Herald AV Publications

The Abbey Church is the centre and focus of the life and work of the monks – a place where the Divine Office takes place five times a day: Matins, Mass, Midday Office, Vespers and Compline. Vespers is sung to the traditional Latin chant, English and Latin are sung at Mass, and the other offices are sung in English. In addition to the daily liturgies members of the community give retreats and conferences, receive guests, and are responsible both for the surrounding parish and others further afield.

The original design for the Abbey Church was by Arnold Crush and the east-end, now sanctuary and choir, was opened in 1933. The Abbey was to have had a further seven-bay nave. This nave was never built and a striking half-hexagonal nave was built in 1993 to the design of Dr. Michael Blee. The resulting Abbey Church is a building of very great distinction.

The Douai Abbey Singers, the lay-choir of the Abbey, have been an established part of the life of the Abbey since 1990. Benedictine monasteries have a long tradition of associated lay choirs. In the Middle Ages the function of the lay singers was often in association with services in the Lady Chapel or other chapels or chantries. Today at Douai the function of the choir is to assist and enhance the liturgy of the Abbey. The singers, who are predominantly amateur, have a schedule of some eighteen or twenty Sunday Masses and other feasts each year. They meet to rehearse for an hour and a quarter before each service. In Advent and Lent the singers perform larger-scale works in association with the monks, who give spoken reflections on the texts of the music.

Dr. John Rowntree was born in Scarborough, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, studied and worked as a civil engineer, later moving into music and undertaking post-graduate study in the universities of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Southampton. He later held lectureships in the University of Reading and King Alfred’s College, now The University of Winchester. He has written extensively in the field of liturgical music and the historic and contemporary organ and is well known, both in Britain and internationally, for his work as an organ adviser and consultant, He has been involved in choral music as a singer and conductor since his schooldays in Oxford. Since 1990 he has been Director of the Douai Abbey Singers, Organist at Douai Abbey and also Director of Music of St. Mary’s, the parish church of the Abbey.

Terence Charlston (Organ) is widely acknowledged for his engaging and expressive performances and he has been described as one of Britain’s leading early keyboard players. His enviably broad career ranges from solo and chamber musician, choral and orchestral director, to teacher and academic researcher. Born in Blackpool, Lancashire, he was drawn from an early age to the sound and repertoire of old instruments, especially the harpsichord, which he first experienced through recordings and BBC Radio 3 broadcasts. He took degrees in Oxford and London in organ, harpsichord and musicology.

As a harpsichord and organ soloist, he has toured worldwide, performing with many of the leading period and modern instrument groups and soloists, and his repertoire spans from the 16th century to the present day, reflecting his passionate interest in keyboard music of all types and styles. He can be heard on over 50 commercial CDs on harpsichord, organ, virginals, clavichord and fortepiano. His pioneering work as an educator is having a wide influence on the younger generation of performers. He founded the Department of Historical Performance at the Royal Academy of Music in 1995 and in September 2007 he was invited to join the staff of the Royal College of Music, London as professor of harpsichord and is International Visiting Tutor in harpsichord at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.