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Medieval Carols

Jeremy Summerly traces the early history of the world’s favourite musical genre with sung illustrations from the St Luke's Carollers of Chelsea.

Schooling Singers in the Cathedrals

A singer in a church of 450-650 was appointed in the same way as a gravedigger - too lowly to demand the bishop's attention. Arrangements were increasingly made to school singers in the great metropolitan churches of the West, as will be demonstrated.

The Curious Case of the Decapitated Frog

A discussion of the nature of consciousness founded in startling 1853 experiments on living, decapitated frogs. The debate brought in the greatest minds of the age and is still with us today.

Towards a Ministry of Singing

In their deliberations, the bishops identified for the first time in Christian history, an actual ministry of song. This lecture will build on this foundational moment in Christian musical history.

The Music of the First Christians

Like many others in the first and second centuries, the governor thought the Christians very strange. So they were in many respects, but they were not so strange that they repudiated the use of ritual song. We begin our survey with the music of the first Christian communities.