traditional hymns with a selection of the best of modern hymnody.
The Service of Nine Lessons with Carols remains the musical highlight of the year and features the traditional readings in the King James Version, carols for congregation and choral items by the Church Choir which are selected from all periods of composition between medieval and modern. Whilst it is important to maintain the tradition, care has to be taken not to turn this into a museum piece and much care is exercised in introducing variations on the form. The Congregation may be asked to sing one item they do not necessarily know (in 2009, While Shepherds watched their flocks by night to an 19th century tune for this carol otherwise liberated for use as a morbid secular song associated with Ilkley Moor!). The Choir work hard to introduce new items. For 2009, the Choir featured, amongst others, a range of recently composed carol settings by Malcolm Archer (2008), Peter Aston (2009), David Oliver (2007) and John Rutter (2008) and also repeated two exquisite carol settings by Arnold Bax and Harold Darke. The concluding voluntary was challenging Fantasy on ‘Veni Emmanuel’ by the 20th century British composer, Kenneth Leighton.
It is always good to welcome back at Christmas the University contingent and see the chancel filled with a large choir. We need a larger pool of singers to sustain the normality of services, ideally at least double the current numbers, to draw on this pool and would be delighted to hear from anyone interested in joining the Choir. The commitment is not that huge and we are infinitely flexible over attendance.
Many of the choir members come from outside the village. The Choir has sung in the Redhill and Reigate Music Festival and been awarded the Challenge Shield in the Church Choir Class several times. It joined with another Choir in late 2001 and sung a full Choral Evensong in Rochester Cathedral.