Campaign For The Traditional Cathedral Choir
NEWSLETTER
No. 16 APRIL 2005
A WORLD TOO MUCH WITH US
Evensong in one of our cathedrals, with the choristers becomingly robed,
reverent, sensitive and skilled in their singing might suggest a life cloistered
from the ghastliness of the world outside. Nothing, alas, could be further from
the truth. No doubt, for this reason, Alan Ridout called the traditional
cathedral choir a fragile musical miracle.
The ethos and beliefs of society at large inevitably exert their influences -
even though there may be no direct connection to the choral tradition. Thus,
Tessa Jowell, the Secretary of State for Culture, in a recent essay, 'Government
and the Value of Culture', says she doesn't think that "the term high culture is
very helpful", and she goes on to say that there is "no easy dividing line
between high and low, popular or elite". Whatever she thinks, in classrooms
around the country many teachers are now said to "feel more comfortable" singing
pop music with their charges.
Wither education? France, a pioneer of the notion that children should decide
for themselves what and when to learn, has now arrived at a catastrophic
situation where "children are sinking so fast into illiteracy that the country
is threatened with a return to pre-revolutionary times, when only the rich could
read and write", according to one report. On this side of the canal, some
examining boards now only require pupils to learn 450 Latin words and 365 Greek
words for the GCSE. The government's approval of this, said Simon Jenkins in The
Times, "offers a stunning insight into the modern Whitehall brain".
Also, most teachers will agree with Ofsted, which reports that low-level
disruption exists in all schools, even if they are otherwise orderly.
On the music front, orchestras have been advised to "adopt high-tech special
effects to attract new audiences and break down the barriers to classical
music".
Many in the Church seem desperate to get in on the act. Last year, the Church
Times ran a blasphemous caption competition. It also published a photograph of a
sculpture of the crucified Christ in the medium of cigarettes stuck together.
This was entitled Christ You Know It Ain't Easy.
Modish worship, of course, continues on its jolly way. Thus, Canterbury
Cathedral's Christmas celebrations included 'an event' called RDY 4
Christmas?? While the Archbishop of York might well disapprove, given that
he condemns the practice of "worship as entertainment", it would seem that his
is a lone voice.
STILL ON THE GOLD STANDARD
Is there anything in Britain, other than afternoon tea with cucumber
sandwiches, which is the 'envy of the world'?" The Times asked last year. One
Brian Richards, in reply, said our choral tradition was the envy of choral
directors worldwide. "The jewel in the crown," he wrote, "is choral evensong: a
beautifully structured service of readings and music".
Despite our justified concerns, there is still reason to hope. One recent
visitor to Winchester found it was "going out of its way to promote its all-male
choir".
The voice of a treble can still cause the heart to stop. In a performance of
Bernstein's Chichester Psalms at the Albert Hall, Hilary Finch of The Times
described "the treble, David Stark, high in the organ loft, singing a grave and
eloquent Psalm 23". And Francesca Zambello, director of the new Sony CD of Le
Petit Prince, tells how she found Joseph McManners, who plays the lead:
"There was this boy with a spiritual look in his eye. I was captivated, so I
said give him 24 hours with a coach and we'll see if he can sing - if he can,
he's got the part. He could, so he did."
Still, there are choristers willing to serve. Andrew Russell, Head Chorister at
Newcastle Cathedral, who sang in The Snowman last Christmas, says: "Singing
really takes over my life". And at St James', Grimsby, Fr Sudron says what his
choristers do "is very demanding, but they love it because they realise it's one
of life's blessings to be able to make music together". Like most other
choristers, these boys put in 15 hours a week rehearsing and attending services.
1. Choristers go public
A year ago, it was the choir of the Chapel Royal which decided to up sticks for
the first time since attending Henry V at Agincourt and head north for Newcastle
to take part in a concert. No doubt, they were a revelation to many in the North
East.
In January, Canterbury Cathedral, too, went public. The BBC's Inside Out TV
programme filmed 'the choir school inside and out', said the Kentish Gazette.
