‘That glorious song of old?’ The history of music-making of St Davids Cathedral, with specific reference and concentration on the twentieth century.

This submission charts the development of the Anglican choral foundation at St Davids
Cathedral in Pembrokeshire, with particular focus on the 20th century. Using deposited papers
at both the Cathedral and National Library of Wales consisting of previously published and
unpublished documents (much of which has not formally been catalogued or investigated), the
paper presents the case for a greater understanding of regional choral foundations outside of
major centres of culture and learning, their development throughout the twentieth century
(with a particular focus on the growth of ‘Welsh’ identity and political development), and the
prominent role they played (particularly following the Second World War) in ensuring wider
dissemination of culture to the masses. These are augmented (where possible) with links to
original, and often limited-release, recordings which aurally illustrate performance standards.
The archival resources proved exceptionally fruitful in being able to illustrate a representation
of wider issues within the world of cathedral music (such as employment rights and freehold
of tenure, socio-political issues at local, regional, and national levels, and an insight into
governance of cathedrals in general throughout the period). In establishing an understanding of
these, we gain greater understanding of a differing model of delivery within cathedral music,
whilst also delivering reasonable performance standards, contributing to wider conversations
on how cathedral music can be maintained against current market forces of secularization
within cathedrals as they embrace the ‘Heritage Sector’ model, and increasingly tighter finance
and regulation (especially regarding the position of choristers).