Music at Rochester Cathedral
Rochester Cathedral is the Mother Church of the second most ancient diocese in England, and has resounded to the singing of God's praises since AD 604, when St Augustine appointed Justus to be the first Bishop.
From its earliest times, Rochester appears to have been famous for the training of singers. In his Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, Book IV Bede writes of Bishop Putta, enthroned as Bishop of Rochester in AD 669 that:
"He was extraordinarily skilful in the Roman style of church music, which he had learned from the disciples of the holy Pope Gregory".
Bede goes on to say that:
"From that time also they began in all the churches of the English to learn sacred music, which till then had been only known in Kent".
The Cathedral Choir at Rochester can therefore claim to be the heir to a very ancient tradition as it maintains the round of daily worship. Its work is supported by a Children’s Choir and adult Voluntary Choir, as well as Visiting Choirs from around the country and further-afield.
