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Music in St Machar's: A Brief History

Harmonies of Devotion

St. Machar's Musical Tradition

Before the Reformation, the Cathedral of St Machar (dedicated also to St Mary) was the Cathedral of north-east Scotland. The bishopric was of huge extent and supported a large ecclesiastical establishment in the Cathedral. Music – probably mainly plainsong – played an important part in the seven services of The Daily Office, sung from early morning until evening each day of the year. 

In August 1240, long before the present edifice was built, the Cathedral has a record of a man called Jordan, who was a Precentor. The Precentor was a very senior official, responsible for the music of the Cathedral’s liturgy, and for the running of the ‘Sang Schule’ – in which boys for the choir were trained and educated. By the end of the 15th century the choir included twelve professional priest Vicars Choral, whose job was to sing at all services. In 1506 this number was increased by Bishop Elphinstone to twenty, with two deacons, two sub-deacons and two acolytes, six boy choristers and a Sang Schule master. This was a major musical establishment – even the Chapel Royal at Stirling had only sixteen Canons and six boys. We don’t know exactly why there was this expansion, but it might well have been a response to changing musical tastes during the 15th century. Despite the dominance of chant in The Daily Office, it is worth remembering that expertise in ‘plainsong, pryksong, Faburdon, Diskant and Cownter’ – that is, both reading and improvising music – was required of the Vicars Choral at King’s College (Aberdeen). We have no reason to suppose the requirements would have been any less demanding at St Machar’s Cathedral.  

At the Reformation, the music used in the services radically changed. The cycles of chant and other musical forms – some of which had become highly ornate – were all sung in Latin. This practice gave way to unaccompanied unison singing of psalms in the vernacular language. The former practice of juxtaposing texts from varied sources, was replaced by the use of solely Biblical texts (hence the importance of the psalms). Instead of a group of professional singers comprising Vicars Choral, Deacons, choirboys, and so on, singing was now a participatory activity, done by everyone, to recognise that praising God was the right of the whole congregation. There was, however, a developing awareness of the need for the singing to be of good quality. In 1579 the Scottish Parliament decreed the reopening of Sang Schules to train boys in psalmody. During the 17th century, except for the period between 1645 and 1663 (which latter date presumably indicates the Restoration), two daily services continued to be held at St Machar’s, with the Sang Schule Master and scholars in attendance. 

In 1690, after the revolution which brought William and Mary to the throne, the Scottish Parliament decided that the Church of Scotland should be Presbyterian, and that brought about further changes in the music heard in churches. By the end of the 17th century the Sang Schule had gone and the singing was led by a Precentor. Despite the use of the same word, this job was very different from the pre-Reformation post. Instead of having duties to a fixed establishment of singers and clergy, the Precentor’s task was now concentrated on what would have been a very mixed congregation. To enable people with a limited ability to read to join in, a Precentor would introduce a psalm, line by line, which was then repeated by the congregation, as still happens in Gaelic services in the Gaelic-speaking areas of Scotland. Although this would have started off in a straightforward manner, it became the universal custom for each person to sing the line after his or her own fashion, so that the tune could become quite obscured in the general collective improvisation. This practice of ‘lining’, a response to the fact that few had their own psalters, was a matter of contention, and in the first half of the 18th century the Church’s General Assembly issued a direction that it should cease; but it was not until later in the 19th century that this came about.  

The first latter-day mention of a choir appears in the Cathedral records for 1851 when the Precentor requested ‘a Band to assist him in his arduous labours’. The Scottish Reformed Church had no dealings with instrumental music at that time, and organs had been banned since the Reformation. We may understand that the word ‘band’ at this time would have referred to a band of singers. In 1870, with the introduction of the Church of Scotland’s first hymn book, leaders for a choir were appointed. 

With the arrival of the Cathedral’s Willis organ in 1891 – the same year that the last Precentor left office – there came a new tradition of choral music, beginning with the conventional anthems and choruses of the Victorian period. Copies of The Scottish Anthem Book, published in 1895, carry indications of much use. There is a record inside one of these of the particular pieces sung over a decade, 1907–16, during the period when George C. Dawson was organist. The tradition of choir singing has since been enthusiastically developed under a succession of distinguished organists and choir masters.

Today, the choir repertoire at St Machar’s encompasses works of the great masters of sacred music from medieval times to the present day, and it continues to evolve. The climax of the musical year is the welcoming of Christ in a full Cathedral at one of the City’s most popular Christmas Eve services of Nine Lessons and Carols, a service which has been celebrated at St Machar’s every year since the 1930s. 

As part of St Machars’ declared mission through music, a programme of Choral Scholarships was introduced in 2007, marking a new phase in the choir’s development. These Scholars form a nucleus for the choir and help make possible expansion of choral repertoire. A Scholarship also gives a holder the possibility of further vocal training. 

Development of young musicians continues with opportunities given to outstanding Scholars to write new anthems and motets, and several of these have been performed in services in recent years. Such contributions lend a freshness to the ever-expanding repertoire, and also help in the development of young composers by enabling them to hear – and sometimes take part in – performances of their works. The regular streaming of services enables cathedral musicians – singers and composers – to be heard by a geographically wide-spread audience. 

Singing at services at St Machar’s Cathedral by choirs of various types has therefore been taking place here for nine centuries. Despite vast changes in the nature of services, of resources, and the evolving character of music across that period, we can safely say that the choir tradition of the Cathedral today, is both robust and lively. 

Historical information based on St Machar’s Cathedral, Old Aberdeen: Its Organ and Its Music, by David Murray and Michael Thomson, with revisions by Roger B. Williams. 

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