St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh

The Song School is the small building beyond Old Coates House to the north of the Cathedral. There has been a tradition of daily choral services in St. Mary's Cathedral ever since it was opened for worship in 1879. It soon became obvious that a special building was needed for daily choir practice, so the Song School was built in 1885. The Song School has been in use almost continuously since then.

Designed by John Oldrid Scott, son of the Cathedral's architect Sir George Gilbert Scott, the modest building was built to harmonise with the enlarged seventeenth century manor house of East Coates. The building has crow-stepped gables, lancet windows and a slated fleche. The interior of the building is simple, with almost the entire west wall taken up by a Henry Willis organ. The roof is a wooden vault painted blue and decorated with gold motifs while the walls are covered with the paintings of Phoebe Anna Traquair. 

Phoebe Anna Traquair

Traquair was invited to do this work by Dr Cazenove, the sub-dean of the Cathedral, who was much involved at this time with the Edinburgh Social Union, a philanthropic body whose aim was to improve the quality of life for the working classes in the insalubrious tenements of Edinburgh and to bring beauty and colour into their lives. Traquair agreed to illustrate the canticle Benedicite Omnia Opera ('O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord', from the biblical Apocrypha). In the space of four years she covered the walls of the Song School from the panelling to the ceiling with processional scenes, flowers, birds, beasts and angels as well as cartouches depicting the Creation. On the East wall she portrayed the clergy, lay clerks and choristers of the time flanking scenes from the life of Christ. Her ability to "take a likeness" of all the sitters from the altar boy to the contemporary painter and poet gives the murals an immediacy which survives to this day.

Further description of the murals can be found by clicking Here.

Restoration of the Murals

In 1993 the decision was taken to restore the Sond School and its murals. Finding the money was difficult but Historic Scotland and other trusts were very generous. Women artists and craftswomen staged exhibitions, a scheme to "Restore an Angel" and other fund raising ventures were successful, and work began in 1996.

The masonry, the roof, the windows, the plumbing, heating and lighting systems were all restored or renewed. After this was done Historic Scotland's restorers began their work, bringing out sections of the murals which had been hardly visible before and revealing the beautiful colours covered for many years by yellowing varnish.

The Princess Royal re-opened the Song School on 1st June, 1998. Since then it has been back in full working order with Choir Practice held every day during term time. Pupils of St Mary's Music School, organists and others also use it for practice.

Visiting the Song School

The Song School is open to the public for two guided tours every morning during the month of August (except Sundays). Tours are free and there is no need to book. Meet at the west end of the Cathedral (Palmerston Place entrance) at 11.00 and 12.00. Visits at other times can be arranged through the Cathedral Office.

The Murals

The murals illustrate the canticle Benedicite, Omnia Opera ('O all Ye Works of the Lord, Bless Ye the Lord'). The work was executed in three stages in slightly different styles. The canticle exhorts angels, men and all living creatures to praise the Lord, so the figures on the murals on the north, west and south walls all face the figure of Christ above the East window. "The idea of the decoration is to fill the place, so to speak, with visible song, to embody the rapture of praise, which is the highest expression of the spiritual rapture of praise which is the highest expression of the spiritual life of man", says a contemporary Guide to the Murals (1892).

The East Wall

Traquair started work on the east wall with the figure of Christ, the focus of praise, above the window. The figure of Christ holds a cross and is surrounded by a vine and round the window is a series of scenes from the life of Christ, and in the embrasure are the crests of the Bishops of Edinburgh.

Under the window are three scenes from the New Testament. That showing the Empty Tomb is set in the Scottish Borders with The Leaderfoor Viaduct in the background, to illustrate Traquair's belief that biblical events must be seen set in contemporary Scotland.

The South Wall

These panels illustrate further verses of the canticle. Traquair's treatment was considered modern as she peopled the walls with contemporary figures walking alongside great men from the past, with altar boys and clerics and with birds and beasts, whilst behind and between these earthly figures move allegorical and angelic beings surrounded by symbols which enrich the meaning of the verses. Beside the door on the south wall, angels singing Glorias, lead a procession of men and woman whose faces are turned towards the figure of Christ above the east window. In the next panel, representing "the powers of the Lord", Traquair has painted some of the writers and artists she admired including Tennyson and Browning.

The North Wall

The north wall contains portraits of the African explorer H. M. Stanley, and some "holy and humble men of heart" including Dante, Blake and Cardinal Newman, one of the great spiritual figures of the age. She also portrayed some of the men who had worked on the Cathedral. Other panels show "the beasts and cattle" and the "seas and floods".

The West Wall

Influenced by William Blake, this wall shows a development in Traquair's style. It is painted with brilliant transparent colours with very fine detail. Along the bottom of the mural are the Four Beasts, as seen by the prophet Ezekiel and St John which later became the symbols of the four Evangelists. Above them are four large scarlet-winged seraphs singing "Holy, Holy, Holy", their arms raised in praise. A foliated border completes the scheme together with medallions which depict the Creation.