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).

Royal links

Today we visited beautiful Royal Deeside and sang unaccompanied Choral Evensong in St Margaret's former Episcopal Church in Braemar.

Braemar is just a few miles along the road from Balmoral Castle, Scottish home of Her Majesty the Queen who is the Royal Patron of the Royal School of Church Music, and it didn't seem right for an RSCM choir to be singing almost on her doorstep without letting her know, so a while back our administrator sent off a letter to Buckingham Palace advising Her Majesty of our visit, and inviting her to the service should she be in the area.

The response, from The Chief Clerk to The Queen, was that The Queen's engagements are planned A LONG time in advance and therefore regrettably she was unable to attend.  In the envelope though, in addition to the reply from The Chief Clerk, was a letter from Her Majesty herself, containing congratulations to all involved in the regeneration of St Margaret's Church, and best wishes to the choir!

Her Majesty's letter was reproduced in the Orders of Service today, and a scan is reproduced below.

Birthday Choral Evensong

On Saturday 31st May 2014 we celebrated five years as a choir by singing Choral Evensong in Paisley Abbey joined by RSCM Young Scottish Voices (the first time they juniors have sung with our adult choir, but not the last!) and members of our sister choirs from England, RSCM Voices North, RSCM Voices South and RSCM Voices West.  We were glad too that the director of the RSCM, Andrew Reid, had accepted our invitation to come and celebrate with us, and he had a brief chat to the massed singers after the rehearsal (and for longer in the pub afterwards).

Andrew Reid (r) chatting to the choir

There were one or two last minute calloffs because of illness, but we still made up a choir of 83 singers under the direction of Frikki Walker, and accompanied on Paisley's majestic organ by Richard Walmsley, who have been respectively our Musical Director and Assistant Musical Director / Organist since we first tentatively met in summer 2008 (our fifth birthday has been calculated from our first actual service, which was in January 2009).

Rehearsals started at midday and right from the off it was obvious that we were going to be making some spectacular noises in the service, but to be honest any service that has Parry's wonderful anthem I was glad as the introit can't fail to be spectacular!  The full music list was

• Introit:         I was glad - Charles Hubert H Parry
• Responses:  Bernard Rose (cantor: Gary Young)
• Psalm:         150 (chant by Charles Villiers Stanford)
• Canticles:    Charles Dyson in D
• Anthems:     This lovely lady sat and song - Bryan Kelly
                       Let all the world  - Ralph Vaughan Williams
• Voluntary:   Carillon de Westminster - Louis Vierne

The weather in the west of Scotland has been lovely and sunny over the past few days, which meant that the Abbey, and Paisley, were looking their best, and if you're going to be stuck indoors on such a lovely day there are many worse buildings to be stuck inside.

The Abbey staff were very welcoming, providing us with refreshments during our short break from rehearsals, and Rev Birss said afterwards he was looking forward to welcoming us back for our 10th anniversary!  I suspect we'll be back sooner though.

The service itself lived up to its promise, and the wee bits during rehearsals where Frikki had been on at us to watch him while he played about with tempi (as he does so effectively) seemed perfect as everyone had clearly taken to heart his promise that he would be changing things on the spur of the moment.  Afterwards we had the obligatory group photo in the sun outside the west door of the Abbey (see below, with the other photos taken by Gordon Smith).

So, to the pub!  RSCM Scottish Voices are a sociable bunch, and took the opportunity of having new friends visiting from England to show them what we do after every service.  Space for around 50 had been reserved in the local Wetherspoons pub, which allowed us to enjoy inexpensive Real Ale, and food on demand!  Everyone seemed to have had a good day, judging by the smiles and laughter, and after several hours gradually we drifted away to our respective homes, hotels, boarding houses, and in at least one case another licenced premises!

The photos below were all taken by RSCM Scottish Voices tenor Gordon Smith (gordonrasmith if you want to look him up on Flickr) and are reproduced here with his kind permission.  If any of the singers from the day would like to access downloadable high quality versions of any photos, contact RSCM Scottish Voices administrator by email and it'll be sorted.

photo by gordonrasmith

photo by gordonrasmith

photo by gordonrasmith

photo by gordonrasmith

photo by gordonrasmith

photo by gordonrasmith

photo by gordonrasmith

photo by gordonrasmith

photo by gordonrasmith

photo by gordonrasmith

photo by gordonrasmith

photo by gordonrasmith

photo by gordonrasmith

photo by gordonrasmith

photo by gordonrasmith

photo by gordonrasmith

photo by gordonrasmith

photo by gordonrasmith

RSCM Music Sunday

Although not one of our six core events, some 23 members of RSCM Scottish Voices (not that far off half our choir) were singing in St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow yesterday where the cathedral choir, our singers, and choirs from around the diocese of Glasgow & Galloway joined to celebrate RSCM Music Sunday, and accompanied by Brass and Organ we raised the roof with glorious music including Parry's I was Glad amongst other delights!

The 100 strong choir included singers from as far afield as Dumfries in the south, Edinburgh in the east, and Elgin (near Inverness) in the north, all under the inspiring leadership of the Director of Music of St Mary's Cathedral, who also happens to be our own Musical Director, Frikki Walker.

