The Friends of Cathedral Music (FCM) is a charity which seeks to maintain and expand the work of choral foundations of cathedrals, collegiate churches, chapels, and other appropriate places of worship in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. To this end, it makes grants and distributes a number of publications.

History

The Friends of Cathedral Music was founded in 1956 by the Revd. Ronald Sibthorp at a meeting at St Bride's Church Fleet Street. It was prompted by a decision of the Provost of Southwell at

Southwell Minster Southwell Minster () is a minster and cathedral in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, England. It is situated miles from Newark-on-Trent and from Mansfield. It is the seat of the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham and the Diocese of Southwell and N ...

to abolish the Saturday choral evensong so that the lay clerks could watch the weekly football at

Newark-on-Trent Newark-on-Trent or Newark () is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...

. There was also a similar incident at Truro Cathedral. Sibthorp, in an effort to reverse the decline in interest in cathedral music after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, sought to create a promoting organisation the Cathedral Music Advisory Committee. However the committee failed to get off the ground, so he tried a new tack and sent a letter on 2 June 1956 that jump-started a new cathedral music organisation, ''The Friends of Cathedral Music''. Until 1962 FCM met only once a year but because of the interest shown in FCM and due in a large part to the charismatic figure of Anthony (‘Tony’) Harvey the regular tour of the UK as is known in the present day was started.

Aims

The Friends of Cathedral Music makes grants to choirs as endowments in support of chorister scholarships, or the purchase of capital equipment such as rehearsal pianos. The aims as spelt out in 1958 were to: # Widening public interest in cathedral services # Supporting and encouraging cathedral chapters # Restoring the pre-war levels of cathedral services # Expanding to churches where there is no choir.

Publications

The Friends of Cathedral Music publishes: *''Cathedral Music'' – a twice yearly magazine covering a wide range of subjects relevant to the objectives of the charity. *''Singing in Cathedrals'' – a directory of choral services in choral foundations in Great Britain and Ireland. *''Cathedral Voice'' – a twice yearly newsletter.

List of presidents

Martin Shaw Martin Shaw (born 21 January 1945) is an English actor. He came to national recognition as Doyle in ITV crime-action television drama series '' The Professionals'' (1977–1983). Further notable television parts include the title roles in '' ...

1956–1958 *

Herbert Howells Herbert Norman Howells (17 October 1892 – 23 February 1983) was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music. Life Background and early education Howells was born in Lydney, Gloucest ...

1958–1983 *

George Guest George Guest CBE FRCO (9 February 1924 – 20 November 2002) was a Welsh organist and choral conductor. Birth and early life George Guest was born in Bangor, Gwynedd. His father was an organist and Guest assisted him by acting as organ b ...

1983–2002 * Christopher Robinson 2004–

List of chairmen

*Ronald Sibthorpe 1956–1971 *

Christopher Hugh Dearnley Christopher Hugh Dearnley (11 February 1930 – 15 December 2000) was an English cathedral organist, who served in Salisbury Cathedral and St Paul's Cathedral. Background Christopher Hugh Dearnley was born on 11 February 1930 in Wolverhampton ...

1971–1990 *

Alan Thurlow Alan John Thurlow (born 18 May 1947) is an English organist. He is best known as having been Organist and Master of the Choristers of Chichester Cathedral between 1980 and 2008. Education Thurlow was educated at Bancroft's School, Woodford Gree ...

1990–2002 *Professor Peter Toyne 2002–

Bibliography

;Notes ;References * * *

External links

* {{Official website, www.fcm.org.uk 1956 establishments in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1956 Music charities based in the United Kingdom Music organisations based in the United Kingdom Non-profit organisations based in the United Kingdom Charities based in the Republic of Ireland British church music