Highland Cathedral
What a pleasure it is to be able to play the piano in Dornoch Cathedral now that the Corona closure has ended! This beautiful structure dates from 1224 and welcomes people from all over the world. Visitors come in a steady stream from morning to evening. On July 21, I resumed the daily practice I was granted there a few years ago. Soon I was approached by a woman from Glasgow who had brought her 98-year-old father with her to Dornoch to meet his two sisters, 96 and 94, who live together here. I agreed to return the next day and play for them. One of the sisters had been the Cathedral organist for 50 years. She introduced me to a hymn I have come to love, Highland Cathedral, and played it for me on the piano. It was an honor to meet these stalwart Scots and to play some of my favorite classical pieces for them. Here we all are, sharing music together and having a wonderful time.
On August 1 my friend Allene put me together with Maria Graham, who sings in the Cathedral Choir and works at Royal Dornoch Golf Club. We found “Evergreen” from A Star is Born in a book of ballads lent by Maggie Hope, the owner of the Dornoch Bookshop. It was new to me, but special to Maria, since it was popular the year she and her husband decided to marry. Then she sang a lovely song for us, unaccompanied, in a spot with perfect acoustics. I videotaped her performance, but she declined my offer to post it and wrote out the lyrics:
Deep Peace of the Running Wave to You
Deep Peace of the Flowing Air to You
Deep Peace of the Quiet Earth to You
Deep Peace of the Shining Stars to You
Deep Peace of the Gentle Night to You
Moon and Stars, Pour their Healing Light on You
Deep Peace of Christ, the Light of the World to You
Deep Peace of Christ to You.
When the church bulletin announced a clean-up day on August 15, I got to vacuum the room where the choir practices. One of the altos told me that she had to miss the concert planned for August 20. My offer to substitute was quickly accepted. We had just one rehearsal to prepare an anthem and two hymns. 
The concert was a feast of Gaelic music. Twin sisters, 16, played Pachelbel’s “Canon” and three Scottish songs together on various combinations of piano, Gaelic harp, and violin. Two men improvised delightfully on violin and guitar. Our choir’s performance of “On Eagle’s Wings” and the hymns was well-received. At 7:52, the Dornoch Pipe Band filed in through the north door and joined with the organ to play “Highland Cathedral,” filling the cathedral with grand sound. Then the band marched out the south door for their weekly parade at exactly 8:00 pm. The women of the church served delicious strawberry cream scones and tea; donations flowed.
On Sunday the 21st, our last Sunday in Dornoch, I joined the Choir in the loft and gazed at the three windows on the north wall, given in memory of Andrew Carnegie, whose Skibo Castle is only a few miles away. We sang two of my favorites, the Prayer of St. Francis and Here I Am, Lord.
Carol Anne Porter, the pastor, ended her sermon by singing “Lost,” a song she had written a few years ago. She accompanied herself on the piano. The congregation listened intensely. When I asked her for a copy of the lyrics, she responded by giving me four CDs of music she had helped create. I’m looking forward to hearing them all when I get home to my CD player. Thank you, Dornoch Cathedral, for welcoming me so whole-heartedly into your music fellowship.
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