A COLLECTION OF RESOURCES for choir masters, organists, music ministers, or anyone interested in music. And that's quite a lot of people, from what we can tell.

Please note that the links are roughly categorised. If you don't find what you want in the first category you check, have a look at another that seems closely related. Or use our search engine to find what you want.

Associations and Societies
Bells, Handbells, Carillons, Ringers, and Ringing
Choirs, composers, and musicians
Commentary and education
General web sites and email lists
Live, recorded, and sheet music
Music publishers
Organs
Schools of Music

Associations and Societies

Academy of St Cecilia
An early music society based in the UK. Honorary fellows include the presidents of both the American Bach and Handel Societies. From the website: 'The sphere of interest is early music, interpreted loosely as music dating before 1825. General Meetings are held twice yearly in central London. Their bi-annual newsletter (VOX Magaine) may be downloaded (PDF).

American Guild of English Handbell Ringers
A USA-based organization for handbell ringers, directors, and enthusiasts.

American Guild of Organists
The premier American association for organists with seminars and fesitvals.

Association of Anglican Musicians
With links to all cathedrals in the UK, Ireland and Scotland, the site is a wealth of joy for those interested in music, especially with in the setting of the UKs cathedrals. 'Recognizing that the music of the church finds its primary expression within the framework of the liturgy, this Association takes as its purpose the elevation, stimulation, and support of music and the allied arts in all their aspects in the Anglican church, and especially in their relationship to liturgy'.

Campaign for the Traditional Cathedral Choir
This London-based organization has as its mission 'To champion the ancient tradition of the all-male choir in Cathedrals, Chapels Royal, Collegiate Churches, University Chapels and similar ecclesiastical choral foundations'. 'It is also the policy of CTCC to encourage parish churches which maintain, or seek to establish, all-male choirs.'

The Friends of Anglican Music Inc
Founded in 1996 'for the purpose of singing music that is peculiarly Anglican. FOAM has not been established to compete with the Royal School of Church Music. Rather, it supplements the RSCM's function by providing a purely Anglican area of operation. Neither has FOAM been established to agitate for the wholesale restoration of the The Book of Common Prayer services. Its purpose is akin to that of Remembrance Day - Lest We Forget.'

Friends of Cathedral Music
Friends of Cathedral Music web site includes service times for choral services at UK and Irish cathedrals and other choral foundations.

The Guild of Church Musicians
'The Guild exists to encourage all musicians within the church, whether amateur or professional, to foster the highest attainable standards of music in the worship of Almighty God. Until 1988 it was mainly Anglican, but in that Centenary Year the Archbishop of Canterbury invited the Archbishop of Westminster to become a joint patron.'

UK Incorporated Association of Organists
Complete with links to any aspect of the instrument, 'the IAO encompasses the professional organist, church musician, amateur player, organ–builder, and music–lover.'

Royal Canadian College of Organists
Information about this organization for Canadian organists, including a listing of positions available.

RSCM Canada
the Royal School of Church Music

Taizé Community
The music of the Taizé Community is renowned the world over (this link is to the English section; other languages are available). This site presents audio clips of Taizé music and information about their aims in presenting this meditative, contemplative style of music. The web site includes short extracts in WAV format.

Bells

Central Council of Church Bell Ringers
This is the bellringers international association to which virtually every ring of bells in the entire world is affiliated. (Cross-listed under 'Associations')

Change Ringing (from the Open Directory Project)
A large collection of online resources related to change ringing. Good for those already familiar with change ringing and those desiring to learn.

Change Ringing (from Wikipedia)
Good description of the art of change ringing from mechanics to mathematics to history and culture.

Change Ringing in North America (North American Guilld of Change Ringers)
'The ancient art and science of change ringing is on the upswing in the USA and Canada. Change ringing is a way of ringing both large bells hung in bell towers, and handbells. In 1964 when a ring of ten bells was installed at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, there were only about five actively ringing towers in North America. Today there are more than forty.' Site includes a pamphlet answering, What is Change Ringing?

Change Ringing Resources
This wide ranging website of resources was begun in 1994 and is constantly updated.

Christ Church Cathedral Society of Change Ringers, Dublin
A section of the Cathedral's web page devoted to its famous bells and the people who ring them. Includes links to 'The Ringing World'.

