Music at
Christ
Church
After the
Reformation, the Episcopal Church had been the first to reintroduce organs to
worship in Scotland, in the
early 18th century. It was into this long tradition of Anglican
organ and choral music which Christ Church came. Within
two years of moving into its purpose-built church in 1876, the congregation of Christ Church had an
organ installed, and had a paid choir of men and boys. We still have the
register showing the payments to the choir and the organist.
Music for
the Eucharist is congregational. We use the St Thomas Mass for most of the year
but use different settings during Advent and Lent. The main hymn book in use is
Common Praise, the most recent version of Hymns Ancient and Modern. We also use
hymns from Common Ground and other sources on occasion and we sing a Gradual
psalm.
The Choir
The choir
currently has over 20 adult members and 7 junior members. We always
welcome potential recruits, especially tenors!
Each Sunday the choir leads the musical
worship at Sung Eucharist. We also sing evensong on the second Sunday of the
month and sing at mid-week festivals and other special occasions. We are
affiliated to the Royal School of Church Music and use the Voice for Life
training scheme.
The Organ
The organ at
Christ Church was
originally built in 1878 by Peter Conacher, who had
attempted to establish himself in Edinburgh in the
early 1850s, before setting up in Huddersfield. Originally
a two-manual, 19 stop instrument, it was rebuilt in 1902 by Charles and
Frederick Hamilton of Edinburgh, who added three stops, and overhauled 27 years
later by Charles Scovell, also of Edinburgh. In 1971
Ronald Smith of Cleish carried out another rebuild,
adding a further 10 stops. The organ was most recently overhauled by Rushworth and Dreaper of
Liverpool in 1993 when repairs were carried out on the bellows. The large open
diapason on the Great, which had been inappropriately replaced by a clarinet in
the 1980s, was reinstated.
Michael Green,
Director of Music
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