THE CATHEDRAL CHOIR

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22004, 30 January 1937, Page 20

THE CATHEDRAL CHOIR

RESIGNATION OF DR.

BRADSHAW

CORRESPONDENCE WITH

CHAPTER

REASONS FOR DECISIONS

OUTLINED

r “The cause of my retirement 3s *imply that the Bishop, the Dean, and the Chapter have made it impossible lor me to carry on as the Cathedral organist and choirmaster and keep my self-respect. For many years I ‘ had a very happy position. The Bishop and the Dean of those days were heartily in sympathy with my work, and in" every way assisted the choir to carry out its important function in the service of the Cathedral. Under recent control, however, there has been a change, and half-hearted support and pin-pricks have culminated in a straight-out refusal to uphold my authority.

"In the circumstances nothing was left to me but to resign from an appointment which for 35 yeais lias formed a large part of my life.” These remarks were made in a statement to “The Press” yesterday by Dr. iJ, C. Bradshaw, in commenting on us r resignation last month as Cathedidl : organist and choirmaster and on the t resignation of 10 of the 14 adult mu - Ibers of the Cathedral choir. -Dr. ffiradshaw explained that lasattention ► had been drawn to a Press A ssoc aUon message published throughout the Dominion on January 4 about these resignations, and he had found that the matter had been completely misunderstood by the public He had been i told that some peop c had cxfmessed the opinion that the Cathodiat .Chapter must have had some serious charge against him, or it would never have treated him in the manner it had. In justice to the choir and himself, he felt he should give reasons for the resignations.

“Untenable Position”

Dr. Bradshaw said that the correspondence between the Chapter and himself should give those int ® r^ all the information required to show how untenable his position had become. On December 11 the Chapter had written to him stating that it could not agree to his request ion the ; restoration of the number of choir 'hoys to 24. This letter dealt also with a complaint he had made about one of the choir boys. This boy, said Dr. Bradshaw, had been a constant trouble if °“ThTb y oy ar was frequently a truant from services and practices, and was guilty of other offences against the choir rules/’ Dr. Bradshaw continued. “After he had ignored repeated chances, he was suspended from the choir last October. I forwarded a complete report to the Chapter, taut it decided to appoint a committee of two to investigate. This committee met the parents and myself, and although all the offences were admitted. I was asked to give the boy a further trial for three months This T refused to do, for I knew the boy was most unsuitable, and that his conduct was calculated to undermine the discipline of the whole choir. # “I suggested that, if more information was desired, all the choir hoys should be questioned. The prefects of the choir were then questioned, and their replies endorsed my statements. In the letter from the Chapter on December 11. I was told that the Chapter had decided to allow the boy to remain at the school till his voice broke, and that his place in the choir was not to be filled for the present. This meant, 1 was told, that as long as this decision stood, the number of choir boys must not exceed 19. This letter shows that the Chapter, in spite of my report and the evidence received, decided not to support me in my determination to uphold discipline, but instead to cripple the work of the choir.

Allocation of Offertory

Other matters dealt with in this letter from the Chapter related to the allocation of the offertory on the Hymn of Praise Sunday rendering and the repair of the organ. On the first matter, the Chapter decided to pay half the offertories to the “Save the Choir” Fund, and the other half to general maintenance, said Dr. Bradshaw. On the other matter, the Chapter gave its approval to February 4 for the final organ recital, provided repairs to the organ were completed by that date. Replying to the Chapter’s letter. Dr. Bradshaw said it must surely be unique that an organist should be Kept in total ignorance about the dismantling of the organ. It was typical, he said in the letter of reply, of the treatment he had received during the last few years under the present Dean. On the allocation of the offertories, Dr. Bradshaw said that the choir men and himself regarded the payment of half the proceeds to the maintenance fund as a distinct breach of faith. “In my letter I explained that the Dean, when he asked me if I would give the work, clearly gave me to understand that it was to help the choir fund,” Dr. Bradshaw continued. “Otherwise I should not have undertaken the very arduous preparation. I told the choir of the Dean's request, mentioning the object, and the members consented to give extra time to prepare the work. When the matter was discussed later, one of the choir men, Mr Tucker, said that the Dean had told him privately that the work was to be done in aid of the choir fund. The choir men stated that an announcement was made in the Cathedral that the work was being given in aid of the choir fund, and there is no doubt that the congregation was under that impression.”

Punishment of Choir Boy?

In this letter, Dr. Bradshaw referred to an instruction given to him by the Chapter in its letter of December 11. That instruction read; “The choir boys are not to be disciplined by methods which will infringe on their already limited spare t|me.” Dr. Bradshaw’s comment on this was that the new instruction indicates that no punishment, even for minor offences, could be given except the strap was used, a position which he could not possibly accept. Another matter raised by Dr. Bradshaw was that the short time given on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons to the music of the Male Voice Choir having been deleted, the boys would be debarred from taking part in concerts.

For these reasons he had very reluctantly to tender his resignation to take effect at the end of March, 1937.

In its reply, the Chapter hoped that he would take further time to reconsider his decision to resign, said Dr. Bradshaw, but it affirmed its intention to abide by the decisions of which he had complained. Dr. Bradshaw’s answer was that he could not reconsider his resignation, and he considered the Chapter’s attitude further evidence that he could obtain neither reasonable consideration nor common justice. * The foregoing correspondence had been read by him to the choir. The matter was not discussed, and without his knowledge, 10 members of the choir had handed their

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