In Tuneful Accord. Trevor Beeson

early as 1970 Lionel Dakers, shortly to become a dynamic Director of the RSCM, lamented in an important book, Church Music at the Crossroads, ‘That all is not well with the music of the church is evident to most of us. It is undervalued by the demise of many parish church choirs. Those responsible for the music are often discouraged and disheartened.’ Almost a quarter of a century later, and in spite of the heroic efforts of Dakers and those he inspired to join him, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York prefaced the report of yet another Commission, In Tune with Heaven (1992), with a solemn assessment: ‘The resources of the church for producing music are under pressure, and there is evidence in some circles that standards are falling and interest diminishing.’ The distinguished Commission itself was equally realistic and reported, ‘The maintenance of a traditional choir with a repertoire of traditional church music is becoming harder by the year.’ But it also recognized, in a report that occupied 320 pages of analysis and recommendations, that ‘in some respects music in the church continues to flourish’, and it also acknowledged that the level of attainment in most cathedrals is ‘probably higher than it has ever been’.