It's the summer now, and the next time we meet is for our annual residential rehearsal weekend in early August which doesn't feature any public service or performance, so the next time you can hear RSCM Scottish Voices sing will be on Saturday 14th September 2013 in St Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral in Inverness, when we shall be singing Choral Evensong at 4.30pm.

More details including the music list will be announced here in due course, and you can follow us on Twitter at @RSCMScotVoices where we publish details of our activities.

RSCM Celebration Day

The 2013 RSCM Celebration Day service takes place next Saturday, 25 May, at 4.30pm in St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh.  The cathedral choir, RSCM Scottish Voices, and RSCM Young Scottish Voices will join with massed choirs to celebrate the work of the RSCM world-wide, and awards are presented to many people from all parts of the globe for their contributions to the work of the RSCM.

The conductor of the massed choir will be Andrew Reid (Director of the RSCM), with Matthew Beetschen conducting some of the music. The organist is Donald Hunt, Assistant Organist at the Cathedral, and the service will be led by the Vice Provost, The Revd Canon John McLuckie.

Those receiving awards during the service are listed below.

Fellow of the RSCM:
Mr Lindsay Gray - formerly Director of the RSCM

Mr Gordon Appleton is also awarded Fellowship of the RSCM, but is unable to be present at this service.

Associate of the RSCM:
Mr Matthew Beetschen - Director of Music and Organist at Dunblane Cathedral, Chairman of RSCM Scotland

Reverend Malcolm Chalmers - Acting President of RSCM South Africa and Chairman of the Northern Branch

Mr Timothy Lees - Music director and organist, Cathedral Church of St Mary the Virgin, Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and member of the RSCM Eastern Cape Branch

Mrs Patricia Lynch LRSCM - formerly Secretary of RSCM Scotland, trainer and developer of music resources for churches with small congregations

Mr Michael McConnell - formerly Organist and Choirmaster at St Joseph’s Cathedral Dunedin, New Zealand, member of the RSCM Otago & Southland Branch committee and Special Commissioner for the RSCM

Dr June Nixon - organist, choir trainer and composer, formerly Organist and Director of Music at St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, Australia

Mr David Iliff is also awarded Associateship of the RSCM, but is unable to be present at this service

Honorary Member of the RSCM:
Mr Barry Williams - legal adviser to the RSCM years, and co-author of Everything Else an Organist Should Know

RSCM Sacred Music Studies DipRSCM:
Mrs Janet Holland
Ms Wynne Simister
Mr Sam Adams
Miss Jennifer Ball
Ms Fiona Carlile

RSCM Sacred Music Studies CertRSCM:
Mr Dean Roberts

The following RSCM-affiliated churches will be represented by singers in the Celebration Day massed choir:

Bearsden, All Saints Episcopal
Bridge of Allan, St Saviour
Colvend, Southwick & Kirkbean
Dalmahoy, St Mary
Dunblane Cathedral
Edinburgh, St Columba’s Episcopal
Edinburgh, St Ninian’s Episcopal
Edinburgh, St Peter
Helensburgh, St Michael and All Angels
Largs, St Columba’s Scottish Episcopal
Newlands, Glasgow, St Margaret’s Episcopal
North Berwick, St Baldred’s Episcopal Church Choir
North Berwick, St Baldred’s Episcopal Church Chamber Choir
Oban, St John’s Cathedral
Rosyth, St Margaret’s Scottish Episcopal
Stirling, Holy Trinity Episcopal

Choir member receives honour

MANY congratulations to Pat Lynch, Secretary of RSCM Scotland who also happens to sing alto with RSCM Scottish Voices, and to Matthew Beetschen, Chair of RSCM Scotland, who are each to be awarded the honour of Associate of the Royal School of Church Music (ARSCM) at the RSCM celebration Day service on 25th May 2013 in St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh, a service at which our choir will be singing.

Well done to both of them!

The full press release on the RSCM Website relating to the 2013 honours is as follows:

Two well-known church musicians are among those to receive honorary awards from the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) next year. Lindsay Gray and Gordon Appleton, who both worked for the RSCM, are to receive Fellowships (FRSCM). Other recipients include cathedral organists from Scotland, New Zealand and South Africa. The main awards will be presented at a special service in St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh on 25th May 2013.

Honorary awards are conferred by the RSCM Council for outstanding contributions to church music, and range from Fellowship (FRSCM) and Associateship (ARSCM) to Honorary Membership and Certificate of Special Service. Nominations are received from RSCM volunteers all over the world.

The RSCM has the power to confer awards and diplomas - Fellow of the Royal School of Church Music (FRSCM) is awarded for achievements in church music and/or liturgy of international significance, or for exceptional musical and/or liturgical work within the RSCM. Associate of the Royal School of Church Music (ARSCM) is awarded for achievements in church music and/or liturgy of national significance, or for important musical and/or liturgical work within the RSCM. Honorary member of the RSCM (HonRSCM) is awarded for exceptional or very significant work that has contributed to the cause of church music and/or liturgy at international or national levels, or within the RSCM, but which is not primarily musical or liturgical. Certificate of Special Service is given for significant administrative work as a voluntary officer or member of staff within the RSCM; or an award for a significant contribution to church music and/or liturgy at a local level.

