Dear Friends:

We made it wonderfully well through the "marathon" weekend, and found it hard to leave Rochester after having sung eight services there during the course of the week. We were continually inspired by the place, grew attached to the town and people, and felt privileged to have the opportunity to contribute to the continuation of the many centuries-old cycle of daily prayer and worship in that space. But there was also much that happened even before leaving Rochester, so let me bring you a up to date a bit...

We all felt a special desire to have a tour of the cathedral where we were spending so much time, but during the week our schedule made it difficult to fit in. On Saturday morning, however, we were able to do just that when two of the regular cathedral guides, Nan and Allan, gave us splendid tours of this second-oldest cathedral in Britain (next to Canterbury, of course). A cathedral has been on this site since 604, with the foundations of the current cathedral dating from around 1080 when Bishop Gundulf built the first section in Norman style, still very much in evidence in the crypt. Gundulf apparently built many buildings and churches in England at that time - among them the White Tower at the Tower of London. The crypt revealed many interesting details of the cathedral's history. Originally the cathedral must have been very ornate, with all of the ceilings painted with religious stories, but with the dissolution of the monasteries, and the coming of the Puritans, all of it was whitewashed over, though here and there parts of the original can still be seen. In the east end of the Quire is a wonderfully preserved fragment of a painting of a Wheel of Fortune, which was only uncovered when a pulpit was moved centuries after the Puritans had whitewashed everything else. Also visible in the crypt is an early form of graffitti with pictures of Christ, several disciples and other figures etched into the walls. Another fascinating tidbit of cathedral history is that it was at one time a major stop on the journey of pilgrims to Canterbury...Rochester had its own thousands and thousands of pilgrims, with many miracles credited to the power of the remains of William of Perth, himself a pilgrim murdered in Rochester on his way to the Holy Land. He was made a saint within fifty years of his death and a shrine was erected in the cathedral where pilgrims could come for healing or other miracles. His tomb is still there...

After singing evensong on Saturday afternoon, we boarded our coach right away to take us to the site of our evening concert, the parish of St. Luke the Physician in Sevenoaks, a typically quaint little town about 45 minutes away - actually, quite near to Chartwell. The hospitatlity of the people there was incredible...greeting us with tea and cakes on our arrival (after a short rehearsal, of course!) and feeding us sandwiches and wine after the concert. The concert was very beautiful, and the church was filled with an enthusiastic and appreciative audience for our concert which included several of the anthems from our week's repertoire at the cathedral, plus the major work "Lux Aeterna" by American composer Morten Lauridsen, and concluding with a section of music by American composers Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson, Cary Ratcliff and Moses Hogan (Elijah Rock). The concert was given as part of this small parish's fund raising program to expand their building, and we hope it was successful! (In our presentation of some gifts to the vicar of the parish, it was noted that this was the first time during the week that we had actually been in a church building that was a few years younger than our own - kind of refreshing, actually. They're soon to celebrate 100 years in their building!)

After a full Saturday, we headed back to our hotel to pack up and be ready for what was to be a long, but very fulfilling Sunday...beginning of course with rehearsal at 8:45, singing Mattins (morning prayer) at 9:45, and then a full Eucharist (communion) singing the Schubert Mass in G at 10:30. It was very moving to receive communion where we had been worshipping all week. And the congregation was most appreciative of our participation there, as well. In attendance, as he is most Sundays, was a former organist/choirmaster of the cathedral, Robert Ashfield, who one week before had celebrated his 90th birthday.

At lunch at the pub across the street, a number of us were able to visit further with the Canon Pastor, Jonathan Meyrick, who had been singing the services with us all week. He is a most interesting and entertaining person, and as mentioned in an earlier installment, we hope to welcome him to Rochester (NY) next spring when he is on sabbatical...

We sang our final evensong at Rochester Cathedral on Sunday afternoon, with music by Herbert Howells, Imant Raminsh and Maurice Durufle....glorious music in a glorious space in the service of the beautiful liturgy of evensong that we have come to love and appreciate so much this week. It was a wonderful service with which to end our stay. I might also mention at this point that throughout the week, our choir and our congregation at Third Church, as well as all Presbyterians in the US were in the daily prayers said at Rochester Cathedral, truly linking us together. But our visit wasn't over yet...

Following evensong, the Canon Pastor had made arrangements for him to sing for us at the outdoor pub across the street where a jazz tent had been set up all weekend!! He is somewhat known as a 60s rock singer, and even appeared last fall on a national television show ("Stars in their Eyes") on which people impersonate various pop stars. On that show he sang "Wild Thing", but for us he jumped up on the stage and with the backup of the band sang the Rolling Stones' "Can't Get No Satisfaction" and another popular British song from the sixties - to the ROARING approval of our choir crowd and the assembled townsfolk as well!! What a send-off! And one that will live on with us as we remember the trip...

With that, we reluctantly boarded our coach for the drive to Stratford-upon-Avon to begin the next leg of our journey. We passed through lovely countryside on the drive, and arrived for a late dinner and check-in - AND collapse after a day that felt more like two days in one.

Monday morning began with a drive to the exquisitely gorgeous Blenheim Palace, still home of the Duke of Marlborough, and dating back to the early 1700s, when Queen Anne gave the land and money to the Duke in appreciation for his leading the British and European troops to victory over Louis XIV of France. The first Duke of Marlborough was, of course, John Churchill, whose father was in fact the first Winston Churchill. The palace has stayed in the family since that time, and the legendary Winston Churchill of the 20th century was actually born at Blenheim, while his parents were attending a social function there! (His father was brother to the 9th Duke of Marlborough). The palace and estate are of incredible proportions, and still serve as the residence for the 11th Duke.

From Blenhiem, it was a short drive into Oxford, where we spent several hours eating, shopping and exploring the many treasures of the town. It feels like a living history lesson to walk through the streets and corridors of this place, with its many colleges dating back to the 1200s, and museums of art, history, and literature.

We have just returned to Stratford, where this evening we will attend the Royal Shakespeare Theatre production of "Julius Caesar." We were especially fortunate, on our coach ride from Oxford, to have John Denison (our resident literary scholar!) give us a preview and perspective on what we will see this evening. So now we're ready!

Tomorrow it's off to Coventry to sing at the Cathedral in the morning, followed by a tour of that unusual place, and a return to Stratford for a tour of Shakespeare country!

Till the next time...