I have reviewed a number of services in ordinary churches and I am comfortable reviewing them as performances while not covering the worship aspects that are between God and the worshipper alone. However, here for reasons that I cannot fathom, that caveat is not sufficient. Cathedrals are different. The visitor is not simply joining an act of worship but something much bigger at a cathedral; the cycle of ceaseless prayer that rolls on around the globe and through time. A cathedral stands for something far beyond itself.
St Mary’s Cathedral has a daily routine of sung services with a paid choir and very rarely for Scotland, that choir contains trebles, giving it a very different sound. The set psalms for the day were 73 and 74 and this emphasised that the service was part of a wider scheme. These could not be selected for the day: they were set. As a mark for the Eve of the Feast of Mary, Mother of God, the Anthem was Bruckner’s Ave Maria. In my reviewing voice I would note that the setting of the Lord’s prayer was particularly well-delivered and all the music was to a good standard, though it could have been tighter and the voices seemed unbalanced on occasion. For that reason I have given three stars. However my main feeling is that reviewing this as an event misses too much of what is happening for it to be useful. Evensong and other services will continue for the rest of the Festival and far beyond.
