In June 1916, Church of England bishop Herbert Bury visited St Petersburg, and was welcomed at the Alexander Nevsky monastery by the newly-appointed Metropolitan in full regalia. As if the occasion was not already splendid enough, Bury was then treated to a spirited rendition of ‘Rule, Britannia!’ sung in Russian by an eighty-strong choir, which moved him profoundly.

After ‘Rule, Britannia!’ the choir moved on to sacred music. Listening to the unmistakable sound of a Russian choir, and looking out over the monastery garden at the colours of a Russian summer, Bury fell to wondering how long such an enchanted life could continue; in just a few months, the Revolution gave him an answer.

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