TOPCOP revisited

After our visit to the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling, the next time we meet will be on Saturday 20th May 2017 when at 4pm we will be singing Choral Evensong in Peebles Old Parish Church in the Scottish Borders.

Introit: Let all mortal flesh keep silence (Edward Cuthbert Bairstow)
Responses: William Byrd
Psalm: 104 vv24-35
Canticles: Magnificat Primi Toni (Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina)
Canticles: Nunc Dimittis in B flat (Charles Wood)
Anthem: O clap your hands (Orlando Gibbons)

We thoroughly enjoyed our previous visit to Peebles, it's a lovely town, and we're very much looking forward to our return visit.

And the title of this post?  Well it alludes to The Old Parish Church Of Peebles!

Thanks to Kim D Smith for graciously allowing us to use her photograph as the background to our poster.

Church of the Holy Rude

Our return visit to Linlithgow was very enjoyable, and the next time we sing is on Saturday 4th March when at 4pm we will sing Choral Evensong in the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling, a few yards from Stirling castle.

Introit: Geistliches Lied (Johannes Brahms)
Responses: John Bertalot
Psalm: 22 & 23 (chants: Matthew Camidge, Henry Walford Davies)
Canticles: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in b minor (Hugh Blair)
Anthem: Cast me not away from Thy presence (Samuel Sebastian Wesley)

Dating from the 15th century, the Church of the Holy Rude is the only church apart from Westminster Abbey still in active use that has hosted a coronation, when the infant King James VI (who was later also James I of England) was crowned there on 29th July 1567.

Linlithgow

Following our enjoyable visit to Culross Abbey our 2016 season has drawn to a close and we now have a break over Advent and Christmas when our choir members have increased commitment to their own home choirs, but our 2017 season starts on Saturday January 14th when at 4pm we will be singing Choral Evensong in the historic St Michael's Parish Church in Linlithgow, directed by Frikki Walker and accompanied by Richard Walmsley.

Introit: Hail Gladdening Light (Charles Wood)
Responses: Humphrey Clucas
Psalm: 73
Canticles: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in D (Herbert Brewer)
Anthem: Tribus Miraculis (Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina)

St Michael's is in the shadow of the ruins of Linlithgow Palace which is, of course, the birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots and is well worth visiting

Culross Abbey

After a lovely, enjoyable service in the beautiful St Cuthbert's Parish Church in Edinburgh (almost in the shadow of the castle) our next meeting, the last of 2016, is on Saturday 12th November when we shall sing Choral Evensong for Remembrance at 4pm in historic Culross Abbey, directed by Frikki Walker and accompanied by Richard Walmsley.

Introit: Holy is the true light (Richard Shephard)
Responses: Thomas Tomkins
Psalm: 90 (chant: Henry Walford Davies)
Canticles: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in F (George Dyson)
Anthem: Justorum Animae (Charles Villiers Stanford)
Anthem: We will remember them (John Madden)

If you haven't visited Culross before (it's pronounced "Cooross") it's well worth a visit, with its picturesque houses nestling on the banks of the river Forth.

Bothwell history lesson

Yesterday we visited the wonderfully historic Bothwell Parish Church where we sang Choral Evensong directed by Frikki Walker and accompanied by Richard Walmsley.

The music included Bairstow's Save us, O Lord, Howells' Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in G, William Smith Responses, and the introit Hear my prayer, O Lord which we were slightly naughty with after the rehearsal had finished.  Bothwell Parish Church has a mediaeval quire which has been closed for renovation for over four years but which was due to reopen a couple of weeks ago, that was partly why we arranged this date to go and sing there, but inevitably the works have been delayed by a short few weeks and although it's basically finished it hasn't yet been cleaned up, signed off as safe, and reopened so is still shuttered off from the main church.  But, and don't tell anyone this, access can be gained to it via an emergency exit door, so with copies in hand, and some trepidation lest the roof fell in on top of us, we briefly filed into the old part of the church and performed Purcell's hauntingly beautiful anthem with its soaring, climactic, eargasmic conclusion in the glorious acoustic of the mediaeval quire.  Just for fun.