Viewers witnessed the voice trials of two young hopefuls.
This is admirable publicity and might well have inspired many a boy, but why,
oh, why does the Beeb have to dub the choir a "squeaky clean boy band" and talk
about them "performing in front of crowds of thousands"? The choristers are not
trained, as the corporation seems to think, to "perform before royalty, world
leaders and congregations of thousands" but humbly to offer up their voices in
worship.
2. Wowing Matthew
When Manchester Boys' Choir suddenly lost six of its boys because their voices
all broke at the same time, it sent out a cry for help, to which 10-year-old
Matthew Hardcastle of Warrington quickly responded.
"I've always liked music and started singing when I was about seven," he said.
"When I heard I had made it into the choir I said wow!, because I did not really
expect it."
Now Matthew will join the choir on a tour of Germany, Japan and Canada - about
as far as you can get in terms of 'outreach'. Let us hope his enthusiasm and
that of all the other members of the choir will infect many other boys, both in
this country and abroad.
3. Down the tubas
Richard Morrison of The Times recently gave a lecture at Birmingham University
to mark the centenary of Elgar's professorship. In his first lecture, said
Morrison, Elgar delivered "a scathing attack on the vulgarity, mediocrity, chaos
and insipidness of musical life in Edwardian England".
Morrison himself attempted something similar, taking swipes at Government and
the conservatives of the "greying audiences". So far, so good, many might think,
but given that he intimates pop, rock and rap are "an enrichment of our
culture", many will question his concern for the future of serious music.
He is not alone in ascribing value to the vapid excrescences of popular music.
Even the distinguished conductor of the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg,
Valery Gergiev, says he has "nothing against rock and pop".
4. Sitting in judgment
Radio 2's 'Young Choristers of the Year' competition in 2004 included a jazz
singer among its judges. And to liven things up, The Opera Babes gave a
performance during the show.
In this year's Songs of Praise Competition to find the best Junior and
Senior Choirs, the judges included a 'pop producer' and a 'stylist'. Oh, yes,
and the Master of the Choristers at St Paul's Cathedral.
5. At Your Service
Ruth Gledhill, at Armagh Cathedral for a service for the world's Anglican
primates, gave the "choir led by organist Theo Saunders" five stars.
Congratulations, Theo!
6. The genuine item?
"Cathedrals are a natural draw to any audience, particularly when people can
hear music just as it may have been performed hundreds of years ago," The
Guardian recently told its readers. This referred to The Sixteen's "Choral
Pilgrimage" around the country's cathedrals.
Admittedly, The Sixteen are, as The Guardian has it, a "crack team", but singing
in cathedrals hundreds of years ago was by choirs of men and boys and not by
mixed adult choirs.
7. The genuine item
A recent Saturday CD Review on Radio 3 referred to a Toelzer Boys' Choir
recording of Bach's B Minor Mass under the baton of Robert King:
"People love their contraltos and counter-tenors", but the boys' voices are
"moving and musical and the sort of sound Bach might have expected to hear. This
recording with boys' voices will make or break it for you, but it will stop
people taking adult voices for granted when Bach wrote for boys".
A CD of Leighton's music sung by the choir of St Paul's Cathedral under John
Scott also won praise: "Again boys' voices instead of sopranos, and with that St
Paul's professionalism".
8. The little ruffians!
"Sir - My son is a cathedral chorister and the boys always buy a Christmas
present for the lady who looks after their cassocks, surpluses and ruffs. At the
Christmas party attended by the local dignitaries and cathedral staff, the head
chorister leads a call for the "ruff lady" to come and accept her present. It
never fails to raise a smile."
9. A living tradition
Bernarr Rainbow, CTCC's first president, once taught at The Royal Grammar
School, High Wycombe. By happy coincidence, ex-Lincoln chorister, Ben Sampler,
now teaches there and is happily involved in passing on his skills and knowledge
to a growing number of pupils.
