3-008-666 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Choral Festival in Peterborough Cathedral, 1862. View of '...the striking scene presented in the cathedral during the morning service. After singing two verses the choirs, numbering 1200, began to move into the cathedral, and the hymn was repeated by the cathedral choir while the other singers took their seats. The several choirs were seated in the cathedral in the following order, reckoning from east to west: The clergy, first choir, second choir, cathedral choir, third choir, fourth choir, fifth choir, sixth choir, melodists. Each place was marked by a shield of the same colour as the corresponding tickets. The banners of the different choirs were placed in rests against the pillars during the service. The responses were accompanied on the organ, and each chant and each hymn tune was played through before it was sung. A short symphony was played between the giving out and the singing of the anthem ("This is the day which the Lord hath made"), during which the choirs stood up'. From "Illustrated London News", 1862.