Diocesan Associations of Bell Ringers

Bath and Wells Diocesan Association of Change Ringers
Derby Diocesan Association of Church Bellringers
Durham and Newcastle Diocesan Association of Church Bell Ringers
Gloucester and Bristol Diocesan Association of Church Bell Ringers
Llandaff and Monmouth Diocesan Association of Church Bell Ringers
Norwich Diocesan Association of Ringers

Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers
An online, searchable version of this definitive guide for English church bell-ringers, first published in 1950. Its managers envision the site as a prototype for a National Bell Register.

Guild of Carillonneurs in North America
GCNA is 'A significant site for carillons, especially in churches in the US and Canada'. (Cross-listed under 'Associations')

The Keltek Trust
'Helping churches acquire surplus and/or redundant bells to be hung for English-style full-circle bell-ringing.'

Metal Casting: All About Bell Founding
"Bell founding is a centuries-old craft that combines art and engineering to create objects that are both beautiful and functional. From the deep chimes of a cathedral bell to the clear, ringing notes of a school bell, each has a unique sound and purpose. At its core, bell founding is a specialized form of metal casting that requires skill, precision, and an understanding of acoustics. Whether you're interested in metalworking or simply fascinated by the process behind creating these resonant instruments, bell founding offers a captivating glimpse into a time-honored tradition."

North American Guild of Change Ringers
Links to basic ringing information, towers, and handbell groups.

Recordings of Change Ringing
Michael Wilby assembled a large collectipon of change ringing from around the UK. 'Most of the recordings are of peals and are taken from the ringing room, thus what is presented here is much as the band heard it at the time: rope noise, clapper rattle and all. While this is not necessarily the best position from which to record bells, I believe it gives an interesting - and honest - appraisal of the rings of bells in question, from the perspective of the practioners.' They are available in MP3 format.

The Ringing World
A bell-ringers magazine from the UK. Its masthead says 'the weekly journal for church bell ringers since 1911'.

Sharpe Trust
Established in 1976 'for the maintenance, repair, and restoration of church bells situate anywhere in England and Wales'.

Taylor's Bell Foundry
is Britain's largest bell foundry. It has cast most of the cathedral bells in the UK, including those at St Paul's and York Minster, and more parish church rings of bells than any foundry that has ever existed.

Tintinnalogia, or, the Art of Ringing
by Richard Duckworth and Fabian Stedman. Project Gutenberg has released a fine digital version of this 1671 book on bell-ringing 'Wherein is laid down plain and easie Rules for Ringing all sorts of Plain Changes'.

Whitechapel Bell Foundry
'For the past two and a half centuries, Whitechapel have been acknowledged leaders in the production of musical handbells. Handbell ringing began in England about three hundred years ago. Even in those days, the best bells were made 'at the sign of the three bells' in Whitechapel. Indeed, it can be said that the whole art of handbell ringing - making molten metal into liquid sound - was built on Whitechapel handbells.' You'll find technical handbooks, repair guides and tuning.

York Minster Society of Change Ringers
Site includes a virtual tour of bells at York Minster and information on regular ringing times, peals and special ringing.

Choirs, composers, and musicians

Anglican Chorale of Ottawa
An unusual Canadian Church choir in that 'we have no church building to call our own, and we have actually sung more services in the UK than in Canada. We are a choir of about 35 singers consisting of boys, girls, men, and women, drawn mainly from Anglican Church choirs in the Ottawa diocese.'

The Anglican Singers, Connecticut
Independent choir-in-residence at St James, New London, Connecticut since 1996.

The Anglican Singers, Amsterdam
This site, available in both Dutch and English, provides information on a choral group in the Netherlands dedicated to performing and recording English church music. Their CDs look particularly worthwhile.

Bradley Sowash, pianist
A highly-regarded musician ('One of the best solo piano albums of 1999" ... as USA National Public Radio's "Morning Edition."') often found at Anglican churches.

Chorus Angelorum
A choral group in Houston, Texas, USA that supports liturgy and music in the Anglican tradition.

David McCarthy's Music
A site with choral and handbell music written for the Episcopal church. PDF samples and MIDI files online, with full scores available for a small charge.

