Music at the Sacred Heart

The church of the Sacred Heart has a long tradition of musical excellence. Under the enigmatic Fr Driscoll SJ, appointed choirmaster in 1904, the choir of boys and men (complete with choir school) gained a national reputation and sang in the first performance of the Vaughan Williams G minor mass in Westminster Cathedral under Sir Richard Terry. The young George Malcolm, a pupil at Wimbledon College next door, used to attend rehearsals and said that Driscoll's way of training the boys 'in the continental manner' was a great influence on him; one would like to think that the Sacred Heart is in part responsible for the 'Westminster sound'!

Fr John Driscoll SJ: No choirboy would dare to sing out of tune!!

Driscoll originally had the choir in the Sanctuary, as the original organ (by Bishop) was on the north wall of the choir (click here for the specification). Indeed, one can still see in that wall the original door to the organ loft which now leads nowhere! But he persuaded the parish priest, Fr Kerr, to raise funds for a magnificent new organ in a west end gallery where he would place the choir. This instrument, with a large specification drawn up by Driscoll's organist, Dr Henry Wardale, and built by JW Walker, was inaugurated in 1912, and remains one of the finest parish church organs in London (click here for details). Driscoll then had all he needed to create one of the finest musical traditions in the country.

Another interesting character who was organist at the Sacred Heart as well as at Farm Street is Fernand Laloux. He was Belgian by birth and wrote some distinctive music for both churches, some of which has recently been recorded by the Brompton Oratory choir. He was, for fifty years or so, first singing teacher then Director of Music at Wimbledon College and for the two years before his death in 1970, Director of Music at the Sacred Heart. As Driscoll's organist, he must have had a formidable technique to play some of the accompaniments that Driscoll provided - many of them orchestral reductions (Driscoll adapted secular sources by putting sacred texts to them as well as the best music from other denominations). This ability does not seem to have been affected by losing a leg in the war.

The choir and choir school disbanded in 1939 (Driscoll died in 1940) and re-formed as a mixed choir in 1945. Subsequent directors of music have included Nicholas Danby and Colin Mawby. There has been a long connection with the Jesuit church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street, Mayfair. Both Fr Driscoll (who from 1928 was choirmaster at Farm Street in addition to the Sacred Heart) and Nicholas Danby were directors of music there. Martyn Parry, who was at the Sacred Heart from 1982-1995, was director of music at Farm Street until his untimely death in July, 2004 (click on the link to read an appreciation of Martyn by Bob Rathbone). The current director of music is Robert Rathbone , and the organist and assistant director of music is David Gammie .

In addition to the choir that sings at the weekly Latin Mass, there is a family mass children's choir (under the leadership of Giles Kennedy) and the 5.00 mass music group (led by Adrian and Nicola Simpson). The repertoire of these groups spans all styles of liturgical music, from plainchant to contemporary. We are lucky to be able to offer styles of worship in music to suit all tastes and traditions.

These music pages will gradually grow to include a detailed history of music at the Sacred Heart. We hope you will find them useful and informative, but most of all, we hope that you will be encouraged  to join us for mass one Sunday, and perhaps many more in the future. 

Masses with music:

Saturday vigil mass: 6.30 (hymns every two weeks only)

Sunday:

           9.45: Sung Family mass led by the children's choir

          11.15: Latin mass with settings and motets (last Sunday of the month, in English)

          12.45: Mass with hymns

          5.00 Mass led by the music group and choir (contemporary liturgical music)

The 11.15 Choir rehearses on Wednesday evenings 7.30-9.45pm and at 9.45am on Sundays.