Day 5: New Inspiration in

Old York!

Saturday, July 8, 2023

A group of Young Choristers in front of "The Shambles" market, an inspiration for J.K. Rowling's "Diagon Alley"

Day 5: Cathedral Choir member and Chorister Program patron Marilyn Gough reflects on our day trip to York,

"Today began with a rehearsal for the adults to prepare for a few days ahead. Then most of us hustled down to catch the train to the beautiful city of York. After two hours on the smooth riding train, we arrived for a drizzly morning walk into the heart of this ancient town. Romans, Vikings and many centuries of Christians have occupied this place. Most of the medieval walls exist surrounding the old town. One group began the 2 mile circuit. Some of the children and adults peeled off at the York Museum and I carried on further around the various gatehouses of the old defences.

Above: Isolde and Sihana attempting to convey the sheer scale of York Minster. Below: Our seats at Evensong in the Minster.

York Minster, a massive Cathedral, towers above the other low-rise buildings. It was completed in 1472 ( or so) and is, I believe, the largest church north of the Alps. The main event for our day was to attend the Choral Evensong in the late afternoon. Today was the last day of the term for the regular choir and so the music was more special than ever. The girls’ treble line was singing with the other parts filled in by adults. On the musical menu were the Jackson responses, three psalms, the wonderful Gloucester service by Howells and the Anthem was “Singet dem Herrn” by J.S Bach. Our group was welcomed and given a preferred seating position so we all could appreciate the supreme musicianship and professionalism of the choir. Such an inspiring experience! It was a great example of how deeply moving music can be when it is well-executed. I was struck by how very expressively the psalms were sung. 

In conversation with several Young Choristers and other Cathedral Choir members, it was clear that they were inspired too: “The choir was so professional — everything is done with such care,” “The sound of the choir and the organ in that building was so cool,” “I thought Christ Church Cathedral was big, but this is HUGE!”

Happily everyone made it back to the train to return to Edinburgh to do our own singing tomorrow! Bring it on!

Upper left: Chorister Ava meeting an owl at the York falcon exhibition; Lower left: Acquisitions from the York Minster gift shop were on point; Right: Donald and some of the Young Choristers dressed up in historical garb at the Museum of Yorkshire.

Check back here tomorrow for another update from Mark McDonald, who has a big day with a late night Westminster Abbey lock-in! Know someone that would like these emails? Forward them this link!

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