Day 8: Out of Chaos, Calm.

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Top Left: We started the day with an open top bus tour of all the London highlights; Bottom Left: The Cathedral Choir preparing for Evensong; Right The Young Choristers enjoying their day off at the Harry Potter Studio tour.

Day 7: Choral Scholar Sihana Dorfsman contrasts London's hustle and bustle with the calm of the Abbey's daily prayer offering

"Today was the day the Cathedral Choir had been invited to sing evensong at Westminster Abbey. We were all very proud of the Young Choristers and were ready to follow in their footsteps. As I am not fond of the hustle of the big city I parted ways with my colleagues who went walking and got haircuts and instead headed to a violin shop where I sampled several exquisite instruments.

Finally it was time for the Abbey. The burial site of over 3,300 people, the former monastery was forced to give way to a "royal peculiar" (a type of English church which answers directly to the monarchy) in 1559 and is still primarily a place of worship. Notably for the choir, memorial plaques and structures mark the interments of Blow, Clementi, Handel, Purcell, Stanford, Vaughan Williams, and even the great great grandfather of one of our choir member, Guy (John Lawrence)! My interest was piqued by the variety of the statues of the loved ones surrounding the dead: some direct their charges' attentions towards the beckoning hand of an angel, others fight off death itself scythe and all, and others yet simply cry. As if to indicate the acceptance of differing feelings surrounding death amongst the congregation. Imposing and official, there is room here and there for light hearted detail in the art and there seemed to even be a sort of self aware humour from the officials when having us practice our spoken "amens" (simultaneously crucial and irrelevant).

The day before I had been deeply perturbed by the shameless "fast tourism" at the Abbey. What I assumed would be a respectful visit in a place of worship and memorial which had graciously opened its doors seemed like an odd consumeristic ritual where everything was proven looked at (constant cameras) but nothing was seen. An odd sense of entitlement seemed to be felt by the tourists who could not even bring themselves to pause their photos or tour for the brief intercom prayers which requested a moment of stillness and quiet -- the entire point of the place they were visiting.

Westminster Abbey's Worship & Music list posted prominently by the entrances, showing our choirs' services on Monday and Tuesday.

All this was finally resolved for Evensong. Suddenly all were seated silently, focus absolute. For an extended, glorious moment (which none amongst the choir will soon forget) the entirety of Westminster Abbey was experiencing Mark and Donald's judiciously crafted musical offering -- including the whole gamut from climactic exaltation to delicate beauty with pit stops in between. We finally had the privilege of hearing Mark on the Abbey organ!

I was reminded briefly of the cyclical nature of time in many cultures including that of the indigenous peoples back home. There's an important belief I'm only vaguely remembering about every moment in time happening at once in the location it occurred. I enjoyed imagining that centuries of Evensong and other forms of prayer were ringing out along with us and that we had now left our own piece for the generations to come.

Following an enchanting walk down a bird-laden park (St. James's) I was treated to a concert by the beloved Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and Mandolin player Avi Avital (other choir members instead enjoyed west-end presentation ofThe Lion King!)

The orchestra was impossibly in sync, both musically and energetically -- something the Cathedral Choir has been improving via singing daily together. Something about such high quality music making indisputably draws an assembly of listeners or worshippers in and holds them captive. Just as in Evensong, all were induced to be mentally present, experience beauty for its own sake, and consider the humanity of those around them past, present, and future.

Tomorrow morning, we'll be checking out the Tower of London and singing our final Evensong at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Know someone that would like these emails? Forward them this link!

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