Day 4: Sights and Sounds!

Friday, July 7, 2023

View of Edinburgh from on top of the tower at St Mary's Cathedral.

Day 4: Cathedral Choir member Bob Fraser reflects on his day seeing the sights and the joy of singing Evensong!

"Friday was a diverse day of activity for young choristers and old(er) choristers alike. While the young choristers were in their morning rehearsal, several of the adults braved a climb up to the central spire of St Mary's Cathedral, where they were treated to spectacular views of the city.

Left: View from the top of St Mary's; Centre: climbing up the central tower wasn't for the faint of heart!; Right: Conrad, Isabella, and Isolde take in the views from the top of the tower.

I managed to find a group interested in checking out a musical instrument museum, and on our way we picked up our local friend Alex White (you will remember Alex was part of the Cathedral Choir during his gap year in 2021-22; he lives here in Edinburgh and sings with the choir at St Mary's and has joined our bass section for the week). He took us on a route through all the usual attractions, including this lovely cobblestone street which was one of J.K. Rowling's inspirations for Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter stories.

Unfortunately, when we got to the music museum we learned it was closed for maintenance! A lesson in always thoroughly scouring the website beforehand. Not to worry; there were lots of sights to take in, like the Royal Mile, and St Giles Cathedral (the seat of the Church of Scotland).

Evensong was a solemn service today; the organ was given a rest and we processed and recessed in silence. The canticles were a set of "fauxbourdons" by William Byrd; with most of the text sung as plainchant with these beautiful harmonizations interspersed. Paul's "Road to Damascus" experience and Jesus' Crucifixion were the readings. 

A number of us in the choir have remarked how wonderful it is to do daily services for a full week; the rhythm and flow of the liturgy and the discipline of singing every day is something very special.

Looking forward to a day off in York tomorrow!"

Above: At Evensong today, thousands of LED candles had been placed in front of the Quire in preparation for a candlelit concert hosted by St Mary's that evening. Below: The group meal at Pizza Express required lots of help from our dedicated group of chaperones (bottom right) and impromptu Maitre d' Alex White (bottom centre) to get all of the orders sorted out. We're quite certain that no one went hungry on their watch!

Check back here tomorrow for another update featuring a collab by two of the choristers! Know someone that would like these emails? Forward them this link!

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