St David's October 2015: The Cathedral

I'm not a great fan of the austere charms of C of E choral evensong when I hear it broadcast on the radio. But when I see (or, better still, take part in) this intimate performance live, it's an entirely different experience. The way voices carry within the architecture and acoustic of a mediaeval cathedral is nothing short of astounding; every note seems to 'shimmer with a halo of resonance'.

Coming from a Welsh chapel background, I didn't grow up with the rituals of Anglican liturgy, so the mysteries of the responses and when you're supposed to stand up and sit down again don't come naturally to me. But all of this is inconsequential when you hear a Stanford anthem or sensitive harmonies of the Psalms, Canticles and Versicles. I've seen them described as 'minor musical miracles in a gigantic space'. Florid language, yes, but I agree.

As I've said previously, at this time every year I sing a week of choral evensongs at the cathedral in St David's with the East Wickham Singers. I thoroughly enjoy being part of a five centuries-old musical tradition and I always look forward to the meditative and reflective moments the services allow me. It seems to take couple of services for me to relax into the 'zone' but, once there, the pleasure is unalloyed.  This time around I sang at six services (one choral eucharist and five choral evensongs) which, with the practices beforehand, meant about 18 hours singing. It's hard work!

If I lived in St David's, or close to one of our other great cathedrals, I think evensong would become a regular musical ritual for me. It's a living tradition that costs precisely nothing to experience live. The best free show in town?

Our rehearsal room in the undercroft. One of the advantages of being an active part of the cathedral for a while is that we get to see areas normally closed to the public.

The quire stalls into which we process and from which we sing. Is there a better setting?

We practice in the undercroft and then fine-tune in the quire stalls before the service. The difference in acoustics between the two is quite marked. Me? Top of the row on the right.

Two expert musicians: Nik Kershaw, our organist, and Micheal Meacher, our conductor and musical director. Taken up in the organ loft, where Mrs P turns the pages when required.

A wide-angle shot up the nave of the cathedral after a service and when there is nobody else around. Quiet and majestic. And, even allowing for the distortion this type of lens brings in at the edges, we are looking up a pronounced slope and the columns aren't vertical.

Our final view of the cathedral as we left after our final service.