No sooner than we're into the send half of term Easter arrives; and as sure as eggs is eggs Holy week disects the three week school holiday, just like last year, and even though it's late again (how do they calculate it?)
Palm Sunday kicks it off with the now familiar donkey-led procession through Paternoster Square and Eucharist in the Cathedral, spoken Passion and incense.
Holy week is spent partly at home in a series of seemingly ad-hoc leaves interspersed with rehearsals for Easter weekend and the magnificent St John Passion (in English, by Bach) on the Tuesday evening.
Concerts like these are must sees for us; hard work for Tom and his fellow choristers but also a wonderful platform for the more senior boy soloists, for some their last chance to shine before their voices change.
More up and down to school in the run-up to Easter Weekend means that come festal Evensong (the third of three services on Easter Day, Tom is knackered, and ready for Chocolate.
After the full-on month of advent and all the Christmas services, and a good couple of weeks holiday, the winter term approaches with all the regularity that business as usual brings.
We've been very busy as a family since Christmas trying to move house, hence the lapse in posts, so here's a brief overview of some of the things that have happened.
Christmas Day
Our second Christmas spent at the Cathedral, Tom has a hectic schedule (which I'll describe later) and we end up collapsing in a heap back home around 5.30 in the evening. What's nice is that for us, having our family day on boxing day, added to the festive warm up of activities, services and concerts, means that christmas is warmly long and gradual, enabling us to savour the spiritual aspect of this time of year.
Settling back in
Tom goes from strength to strength and the beginning of this term was his best ever, I know he'd agree that. He helped with packing and organising and there was barely a tear on returning to school.
Radio 3 Broadcast
Every year around the time of St. Paul's day, choral evensong is broadcast live from the Cathedral. Apart from the microphones everywhere it's business as usual for the boys.
Parents Evening
There are some teachers we barely get the chance to see, or indeed have never met before, so the parents evening is a great opportunity. And of course to hear how Tom's doing. Here too he seems to be going from strength to strength. Possibly as his confidence in the choir and with boarding rises, his school work reflects this.
Games Workshop trip
One Saturday I took five of the boys to Games Workshop on Oxford Street. They loved it. They really are a great bunch, working and playing together and supporting each other in a way that would put many adults to shame.
300th Anniversary Gala
A big concert this one, to celebrate the Cathedral's 300th year of completion. John Rutter conducted and Andrew Carwood, the director of music, sang Tenor.
Cello
We knew Tom was enjoying his cello but we weren't quite prepared when his teacher told us just how much potential she believes he has (echoed by the schools director of music). The plan is for him to take his grade 2 exam this spring but then skip straight to grade 5. this also means we need to prepare for the purchase of decent instruments, so long as, as his teacher puts it, he doesn't decide to give it up and play rugby.
A new year 5 chorister
Tom is joined by a new probationer after half-term, boosting the numbers in his year to four! Eight seems to be average. For a couple of terms, Tom was the only chorister in his year.
I really don't know how the boys do it. Christmas Eve's midnight Eucharist started at 11.30 and didn't finish until 1.00am. The boys sung beautifully but must have been exhausted; in fact when I spoke to Tom afterwards, he said that one of his year mates didn't make it as he was 'too sleepy'.
That said Tom was on a bit of a high, full of energy and looking forward to later on in the morning.
It's that wonderful mix of solid professionalism and young boy.
The Cathedral does feel very Christmassy, complete with lit tree above the West end pediment, the formal and informal although I'm getting to be a little ambivalent about some of the carols, I wonder what the Choristers think.
So we'll see him at the 11.00 Eucharist, that'll be just 10 hours since he sang his last. Then it'll be Christmas lunch with all the Chorister Parent families, followed by Festal Evensong, then end of term. Phew.
Happy Christmas!
The Cathedral has started posting a few photos of life at St Paul's online and this is a particularly fine example, it was taken as the choir were singing O Adonai during this year's Advent service.
As photography is not allowed in the Cathedral, these images are rare and valuable, especially if your son is in them.
The concerts keep coming thick and fast, and two of the most popular within 5 days of each other. With their school work continuing a pace, the cold weather and numerous rehearsals really put pressure on the boys, but their commitment, stamina, professionalism plus the support form the nurses(!) too see them through.
The exeat, a probationer-style weekend off from Friday afternoon until Monday morning the weekend before Christmas comes as a very welcome respite.
The pretty much have no time to themselves, even cramming in ice skating, pizza eating and a trip to the potted panto.
Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols is possibly our favourite, not only did Britten write the piece especially for boy's voices but it's short and the only musical accompaniment is a single harp, so it's pretty much perfect. If you're really lucky and get into the Cathedral earlier in the day, you might even catch a glimpse of them rehearsing.
The Celebration of Christmas is quite a different affair, corporately sponsored and featuring a large orchestra (the City of London Sinfonia). It includes traditional carols the audience can sing along to as well as readings from actors, politicians and the like.
