Cathedral choir suspended after singing ‘entirely inappropriate’ hymn

11 September 2025, 15:36

Singers performed the protest hymn after the Welsh cathedral announced job losses and other cuts.

There was trouble in the Land of Song on Sunday 31 August, as Bangor Cathedral Choir performed a ‘Canticle of Indignation’ during a communion service, and then walked out.

The Welsh choir was protesting against redundancies affecting five out of eight members of staff, including two of the cathedral’s three Lay Clerks. The cathedral had also decided to halve the hours of its Director of Music, Joe Cooper, alongside other cuts affecting the cathedral’s child choristers.

A cathedral choir has been singing in Bangor for over 1,000 years. In the 1980s none other than Classic FM’s own Aled Jones was a chorister there, and it was a recommendation from a member of the congregation that launched his recording career.

But for now the choir is silent, suspended for a month while the powers that be “review what happened and consider appropriate next steps,” according to a statement.

Read more: Eight children from French choir hospitalised after “seizure‑like” symptoms

The offending canticle – the name for a setting of words from the Bible, to be sung during a church service – was composed by a member of the choir, Simon Ogdon, in March.

Like generations of composers before him, Ogdon took the Book of Psalms as his inspiration. His choice of Psalm 94, though, was too close to the bone for the Cathedral authorities, who called it “entirely inappropriate”. Its verses include ‘They smite down thy people O Lord, and trouble thine heritage’, and ‘O ye fools, when will you understand?’.

Ogdon has made his canticle publicly available on his Facebook page, where he says: “There is a long history of protest through art, even through church music – Renaissance “parody mass” settings; Martin Luther's hymns; Tallis and Byrd’s Latin motets during the English Reformation – and I am proud to be part of that.”

So next time you’re feeling a strong sense of indignation, or longing to shout ‘Oh you fools, when will you understand?’, perhaps you could join in an ancient tradition, gather a few kindred souls and let your feelings out in song.