King Charles Singers
'Formed in 1991, the King Charles Singers is a small group of experienced performers, who enjoy singing music of the English cathedral tradition. We sing church services and occasional concerts, mostly in the parish church of King Charles the Martyr in Tunbridge Wells. We are also a regular visiting choir at Westminster Abbey and St Paul's Cathedral.'

Live Hymnal
'a community of musicians and singers from South Florida. We come together on Sundays to breathe new life into beautiful, poetic hymns and sacred songs.'

Music at St Thomas of Canterbury, Brentwood
This English parish's extensive music programme has a dedicated website with information about concerts, five choirs and the parish organ and orchestra.

Of Choristers Ancient and Modern: A History of Cathedral Choir Schools
This site provides information on the history and current organization of cathedral choirs throughout England and Scotland. It includes appendices on boy bishops, girls' choirs, and Maria Hackett, a 19th-century reformer who dedicated her life to improving the lot of boy choristers.

Opus Anglicanum
This acclaimed group of five men's voices along with reader John Touhey (formerly of the BBC World Service) presents themed sequences of music and readings. They teach workshops in Gregorian chant, and have an impressive array of CDs for sale. Founded in 1988.

St Thomas Choir School
Founded in 1919 and located in the heart of New York City, this is the only church-affiliated boarding choir school in the United States.

Timothy Dudley-Smith: Hymnwriter
The official site of the prolific composer and quondam Bishop of Thetford.

Commentary, education, and conferences

Christian Worship and Music Consultancy with Keynote Trust
Andrew Maries, a free-lance church music consultant, 'works to encourage and stimulate the quality and spirituality of music and worship at every level'. He has led a number of conferences and workshops in the UK and is one of the regular BBC TV "Songs of Praise" conductors.

Church Sound Network
A site sponsored by an acoustic and audio company, whose purpose is to help churches around the world improve their sound systems and acoustics.

Creator magazine
A bi-monthly, multidenominational publication about music ministry. Consists largely of copies of articles that have appeared in the print version of the magazine.

Gallery Music and Psalmody
English church and chapel of the 1700s and early 1800s. Site include articles, sheet music, Midi & MP3, library and resources.

Gregorian Chant
Peter Jeffrey, a member of the music faculty at Princeton University, maintains a wonderful site that will appeal to those just coming to know the beauties of Gregorian chant as well as to scholars in search of good Web resources for chant.

Leadership Program for Musicians Serving Small Congregations
LPM is a joint effort of The Division for Congregational Ministries Worship Staff of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, The Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music of the Episcopal Church and the Virginia Theological Seminary.

Music Pages of David Lee
David Lee is Director of Music at St John's, Nevilles Cross, Durham, UK. His music pages feature information about and downloadable files of psalms, anthems, hymns, and more - in styles ranging from traditional to blues-jazz.

General web sites and email lists

Anglican Church Music
An encyclopaedic site intending to be a central source of information for Anglican and Episcopal church and cathedral music, with resources for church musicians, singers, congregation members, or anyone else.

British Choirs on the Net
A listing of over 2,000 British choirs with websites and/or able to be contacted by email.

Cancionero
'This is a project of the Office of Hispanic/Latino Ministries of the Episcopal Church. The purpose of the project is to create and publish a words-only song book for liturgical use. This [English and Spanish bilingual] site gives you an opportunity to help select songs for the book.'

The Classical Music Navigator
Information on 444 classical composers, arranged by a university professor in ways that help users expand their awareness of musical works complementing and extending their already-existing likes. Not strictly an Anglican resource or even a Christian resource, but there is so much overlap between Anglican music and 'classical' music that we chose to include this listing.

The Cyber Hymnal
More than 7300 Christian hymns and gospel songs: lyrics, sound, photos, bios, and links.

An index to Anglican Chants
'The purpose of this site is to collect as many Anglican Chants as is possible and/or feasible.' Compiled by Ton Meijer.

Latinised Hymns
'Mark Mortimer has taken more than 300 English hymns, including many old favourites and some less well know[n], and produced Latin versions of them in the same metres. They are therefore singable to the same tunes, at the same time as preserving the rhyme-schemes of the originals. He believes that what sounds good in English sounds even better in Latin.' See what you think of From Greenland's icy mountains or O God of earth and altar.