The first piece was Once in Royal David's City. Apparently all the most senior boys had rehearsed for the first verse solo but won't have known who it would be until the last minute.
Contrary to my last post when I observed that tom always seemed to be stood behind or off to one side, for these two events he was plumb in the middle, according to one of the gap students, Tom seems to perform better when he has a very clear view of the conductor (although Tom himself isn't quite sure why he's positioned there).
These concerts and the Christmas Eve carol services in particular get ever more popular and this year a giant screen and sound system were erected in Paternoster Square. Glad I was inside, as it was snowing all evening.
Photo from the Cahedral's facebook pages
In a word...
Awesome.
Each year, in early December, the boys perform this great work along with the Vicars Choral (the full-time men) St Paul's Cathedral Chorus (the amateur choir formed to augment the Cathedral Choir for Messiah and during Holy Week) and the City of London Sinfonia.
As is tradition (well both times I've seen it at St Pauls), the soprano solos are sung by the boys, sometimes on their own, sometimes as a small group.
Another practice is to perform one or more of the pieces as anthems during Evensong and during other concerts. This year they performed...
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder;
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor,
The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
And yes the centuries-old tradition of standing during the Hallelujah Chorus is observed.
No matter where I sit at concerts, Tom always seems to be slightly out of sight or obscured. There have numerously been flags and bassoons between us; for Messiah he was in the second row, far to the right and behind one of the taller boys.
Not that I'm complaining.
I originally thought that the medals some of the boys wore signified experience or ability; in fact they are presented by the different city livery companies; the Worshipful company of Ironmongers, Musicians, Goldsmiths all have incredible long histories within the City of London and more recently with the Cathedral.
Tom's livery company is the Worshipful Company of Plaisterers, the 46th livery company and they provide support for the Choristers in general and Tom in particular, which is signified by their medal which he wears.
From Wikipedia
The 108 livery companies are nominally trade associations based in the City of London, almost all of which are known as the "Worshipful Company of" the relevant trade or profession. The medieval livery companies originally developed as guilds and were responsible for the regulation of their trades, controlling, for instance, wages and labour conditions. Until the Reformation, they were closely associated with religious activities, notably in support of chantry chapels and churches and the observance of ceremonies, notably the mystery plays.
Some livery companies continue to have a regulatory role today (for example, the Scriveners), and some have become inoperative except as charitable foundations (for example, the Longbow Makers). Most livery companies, particularly those formed in recent years, are primarily social and charitable organizations. The active livery companies play an important part in social life and networking in the City of London, and have a long history of cultural patronage, and control of the City Corporation (which still functions as a Local Authority with extensive local government powers).
The medal Tom wears on Sundays, Saints days, feast days and for concerts.
The Company invited us and Tom to their Christmas Carol service at the nearby St Botolphs-without Aldersgate and then supper at Plaisterers' Hall. It was a rare evening out from School for Tom, although he did miss a rehearsal for Handel's Messiah.
The Plaisterers also support the Choir of Peterborough Cathedral who performed at the Carol service; and a very good job they did too. Sitting next to Tom was one of the very rare occasions I've heard him sing out; he doens't tend to 'sing on demand' and the last time I sat next to him in Church was probably a year and a half ago. He's really confident with his singing - and has some power there too.
After the service we walked just across the road to supper at the Plaisterers' Hall, interesting in itself as it's constructed as an old hall within a very modern city office complex, but does show off their craft wonderfully.
The supper was only a notch or two away from being black tie, actually quite formal but luckily in a very relaxed way. The other guests were extremely warm and welcoming. Tom handled the small talk like an old pro, answering many qustions abouty the choir, school and the Cathedral.
We were sat between the Master in Waiting, and his wife, and to my left the previous Dean of St Pauls, John Moses which was of course both very interesting and entertaining.
We bagan to run out of time (Tom needed to be back in bed) so the Master Plaisterer made a quick presentation of a Christmas gift voucher and we were on our way.
All in all a wonderful night; and if the offer comes your way, accept!
Here's another article on the current most famous Choirboy from St Paul's.
From the Mail.
For five years, Alastair Cook performed in the famous choirstalls, and the acute sense of discipline that was required has permeated through to the phenomenal efforts of concentration that have been breaking Australia's will in the Ashes.
That is the view of his father Graham, who has been in Adelaide to witness Cook's latest heroics, and the connection is also made by his first cricket coach at St Paul's Cathedral School, which England's opener attended as a boarder from the age of eight.
Tim Roslin, the school's former games master who now lives in Sydney, feels that the habits absorbed as a highly trained chorister can only have helped.
'There's no doubt that it was a highly disciplined environment and it needed to be, because the boys would be up at 6am every morning to practise their singing and only had one day off per week,' recalls Roslin.
'Although singing was the focus of the school there were lots of other things going on. I never had a problem getting the boys to play cricket, although sometimes the people running the choir weren't always so happy.'