Two Fellowships (FRSCM) are being awarded in 2013; Lindsay Gray (from Cardiff) was Director of RSCM from 2008 until 2012. Before that he was Headmaster of Llandaff Cathedral School, where he founded and directed the cathedral girls’ choir. Lindsay is described by the RSCM Council as an outstanding director, and has raised the profile of the RSCM nationally and internationally. Gordon Appleton (from Ripon) worked for the RSCM for nineteen years in several senior posts, including regional director and adviser in the north of England. He also directed RSCM Voices North, and played a key role in the development of church music in Australia, South Africa and Europe.

Those receiving Associateships (ARSCM) include two from Scotland. Matthew Beetschen has been Director of Music and Organist at Dunblane Cathedral since 1992, where he has built up a large voluntary choir. Pat Lynch has served as Secretary of RSCM Scotland, and has provided training and worship resources for the Scottish Episcopal Church. David Iliff is being honoured for outstanding editorial work on RSCM publications including photocopiable choral resources such as The Carol Book and Songs, Psalms & Spirituals. David has recently retired as Director of Music at Malvern Priory.

Barry Williams who advises the RSCM on legal and contractual issues, and relationships between clergy and musicians, is to be made an Honorary Member of the RSCM (HonRSCM).

Commenting on the 2013 Awards, Andrew Reid, Director of the RSCM says, “There are so many people who give of their time and talents to sustain music in worship that it would be impossible to recognise them all. Nevertheless, it is a great privilege for the RSCM to celebrate these particular musicians whose dedication to music in their communities and spheres of influence has profoundly affected the worship of others.”

Awards will be presented at a special Celebration Day service in St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh on Saturday 25th May 2013. "We always enjoy Celebration Day each year,” says Lord Brian Gill, Chairman of the RSCM Council and Scotland’s most senior judge. “It is our opportunity publicly to honour those whose unselfish efforts have advanced the work of the RSCM, both at home and abroad. I am looking forward to welcoming everyone to Scotland!”

The full 2013 list of those to receive Honorary Awards from the Royal School of Church Music is as follows:

Fellows of the RSCM (FRSCM)

Gordon Appleton has given outstanding service to the RSCM and to church music over more than 30 years, most recently as Director of Voluntary Networks and Regional Music Adviser for the North of England. Gordon has also directed RSCM Voices North with distinction, led RSCM courses and played a key role in the development of church music in Australia, South Africa and Europe.

Lindsay Gray has been an outstanding Director of the RSCM. From a significant career in education he has maintained a passionate commitment to nurturing the musical abilities of young people, and has sought to ensure the future of church music by training the next generation of musicians. He has raised the profile of the RSCM nationally and internationally, worked hard to invigorate the network of volunteers and has been an excellent leader and motivator.

Associates of the RSCM (ARSCM)

Matthew Beetschen has been Director of Music and Organist at Dunblane Cathedral since 1992. As an organist he is a superb recitalist, advocate and teacher. As a choir trainer he has built up a large voluntary cathedral choir especially concentrating on musical training of boys and girls. Matthew has been Chairman of RSCM Scotland for eight years.

Malcolm Chalmers is Headmaster of St Martin’s Preparatory School in Johannesburg and Master of Music at St Boniface, Germiston, South Africa. He has served as Chairman of the Northern Branch of the RSCM in South Africa for five years, and has initiated youth choral programmes, singing festivals and three national Summer Schools.

David Iliff has done outstanding editorial and type-setting work on the RSCM’s photocopiable resources The Carol Book, The Carol Book Supplement, Season by Season, and Songs, Psalms & Spirituals. David has recently retired as Director of Music at Malvern Priory, concluding a 50-year career directing music in churches.

Timothy Lees has been an outstanding music director and organist at the Cathedral Church of St Mary the Virgin, Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and an invaluable member of the RSCM Eastern Cape Branch. Timothy was Royal Organist for the Sultan of Oman 1990–2001 and has been Director of Music in several schools in the UK.

Pat Lynch has made an outstanding contribution to church music in Scotland over many years, particularly to the Scottish Episcopal Church, providing resources for worship and cantor training. She has served as secretary of the RSCM Scotland Committee from 2005 to 2012, running courses and training days as well as handling administration.

Michael McConnell has given 50 years’ service to church music at St Joseph’s Cathedral Dunedin, NZ. Michael was a member of the RSCM Otago & Southland Branch committee for 30 years and in 1991 was appointed a Special Commissioner for the RSCM. He has contributed to RSCM Summer Schools and helped organize and lead RSCM festival services.

Dr June Nixon is known internationally as an organist, choir trainer and composer. In 2013 she will complete 40 years’ service as Organist and Director of Music at St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, Australia.

Honorary Member of the RSCM (HonRSCM)

Barry Williams has advised the RSCM for over 20 years on legal questions, in particular relating to contracts and relationships between clergy, PCCs and musicians. He has also led RSCM workshops on these topics and co-authored with Robert Leach a helpful book Everything Else an Organist Should Know.