Singing in the mediaeval quire

A splendid day was had by all the choir, we had a fair number of people not only in the congregation during the service but wandering in and out during the afternoon's rehearsals since the church doors were open in connection with Bothwell's Scarecrow Festival, and the welcome we received from the minister, assistant minister, and everyone at the church was lovely.

The minister, Rev Jim Gibson who is Chaplain in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen as well as being a Member of the Chapel Royal in Scotland, led the service (along with Assistant Minister Rev Hanna Ranking), and started by welcoming everyone and giving a brief history lesson on the church in Bothwell which although now firmly a Presbyterian Church of Scotland was originally Roman Catholic and following the Reformation was Anglican for thirty years.  With members from many traditions we are very firmly a multi-denominational choir, the RSCM has something to offer all Christian denominations, and we were glad to be singing in a building that has hosted many flavours of Christianity over the years.

Our thoughts now turn to our next meeting, on Saturday 8th October when at 4pm we will sing Choral Evensong in St Cuthbert's Parish Church, Lothian Road, Edinburgh, for which the music list will be announced soon.

It might be all about the bass, but the tenors get the drink

This site is to publicise RSCM Scottish Voices, and whilst that primarily takes the form of what the choir as a whole is doing it's safe to say that within our ranks are many extraordinarily talented musicians whose musical activities extend well beyond the church choral theme, and which deserve publicising.

One such of these is Sadie.  As well as singing alto in RSCM Scottish Voices Sadie entertains a different audience as a member of Arlen, and you can catch them performing musical gems from the Great American and British Songbooks in Edinburgh's Free Fringe at 6.55pm on 10th and 24th August in Voodoo Rooms Speakeasy, 19a West Register Street, Edinburgh EH2 2AA, and in the Fringe by the Sea at 3pm on 11th August in La Gaiete Spiegeltent in North Berwick.




The performances are free, and we are reliably informed that not only will there be a stunning rendition of Meghan Trainor's All About That Bass, but any RSCM Scottish Voices tenors in attendance will be eligible to receive a free drink after the concert! 

Really, what's not to like?

2017 season announced

The venues for our 2017 season have just been finalised, so including the last half of our 2016 season from this point forward our plans are listed below.  Other than our rehearsal weekend when there is no public access we'd be delighted to see you at one or more of our services, which generally start at 4pm, last under an hour, and contain glorious music!

10th September 2016
Bothwell Parish Church
Choral Evensong at 4pm

8th October 2016
St Cuthbert's Parish Church, Lothian Rd, Edinburgh
Choral Evensong at 4pm

12th November 2016
Culross Abbey
Choral Evensong at 4pm

14th January 2017
St Michael's Parish Church, Linlithgow
Choral Evensong at 4pm

4th March 2017
Church of the Holy Rude, Stirling
Choral Evensong at 4pm

20th May 2017
Peebles Old Parish Church
Choral Evensong at 4pm

11th to 13th August 2017
Scottish Police College, Tulliallan Castle, Kincardine on Forth
Annual Residential Rehearsal Weekend (NB: No public access or performance)

9th September 2017
St John's Episcopal Church, Dumfries
Choral Evensong at 4pm

7th October 2017
St Machar's Cathedral, Aberdeen
Choral Evensong at 4pm

11th November 2017
St Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, Dundee
Choral Evensong at 4pm

Dunblane 2016

Psalm rehearsal

Yesterday saw the first half of our 2016 season draw to a close with Choral Evensong in Dunblane Cathedral, directed by Frikki Walker and accompanied by Steven McIntyre, including music by Peter Hurford, Richard Seal, Herbert Murrill, and Malcolm Archer.

Unfortunately the Rev Colin Renwick is ill at the moment, we wish him a speedy recovery, so the service was led by Richard Finch, the readings were done by Nigel Hart and Neil Parker, and the cantor was David James, all choir members.

Dunblane had been hosting a training day for the Scottish Churches Organist Training Scheme (SCOTS), which we gather went very well, and this meant that the congregation was boosted by many of the organists who had been enjoying their own music making earlier in the day.  Some of them joined various choir members in the Tappit Hen across the road from the Cathedral for a post-service refreshment, and it was nice to chat to them.

