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.

...

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.)

...

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.