PENICUIK VAULTS SINGING
Inspired by
the Taizé Community
Roger Shutz came to the
Taize Penicuik
Around
Unconnected
with the Taizé community, ours is an informal group
that sings unaccompanied every Sunday in and around Edinburgh in ancient vaults
that lend themselves to the sound of simple vocal harmonies. About twelve years ago in Penicuik some
Friends and others familiar with silent worship began meeting in each other's
houses to share some of the harmonic Taizé
chants. These small gatherings became a
weekly highlight and someone suggested we bring the timeless chants to the damp
silence of the crypt at Rosslyn Chapel close by. Singing together in such powerfully enclosed
stone space gradually became the mainspring of the group’s time together,
leading us to seek out other places with similarly sympathetic sound and
silence.
For
nearly a decade we have been singing every Sunday afternoon in rotation in the
medieval spaces of Rosslyn Chapel
crypt, Crichton Chapel, Seton Chapel, Dunfermline
Palace undervault and Craigmillar Castle Great Hall, with permission
and encouragement from Rosslyn Chapel Trust, Crichton
Church Trust, and Historic
Scotland. The group also meets for evening singing in
Penicuik garden houses. During the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2006 and 2007 we
sang in St Mark’s,
Castle Terrace, and some of us also in Old St Pauls. We sang on two evenings in the Penicuik Festival, in the
Harvest Festival service at Crichton, in the evening remembrance service in
Penicuik on 11 November and on world AIDS day at Milestone House on 1
December.
People
come and go, the vaults and the singing are our constancy. Our small group continues over the years, sharing
an affection for the five medieval spaces mentioned above and other cool, damp
ancient places which have wonderful acoustics and qualities of silence for the
meditative chants we sing. People attach
to our group from different religious backgrounds and from none. We are neither directed nor trained, and only
one or two of us can read music. We
listen to each other and to the surrounding space. Our choice of chants, the way they begin and
end, and the silences that follow them all come from within.
The
spaces that we sing in are special.
Three of them were purpose-built Collegiate Chapels endowed for singers
by wealthy families more than half a millennium ago. Rosslyn Chapel
crypt's cool dampness, scalloped vaulting and recesses produce a depth of sound
and silence to calm some of the busy-ness of visitors above. Crichton Chapel, in sight of Crichton castle
and carefully restored by its own small Trust, has a high vault and a wonderful
ambience, and is clearly made for voices.
Seton Chapel, simple, empty and airy, has an approach by woodland walk
and walled garden that seems to prepare the soul. Craigmillar
castle's great hall is a solid high-sounding stone chamber reached by a winding
stair and overlooking the south of the city and the flanks of Arthur's
Seat.
Penicuik Taize Vaults Singing - Rosslyn Chapel Crypt and Crichton Collegiate Church
Penicuik Taize Vaults Singing
- Craigmillar Great Hall
Dates have followed this same cycle year after year
after year
14 Oct Rosslyn
Chapel Crypt every four weeks throughout the year
21 Oct Craigmillar Castle Great
Hall every
four weeks throughout the year
28 Oct Seton
Collegiate Church
every four weeks through the summer
11 Nov Rosslyn
Chapel Crypt every four weeks throughout the year (& Evening Remembrance Service Penicuik
11 Nov)
18 Nov Craigmillar Castle Great
Hall every four
weeks throughout the year
25
9 Dec Rosslyn
Chapel Crypt every four weeks throughout the year
16 Dec
Craigmillar Castle Great
Hall every
four weeks throughout the year
23 Dec Dunfermline
Palace undervault every four weeks through the winter
30 Dec Crichton
Collegiate Church
every four weeks throughout the year
13 Jan Craigmillar Castle Great
Hall every four
weeks throughout the year
20 Jan Dunfermline
Palace undervault every four weeks through the winter
27 Jan Crichton
Collegiate Church
every four weeks throughout the year
10 Feb Craigmillar Castle Great
Hall every four
weeks throughout the year
17 Feb Dunfermline
Palace undervault every four weeks through the winter
24 Feb Crichton
Collegiate Church
every four weeks throughout the year
9 Mar Craigmillar Castle Great
Hall every four
weeks throughout the year
16 Mar Dunfermline
Palace undervault every four weeks through the winter
23 Mar Crichton
Collegiate Church
every four weeks throughout the year
30 Mar Rosslyn
Chapel Crypt every four weeks throughout the year
13 Apr Seton
Collegiate Church
every four weeks through the summer
20 Apr Crichton
Collegiate Church
every four weeks throughout the year
27 Apr Rosslyn
Chapel Crypt every four weeks throughout the year
4 May
2008 Craigmillar Castle Great
Hall every four
weeks throughout the year
11 May Seton
Collegiate Church
every four weeks through the summer
18 May Crichton
Collegiate Church
every four weeks throughout the year
25 May Rosslyn
Chapel Crypt every four weeks throughout the year
8 June Seton
Collegiate Church
every four weeks through the summer
15 June Crichton
Collegiate Church
every four weeks throughout the year
22 June Rosslyn
Chapel Crypt every four weeks throughout the year
29 June Craigmillar Castle Great
Hall every four
weeks throughout the year
13 July
Crichton
Collegiate Church
every four weeks throughout the year
20 July Rosslyn
Chapel Crypt every four weeks throughout the year
27 July Craigmillar Castle Great
Hall every four
weeks throughout the year
13 July
Crichton
Collegiate Church
every four weeks throughout the year
20 July Rosslyn
Chapel Crypt every four weeks throughout the year
27 July Craigmillar Castle Great
Hall every four
weeks throughout the year
10
August Crichton
Collegiate Church
every four weeks throughout the year
17
August Rosslyn
Chapel Crypt every four weeks throughout the year
24
August Craigmillar Castle Great
Hall every four weeks
throughout the year
31
August Seton
Collegiate Church
every four weeks through the summer
14
September Rosslyn
Chapel Crypt every four weeks throughout the year
21
September Craigmillar Castle Great
Hall every four
weeks throughout the year
28
September Seton
Collegiate Church
every four weeks through the summer
12
October Rosslyn
Chapel Crypt every four weeks throughout the year
19
October Craigmillar Castle Great
Hall every four
weeks throughout the year
26 October Seton
Collegiate Church
2.45-4pm to close Seton’s summer, then, from
9
November Rosslyn
Chapel Crypt every four weeks throughout the year
(& Evening Remembrance Service Penicuik 9 Nov)
16 November
Craigmillar Great Hall
MAY CANCEL : group sings in Dunfermline Abbey doorway
to open Dunfermline’s winter
23
November Dunfermline
Palace undervault every four weeks through the winter
7
December Rosslyn
Chapel Crypt every four weeks throughout the year
14 December Craigmillar Castle Great
Hall every
four weeks throughout the year
21
December Dunfermline
Palace undervault every four weeks through the winter
11 January Craigmillar Castle Great
Hall every
four weeks throughout the year
18
January Dunfermline
Palace undervault every four weeks through the winter
and so on
Seton in its garden is only open in summer
; in winter
Times 3.15-4.30
But in
winter (November to March) we sing at Craigmillar 2.45-4.00 &
Note
that Rosslyn
& Crichton always remain 3.15-4.30.
Contact:
Roger Kelly,
Google: penicuik taize vaults
Website: http://www.kosmoid.net/penicuik/vaults.htm
-you may also find details on http://www.heartwoodmusic.com/taize.htm
Penicuik Taize Vaults
Singing – John St.Garden House
2004
Penicuik Taize Vaults
Singing – St
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