CHOIR & MUSIC HISTORY

Modern for its day, when Holy Family first opened the people were proud of their new electronic organ - believed to be the first of its kind in Lancashire. It was situated in the gallery at the back of the Church, from where the carefully designed acoustics gave it, and the choir an ethereal, distant sound quality, ideally suited to the musical styles of the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council.

In time however, the organ became rather better at receiving local radio than it was at providing music for the Mass, and it was replaced by a single manual pipe organ which served the parish for several years. A small but dedicated choir rehearsed regularly, and enhanced the Liturgy with their part singing.

Moving on to 1997, the closure of Beechwood Convent nearby led to the sisters offering the organ from their chapel to Parish Priest, Fr Vincent Naylor, who was pleased to accept their generous gift. This fine 1966 "Walker Positive" 3 unit extension organ (comprising 2 Manuals + Pedals) was installed at Holy Family by Peter Pemrick of Bolton, and has served the parish well since then.

By this time, music in the Church had become more diverse. Vatican II had prioritised congregational singing in the Mass, and the role of the Choir had therefore become more one of leadership than performance. The gallery was not always the ideal place for this (as the sound was too distant to inspire confidence in a congregation not yet used to being asked to "join in" with the singing), and the introduction of more modern guitar-led music at the Saturday evening Mass was therefore facilitated by musicians leading from the front of the Church instead.

In 2001, in an attempt to integrate the different musical styles, the console of the Walker organ was moved to the front of the Church, along with an adjustment of the adjacent pews to enable accommodation of singers, guitarists, and other instrumentalists. A range of musical styles is now led by a varied ensemble, extending on major feasts to organ, guitars, oboe, violin, digital piano and singers, all in close proximity to the congregation.

And the congregational singing? We’re getting there!!

Fr Martin
Holy Family, 2002