We will remember them

Our 2017 season drew to a close yesterday, fittingly on Armistice Day, when we sang a Remembrance themed Choral Evensong in St Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in Dundee, directed by Frikki Walker and accompanied by Kevin Duggan.

St Paul's continue to be most welcoming and generous hosts, and we look forward to future visits.  Thanks are particularly due to the Pastoral Musician Stuart Muir for his help in making the arrangements and for his tireless work on the day making us tea and coffee and generally being helpful, and to the Provost the Very Revd Jeremy Auld not only for allowing us to visit but for his sensitive leading of the service and his singing as cantor in the responses.

So our year finishes and whilst the thoughts of our singers turn towards the music they will sing in their home choirs over Advent and Christmas our Musical Director and particularly our Administrator put their minds to the various behind the scenes changes involved in the impending change from oversight by the RSCM Scotland committee to oversight by RSCM HQ in Salisbury, and all that entails. Initially a "child" of the RSCM Scotland committee back in 2008 the choir has gone from strength to strength with the magnificent support of the committee since we first sang a service together in January 2009, and we thank committee members past and present for that support, whilst looking forward with excitement to the new chapter in our corporate life and the opportunities that may present themselves.

And looking into the near'ish future, the next time we sing together will be in the Mediaeval Quire of Bothwell Parish Church in Lanarkshire, when we will sing an unaccompanied Choral Evensong at 4pm on Saturday 17th February 2018.  We hope to see you there!

They shall grow not old

After a most enjoyable Choral Evensong yesterday in St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow under the direction of James Kealey and with Christopher Nickol accompanying, our thoughts turn to our next event, the last of 2017, when we will be singing  a special Choral Evensong for Remembrance at 4pm on Saturday 11th November in St Paul's Cathedral, Dundee, led by our Musical Director Frikki Walker and accompanied on this occasion by Kevin Duggan, Musical Director of Dunblane Cathedral.

• Introit: The souls of the righteous (Herbert Murrill)
• Responses: John Bertalot
• Canticles: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in F (George Dyson)
• Anthem: Though I speak with the tongues of men (Sir Edward Cuthbert Bairstow)
• Vesper: For the fallen (Douglas Guest)

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
we will remember them.
                                                     Laurence Binyon

2017-18 music list

The music list for the next 12 months has just today been finalised and announced, and we're really looking forward to a lovely balance of revisiting some previously performed classics and learning pieces we've never sung before. Please do come along to any of the services if you're in the area.

All of it is contained on our "future services and events" page on this site, but is reproduced below.


7th October 2017
St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Glasgow
Choral Evensong at 4pm
Director: James Kealey
Organist: Christopher Nickol

Introit: O pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Herbert Howells)
Responses: Bernard Rose
Psalm: 37 vv 1-11
Canticles: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in F (Peter Aston)
Anthem: Evening Hymn (Henry Balfour-Gardiner)

11th November 2017
St Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, Dundee
Choral Evensong for Remembrance at 4pm
Director: Frikki Walker
Organist: Kevin Duggan

Introit: The souls of the righteous (Herbert Murrill)
Responses: John Bertalot
Psalms: 60 & 61
Canticles: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in F (George Dyson)
Anthem: Though I speak with the tongues of men (Edward Cuthbert Bairstow)
Vesper: For the fallen (Douglas Guest)


17th February 2018
Bothwell Parish Church
Unaccompanied Choral Evensong in Mediaeval Quire at 4pm
Directors: Frikki Walker & Kevin Duggan

Introit: This is the day which the Lord hath made (Anonymous, probably Osbert Parsley)
Responses: Richard Ayleward
Psalm: 43 (Scottish Paraphrase - tune: Martyrs)
Canticles: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis First Service (Robert Parsons)
Anthem: Hear the voice and prayer (Thomas Tallis)


24th March 2018
St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Glasgow
Chrism Mass at 4pm
Director: Frikki Walker
Organist: Kevin Duggan

Setting: Communion Service in G (Francis Jackson)
Motet: A new commandment (Peter Nardone)
Motet: Let all mortal flesh keep silence (Edward Cuthbert Bairstow)

19th May 2018
Durham Cathedral
Choral Evensong at 5.15pm
Director: Frikki Walker
Organist: Kevin Duggan

Responses: Herbert Sumsion
Canticles: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in B flat (Sir John Stainer)
Anthem: Though I speak with the tongues of men (Edward Cuthbert Bairstow)

Queen of the South revisited

Our next outing is a very welcome return visit to sing Choral Evensong in the beautiful town of Dumfries, close to the border, in St John's Episcopal Church at 4pm.


Introit: Abendleid (Josef Rheinberger)
Responses: Herbert Sumsion
Canticles: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in G (Herbert Sumsion)
Anthem: Let the people praise Thee O God (William Mathias)

We will as usual be directed by the wonderful Frikki Walker and on this occasion, having recently said a sad goodbye to our friend and Assistant Musical Director Richard Walmsley who with his family has now moved to Cambridgeshire to take up the position of head of music at the King's School in Ely, we will be accompanied by Steven McIntyre, Assistant Organist at St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow.

Vacancies for singers

It doesn't happen all that often, but at the moment we're actually in the position that we have a limited number of vacancies for singers, primarily basses but also one or two altos and a tenor.

Have a look at the attached poster, and elsewhere on this site where there's details of what we're all about and what membership involves, and get in touch with our administrator to arrange an audition.

We're actually a nice bunch of sociable people who happen to sing stuff to a high standard, and we'd love to see you join us!

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

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.