Lift Up Your Hearts
This Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada site for worship and spirituality has links of music, especially on the Resources Page and the Worship Links page. There are hymn suggestions for the Revised Common Lectionary (keyed, of course, to their own hymnal), which may interest those responsible for planning music.

Oremus Hymnal (Anglican Online Hymnal)
This online hymnal contains texts and MIDI files of tunes used in much of the English-speaking world, with particular emphasis on the Anglican tradition. Currently, fifty-two Anglican hymnals have been indexed. Eventually there will be over 5000 pages on this site; as of January 2003 the number is about 2400. Accompanying the text of each hymn you will find information about the author of the text, its meter and various settings of music for each text. Also, MIDI files have been provided for many of the texts. There are about 1000 MIDI files on this site.

Our Hymns
'While live musicians are always the first choice, sometimes, they just aren’t available leaving you with no musical accompaniment at all.' The site is compiling a collection of full hymn accompaniments as recorded on a church organ (with at least 4-5 seconds of reverberation). The hymnal used is the Anglican Church of Canada 'Common Praise' Hymnal (1998). Accompaniments are in .mp3 format.

Richardson and Gray
Located in Ludlow, Shropshire, England, this small company will design a tour for your choir, lending their expertise to arrange appropriate venues for your performances, as well as helping with all usual travel and accommodations details. When possible they like to arrange at least one concert performance in a community similar to your own.

Sacred Music America
'Sacred Music America provides access to the mainstream of western Christian music which has remained indestructible for the last 1,400 years. This site presents all major historical periods up to the present, while giving special attention to Gregorian chant, the Renaissance and Baroque periods, and hymn tunes before 1800. Most of the sound files were recorded live at parishes and congregations in the USA.' Specific Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran sections on the site.

Live, recorded, and sheet music

Archives of Sound
'Sound archive of Guildford Cathedral Choir (1961-1974) under the directorship of Barry Rose'.

ChantCD
These CDs were recorded at St Thomas Aquinas Seminary (Roman Catholic) by a seminarian.

The Choir Loft
Composer and director Ben J. Leggett sells his music online. 'Unique, well-crafted, singable pieces. Lots of material for smaller choirs. Used by real-life choirs in the real-life world.'

The Choirbook for The Queen
'born out of an inspirational idea from Robert Ponsonby and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies some eight years ago: to produce a collection of contemporary anthems, published for the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen in 2012 and accompanied by a year-long celebration of services that will showcase the excellence of choral writing and the continuation of the choral tradition by cathedral choirs and other choral foundations around the country.'

Choral Evensong (live) on BBC Radio 3
Every Sunday and Wednesday at 4pm UK time on BBC Radio 3.

Choral Public Domain Library
A site that collects and makes available public domain choral works, many of a religious nature, available for download. The amount of free music is amazing, and the site is constantly updated.

Christian Copyright Licensing International
Gone are the days when photocopied music was the staple of every church organist; today our churches have been forced to become more sensitive to how copyright laws affect them. CCLI offers licenses for churches to copy music for use in worship.

Christian Music Ministries
‘Source of Christian music books, CDs, teaching tapes on music in worship and life, and much more’.

The Church Music Web Site
Supplier of CDs of Anglican organ hymn accompaniments and pieces for all church occasions, played by John Keys, Director of Music of St Mary's Church, Nottingham, England.

CuthbertPraise
'Hymn arrangements for brass, winds, guitar, bass and timpani for the Episcopal Hymnal, anthems, children's Bible memory songs, CDs, custom arrangements, and original music for the church.' Guitar by Randy Adam; based at St Cuthbert, Houston, TX.

The Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music
'Aims to digitise and enhance images of fragmentary British manuscripts of medieval polyphonic music'..

Handel's Messiah
Free PDF files of the scores to the choruses of Handel's Messiah as well as Vivaldi's Gloria scores and Bach's Magnificant Scores.

