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Paul Inwood
Blogged by James Preece on 21st September 2007
Flashback one week. "James, On Saturday 20th of October there's a day for Musicians being ran in Scarbrough by Paul Inwood ,do you wan't to go?"
Hmmm. Paul Inwood. I know the name but where from... oh yeah... I pull out Hymns Old and New to find his name in the 'By Author' section. He's not got much to his name in there but that's where I know the name. I do a quick google and one of the pages mentions Introits. "Yeah, okay, let's go to Scarbrough and see what it's like".
Suddenly, it's like Paul Inwood mania.
Fr. Z has gets hold of an email from Paul Inwood about the Motu Proprio allowing the celebration of the old rite. It's not good.
I attach an information piece that is due to appear in the forthcoming issue of our diocesan newspaper. I hope it will clarify some of the issues, particularly as regards our view that the Motu Proprio does not require bishops to provide training for priests or people who may become interested in the pre-conciliar form of the Roman Rite (now described by the Pope himself as "extraordinary" in the sense of "not normative"), but only asks them to make provision for those who have in the past made known their interest in a consistent and organized fashion.
Best wishes,
Paul Inwood
In one of the comments Berenike says:
Paul Inwood is a Haugen/Hass wannabe, if I am thinking of the right man, and I think I am. Vague memories of various Plymouth horror stories are stirring, but I can't remember what they are. Probably as well for my charity levels.
Next, on the Telegraph Blogs Damian Thompson weighs in with 'Is this why Catholics can't sing?'
Paul Inwood has made a fine living composing banal ditties
You can find excerpts from Inwood's music here (click on "compositions"). Warning: your toes will curl. Yet his music has featured in more TV and radio broadcasts of Catholic liturgies than that of any other living composer. And he also sits on the liturgical formation sub-committee of the Bishops' Conference.
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A typical Inwood tune meanders up and down the scale, jumping the same intervals, supported by droopy harmonies. Many of the melodies are virtually indistinguishable from each other: you could programme a computer to write something very similar. (As an experiment, I have just sung the instructions on a packet of soap powder to an Inwood-style melody – it's very easy to do.)
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How much money, I wonder, has the Catholic Church spent on this dreary stuff over the years?
Then, the Bishop of Portsmouth decides Paul Inwood's piece won't be appearing in the Diocesan Newspaper after all.
Most recently, it's back to the Telegraph where Damian Thompson is asking awkward financial questions about the Diocese of Portsmouth.
Magnificat publishes Masses that are used by hundreds of churches; many of these works were commissioned by Catholic dioceses. I’d like to know more about the company’s financial relationship – if any – to diocesan organisations in England and Wales.
Presumably, the many liturgical workshops run by Mr Inwood and advertised on the Magnificat website do not overlap with his role as salaried director of liturgy in any way. And presumably all the music sold by Magnificat is written in his spare time. I say “presumably” because Portsmouth has not answered any of the questions I emailed to its director of communications. I cannot even tell you how much Mr Inwood is paid. I also do not know the identity of the diocesan employee who is paid between £60,000 and £70,000 a year, according to Portsmouth’s 2006 accounts.
You can find excerpts from Mr Inwood’s pieces here (click on “compositions”). Incredibly, there is a hugely lucrative market in this liturgical pap, which elderly bishops think appeals to “young people”. But it’s not exactly an open market. When a diocese commissions a new Mass, the list of composers it considers is, shall we say, rather short.
So, lot's going on there then. The Music Day in Scarbrough should be interesting. I'll let you know how it goes.
Reader Comments
berenike said...
The thing about the soap powder sung to an Inwood tune - has he noticed how many tunes one can sing Tantum Ergo to?
the Kaiserhymn (or however you spell it)
Clementine
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berenike said...
btw, the horror stories weren't to do with Inwood - they were very funny, whatever they were, I just wish I could remember them.
I shouldn't have said anything, should I? plato's sieve andall that(was it Socrates's?)(developed for his wife?)
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berenike said...
here it is (I can never remember what order they go in)
http://www.poznanie.sk/knowledge/tales/socrates-three-sieves.php
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boeciana said...
This chap is suddenly everywhere! Bizarrely, I've just had to learn a Mass setting, not by Mr Innwood, but with texts translated by him. (Presumably from some other vernacular's dubious paraphrases, cos they're the usual yes-well-it-doesn't-quite-say-that sort of thing.) Not my cup of tea, but clearly the cup of tea of the person who chose the music for this Mass. Oh well.
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Copernicus said...
