St Mary's School Calne

Choir Tour to Iceland: Spring 2006

Singing in the Snow!

Stumbling off the coach in the dark after a journey of twelve hours, St Mary’s Schola Cantorum landed in 30 centimetres of Icelandic snow to the beautiful and rather unbelievable sound of a male voice choir. Five minutes later Schola Cantorum was asked to sing in return and performed, most appropriately under the circumstances, “The Snow” by Elgar! After a late but extremely welcome supper, groups of St Mary’s girls were then introduced to their Icelandic hosts who provided accommodation for the visit.

The rather unusual destination of the Schola Cantorum’s latest tour was arranged by Mr Field, St Mary’s Director of Music, at the invitation of two friends from his student days at the Royal Academy of Music. Now responsible for music at the Hafralækjarskóla, a small rural school in Iceland, they invited St Mary’s pupils to visit.

The first morning began with a choir warm-up in preparation for performing to the school before breakfast. In response, the school sang a selection of Icelandic folk songs. St Mary’s girls quickly got into the Icelandic custom of addressing everyone by their first name (there are no surnames as such in Iceland) which caused great hilarity in rehearsals.

After that, the UVI Form Geographers became expert guides for a day of local sightseeing. They saw some amazing sights; a hydroelectric power station inside a mountain, hanging valleys, vast lava fields, a canyon formed where tectonic plates are tearing Iceland apart, pools of boiling mud, the ‘black city’ created by vast outcrops of cooled lava as big as churches, and Godafoss, the spectacular ‘waterfall of the gods’. The highlight of the day was swimming in the hot springs. In bare feet and swim-suits, despite the wind and the temperature of –9 °C, the girls ran over snow to get to the bright blue sulphurous water. In the evening, fully relaxed from the hot waters, the Choir gave its first concert in Akureyri, so-called capital of the North. The concert was excellent, with fine performances from choir, quartet and soloists raising the ‘feel good’ level of everyone to a high pitch. 

Following a breakfast of salty porridge with sultanas, black pudding, bread, ham and cheese, a joint music rehearsal brought another new experience in the shape of a set of full-size African marimbas. The school boasted five different marimba bands, all expertly played with huge enthusiasm and flair by the Icelandic pupils. The sound was primeval and massive. Singing a version of the spiritual All Night, All Day with the choir and a marimba band will long stay in the girls’ memories. The Choir then sang A Sprengisandi in Icelandic, which was very well received by the hosts, and gave a short concert to the younger members of the school before spending the afternoon with host families. In the evening, the girls all met up to give a concert in a Norwegian-built wooden church in Husavik, only 40 miles away from the Arctic Circle. It was another fabulous occasion with a happy and appreciative sell-out audience, raising a good sum for the Red Cross Project in Mozambique.

After saying sad farewells to their Hafralækjarskóla hosts, the Choir flew to Reykjavik. As guests of the Graduale Choir of Reykjavik, one of the best Icelandic Youth Choirs, Schola Cantorum sang for Mass in the Langholtskirkja. This was a beautiful modern church, full of pools of dreamy blue light from the huge triangular stained glass windows. The girls amazed themselves by singing hymns, chants, responses and prayers in Icelandic, thanks to intensive pre-service coaching by the delightful organist and Choir Director, Jón Stefansson. After the service, the girls were asked to serenade the congregation over coffee.

The early evening concert provided a real feast of choral singing. Schola Cantorum opened the concert with a spine-tingling rendering of Michael McGlynn’s Jerusalem, sung with the Choir surrounding the audience, the notes merging into the creamy acoustic of the Langholtskirkja to create a magical web of sound. Following the concert, there was more warm Icelandic hospitality as members of the Graduale Choir took St Mary’s girls home to share an evening with their families. A great time was had by all, especially Miss Hobson and Miss Lourens, who summoned up the courage to try some of Iceland’s greatest delicacy, the putrefied shark (buried in the ground for six months and then eaten raw...) and thankfully lived to tell the tale!

The final morning was free for exploring the delights of Reykjavik before heading back to the airport for the flight home. The tour was a wonderful success; a heady mixture of scintillating performances and stunning scenery.