Hymn Quest
A database developed by the Pratt Green Trust, a charity devoted to the advancement of hymnody and music in worship. 'The databasecontains over 43,000 first lines and choruses, the full text of more than 12,500 hymns and songs from some 479 hymn books and publications. The opening bars of over 22,800 melodies can be both viewed and heard, and the indexes list tune names and metres; biblical, thematic, liturgical and seasonal references, as well as information and pictures of authors, composers and translators. It is even possible to search for tunes by playing the opening notes on a Virtual Keyboard'.

Hymns: Anglicans Online readers choose their Top 20 hymns (November 2003)
See whether your favourite is here.

In Quires and Places Where They Sing
'Acknowledged to be the definitive Discography & Collection of recordings from choirs of Gentlemen & Boys singing in the English Cathedral tradition'.

The Lutheran Hymnal (1941)
Public domain hymns; the index pages are in HTML and the hymn texts themselves in ASCII.

Maynard's Groovy Bible Tunes
'Songs for Church, Sunday School, Kid's Holiday Clubs, School Assemblies etc with a funky groove, from an Anglican Vicar!'

Medieval Music, Digital Image Archive of
A wonderful resource.

Music of the Sarum Office, edited by Dr William Renwick.
Hosted jointly by Project Canterbury and on the servers of McMaster University. 'The Gregorian Institute of Canada is in the initial stages of the publication of the Music of the Sarum Office, containing the full text and music of all the services of the office for all Sundays, Week-days, Feasts and Fasts of the Year and Saints Days. This edition, comprising approximately 5000 pages of text and music, will in the first instance be published serially in PDF format. Each installment, which will contain approximately 50 pages of the edition, will be reviewed for content and accuracy by an Advisory Board before publication.' Files in Adobe Acrobat format.

Oremus Hymnal
This site offers original hymn texts to work in most cases with tunes from the fifty-two hymnals covering the past 140 years. Midi files and original texts are available for most tunes not under copyright. It follows the 'Year A, B, C' lectionary format. MIDI files provided. They emphasize that all files are yet available.

OurHymns.com
'We provide high quality recordings of organ hymn accompaniments for the hymns as found in the Anglican Church of Canada "Common Praise Hymnal" (1998). (intro and all verses). Our goal is to have the entire hymnal available.'

Quilisma Publications
Includes many PDF files of liturgical music.

St Dunstan Plainsong Psalter
The Psalms of David and the Canticles pointed and set to the ancient Gregorian and British tones, together with 'The Order for Matins and Evensong', in a New Western Rite Publication by Lancelot Andrewes Press of Glendale, Colorado. The website includes generous PDF samples.

St Thomas Church Fifth Avenue Webcasting
From September through June this New York City parish with a world-famous musical programme provides webcasts of its choral worship.

Ten Hymns by Don Kerr
These hymns were written for the boys of the Montreal Boys Choir School at CAMMAC, Québec, between 1989 and 1991. Most are set to tunes found in The Hymnal 1982 [Episcopal Church USA]. New tunes for each hymn are being composed by the Reverend Stephen A. Crisp. The copyrighted hymn texts are in PDF format.

Torcroft Press LLC
This press 'attempts to get new music published and to make performance editions of older works available to more people at reasonable cost. The site also features a wide-ranging blog called 'A Weblog About Music.' Music is available as PDF downloads.

Worldwide Music International
Started in 1962 in the UK and in the United States in 1974 by a former Cathedral organist to make the sheet music of the Anglican services easily available, it has grown to supply music from some 60 publishers. They also have CDs.

World Wide Music Online
From the site description: 'Probably the world's leading provider for traditional cathedral / church music (Anglican, pre-Vatican II Catholic, Lutheran...) in print, including Anglo-American Music Publishers inventory. Database format. www.classicalmusicdirect.com is a search site for the above, and also references many of the finest recordings of cathedral choirs and organs worldwide'.

Music publishers

CanticaNOVA
A publishing company that specialises in 'traditional music for the contemporary church'. Their goal is to provide music 'grounded in the texts and the traditions of the liturgy itself'. Although oriented towards the Roman Catholic Church, there may be some useful material here for Anglican organists and choir directors.

Kevin Mayhew Publishers
Publisher of vast quantities of hymnals, organ, choral and instrumental music; also offers church resources and supplies.

