The choir of St Mary’s, Rye, had the privilege of singing evensong at Chichester Cathedral on February 19. This event was the culmination of six weeks of practice led by director of music Geoff Harris, and was much appreciated by cathedral staff, the congregation, tourists visiting the cathedral, and the supporters who accompanied the choir to Chichester, driven, of course, by the intrepid Pat Hughes.
For some of us—including me—this was our first time singing in a cathedral. Several of us had never had any choir experience before we attended our first practices at the end of 2022. A push by the church leaders to revive choral music at the church was the occasion; several members of the congregation, some with previous choir experience and some just willing to learn, responded to the call. We were soon joined by singers from other churches to form a core of 12-14 choristers, about half of whom sing regularly at the Sunday 10:30am service at St Mary’s.
For our Chichester evensong we sang responses set to music by the 17th century composer Richard Ayleward; the stirring Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in A by Herbert Sumsion; and our anthem was Charles Villiers Stanford’s O For A Closer Walk With God, in the arrangement by John Rutter. Four psalms were also set for that day, which meant quite a sustained effort of singing as none of them were short!
We heard from members of the congregation that they found the music moving, and the effect of our voices was greatly enhanced by the excellent acoustics in the Cathedral Quire and the beautifully mellow sound of the cathedral organ.
Four unflappable Brighton choristers very kindly joined us to cover unavoidable absences, and we are extremely grateful to them. We are not going to be allowed to rest on our laurels, I believe, and having apparently passed our first cathedral outing well, the revived St Mary’s choir will be on the road again before too long.
Do come and listen to us at our next St Mary’s choral evensong (which will be announced in the Pendulum magazine) or at any of our special services: Maundy Thursday, Easter, Remembrance Sunday, Lessons and Carols, and Christmas Eve.
If you’re interested in joining us to sing traditional church music, we practice on Fridays from 7pm to 8pm—contact the church at www.ryeparishchurch.org.uk/contactus.htm for more details. All voices and levels of experience are welcome.
Image Credits: Paul Whiteman .