How fitting, then, that Mary Ann Kennedy's concept of Lasaír Dhè - the Flame of God - should have the Psalms at its heart.
It has taken two years or so for Lasaír Dhè to come down into the Central Belt. It was worth the wait. The Queen's Hall was at capacity - for performers as well as for the audience.
The massed choirs contained representatives from Dingwall, Nairn and Inverness, along with singers from Mull. These visitors swelled the five Gaelic Choirs of Edinburgh, and six-piece Cliar provided instrumental accompaniment and wonderful harmonies.
The focus of the evening was on new music - Lasaír Dhè comprises seven Psalms with new settings by an impressive array of some of the Gaidhealtachd's finest singers and composers. However, after opening with the massed choirs in Athchuinge, then Laoidh Chaluim Chille (Columba's hymn), Donnie Murdo MacLeod took the role of Precentor and the choirs and audience became the congregation for Psalm 139.
If you have not heard the intensity of free heterophony, it can take your breath away. A Celtic knot is woven around the core of the tune. Voices intermingle in free expression of ornamentation. It is a singing style found nowhere else in Western Europe, and it has strong parallels in the Middle East. As a musical form it is intense - as an act of worship it is sublime.
The newer spiritual music was no less inspiring. Mary Ann Kennedy's clear voice and easy singing style added to the vitality of Do Lamh a Chriosda bith Leinn an Comhnaidh (May Your hand O Lord be ever with us). Then, Donnie Murdo MacLeod's voice was given a gentle accompaniment from fiddle and clarsach, linking the sounds of Scots traditional music with these songs of faith.
The night had a universal as well as Scottish feel. Blair Douglas' Solus M'Aigh (Light of Hope) linked Barra and Ecuador. This gently solemn piece was perfect for Arthur Cormack's soft tones.
If these pieces touched the audience, then Psalm 23 sung by Kenna Campbell stupored them. Her voice soared and the rendition was almost as touching as when she sung this at the funeral of John Smith on Iona.
With such a wealth of talent brought together, it was no surprise that the new songs of faith of Lasaír Dhè were as impressive as what went before.
Kenna Campbell's setting of Psalm 92, sung by Maggie Macdonald and the male chorus, sent a wave of voices over the audience, rising in celebration, calling for praise through music. This was continued by the joyful sound of Psalms 117/150, arranged by Eilidh MacKenzie. The balance came in Psalm 42, a lament in exile: rich in tone, the unaccompanied choir voices rose and fell, mirroring the sorrow of the piece.
A contemporary folk sound was given to Psalms 19/8 , Mary Ann Kennedy's arrangement, which set the piece for the white-gospel sound of Blair Douglas' version of Psalm 108.
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