Patrick Allies
If the church doesn't cherish its choral tradition, it will thrive elsewhere
It's been a difficult year for traditional church music in England. Resignations and closures have rocked choirs and choirs schools...
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Patrick Allies
- Jul 31, 2020
- 4 min
Abide with me at Wembley: the story of “The Singing Final”
Sacred choral music and competitive sport - two passions of mine that don’t usually overlap. One of the few times they do is at the FA...
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Patrick Allies
- May 16, 2019
- 2 min
The Milanese composer missed off the musical map
The official website of Milan Cathedral offers a history of the eminent musicians who have worked at the building. Among those listed as...
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Patrick Allies
- Oct 11, 2018
- 3 min
‘It Seems an Awful Pity’: The Death of a Choir School
In August this year, news broke that St Asaph’s Cathedral in Wales had made its Director and Assistant Director of Music redundant. The...
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Patrick Allies
- Jun 1, 2018
- 3 min
Don't let the dinosaurs preach about extinction
I read this article in the Spectator last night and felt that I wanted to write a response. Here it is: Let me say this at the outset: I...
1,119 views0 comments
Patrick Allies
- Jul 19, 2017
- 3 min
The Venetian Mass from Hamburg
My first encounter with the music of Hieronymus Praetorius was as a 12-year-old treble. I was singing at the Edington Festival, an...
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Patrick Allies
- Mar 15, 2017
- 2 min
The Secret Polyphonic Society
Last night, as most of London was on its way home from work, I cycled along the Thames to Chelsea, to take part in what has become a...
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Patrick Allies
- Mar 8, 2017
- 2 min
Woman who wishes she had been a girl chorister opposes female membership of cathedral choirs
On reading Lucy Denyer's piece in today's Daily Telegraph I nearly spilt my coffee down my International Women's Day t-shirt. Denyer's...
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Patrick Allies
- Jan 18, 2017
- 3 min
Herbert Howells and the Strange Man from Chelsea
Herbert Howells and Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gloucester 1956 I have been reading Paul Spicer's fascinating biography of Herbert Howells,...
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Patrick Allies
- Oct 9, 2015
- 2 min
The Tory conference, Michael Gove, and why hard work doesn’t always pay
In the aftermath of the Conservative party conference this week, something has been troubling me. It could have been one of many...
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Patrick Allies
- Mar 22, 2015
- 2 min
Female Composers: Time for a Musical ‘Woman’s Hour’?
Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina at the piano Recently, when BBC Radio 3 devoted itself to playing music by female composers to...
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