Certificate of Special Service

These are awarded at local events to those who have given outstanding service to their Branch or Area:

Nigel Bates, Oxford Area
Ken Diffey, Ely Area
Richard Hill, Northumbria Area
Michael Jones, Liverpool Area
Nigel Perona-Wright, Guildford Area
Paul Rose, Peterborough & Northampton Area
Derek Sadler, Liverpool Area
Marjorie Simmance, Lincoln Area
Hilary Spurgeon, Isle of Wight District
Barbara Stout, RSCM South Africa, Eastern Cape Branch
Brian Watson, RSCM Australia, NSW Branch
Ada Wrightson, Lincoln Area

New RSCM Director appointed

Copyright © The Royal School of Church Music

The Council of the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) has appointed Andrew Reid (pictured), currently Director of Music at Peterborough Cathedral, to be the next Director in succession to Lindsay Gray, who is leaving the RSCM this autumn. A start date has yet to be agreed.

Andrew Reid has been Director of Music at Peterborough Cathedral since 2004 and before that he served in a number of assistant organist posts including both Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral.

Originally from Sevenoaks in Kent, he studied at Cambridge University where he held organ scholarships at St Catharine’s and Robinson Colleges, studying the instrument with Peter Hurford and David Sanger. In 1994 he performed the complete works of JS Bach in one twenty-five hour recital. As Assistant Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral from 1996, and four years later as Sub Organist of Westminster Abbey, he accompanied both resident choirs in recordings, broadcasts and on tour. He also played the organ for occasions of national significance including the funeral of Cardinal Basil Hume and the state funeral of the Queen Mother in Westminster Abbey.  At Peterborough Cathedral, he has directed the Cathedral Choirs of boys, girls and lay clerks in live broadcasts of Choral Evensong on BBC Radio 3, has performed with renowned groups such as His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts and Charivari Agréable, toured the Netherlands, Ireland and France, and has given many concerts within the UK.

Andrew Reid is looking forward to the new post. “I am delighted and honoured to be appointed Director of the RSCM. As a parish church chorister I greatly benefited from the work of the RSCM, and its inspirational leadership. I look forward to leading the RSCM forward in its work of inspiring, training and encouraging church musicians.”

Commenting on the appointment, Lord Gill, Chairman of the RSCM Council, who also chaired the appointment panel and is Scotland’s most senior judge, said, “Andrew Reid has been chosen from a strong field of candidates. His experience ranges from choral music at cathedral level to the training and encouragement of amateur musicians and singers in the parish churches, including young people. His vision for the RSCM is imaginative and exciting, and we look forward to a successful directorship. Andrew will build on the foundations laid by our departing director, Lindsay Gray, whose contribution to the RSCM has been immense.”

The Dean of Peterborough, the Very Reverend Charles Taylor, said, “Although Andrew’s departure will be a real loss to the Cathedral community and the Diocese, we congratulate him on his appointment to a post of national and international significance. He will take with him remarkable gifts of musicianship, choir training and teaching as well as a strong sense of vocation, vision and purpose.”

RSCM Music Sunday 2012

In St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Glasgow on Sunday 24th June 2012 members of RSCM Scottish Voices will be joining with other choirs including the Cathedral Choir itself to celebrate RSCM Music Sunday in a repeat of the glorious Choral Evensong of last year's event, complete with orchestral arrangements of classic cathedral repertoire!

The service will take place at 6.30pm, and the music will include:

• I was glad (Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry)
• Responses: Bernard Rose
• The Lord is my shepherd (Howard Goodall)
• The splendour of the House of God (John Bell)
• Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in A (Sir Charles Villiers Stanford)
• Greater love hath no man (Sir John Ireland)
• All people that on earth do dwell (Ralph Vaughan Williams)

The following is taken from the RSCM Website:
 
What is Music Sunday?
RSCM Music Sunday is a celebration of the music and musicianship that are a vital and beloved part of church life.  Music Sunday is a salute in words and music to the creativity, discipline, effort, and dedication of thousands upon thousands of people – young and old, professional and amateur, singer and instrumentalist, administrator and practitioner – most of them working without expectation of recognition but who nonetheless deserve our awareness and our thanks.  Music Sunday can be the occasion when you award RSCM medals, admit choristers into your choir, recognise a change in the status of choristers or greet a new organist or music director. 

What is The 50:50 Campaign?
Music Sunday events raise funds for choirs, music libraries, or whatever the financial need may be; the RSCM will use its half of the proceeds to support its work of training and supporting church musicians everywhere. While the amount raised locally may be modest, the events themselves raise awareness of the key role of music in worship. The £100,000 that the RSCM could raise in new funds will be transformative for church music and musicians.

RSCM Scotland Triennial Festival 2012

On Saturday 16th June 2012 at 5pm RSCM Scottish Voices will be taking part in the RSCM Scotland Triennial Festival in St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh, directed by Duncan Ferguson, Master of the Music at the cathedral.

Music will include:

• I give to you a new commandment (Peter Nardone)
• Jubilate (John Harper)
• Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in B flat (Sir John Stainer)
• As water to the thirsty (T. Brian Coleman - arr John Barnard)
• Let all the world (Ralph Vaughan Williams)
• I was glad (Sir C Hubert H Parry)
• An Irish Blessing (Elizabeth Ann Spencer)

In addition to the above music which will be performed by all the choirs present, during the service RSCM Scottish Voices will sing the hauntingly beautiful Tree of Life, the tune of which was written by Marty Haugen with this choral arrangement by Frikki Walker.

