Review: Carols Carols Carols

Last Friday heralded the arrival of the University of St Andrews Carol Service, which took place in the beautiful setting of Holy Trinity Church on South Street. As a self-confessed Christmas fanatic, I honestly couldn’t have found a better excuse to drag myself away from the library and dreaded exam revision for a couple of hours. Despite being advertised for an eight o’clock start, a queue had already formed 45 minutes prior, with Christmas cheer prevailing against the bitter December weather that has settled over St Andrews in the last few weeks.

The church soon filled up with locals as well as students, making up quite a considerable congregation. People squeezed onto the ends of rows until they were fit to burst – proving that, once again, this service continues to be one of the most popular. The concert began with a warm welcome from Rev Rory Macleod and the classic hymn ‘Once in Royal David’s City’, of which the first two verses were performed by the renowned St Salvator’s Choir before they processed down the aisle. The hymn was accompanied by the University of St Andrews Scholarship Brass Quintet who were a treat to listen to throughout the service.

A variety of readings and prayers were performed throughout the night by various members of the congregation, including the university’s principle Louise Richardson and Fiona Barnard, the Honorary Lay Baptist Chaplain. A particular highlight of the evening was the Reflection held by the University Chaplain, Rev Dr Donald MacEwan, whose thought provoking speech on the deeper meaning of Christmas Carols engaged and entertained his audience in equal measures. Topping this off with a more modern and amusing juncture, the Rev also got us all to sing a few lines of the Pogues’ classic love-or-hate Christmas tune Fairytale of New York.

The carols selected for the service ranged from the crowd favourite ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ to the lesser known but still enjoyable ‘Good Christians, all rejoice’. The German and Latin versions of ‘Silent Night’ and ‘O Come, all ye faithful’ respectively, provided much entertainment for the particularly linguistically challenged members of the congregation, but the renditions were sung with so much enthusiasm, it was difficult to fault them. In addition to this, the choir’s performances throughout the night were wonderful to listen to and ignited the Christmas spirit and passion of many an audience member.

The Carol Service provided a much needed respite from revision week and has launched my Christmas excitement and celebrating into action despite exams being nowhere near over. Bringen zu Weihnachten!

Headline image: The Telegraph