String quartet plays ‘The Lord is My Shepherd’ in heavenly stairwell acoustic

14 September 2022, 17:47

Howard Goodall’s soaring setting of Psalm 23 comes to life in the most unlikely of places...

A string quartet brought the beauty of choral music to a stairwell, in a moment of reflection for Queen Elizabeth II.

Performing Howard Goodall’s ‘The Lord Is My Shepherd’, Kirsty Mangan (Violin 1), Dan Oates (Violin 2), Lucy Morgan (Viola) and Rhian Porter (Cello) stood around the top of a resonant, empty staircase, creating a magical acoustic.

Goodall’s composition is synonymous with British sitcom The Vicar of Dibley, as it was written as the comedy TV show’s opening theme in the 1990s. In the original theme, the music was recorded by Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, with boy chorister, George Humphreys, as the soloist.

The text for ‘The Lord Is My Shepherd’ comes from the Bible’s Book of Psalms, specially psalm 23, and the words have inspired multiple compositions across the ages.

Read more: What are the lyrics for ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’ and who wrote the music?

String quartet plays Goodall's 'Lord Is My Shepherd' in stunning stairwell acoustic

In 1871, Jessie Seymour Irvine, the daughter of a parish minister, wrote the music for the hymn, ‘The Lord Is My Shepherd’, which was a favourite of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

The hymn was performed at the wedding of the late Queen to Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh in 1947.

More recently, the hymn was performed at a thanksgiving service honouring the late Queen’s 70-year reign at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh.