Scotland and Ireland Tour Travelogue Six
Dear Friends,
One of the things many people closely associate with Ireland is her wonderful tradition of folk music. In the middle of the 19th century, many Irish citizens moved to America to escape the Great Potato Famine and the Celtic influence on the folk music of Appalachia can still be heard today. On Friday morning, the members of the Georgia Boy Choir took an opportunity to participate in an Irish Folk Music workshop. Their marvelous and knowledgeable host, Harry Long is an authority on Irish history and traditional music. The singers were transfixed as he told them tales which brought the history to life. He also explained a lot about the different kinds of folk music. Each boy received his own penny whistle, and Harry patiently taught them the basics of playing it. Some of them made some pretty good progress in the relatively short period of time. However, you will likely not be hearing any of them in concert any time soon.
While the vast majority of the literature the Choir has sung throughout the tour is sacred in nature, because that is what is required for their duties at the Cathedral, the Young Men’s Ensemble did have one Irish folk tune in their repertoire. “The Parting Glass” is a wonderful Irish song about friendship, and they found several opportunities to share it with their audiences, always to a warm reception.
As has been their practice all week long, the boys returned to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in the early afternoon for their daily rehearsal prior to Evensong. The repertoire for the evening was the lively Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in C by Brian Kelly complete with Bassa Nova rhythms played to perfection on the organ by the Choir’s Associate Conductor and Organist, Scott Atchison.
Click here to listen to the Georgia Boy Choir sing the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in C by Brian Kelly.
Saturday was another “dumb day,” meaning that the services in the Cathedral were spoken, not sung, so the Choir had the day off. This afforded them an opportunity to see a little more of the beautiful country of Ireland. Their friendly bus driver Kieran drove them a couple of hours southwest to the magnificent Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary. The Rock of Cashel is one of Ireland’s most spectacular archaeological sites, a prominent green hill, banded with limestone outcrops, rising from a grassy plain, and bristling with ancient fortifications. The boys were awed by the magnificence of the castle and the surrounding green landscape. From there, it was easy to see why Ireland is called, “The Emerald Isle.”
As they made their way through the ancient edifice they were eager to test the acoustics of the fortress’ chapel. The old walls seemed to appreciate the beauty as the Choir sang C. V. Stanford’s ethereal, “Justorum Animae.” The other tourists who were lucky enough to be present were spellbound.
Sunday, the last full day of the tour, was another double-header for the Choir. The first of the two services they were to sing at St. Patrick’s was the Choral Eucharist in the morning. This was a considerably longer service than those they had been participating in, and instead of a Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, they had to sing a full Mass (Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei). The setting they chose was the Gregorian Chant Missa de Angelis or “Mass of the Angels” which is the oldest known musical setting of these texts. It was wonderful to hear, and fit marvelously into the liturgy.
When it came time for the congregants to receive communion, the Choir moved to the Lady Chapel on the far eastern end of the sanctuary, behind the altar. From here they sang William Harris’ 8-part, double-choir, a capella masterpiece, “Faire Is the Heaven” with glorious words by Edmund Spenser. Acoustically, the chapel is the best place in the cathedral to sing, and it was utterly glorious to hear the boys’ voices as they echoed throughout the entire cathedral.
Click here to listen to the Georgia Boy Choir sing, “Faire is the Heaven” by William Harris.
Following a brief lunch in the park next to the church, it was right back to work to prepare for Choral Evensong, their final performance of the tour. The great composer Charles Villiers Stanford received much of his early music education at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and so it was appropriate that all of the music during this last service was his, including the Psalm setting. The Canticles (Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis) were his rousing setting in B-flat, and the anthem was his “Justorum Animae.” The boys were of course aware that this was their final performance and worked together to make it one of their very best. It was beautiful, indeed.
Click here to listen to the Georgia Boy Choir sing “Justorum Animae” by Charles Villiers Stanford.
The sense of accomplishment that the boys felt upon completing this service and their week-long residency at St. Patrick’s cathedral was significant, and they were in somewhat of a euphoric state as they enjoyed their farewell dinner and began to turn their thoughts toward home. To extend the time, they stopped in at The Scoop for one last celebratory ice cream cone.
The next morning, they dutifully packed their bags, complete with all of their dearly bought souvenirs and boarded the flight back to Atlanta and the arms of their waiting families. It was a marvelous reunion. Several parents remarked how not only did their son seem taller than when he left, but more mature. Touring with the Georgia Boy Choir tends to have that affect on its members. They begin to see the world in a different way, and they see the importance of their role in Bringing Beauty to Life, not only in their own lives, but also in all those they meet along the way.
Thank you to all of you who have followed along with the Choir by reading these travelogues and watching many of the performances on the live broadcasts, and particularly to those of you whose sacrificial giving has made such an experience possible for these boys.
Until next time,
The 2017 Georgia Boy Choir Scotland and Ireland Tour Team
Click here to listen to the Georgia Boy Choir sing “Highland Cathedral” by Ulrich Roever and Michael Korb arranged by David R. White.