RSCM Scottish Voices crosses Hadrian's Wall

York Minster

At the weekend members of RSCM Scottish Voices travelled over the border to make a foray into England to sing for the first time as a choir.  Well, 20 of us did.  Numbers were limited because we were joining with the other three, longer established, RSCM Voices choirs who regularly get together every couple of years or so to sing a big Choral Evensong in a Cathedral somewhere in England, in this instance it was York Minster.  Simply because of logistics not everyone in each choir could fit into the space available, big though it is, so spaces were limited to about 20 singers each (a few more than that if the top line were trebles and not adult sopranos) making a choir of something like 104 singers.  So the 20 singers to represent RSCM Scottish Voices were duly chosen by our Musical Director, Frikki Walker, to form a balanced ensemble, and I was lucky enough to be one of those who could go (although being the administrator I'd have gone anyway just to listen and show face even if I hadn't been chosen to sing).

The service was on the bank holiday Monday (May Day) and we all made our own separate ways there, some going down a good few days early to make the most of the trip, some going there and back on the day itself, and many dragging along long-suffering partners with them!  After a most enjoyable circuitous route zigzagging by motorcycle through the borders I arrived in York on the Sunday afternoon just in time to check into the hotel and wander over for the Minster Choir's Choral Evensong when they sang Ayleward Responses (a favourite of mine), Dyson in D Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (standard repertoire but very enjoyable nonetheless) and Ye choirs of new Jerusalem by Stanford (which RSCM Scottish Voices sang the previous week in Old Saint Paul's Church in Edinburgh - and dare I say it our sopranos sounded better in the opening phrase "the paschal victory to hymn in strains of holy joy" at the bit where tradition dictates most choirs squeak out and clip short the top G on the first syllable of the word "victory").  The sound the Minster choir made was magnificent, particularly the men, a glorious rounded luxuriant noise.  Great stuff!

The hotel I and two others were staying in was the Guy Fawkes Inn, straight across from the south west corner of the Minster in High Petergate, and it's built on the site of the building in which Guy Fawkes was born and right next to the church in which he was baptised - St Michael le Belfrey.  It's a Real Ale pub and the beer, food, accommodation and staff were all excellent and to be recommended.  In fact, if you follow the link to the church the photo on Wikipedia of the front of the church (at the time of writing this) shows the Guy Fawkes Inn to its right.

So to the day of the service, and after two of us had a nice long walk together round the city walls doing the touristy bit in the morning we all assembled at 1pm in St William's College, a 15th century Tudor building directly to the east of the Minster.  Once the mundane things like seating arrangements were over we started a fairly short rehearsal under the direction of Gordon Appleton, Director of RSCM Voices North and RSCM Regional Music Adviser for the north of England (well, for the moment he is, since he's about to retire which was partly the reason for this service being on his patch and under his direction).

York Minster and the city walls

After a short'ish break we continued the rehearsal in the Minster but surprisingly and slightly disappointingly to me the decision was taken that we wouldn't robe for this (I always think that robing while rehearsing in choirstalls is to be encouraged), and we got through all the music (although despite it being a long psalm it was actually less than we normally would sing in an RSCM Scottish Voices service simply because there was no Introit).

Another very short break (during which the battle for access to the toilets commenced!) and we were then into the service of Choral Evensong itself.  It takes a lot to pull a choir that size together in such a short space of time, and rather enjoyably pretty much all of the wee odd rough edges of the rehearsal disappeared as the choir produced a very pleasing sound, and Gordon Appleton came into his own with some very animated directing while standing on a box so those furthest from him (that would be me then) had a sporting chance of seeing a beat to follow!  Oh, and the priest singing the responses was none other than Richard Shephard!

Congregationally it was a pretty full Quire (for those reading this who aren't familiar with cathedral architecture and nomenclature that's the name for the part of the building in which we were singing, not a dreadful typo!) and afterwards I didn't quite manage to find and speak to all those I'd have liked to, but I did manage to finally meet Sue Snell, the RSCM's Head of Education, who has always been unfailingly helpful in email correspondence.  It's good to put a face to an email address!

The great and the good then disappeared off to an official function, where I'm given to understand that Lord Gill, Chairman of the RSCM Council, made special mention of RSCM Scottish Voices in his speech, and I'm also told that it had been noticed that RSCM Scottish Voices singers acquitted ourselves admirably!  One comment I got from a VERY experienced church musician who was in the congregation and whose opinion I respect 100% was "all in all a great event".

I'm neither great nor good, so along with most of the Scottish contingent I went across the road to the Guy Fawkes Inn, where we had food and drink and good company well into the night.

As I said at the start of this post, this is the first time we've been invited to one of these events, and it was really nice to be asked.  It was a real shame that we couldn't take everyone in the choir, but that was all out of our hands, however those who were there represented the choir well and I have no doubt we'll be asked again and hopefully might be in a position to take more singers along.

Omission from CMQ

The latest edition of the Royal School of Church Music's rather excellent publication Church Music Quarterly (CMQ) with its sister publication The Network, unfortunately contains a couple of errors by omission whereby technology has conspired against publishing details of two of our forthcoming events, a visit to Old Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Edinburgh on Saturday 28th April, and a visit to Dunfermline Abbey on Saturday 19th May.

