Review of Forfar Choral Evensong

After our recent Choral Evensong, the following article appeared in the magazine of St John's Episcopal Church, Forfar, and is reproduced here by kind permission:

Music at St. Johns

Royal School of Church Music Scottish Voices - Choral Evensong

We have been extremely privileged this year musically, in that St. Johns has hosted two very special occasions. The first was in April when the Tayside Organists held their President’s evening here, and a magnificent evening that was.  Readers may remember that it was described in professional detail by Robert Lightband, who captured the beauty and skill of the performances wonderfully.  The second was on September 11th, the Choral Evensong above.  This article will inevitably be much less knowledgeable, more broadbrush than his, but hopefully may convey the impression of three quarters of an hour of pure loveliness, an experience shared by about 40 lucky listeners.

As a member of St. Johns, it is a great pleasure to see the chancel packed with singers, all very colourful in their different choir robes, and to hear the very good acoustics of the church used to maximum effect.  There was a wonderful purity to the sound, which at times seemed to soar right into the roof space, but was never overpowering. We know we have a very special organ, and it was played beautifully by Rupert Jeffcoat.  As a member of St. Johns, also, I felt very proud to welcome the singers here, as the church was looking so good.  We know too that we have a lovely building, but when our eyes our being drawn all the time to the chancel, the brilliance of the brass on the cross was breath-taking.

The music was mainly modern, though the versicles and responses were by William Byrd, sixteenth century, and the final voluntary a Prelude and Fugue by Bach, neither of whom could hardly be described as modern!  But there was a timelessness about the whole service, an evensong one could simply lose oneself in.  The introit was an apparently very simple piece by John Bell, with very direct words; the psalm, a beautiful, slightly haunting chant, so clearly sung, then the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, an adaptation fauxbourdon by John Bertalot, written post Second World War – it had a lovely Gregorian chant effect; and the anthem, the biggest, most complex piece was by John Ireland. They were, of course, all different, but the effect was of seamlessness – the service a complete whole.

Evensong, by its nature, talks of peace and quietness.  The day was specially poignant in this respect - September 11th - mentioned in the intercessions by Richard Finch, standing in for Andy.  Most pertinent of all, perhaps, was the final Vesper – a truly lovely setting of The Prayer of St. Francis, by Frikki Walker, the musical director.  The following day a member of the congregation described the service as ‘though the angels of heaven had come and filled the church with music’.  This may be a slightly flowery way of putting of it, but I suspect all of us there were thinking very much the same thing.  She just put it into words.  Please come again, Scottish Voices, and we’ll try to make sure that next time many more people will come to share this very special experience.

Forfar

Our most recent meeting was a very successful one at St John's Episcopal Church in Forfar on 11th September.  That date resonates round the world in its better known format of 9/11, so music was specially chosen by Frikki to commemorate the 9th anniversary of the events of 2001.

Unfortunately at very short notice Richard Walmsley had to pull out of the service, but luckily we were joined by Revd Rupert Jeffcoat, whose stunning playing left me grinning widely on more than one occasion! I have no doubt that Rupert will be joining us again.

A family commitment, well, committal if the truth be told, meant I couldn't be there for the morning rehearsal so I wasn't able to sing in the service, however this meant that for the first time I was able to hear what RSCM Scottish Voices actually sounds like from a congregational perspective.  And not only was I not disappointed, I was very very impressed!

For some time now both Frikki and Richard have been saying how pleased they both are with the way the choir has developed in the fairly short time since we started, and while in response I've been nodding my head and agreeing, secretly I've been thinking "what are they talking about, it's OK but it's not as brilliant as you guys are making out".  Well I now realise that they have had the benefit of not being in the midst of all the singers so have been able to hear the overall sound.  And they have been right all along!  OK, this is the choir site, and I am the choir administrator, so it's forgiveable if I try to talk up our capabilities on this forum.  But I don't need to talk them up.  RSCM Scottish Voices is actually a very good choir, particularly given the short time it's been in existence, and the paltry 13 times we've met each other to sing together.

Not only that, but the introit actually moved me to tears.  It's no secret that I'm not a big fan of John L Bell's musical style, but his anthem There is a place, written to commemorate the victims of the Dunblane massacre of 1996 when gunman Thomas Hamilton murdered sixteen children and a teacher, just hit the spot.  OK, again emotionally I was in a strange place, having been scattering the ashes of a close and much loved family member that morning, but the choir sang beautifully and very movingly.

And inevitably, following the service a large crowd of us wandered a short way to the Queens Tavern, where some good beer and food was consumed.  As tradition dictates.

All in all, a good day for the choir.

A twin history lesson

RSCM Scottish Voices will be taking part in Choral Evensong to mark the anniversary of 9/11 on, strangely enough, Saturday September 11th 2010 in St John's Episcopal Church in Forfar (top photo) which is the church in which Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (later to become the Queen Mother) was confirmed on 5th November 1916.  Tha father of a former rector, John Skinner, Bishop of Aberdeen, was one of the three Scottish bishops who in 1784 consecrated Samuel Seabury as first bishop of the Episcopal Church of the then brand new United States of America.  History?  We've got it!

Our final meeting in 2010 will be in the lovely Thomas Coats Memorial Baptist Church in Paisley (photo on right) on Saturday 4th December.  The church, linked to the prominent threadmaking Coats family who were major benefactors in 19th century Paisley, is unofficially known as "The Baptist Cathedral of Europe" and although normally the type of service in which we take part is relevant to the denomination of the church in which we are singing, on this occasion we have been asked to sing Choral Evensong, and it's been suggested that this might be the first time in the UK such a service has been held in a Baptist church!

Full details, and of course individual posts relating to each, will follow in due course.