St Mungo Festival Public Seminar

Dr Elaine Moohan, Senior Lecturer in Music and Staff Tutor at The Open University in Scotland (pictured left), will be one of four invited speakers for this year’s St Mungo Festival public seminar, on Thursday, 18 January at Glasgow's Mitchell Library.

The seminar will focus on the immediate impact of the Reformation in Scotland, 1560.

Elaine’s talk ‘The musik schooll is altogidder dekayit’ will look at the provision of music for the reformed church in Scotland through printed Psalm books and the provision of a Sang School to educate the younger members of society.

When the Reformation arrived in Scotland in 1560, the church service books and music in existence could no longer be used. Not only were new books and forms of worship required, but the congregation had to become used to the change from services with Latin text to ones in English or Scots.

In addition, music was no longer to be sung by an elite group of singers. Instead the congregation was expected to sing and therefore had to learn music appropriate to the new church services.

This talk will consider the means by which new music was introduced and learned by the congregation.

There will be an opportunity for those attending to sing along with one of the well-known psalm tunes.

The seminar is at the Mitchell Library, Stirling Room on Thursday 18th January starting at 1pm with a cup of tea and biscuits.

An exhibition to accompany this seminar runs from Saturday, 13 January, until February 28 in the Archives display area, on floor 5 of The Mitchell Library, where you can see the documents and one of the Psalm books that Elaine will use to illustrate her talk.

Places are limited so registering is encouraged. Please call 0141 287 2999 or book at the Library's Granville Street desk to reserve your place.

Information about this seminar also appears on the OU Music Department's blog.