Rest assured, despite these visits not being listed in the official RSCM magazine, we WILL be going to each and you just need to check back here for further details like the music lists in due course.

Director met

Copyright © The Royal School of Church Music

This evening (well, technically last night since it's now after 1am) RSCM Scottish Voices had the pleasure of singing in St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow at the Meet the Director event organised by the RSCM Scotland committee.

We had been asked by RSCM Scotland to provide some music at the start of this event, so we sang four pieces, Laudate Nomen Domini by Christopher Tye, Tree of Life by Marty Haugen and arranged by Frikki Walker, Ave Verum Corpus by William Byrd, and Sanctus I and II from the Missa Brevis by Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina.  Our Musical Director, Frikki Walker, was unavailable due to a prior engagement, but thankfully we have the expertise of our assistant Musical Director and Organist Richard Walmsley to call on, so he was the man in charge.  It's a great luxury having two such fine musicians to work with.

The singing went very well, I thought, and everyone seemed happy, and despite a poor turnout and a later than advertised start which kept the choir hanging around at a bit of a loose end, the evening went very well.

Lindsay Gray has been Director of the Royal School of Church Music for about three years, and comes from a background of having sung in the choirs of Kings College Cambridge and Durham Cathedral, to name but two.  A languages teacher, he was headmaster of Llandaff Cathedral school for 14 years before becoming the top man at the RSCM.  After giving us a flavour of his own background, he spoke very well on his role and that of the RSCM, touching on various resources available to affiliated choirs, before taking part in a short question and answer session with those gathered.  If you get the opportunity to hear Lindsay at a similar gathering, I'd suggest you take the chance.

Then it was on to the wine and nibbles at the back of the Cathedral, with lots of simultaneous conversations mainly centred on church music, as far as I could gather.

Then, on to the pub where six of us had a small refreshment and a couple of pizzas to stave off any stray hunger and thirst, with more chat in a less formal arena.  And a small part of the chat was when I revealed to the assembled company the existence of a Cathedral Choir Pubs website, created and run by Richard Shakeshaft who sings at Lichfield.  Have a look at it, it's a useful resource!

Hence only getting round to typing this at one in the morning!

I had been told before meeting Lindsay that he's a nice guy, but you know what?  He actually IS a nice guy!  He's in Scotland for a few days, this being day one, and hopefully despite the poor turnout for the RSCM Scotland event he at least enjoyed what RSCM Scottish Voices sang for him, I know we enjoyed singing it.

So, the next time YOU can hear us is in a little over a week, on Saturday 17th September, again in St Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow, when we shall be singing Choral Evensong at 4pm

September events

St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow at 4pm on Saturday 17th September is the next time you can hear RSCM Scottish Voices sing in a service.  It will be Choral Evensong, and we will be singing:

Laudate Nomen Domini (Christopher Tye)
Preces and Responses (Bernard Rose)
Psalm 89
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in G (Herbert Sumsion)
Faire is the Heaven (William Harris)

Before then, at 7.30pm on Wednesday 7th September you'll be able to hear us very briefly if you're a personal RSCM member or a member of an affiliated choir as we perform for only a few minutes at the Meet the Director event in St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow organised by RSCM Scotland when members of the RSCM can, as the title suggests, come to meet Lindsay Gray, the Director of the Royal School of Church Music, and listen to him speak about the work of the RSCM.  If it works, this link should open a PDF poster which is on the RSCM Scotland website relating to the event.  You can't just turn up, you need to register for this event and details of how to go about that are on the RSCM Scotland website.

For those who are members of RSCM and who have sight of their inhouse publication The Network you may already be aware of the Meet the Director event, but that publication wrongly states that the choir will be performing a recital, and in fact the PDF poster on the RSCM Scotland website says it's a concert.  It won't be anything like a recital or concert, it's merely us singing a few pieces at the start of the evening, and it was never going to be anything other than that!

RSCM Music Sunday

RSCM Music Sunday and the end of Glasgow's West End Festival 2011 will be marked on Sunday 26th June when members of RSCM Scottish Voices join with members of St Mary's Cathedral Choir, Glasgow Chamber Choir and Glasgow University Chapel Choir in a spectacular Choral Evensong accompanied by the St Mary's Cathedral Festival Orchestra, all conducted by our Musical Director Frikki Walker.

In addition to orchestral music being played before and after the service, the music to be sung, all in their exciting orchestrated versions, will be:

• Responses: Richard Shephard
• Psalm 122: I was Glad (Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry)
• Canticles: Sir Charles Villiers Stanford in B flat
• Anthem: Blessed city, Heavenly Salem (Sir Edward Cuthbert Bairstow)
• Te Deum: Sir Charles Villiers Stanford in B flat

More details about RSCM Music Sunday can be found on the main RSCM website by clicking here, and the website of St Mary's Cathedral can be found here.

Church Music Quarterly

I was asked recently to contribute an article on RSCM Scottish Voices to the fine RSCM publication Church Music Quarterly.

Not having any guidance as to the length of article expected, my first draft was something like 750 words long, but that's now been negotiated down to 250-300 words although it may be edited further!

The next edition is due in September, so I guess if it gets published it'll be in that one, and if so I'll be sure to post details here!