Every first-year boy is given a voice trial (not asked!), with the result that
there are about 40 1st- and 2nd-year boys singing treble. Singing is 'big' in
the school, wonderful Barber Shop and other groups, Oxbridge Choral attempts,
etc. They sing Evensong in Magdalen College in the summer term. Ben is in his
natural element!
10. Little 'orrors - P'tits anges!
The French film, Les Choristes, has finally hit British screens, under
the title, The Chorus. Grayston Burgess attacked this fudging translation
in a letter to the Daily Telegraph.
In an article in The Times entitled Choirs have given me the best days of my
life, Simon Scott Plununer, ex-St George's, Windsor, wrote: "Every day we sang
wonderful music in glorious surroundings. At the same time we were receiving a
matchless training in aesthetic appreciation and intellectual discipline".
When the child star of the film, Jean-Baptiste Maunier, sang a capella to a
crowd of 15,000 at a live concert for the homeless in Bercy, "there was" said
Robin Buss, the FT critic, "a deafening silence. The emotion was real. Maunier
has a voice that raises the hair on the back of your neck".
CTCC has seized the opportunity the film has presented by leafleting cinema
queues round the country.
11. Here is the news
Committee member, Michael Farrer, wrote the following straight-from-the-shoulder
letter to The Church Times a few weeks ago:
"Sir, - The letter from the Revd Barry Norris (4 February) gives the weakest,
most watery and most nebulous definition of any supposed faith which I have ever
read. He states: 'Catholic' means a generous vision of the Kingdom and a
progressive way of engaging with the world'. "
"I have news for him. 'Catholic' is supposed to mean the faith of the Catholic
Church, which is best defined by St Vincent of Lerins as being 'what has been
believed everywhere, always and by all people'. It does not include what Fr
Norris and his colleagues choose to think up, and is a Catholic faith for the
past, present and future, the faith once delivered to the saints."
"I can now fully understand why a survey taken a year or two ago showed that
only 35 per cent of the priest-members of Affirming Catholicism believed in the
bodily resurrection of Christ, only 24 per cent believed in the virgin birth,
and only 21 per cent believed that faith in Christ is the only means of
salvation."
12. Cultural suicide
Anthony Browne, a "lifelong atheist", writing in The Times, has stormed against
"the self-loathing, guilt-ridden, politically-correct elite, driven by
anti-Christian bigotry and a ruthless determination to destroy their own
heritage".
"In Italy, a school replaced the Nativity play with Little Red Riding Hood,
while another replaced the word 'Jesus' in carols with 'virtue'. And in the US
there is now a national holiday tree' and schools take 'winter holidays'. "
"The Eden Centre in Cornwall has banned Christmas, replacing it with 'a time of
gifts'."
"In most cases, the Christophobes use the excuse of multiculturalism, insisting
that celebrating Christmas is offensive to non-Christian minorities, often
citing Muslims."
"In reality, the Christophobes are acting against the interests of ethnic
minorities. By stripping Britain of its culture and traditions, they are causing
a dangerous rising tide of anger. It prevents social cohesion and integration -
who could want to integrate into a culture that is committing suicide?"
13. New dawn or sunset?
With so few traditional, parish-church choirs remaining, it is always unsettling
to hear of one facing uncertainty.
Christchurch Priory, according to the parish newsletter, is to set up a girls'
'section'. One of the gentlemen of the choir, a Mr Bacchus, has claimed the new
move did not have majority support among the congregation. The Priory
authorities, however, insist the two choirs will be kept separate. Even so, says
Mr Bacchus, this model has been tried round the country and the boys' top line
has atrophied.
14. New faces wanted!
Never attended a CTCC Event because of the cost? Then look out for bargains!
For example, the Hilton, Croydon, 15 minutes from London, has rooms for £30.50
per night (min 2 nights) in June - dinner on the first night included. However,
you must be over 50! Freephone 0800 856 2851: ref. P37AP2. It would be good to
see some new faces at this year's AGM.
15. Lough in the loft
Look in your loft! It is amazing what you might find. One member came across the
following in a clearing-out session:
"ERNEST LOUGH: It will be sorrowful news to many thousands of gramophonists that
the voice of Ernest Lough, the famous choirboy of Temple Church, is at last
really 'breaking', and by the time these lines are printed the catastrophe may
be complete."
