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A choir of around sixty singers descended on Paris this August for the Worth Abbey Choir tour to the French capital, following a tour to Venice last year.

Worth Abbey Choir’s main function is to enrich the Sunday Mass musically alongside the monastic community at Worth, and is an inclusive, non-auditioned choir formed of members of the parish community, with the addition of three choral scholars from local secondary schools. The recently-established tradition of a short summer choir tour provides an opportunity for the choir to spend some time together after such dedicated work throughout the year, and to prepare larger-scale pieces of sacred music more suited to a concert performance.

Reflecting on the hugely successful tour to Paris, Worth Abbey Director of Music and Monastic Organist, Edward Dean, writes: 

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"In the spirit of Benedictine hospitality, guests from other choirs were welcomed to sing alongside the Abbey Choir’s regular members in preparing and singing two concerts based on the theme of the Assumption – one at Saint-Sulpice, a church known to musicians throughout the world for its two superb Cavaillé-Coll organs and renowned organists, and the other at the beautiful church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, known for the shrine of St Genevieve, patron saint of Paris.

"In addition to guests from outside the Diocese, the presence of the two choral directors of the diocesan Schools Singing Programme plus five members of the wonderful Lourdes Pilgrimage music team (rested and refreshed after the recent pilgrimage) meant that it was a wonderful occasion for Diocesan musicians to come together to make music – and also to gather socially.

"With scores and rehearsal tracks sent out in advance, the choir gathered at Worth Abbey in late July for a whole-day rehearsal. The music for the tour included the Quatre Motets by Maurice Duruflé, of which the Ubi Caritas is perhaps the best-known of those four pieces; with one of the concerts falling on the Feast of the Assumption (15th August), and the following the day after – a good number of Marian-themed works were also featured. Given that the first of the two concerts was at Saint-Sulpice, the opportunity to perform Louis Vierne’s Messe solennelle for two organs and choir presented itself – and around half of the rehearsal day was dedicated to making sure this monumental work came off in a way that could compete with Saint-Sulpice’s famous organs (for which the piece was written).

The concert was promoted as part of the internationally-known summer organ concert series, meaning that Saint-Sulpice’s organists accompanied us: Karol Mossakowski and Axel de Marnhac. Many organists, liturgical musicians and organ builders were in attendance and told choir members they had travelled from various cities across France, Germany and even Brazil to hear a rare performance of Vierne’s masterpiece in its original setting.

"With everyone making their own way to Paris – whether that be by train, plane, or in another way – the spacious interior of Saint-Sulpice gave welcome respite from the prevailing Parisian heatwave. A rehearsal just after midday prepared us all for singing in the middle of the church – almost half way between the two organs in a space larger than Paris’ Notre Dame cathedral. A packed nave of eager listeners greeted us at that Assumption Day concert, with the Vierne Messe solennelle in particular captivating those present. Shortly after the concert, one of the audience members uploaded a video of the end of the Vierne Kyrie – and that video now has over 67,500 views and 1,000 ‘likes’ on the original post – a great recognition for all the work the singers put in both at home, at the rehearsal day, and in coming to sing so beautifully and heartily.

"A group meal at the end of the tour’s first day provided a great opportunity to reflect on such a joyful musical experience, interspersed as it was with the reedy tones of an accordion, the strumming of a guitar, and two French chanteurs weaving between tables.

"Saint-Étienne-du-Mont was the church of Maurice Duruflé – the composer of those four motets mentioned earlier – who was the church’s organist from 1929 until his death in 1986, receiving a papal designation for his outstanding contribution to Catholic church music. We were treated to performances of some of his organ works, and to top off the four motets, the choir was keen to sing Duruflé’s hauntingly beautiful Notre Père (his choral setting of the ‘Our Father’ in French). Starting the concert as at Saint-Sulpice, Bruckner’s Tota pulchra es resonated through the visually-striking church – this was a piece Worth Abbey Choir last sang for the visit of the relics of Saint Bernadette back in 2022, so it was wonderful to revisit it for these two Parisian concerts. In contrast to the formal concert at Saint-Sulpice, a more transient group of tourists enjoyed the varied programme – and for the choir, the opportunity to sing music written for that particular church was very powerful and memorable.

"The tour, being only two days in length (15 & 16 August, with a rehearsal day on a Saturday in July), was designed to help enable those with professional or family engagements to participate in full."

Guests are always welcome at Worth Abbey – if you are interested in learning about future tours or come-and-sing style events, or singing more regularly with the Abbey Choir, please contact Edward Dean (Director of Music and Monastic Organist) at E: edean@worth.org.uk.

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With thanks to Edward Dean for sharing this account with us.
Photo credit: Pierre-François Dub-Attenti/AROSS (Association pour le rayonnement des orgues Aristide Cavaillé-Coll de l’église Saint-Sulpice)