What can RSCM Scotland offer?

The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) is largely an educational charity.  As part of the educational aspect of its work, RSCM Scotland can do various things for affiliated churches and members, and in the Spring 2010 RSCM Scotland Newsletter Matthew Beetschen wrote the following:

What can RSCM Scotland do for You? Future events in YOUR AREA?

We need your help please! We’d like to plan events for the next couple of years but need help getting things organised within local areas. We want to be able to run events around the country and are after local input both in finding venues and in organising the right event for the locality.

Here is a list of events that have proved successful and which could be run more or less anywhere:

Meet, Eat and Sing - usually an evening event. We start with informal singing of varied, enjoyable repertoire and follow with a light supper. A chance to meet with other local RSCM members and enjoy music, food and fellowship.

A “Big Sing” - an event where small choirs and other participants come together to sing music that would otherwise be too large-scale. Music can be rehearsed during the afternoon which would end with either a “sing-through” or short Act of Worship.

Voice for Life workshops - an Introduction to the RSCM Voice for Life scheme or training sessions for those already enrolled. An afternoon could cover various sessions in voice production, sight-singing, music reading and “choir in context” or focus specifically on one area. This event could be run for adults or children.

Awards Training Day - helpful hints on preparing for Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards, giving potential candidates and those who train them a guide to the exam syllabus and an understanding of the standards expected, including seeing a “mock” exam take place. This event could be run for adults or children.

Skills Training Day - help and advice for Organists, Choir Directors, Music Leaders. Sessions could be offered in choir training, service accompaniment, improvisation etc. and we hope to be able to launch the new “Cantor” module from the RSCM Skills Programme. We are especially keen to run workshops in setting up and running Children’s Choirs.

Plainsong Workshop and Sung Compline - a late afternoon workshop culminating in the singing of the traditional service of Compline. As the service is all unaccompanied it could literally take place anywhere! This workshop is suitable for everyone, particularly those who have little ability in reading music.

Singing the Psalms workshop - explore different ways to sing the psalms in worship. From anglican chant to responsorial, plainsong to metrical settings. The workshop can be tailored to meet local needs if required and could also end with an informal act of worship.

Exploring Music, Ministry and Worship - wide-ranging and (usually!) lively discussion of all matters relating to music and worship. For clergy, musicians and worship leaders of churches of all denominations and all who are interested in using music in worship.

Please let us know if you can help us arrange an event near you or if there is something else you would like us to do! Contact Pat in the first instance – pat@rscmscotland.org

RSCM Scotland events

There are a few RSCM events coming up which may be of interest not only to RSCM Scottish Voices members, but wider afield too.  I've slightly altered the contact email addresses for each event to try to avoid them being plagued by Spam, but I'm sure everyone who reads this Blog is intelligent enough to work out the correct addresses!

I'm grateful to the RSCM Scotland committee for permission to use some of the content of their March 2010 Newsletter as a base for much of the following:

On Trinity Sunday 30th May Compline by Candlelight will be led by RSCM Scottish Voices member Pat Lynch in St Peter's Church, Lutton Place, Edinburgh. Singers should meet at 1745hrs, and the service itself is at 1830hrs, followed by refreshments.  If you haven't come across the service of Compline before now, then I'd recommend it to you, it's very relaxing and therapeutic and features beautiful music.  A Candlelight Compline for Candlemas was held previously at St Peter's Church, also directed by Pat, and took the format of a short workshop at which the music was learned before everyone moved into the church for the service. The singers were joined in the chancel by a congregation of about 15. St Peter’s Rector, the Rev Canon Fred Tomlinson who led the service said he enjoyed the very prayerful time and issued an invitation to come again on Trinity Sunday to help St Peter’s celebrate its anniversary.  Contact sheila AT rscmscotland DOT org for details.

On Wednesday 9th June Alistair Warwick and Jamie Brand will lead a Meet Eat and Sing at 1900hrs at St John's Church in Dumfries.  This new initiative for RSCM Scotland was launched at Holy Trinity Church, Melrose at the beginning of March, and of that event Ann Treloar wrote: “Singers and their friends from the Borders and as far away as Oban, met in Melrose for the first event of this kind to be held in Scotland. Matthew Beetschen directed a very successful evening with an interesting selection of music, which was accompanied by Sheila Robertson on the organ and piano. This was followed by an excellent supper and some animated discussion. Grateful thanks were expressed to the Director and to the congregation at Holy Trinity for their splendid hospitality."  So please come along to the second Meet, Eat and Sing and enjoy a musical feast!  Contact Jamie at brandjr AT alb DOT dumgal DOT org DOT uk to ensure there is enough music and food available!

Saturday 19th June of course is RSCM Scottish Voices' next service of Choral Evensong which will be at St Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in Dundee at 4pm.  Keep looking at this Blog for further info!

From Monday 19th to Thursday 22nd July the Dunblane Singing Break will be held.  Now in its thirteenth year, the Dunblane Singing Break, based at Scottish Churches House, is a very popular course for choral singers and church musicians from many different places, including a good number from outside the UK, who come together for four days of rehearsal in preparation for singing and spiritual refreshment. Once again Gordon Appleton is the Director of the course together with Matthew Beetschen, the organist of the cathedral who accompanies services on the magnificent Flentrop organ. This year`s course, for which no auditions are required, starts at lunch time on Monday 19 July and ends after a closing service on Thursday 22 July.  Places are still available, so contact Brian Baker at dunblanesingingbreak AT rscmscotland DOT org for details of cost and to book.

