A CHURCH choir swapped its usual modest evening congregation for an audience of hundreds when it sang at St Paul's Cathedral just days before Baroness Thatcher's funeral.
Twenty-five singers from St Martin's Church performed in the majestic setting of Sir Christopher Wren's architectural masterpiece after volunteering to stand in for the cathedral's holidaying in-house choir.
Choir member and churchwarden Peter Bunn told the Advertiser it was both an honour and a technical challenge to sing at the vast London venue, which has a famous eight-second echo.
The Westhumble resident said: "It's a fantastic place to sing, although it's not terribly easy because of the echo. It's very different to singing in St Martin's.
Their performance, which also included Responses by Herbert Sumsion and a 17th century Eastertide anthem by Michael Wise, was enjoyed by an audience of several hundred people, which included supporters who made the journey from Dorking.
St Martin's former organist David Pipe also pulled out all the stops by travelling down from York Minster, where he is assistant director of music, to accompany them on the organ.
Tenor Mr Bunn, who has also sung at Guildford, Southwark, Canterbury and Salisbury cathedrals during more than 30 years with the choir, said: "Normally, our evensong congregation at St Martin's is no more than 30 or 40, so it's very different to look down the nave of St Paul's Cathedral and see it pretty well full.
"There were very large numbers there, including a lot of tourists, and I guess there may have been a bit of interest in the run up to Mrs Thatcher's funeral.
"Television crews were starting to set up for that and we joked about the outside broadcast vans being there for us."
The 58-year-old, whose wife Deborah was also among the performers, added: "The people who travelled up with us thought that we sang very well. It was a big occasion and it went very well."