"As Ernest is now about seventeen, the surprising thing is that he has retained
his lovely treble voice so long, as this inevitable 'act of nature' usually
takes place about the age of fifteen. Rare instances have been known, however,
where the voice has never broken, but slowly matured."
"Will Ernest Lough become a famous tenor, or baritone, or will his new voice
refuse to live up to the example of the old? One cannot tell, because there is
no rule, except to say that quite a number of famous singers were also
choir-boys."
The Sound Wave September 1928
16. I was angry, not glad
"I just have to write," the mother of a former chorister fumed. "The other night
there was a programme on Salisbury Cathedral on BBC2. All the way through, there
was tantalisingly beautiful singing, including the Allegri Miserere and maybe
some Byrd and a fleeting look from on high at what looked to be boys in cloaks.
We had a lot of talk about 1,000 years of choral tradition, etc., but nothing of
the traditional choir until - Ah!, at last! - but who should come trooping down
the aisle but the girls' choir!"
"I was so angry. I am going to write to the BBC. It is not right for the girls to reflect the thousand-year tradition in a programme patently about history and the choral tradition. "
17. A generous heart
The North Wales Daily Post has reported a moving story of how Elliot Williams, a
10-year-old chorister at Bangor Cathedral, turned musical entrepreneur in order
to help victims of the tsunami disaster.
With a little help from his friends, Elliot organised a charity concert at his
local village hall.
"I just wanted to do something to raise money," he said. "My mum and I have
contacted everyone we know and have arranged the evening so that local people
can make a difference."
The impressive line-up included tenor, Tom Harper, the boys from the cathedral
choir, clarinet players, harpists and the Good Vibrations Band.
18. You're not wanted.
A very belated news item from The Australian to find its way to the Campaign
talks of traditionalists being "abandoned at the altar".
Australia, the paper says, inherited the tradition of "choirs of men and boys
that perform in Catholic and Anglican cathedrals and where the silvery head
notes of the treble voices soar in the gothic spaces like flocks of angels".
"Keeping up this tradition, of course, costs money. Sydney has been lucky to
have had a choir school at St Andrew's for 130 years. Today, however, the Dean
of Sydney, who seems not to understand the tradition, says, "You don't need a
choir to bring people to Christ"
Evensong has been abandoned in favour of a Bible-study group.
19. Money matters
The Dean of Bradford has resigned., following on financial problems mentioned in
a previous newsletter.
Over at Peterborough, the Cathedral has had rather better luck. Peter Boizot, a
businessman and former chorister, has donated quarter of a million pounds to the
Music Endowment Fund.
20. RSCM on the move
The RSCM, which moved to Dorking from Addington Palace, Croydon, in 19% is now
to move to Salisbury. Effective use of resources was said to be behind the new
move.
The RSCM celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2002. It has 6,000 affiliated
churches and choirs and more than 3,000 individual members and supporters in
more than 40 countries.
Professor Harper, the director general, said the main challenge was to address
the breadth of church music in its response to contemporary culture.
Sir Sydney Nicholson - would that thou were living at this hour!
21. Loss of a stalwart
As we go to press, we learn with sadness of the death of Tony Harvey, one of our
most devoted members. Tony worked ceaselessly on behalf of the traditional
cathedral choir, which he loved.
A memorial service was held in Lincoln Cathedral on 20 May.
Campaign For The
Traditional Cathedral Choir
21, Wigmore Street, London, W1U 1PJ, U.K.
e-mail: info@ctcc.org.uk
Website: www.ctcc.org.uk
Views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of CTCC as a
whole.
Events in 2005 have been
20 May at Lincoln Cathedral,
Memorial Service for Tony Harvey
28 May at Savoy Chapel, London.
Book-launch; choristers of fame
11 June at Charterhouse London,
The Campaign's Event & AGM
17 June at Gloucester Cathedral,
Concert for Sanders Memorial Fund