Some of us will get together with the choir of St Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow to celebrate RSCM Music Sunday on 12th June, then some of us are singing at the wedding of two of our members in August in Ayrshire (them having met in the choir) and in late August we have our residential rehearsal weekend when we'll start to learn repertoire for the next 12 months and of course we'll socialise hard!

The next time we shall sing as a choir together though is on Saturday 10th September when we'll be in Bothwell Parish Church (where one of our members is the organist) singing Choral Evensong at our customary time of 4pm.

There will soon be the annual meeting to plan our next year's activities, so that hopefully all the dates and confirmed venues can be announced to the choir at the rehearsal weekend (this is BY FAR the busiest time of the year for the choir administrator), so watch this space because they'll be announced here soon after the choir members get to know.

Wind and Fire of Pentecost

Join us at 4pm on Saturday 14th May 2016 in Dunblane Cathedral, when on the eve of Pentecost we sing Choral Evensong, directed by Frikki Walker.


Introit:         Litany to the Holy Spirit (Peter Hurford)
Responses:  Richard Seal
Canticles:     Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in E (Herbert Murrill)
Anthem:       Rejoice, the Lord is King (Malcolm Archer)

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from all members of RSCM Scottish Voices.  We hope all your singing commitments during Holy Week and over the Easter weekend have been successful, rewarding, and spiritually uplifting.

Glasgow 2016

It was a day different to the usual one we enjoy, but enjoyable nonetheless.  Originally scheduled as Choral Evensong, we were asked by the Right Reverend Dr Gregor Duncan, Bishop of the Diocese of Glasgow & Galloway of the Scottish Episcopal Church, to instead provide the music for a Chrism Mass when priests from all over the diocese gather to renew their ordination vows and to bless various oils used in their ministry.

The Bishop delivered a homily, and made the choir feel particularly welcome and an integral part of the service during it, which was commented on afterwards by several choir members.

Directed by Frikki Walker and accompanied by Steven McIntyre the setting was Harold E Darke's rather nice Communion Service in F, with the soprano soloist Ruth Elder, tenor and baritone soloist Ian Gibson, and solo quartet made up of Ruth Elder, Pam Barrowman, Ian Gibson and Stewart Macrae.  Well done to all of them!

The anthem was a little gem by New York based Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo, called Ubi Caritas which if you haven't heard it before is well worth a listen.  A recording during which you can look at the sheet music too can be seen on YouTube here, and the sheet music is available to purchase from the RSCM here.

The next outing is for 20 of our singers who are making the journey south to Peterborough Cathedral on 9th April to join forces with our counterparts from the rest of the country as we celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the founding of RSCM Cathedral Singers by Martin How, in what promises to be a splendid Choral Evensong which includes O praise the Lord, a new introit written by Martin How for the occasion, Ayleward Responses, Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in D by George Dyson, and Surrexit a mortuis by Charles Marie Widor (written not only for double choir but for two organs!).

The next time the full choir meets is on 14th May when we close the first half of our 2016 season with Choral Evensong in Dunblane Cathedral.  Originally planned as a joint service with RSCM Young Scottish Voices, for various reasons the youngsters aren't now available to join us for that service which will include Litany to the Holy Spirit (Peter Hurford), Richard Seal Responses, Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in E (Herbert Murrill), and Rejoice the Lord is King (Malcolm Archer).

Chrism Mass

Join us at 4pm on Saturday 19th March 2016 in St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, 300 Great Western Road, Glasgow, as we provide the music for the Chrism Mass when priests from all over the diocese of Glasgow & Galloway meet to receive Chrism Oils.

Directed by Frikki Walker, and on this occasion accompanied by Steven McIntyre, we will sing the Communion Service in F Major by Harold Darke, and the anthem Ubi Caritas by Ola Gjeilo

Carlisle

Our visit to Carlisle Cathedral got off to a wonderful start with our first rehearsal being in the Fratry, which used to be the dining hall for the monks of the mediaeval Priory.  How fantastic is this for a rehearsal venue!

The nice people of Carlisle were very welcoming and friendly, particularly James and John the vergers, and all of the choir thoroughly enjoyed our visit.  If they'll have us, we'll be back!