Damian Thompson's comments are disreputable, not to say absurd: the idea that Paul Inwood makes a living out of duping the people of Portsmouth into singing his music is far into the realms of paranoid fantasy. Does Mr Thompson think anyone makes a living out of writing Catholic liturgical music and selling it in this country?
We're witnessing a new and deeply unsavoury phenomenon on the right of the Church: the rise of the internet ayatollah. Those who read the writings of these unsavoury people then seem to know no restraint in seeking out demons to vilify. One wonders what work of charity is accomplished by a part of the Church acting like a pack of wild dogs.
Anyway James, give PI a fair hearing! Like everyone not-actually-frothing-at-the-mouth seems to say about him, a nice guy with a lot to offer the Church.
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James said...
The idea that Paul Inwood makes a living by duping the people of Portsmouth would be absurd, only I know that Middlesbrough Diocese pays it's Director of Adult Formation in the region of 30k. That's a lot of money in Middlesbrough.. factor in the north south divide and I would say the diocese of Portsmouth is perfectly capable of paying Paul Inwood "a living". Whether he gets it by duping them I don't know, but I find it hard to believe he's working part time in safeway to supplement his income.
I'll give him as fair a hearing as I give anybody which is to say if it's crap I'll say so and if it's good I'll probably get distracted by someone elses crap.
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Copernicus said...
Well, I trust they pay him a living wage for his work as director of liturgy; anything else would be exploitation. I imagine he earns a fair amount from music sales in the US - he's a big name, globally famous in the context of contemporary Catholic liturgical music. But even then I'd be surprised if the sums involved amounted to, say, a head-of-department music teacher's salary. I'm guessing.
The absurdity is the suggestion that he sells more in Portsmouth than elsewhere by virtue of his position; or that the fact that he's employed by the diocese represents some sinister conflict of interests that means they shouldn't sing his music at all there.
If what he has to offer is crap then I guess it's your right to say so. But remember how much of that judgement is subjective; how broad the Church is and how many other people might find his music a legitimate and authentic vehicle for prayer; and how nasty a place the internet is, that seems to draw hatred out of people that ought to be showing charity. Not that you're in the latter category, but there are people out there who don't need much prompting!
Peace and all good.
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James said...
Thanks for making the effort to post these comments.
I think it's fair to say I don't have a clue when it comes to Paul Inwoods salary. I didn't think Damian was suggesting that Paul makes more in Portsmouth than anywhere else or that he does it because of his position. The way I read it he was more pointing out that Paul has a great vested interest in promoting his style of music over, say, gregorian chant. However, given that it's his style of music, I would say he would be fairly likely to lean in that direction even if he wern't composing.
You are right that my judgement is subjective. Perhaps I need a disclaimer somewhere in a clear location... When reading someone else's blog I tend to take everything on no more authority than if it were face to face... that's the blog way, but some people seem to have a "if I'm reading text then they must be claiming objective fact" mentality.
I also always forget that while to me, it's just another blog entry (I've hammered out over 2500 of them) others tend to read it as if whatever is on the front page today is my entire life's work. It's not. It's just whatever was on my mind today. It's 15 minutes typing and hit send. As Amy Welborn said (something like) "This is a blog. I write stuff on it. People discuss it. It is not a big deal".
Thanks again for commenting, it is appreciated. I wish more people left comments. Thinking is more interesting with more than one person.
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Paul Priest said...
Sorry but I am one of those people highly antagonistic towards the professional laity and the high wages they accrue by being paid as catechists/educational pedagogues, liturgists/ consultants/ committee members etc.
Schools, churches and land is being sold off en masse by dioceses on a national level, disenfranchising tens of thousands of catholics in the process , depriving catholic children of any catechesis; destroying catholic communities and promoting lapsation - all through the profligate waste of finances and resources by diocesan administrations...
...yet none of the professional laity/clergy seem to lose out - no, even though they deprive others they still ensure that their nests are well and truly lined - what's even worse is that the majority of them have already made a fortune via other means - Mr Inwood is by no means downright poverty stricken , but I would love to know what other financial projects or initiatives lost out on funding because the diocese had to pay this gentleman's wage as a liturgist ?
£1.3 million on diocesan wages just seems an administrative obscenity...especially when it's being spent by selling off the diocesan family silver - buildings built by ordinary parishioners scrimping and saving over the decades to have their own community church or to ensure their kids had a catholic education. I'm frankly sickened by the whole thing - and know that portsmouth and plymouth are nowhere near the most guilty dioceses - look how many millions are wasted every year by the conference of bishops ? they even had the audacity to finance Caritas' 'Catholic Social Action' - one of the most horrendous publications this year....
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