The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM)
Created | Updated Feb 19, 2007
The Royal School Of Church Music (RSCM)
A History
On the 6th December,1927, The School of English Church Music was inaugurated at Westminster Abbey, under the initiative of Sir Sydney Nicholson. It was created as a training college for Church musicians, and as an association of affiliated churches who aimed to uphold a high standard of music in worship.
The college opened at Buller's Wood in Chislehurst, Kent, in 1929, and continued its work until 1939, when it was forced to close due to the outbreak of the Second World War, when many of its students were called to military service. During the first ten years of its existence, it organised major choral festivals in London, at the Royal Albert Hall and at the Crystal Palace. Its affiliated churches increased to a number of 1300 members worldwide.
In 1945, King George VI commanded that the SECM was to be renamed the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM), and was to be based in the precincts of Canterbury Cathedral. By 1952, over 3000 churches were affiliated with the RSCM worldwide.
In 1954, the RSCM moved to Addington Palace, near Croydon, the former country residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury, but is now situated at Cleveland Lodge, near Dorking, Surrey. It is due to move again to Sarum Palace, in Salisbury, in Summer 2006.
This is really as much as I can tell you about the history of the RSCM, as I have found little more information in my research. However, as a member of the RSCM's Northern Cathedral Singers, I could tell you more about this particular branch of the RSCM.
The RSCM Northern Cathedral Singers
Each year, the RSCM organises many events for church musicians, many of them Choral. It has several choirs, the Northern and Southern Cathedral Singers (both with separate choirs for male and female voices), and the Millennium Youth Choir.
The Northern Cathedral Singers (NCS) are a group of about forty boys and men, from Northern England and Scotland. The choir meets only 5-6 times a year, as many members sing in their own parish choirs. The annual schedule consists of two music practices in January each year, where the year's music is first learned and introduced. The annual music list usually contains 8-10 pieces, usually anthems, introits and canticles. The music list spans a wide range of periods, styles and composers, from traditional church music to contemporary, modern music.
The NCS choir sings at four cathedrals each year, mostly in the north of England. A whole day is spent rehearsing in the Cathedral, where much interest is generated from visitors to the Cathdral. The Choir then sings evensong in the Cathedral, to the setting of the Book of Common Prayer.