On Saturday 18th September the Music Director of RSCM Scottish Voices, Frikki Walker, will direct a Young Voices Festival at St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow to which all young choristers are welcome.  Frikki is an inspiring musician and is particularly good with youngsters.  Contact matthew AT rscmscotland DOT org for further details.

Finally, Saturday 30th October sees Gordon Appleton direct a Dunblane Singing Day.  All singers are welcome and it costs a donation to RSCM Scotland.  Contact matthew AT rscmscotland DOT org for details.

Backlog no more

In my previous post I mentioned the backlog of music from the RSCM Online store.

Yesterday when I arrived home from work there was a nice A4 envelope waiting for me, containing the last piece for which I was waiting, Salvator Mundi, by John Blow.

So hopefully everyone should have all their own copies in time for Saturday at St Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow.

Music backlog

The music for our next meeting, which is on Saturday 20th February at St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow, is all available from the RSCM Online Store, but there was some of it out of stock when I ordered mine on 18th January.

Today I received a reply to my email which had asked them when the due date was, and the reply said:

"The copies of the Blow are due this week so should be with you, and the numerous people awaiting copies, early next week all being well"

So they should be arriving with you from Monday 15th February. 

That was the only one out of stock when I placed my order, so that was the only one I queried but I suppose some of the other stuff which I didn't need to order might not have been available, but I didn't ask about that.  In any case, they say that out of stock items usually take around a fortnight to arrive, so there shouldn't be any problem for any of it.

Haddington report

The choir continues to develop and grow in corporate ability, as yesterday's service in Haddington showed.

There were a lot of call offs, partly due to the weather and partly for other reasons, so a smaller choir than usual, consisting of nine sopranos, three altos, four tenors, and six basses, turned up at the incredibly beautiful and historic St Mary's Parish Church at 10am to be fed tea, coffee and biscuits by the the very friendly ladies of the parish.  We then walked a few hundred yards to the Trinity Centre, the church hall of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, where we rehearsed in the morning to allow our organist to rehearse on the splendid looking organ in St Mary's church.  As it happened, we didn't need to decamp, because our regular organist Richard Walmsley couldn't make it so at very short notice Matthew Beetschen, organist of Dunblane Cathedral and chair of the RSCM Scotland committee, stepped ably into the breach but he didn't arrive until lunchtime so we could have rehearsed in the church after all.  Not to worry.

The music was very slightly different to that advertised in my previous post, and consisted of:

Hymn: O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness (tune: Was Lebet)
Anthem: O magnum mysterium (Tomas Luis da Victoria)
Hymn: How brightly beams the morning star (tune: Wie Schön Leuchtet, harmony by J S Bach)
Anthem: In a byre near Bethlehem (Irish trad, arranged by John L Bell and Frikki Walker)
Anthem: Bethlehem Down (Peter Warlock)
Hymn: New light has dawned (I think the tune was by Peter Barnard, but apologies if that's wrong!)
Anthem: Lo! Star led chiefs (William Crotch)
Hymn: Of the Father's love begotten (tune: Divinum Mysterium)

Of all of the above, personally my highlight was the Victoria anthem which is very atmospheric and very beautiful.  The lowlight?  Well, for me the jury's still out on the New light has dawned hymn which I didn't quite get to grips with and I suspect I wasn't the only one.  It went well enough, but I didn't particularly enjoy it.  Still, if everything was perfect it'd be a boring world I guess!

A nice surprise for me was the William Crotch anthem, because it was one I've never heard before, and it's a wee gem.  Lots of fun to sing.

RSCM Scottish Voices is still a new choir, and we've only met some half dozen times so far.  For the first wee while the focus was just on a rehearsal day with a small service tacked on at the end, almost as an afterthought, but that's the nature of starting up such a choir consisting of people who don't already know each other and who don't meet to rehearse on a weekly basis.  The first services weren't advertised in any way and so were put on pretty much just for ourselves to round off the day of rehearsing, and the first actual congregation I think we had was a single person at the service at the end of our residential weekend in Musselburgh last year. We had a small handful at St Ninian's Cathedral in Perth last September, and a similar sized group at St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh in November.  Yesterday though we had over 20 in the congregation which, while clearly is a small number of people in the grand scheme of things, was the biggest number to whom we've sung so far.  Numbers aren't the target of course, but it was nice to see them.

Performance wise, our Musical Director Frikki Walker was pleased with the way it went and how we sounded.  We continue to develop and progress, and things are still looking good for the future.

So that's all very well, but what about afterwards?

About 100 yards along from the front gate of the church is a pub called the Tyneside Tavern, sitting next to an old mill on the river Tyne.  I'd already identified it from the CAMRA Good Beer Guide as a good place to go, and we weren't disappointed.  A good turn out of choir members, maybe 20 people, and the beer and craic were good as was the food a few of us had a bit later.  With very friendly staff, and the lounge bar pretty much to ourselves, I could have stayed there all night, but sadly had to travel back west to home!