A Weekend at York Minster

St John's was quiet on Sunday 28th October without the choir present. The choir was instead singing at York Minster, filling in for the Minster choir during their half-term break. Under the expert management of Eleanor Harris, the St John's choir, with a few groupies, spent the weekend enjoying the York Railway Museum, seeing the sights, and occasionally fitting in the odd spot of music.

The Choir of St John's in York Minster

Singing in the Minster is very different from singing at St John's. The aisle is much wider. The organ seems a long way away. You can only hear your neighbour and it is difficult to get a sense of the overall sound. There is a disconcerting five second gap between our stopping singing and the echo returning. The architecture is also very distracting.

First we had to rehearse our services in the Minster and then we had to practise processing. Being such a vast place, we almost had to skip down the aisle. I found going through the screen arch into the choir very inspiring and humbling. I was conscious of generations of monks and quiristers leading the worship in that ancient, hallowed building. It was a privilege for us to be allowed to sing there.

Going through the screen arch into the choir

Come our first Evensong, we were astonished how many people, on a sunny Saturday afternoon, came in to listen to us. More alarming was the fact that the congregation was all around us, rather like sensurround sound, requiring our truth in the inward parts. But it was as nothing compared to Eucharist on Sunday morning, when we confidently sang the Rheinberger mass under the crossing to what seemed to us, used to St John's, a huge congregation. Stephen Doughty’s brisk playing of the hymns - something that may, just occasionally, have been noted at St John's - was later commented on favourably by the congregation, as was our singing. Endearingly, some members of the Sidney Smith Association, who had attended St John's a few weeks ago, specially made a point of coming to hear the choir again in York.

Stephen Doughty conducting in the nave

After Eucharist, we sang Mattins, this time to a more select audience. After Mattins, the church’s architect very kindly showed us round the current renovations to the stained glass windows and round the masonry yards- well worth seeing. Our final service was Sunday Evensong, when, in front of hordes of attenders, we sang the challenging Leighton canticles and Stephen Doughty's new work, I saw - and Lo, a Whirlwind. This anthem, a product of lonely evenings for Stephen when he was working in Malaysia earlier this year, was especially composed for our choir, setting words from the first chapter of Ezekiel, paraphrased by the future Lady Northampton (a worshipper at the Charlotte Chapel). After a melodramatic introduction, it leads into an ingenious and redoubtable double fugue - and, so we were told by the assistant organist of the Minster, very impressive it sounded too.

It was an exhausting and intense weekend, but our music-making was ably directed by Stephen and strongly supported by our excellent organists, Peter Horsfall and Caroline Cradock. It is not every church choir that can support three fine organists, and the weekend would not have been the success it was without their contribution.

Enjoying the odd occasion for refreshment

And, yes, thank you for asking, we did have the odd occasion for refreshment. We made merry, as only St John's choir knows how. Over the years we've had a little bit of practice at that too.

Nicholas Grier