Our next meeting is on familiar territory when we will take part in a Chrism Mass in St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow on Saturday 19th March at 4pm.  The setting will be the Communion Service in F Major by Harold E Darke, and the anthem will be the rather lovely Ubi Caritas by Ola Gjeilo

Carlisle

Carlisle Cathedral

Our 2016 season gets off to what promises to be a cracking start on Saturday 6th February when we make our first visit as a choir just across the border into England, and sing Choral Evensong at 5.30pm in historic Carlisle Cathedral.

The music list is:

Introit: Peace I leave with you - Frederick Wadeley
Responses: Richard Shephard
Canticles: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in F (Collegium Regale) - Charles Wood
Anthem: A song of praise - George Dyson

Please do come to the service if you're in the Carlisle area, we're very much looking forward to our visit and it'd be great to see a few people in the congregation!

Happy Christmas

As all our members toil away at the singing commitments in their home choirs, we'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy Christmas, and a magnificent year of music-making in 2016!

Error in CMQ

Eagle-eyed recipients of the fine RSCM publication Church Music Quarterly and its accompanying booklet The Network may spot in the December edition (which our administrator received through the post today) that on page 20 of The Network we are listed as singing Choral Evensong in Dundee on 5th March 2016. 

We aren't. It's a typo. 

That date and venue relates to our wee sister choir RSCM Young Scottish Voices, not us.  So please go there at that time on that date to support them, but you won't hear RSCM Scottish Voices singing.

Season's end, brrrr!

Our 2015 season has now drawn to a close, after our very successful and enjoyable Choral Evensong yesterday with members of our wee sister choir RSCM Young Scottish Voices in Old Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Edinburgh's Old Town.

Around 40 adults and 15 youngsters braved the rather low temperatures of the church (despite the heating being on, it had a battle on its hands against the cold Edinburgh chill!) and sang to a very appreciative congregation of almost 40 hardy souls.

Despite the temperature we enjoyed a warm welcome from Old Saint Paul's, and we're looking forward to returning there in the future.  Perhaps we'll schedule it for summer next time though!

The next time we meet as a choir is on February 6th 2016, when we make the journey south to Carlisle Cathedral to sing Choral Evensong at 5.30pm.  Several choir members have already booked overnight accommodation in Carlisle, so it looks like it's going to be a great social occasion as well as a musical one.  Will it be warmer? Here's hoping!

Old Saint Paul's 2015

After a great sing yesterday in Perth our 2015 season draws to a close with a collaboration between the adults of RSCM Scottish Voices, and the youngsters of our wee sister choir Young Scottish Voices, when at 4pm on Saturday 14th November we will join forces to sing a splendid Choral Evensong in the delightfully atmospheric Old Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Edinburgh, directed by Frikki Walker and accompanied by Richard Walmsley.

• Introit: Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace (S S Wesley)
• Responses: Richard Seal
• Psalms: 123, 124, 125 (chants by George Thalben-Ball, Samuel Wesley, and Charles H Lloyd)
• Canticles: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in A (Herbert Sumsion)
• Anthem: Love Divine (Howard Goodall)

Looking ahead, our 2016 season will kick off on 6th February next year when we are delighted to be making a first foray across Hadrian's Wall to sing Choral Evensong at 5.30pm in Carlisle Cathedral. 

Watch this space for more details, and don't forget to follow us on Twitter @RSCMScotVoices

Perth 2015

Our next outing is a very welcome return visit to St Ninian's Episcopal Cathedral in Perth on Saturday 3rd October 2015, where at 4pm we will sing Choral Evensong directed by Richard Walmsley and accompanied by Matthew Beetschen (former chair of RSCM Scotland).

Introit: God be in my head (John Rutter)
Responses: William Smith of Durham
Canticles: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis Fauxbourdon (John Bertalot)
Anthem: The Canticle of Brother Sun (Grayston Ives)

All are welcome at the service which will last under an hour.

Oban

On Saturday 5th September 2015 we will visit the glorious west coast town of Oban for the first time, where at 4pm we will sing Choral Evensong in St John's Episcopal Cathedral, directed by Richard Walmsley, and accompanied by Steven McIntyre (assistant organist of St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow).

Introit: Sing Joyfully (William Byrd)
Responses: Bernard Rose
Canticles: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in B flat (Sir John Stainer)
Anthem: And I saw a new heaven (Sir Edgar Bainton)

All are welcome in the service, which will last less than an hour.