Lyra Davidica was formed in 1986, and originally comprised
singers
from a Madrigal Group in Warwick. Since then the group has changed
significantly, with members now coming from all over the country, and
beyond, although a core of original members remains.
The group meets up each summer to sing the services at a cathedral or a
major church. We've visited locations in England, the Isle of Man and
the Republic of Ireland, the full list is available on the Lyra
Davidica History page. Last summer we sang at Wells Cathedral. This
summer we are going to York Minster and Beverley Minster. Although
there is invariably
a large quantity of sacred music, there is always enough time for
Madrigal and Barbershop singing - often late into the night!
St Davids Cathedral, Wales 2000
Aims
of Lyra Davidica
The aims of the choir are quite simple - to sing and have fun! As we've
already mentioned we usually meet for 7 days over the summer, possibly
singing a concert during the week and then singing services at the
weekend, although this format isn't strictly adhered to. We usually aim
to find a school or college near to the event and hire it for the week
as this
allows us to cater for ourselves and usually allows us to use the
school sports
facilities and rehearsal rooms. We normally plan to have rehearsals in
the morning and evening, leaving the rest of the day free for you to
relax or explore nearby places of interest. There are no fixed plans or
timetables (apart from the rehearsals) so people tend to group up to
see something of interest together.
As we've all left school (many years ago now!) and scattered the length
and breadth of the country we've found new people to bring along each
year, so the choir is constantly changing although it maintains a hard
core of half a dozen or so people who are nearly always there, but it
seems to manage to stay about 25 in number.
St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh 2001
Music
of Lyra Davidica
The choir mainly sings music for Anglican church services so we perform
a range of music from Byrd to Britten that is suitable for Matins,
Eucharist or Evensong. Occasionally, however, we will perform a concert
and music can range over the centuries. At our last concert, for
example, we sang four sections of music comprising early church
anthems, Madrigals, 19th and then 20th century music both sacred and
secular.
Kilkenny, Ireland 1999
Past
Visits
Unless memory is failing, since being formed
we have
visited the following locations:
1986:Lincoln
Cathedral
1987: Isle of Man
1988: St Mary's, Warwick , Tewksbury Abbey, Coventry
and Lichfield
Cathedrals
1989: Durham
Cathedral
1990: Isle of Man
1991: St
George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
1992: St
George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
1993: St George's Chapel, Windsor
Castle
1994: Wimborne
Minster, Dorset.
1995:
Birmingham and Lichfield Cathedrals
1996: Bristol
Cathedral
1997: Carlisle
Cathedral and Hexham Abbey.
1998: Chester
Cathedral
1999: St
Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin
2000: St
David's Cathedral and Brecon Cathedral, Wales
2001: St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh
2002: Salisbury
Cathedral
2003: Ripon
Cathedral
2004: Lincoln
Cathedral
2005: Lichfield
Cathedral
2006: Wells
Cathedral
2007: York
Minster and Beverley Minster
2008: Exeter
Cathedral
2009: Durham
Cathedral
2010: Worcester
Cathedral
2011: Canterbury Cathedral
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Chester Cathedral 1998
And
finally.....
We hope this has provided you with a taste of what we do and hasn't
managed to put you off! We are always open to suggestions for the
choir, new members and new places to go and sing. If you have any
questions then you are welcome to contact us. Best wishes and good
singing!
© Lyra
Davidica 2007
Last updated 25th January 2007 