Lancelot Andrewes Press
'The publishing arm of the Fellowship of Saint Dunstan, a non-profit organization for the advancement of historic Christian orthodoxy, as expressed by the liturgical and devotional usages of traditional English Christianity (particularly as embodied in the texts of traditional editions of the Book of Common Prayer, the 1611 Authorised Version Bible, and related texts, commentaries, hymnals and chant books).' They produce high-quality reprints of works by John Mason Neale and Canon Winfred Douglas.

Pelagos Music Incorporated
Pelagos Music is a new recording, music publishing, and arts management company. It produces and distributes recordings and sheet music, and acts as the principal publisher for Grammy Award-winning composer Paul Halley.

Selah Publishing Company

Starshine Music
'A venture specialising in quality music for schools and youth groups. Our Christmas musicals and our new Christmas Songbook are proving to be very popular across the UK.'

Organs

(Associations for organists are listed above under 'Associations and Societies')

The Associated Pipe Organ Builders of America:
'In addition to its member services, this association of firms (not individuals) provides a wealth of information to churches and others on all facets of purchasing or restoring pipe organs. Topics covered include building design and fund raising campaigns. Includes links to members, which include most major pipe organ building firms in the United States and Canada. Primary goal is the promotion of the pipe organ over electronic substitutes'.

British Institute of Organ Studies
'To promote objective, scholarly research into the history of the organ and its music in all its aspects, and, in particular, into the organ and its music in Britain.'

Digital Church Organs
Compton organ specialists in the UK.

National Pipe Organ Register
'The NPOR contains details of 28,000 organs [in the UK] including 6,000 pictures.'

'The Organ Loft': Organ music on the Internet
KING-FM radio in Seattle, Washington (USA) broadcasts a show on the Internet (through Real Audio streaming) called 'The Organ Loft' hosted by St Mark Cathedral's associate organist, Rodger Sherman. Many of the programs include music from the cathedral's 1968 Flentrop pipe organ. More information here.

OrganAssist
A PC program using MIDI to record/playback organ music on both digital and pipe instruments. The developer notes: 'This program will play recorded music on any other supported organ giving churches the chance to share music. I do not believe this has been achieved before'.

Organ Historical Society
Founded in 1956, the OHS is a broad-based international organization which promotes the restoration and preservation of historic pipe organs. Publishes quarterly magazine, annual organ guide and holds annual convention—often groups will precede the convention and perform pro bono emergency repairs or even major restoration on featured historic organs located in churches lacking financial resources. VERY extensive online catalog of Anglican and other choral and organ recordings from around the world.

Rodgers Instrument
Leading builders of pipe organs as well as digital organs. In addition to their home in Oregon, US, they now have branches in Canada and the UK.

Wicks Organ Company
A venerable US organ builder.

Wilhelmy
An American company, based in Virginia, that caters to pipe organ building, restoration, voicing and tuning. See company history for background.

Young Person's Guide to the Organ
It might even be valuable to not-so-young people.

Schools of Music

Choir Schools' Association
'CSA represents 44 schools attached to cathedrals, churches and college chapels around [England]. Pupils have unlimited access to first-class schooling and musical training, giving them an excellent start in life. The Association has recently broadened its membership and admitted its first cathedrals and churches without choir schools but who have children singing in their choirs.'

The Minster School, York
Founded in 627 by Paulinus, the first Archbishop of York, for the education of choristers. This site provides information on the daily routine of choristers and their tuition fees, extracurricular activities, musical training, etc.

Royal School of Church Music
The Royal School of Church Music was founded in 1927 by Sir Sydney Nicholson, Organist of Westminster Abbey. His vision was for the RSCM to help all engaged in church music to: appreciate the spiritual basis of music in worship; achieve higher standards in music making; and discover the glories of church music. These aims remain the ideals of the RSCM.

Royal School of Church Music in America. A branch of the Royal School of Church Music (UK).

St Paul's School of Music
Troy, New York. 'offers quality education to children between the ages of 7 and 11. As part of St Paul's community outreach, all classes and materials are offered free of cost to the student. Meals are also provided to students between lessons.'

St Thomas Choir School
New York City. Founded in 1919, this is the only church-affiliated boarding choir school in the United States.