Posted on 09/08/2026 2:54:52 PM PDT by hiho hiho
St Paul’s Cathedral has announced a four-year collaboration with Fabric nightclub that will see DJs being brought into the capital’s most lauded pews, designed by Sir Christopher Wren.
The four-year project has provoked outrage among groups including traditionalist Christians and historic preservation societies. Descendants of Lord Nelson called it “an insult” to his memory, “deeply depressing” and “an act of self-harm,” while Queen Elizabeth II’s former chaplain called it “a betrayal of all the faithful Christian people who said their prayers there.”
But wasn’t St Paul’s always for music? Wren’s domed ceiling was designed specifically for its resonant qualities, and what is so different about electronic music than the church organ? Isn’t it all music?
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Crucially, the backlash against a collaboration with a London nightclub exposes the stigma and snobbery that surrounds electronic music and club culture. But DJs are composers like any other. They make and play music. There is no reasonable argument that dance music is any less valid than classical.
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In an interview with City AM last year, the dean of St Paul’s told me how they are proudly adapting to modern audiences – and how dividing opinion is inevitable. Good on the City’s proudest cultural venue (the winner of our Best Arts or Culture Award), for sticking to its guns.
(Excerpt) Read more at cityam.com ...
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“Even ancient sacred buildings have become just another venue.”
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Christ’s Church is the people, not a building - however venerated it may be.
It would be interesting to know what the average attendance at the church is each week. When I visited it was pretty sparse, outside of the tourists.
The foundation question for every church that “modernizes” its music ministry is whether the front of the church houses an altar, or a stage.
When I walk in and see a drum set and multiple amplifiers, I know the altar has become nothing more than a performance stage.
Well, on the bright side, at least it isn’t a Mosque.....
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... YET.
Here's a truly funny quote from the article: “club music's origins are about connection and bringing people together, in much the same way church music”
It's pointless even discussing the reasoning errors with someone like this.
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