now boarding

Britten's Ceremony of Carols and a Celebration of Christmas

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

 

Messiah.

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.

 

Christmas carol concert and supper with the livery company

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!

 

How Alastair Cook went from choirboy to sporting hero

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.' 

The complete story is here.

I wonder who's wearing that medal now?

 

Chorister Cook

We celebrate the recent double century by England's Alastair Cook during the first test match of the Ashes (235 not out to be exact). All the more interesting that he was once a Chorister at St Paul's.

Here are some of the things the press have been saying:

From the Independent.

 "What I have is the ability to grind out runs. I don't know fully where it comes from but I think it might be the music, being eight years old and being away from home and having to be disciplined. I think it has a massive influence. I don't really like talking about it but I have managed to score runs at every level."

The music is, of course, a reference to Cook's time as a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral between the ages of eight and 13. It taught him discipline and independence and it might have taught him how to open the batting for England. "They were probably the hardest five years you could ever expect an eight-to-13-year-old to go through," he has said.

"It teaches you to be independent. It was bloody hard work, 24 hours a week singing, eight to nine in the morning at choir practice, then school, then four to six for a service and more practice. It wasn't Mickey Mouse, it was proper stuff and we were the best choir in the world. The concentration was the best thing about it, you couldn't make a mistake." 

 From the Guardian.

"Cook arrived at Bedford School on a music scholarship aged 13, having spent the previous five years at the St Paul's Cathedral Choir School in London – singing as a treble in Holland, Brazil and once with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. But he quickly changed his priorities.

"You could see as soon as you saw him batting, and how quickly he saw the ball, that he was a natural," said Randall. "At that age they're learning technically, and I could only take him so far as a young boy. He was never one of those flamboyant players. But there was one time before he'd even played for the first team that he scored a century against them – for the MCC, when they'd turned up one player short."

 

From the Telegraph

Cook's success at cricket was all the more surprising in that he arrived at Bedford on a music scholarship from St Paul's Cathedral Choir School in London, where academic work - and certainly sport - for choristers would often take second place to rehearsing and performing music. Cook appeared as a soloist on a CD of 18th-century music by Blow, Boyce and Handel.

Andrew Morris, head of Bedford music, recalled that Cook arrived as an expert chorister and showed clear ability on the clarinet, piano and, later, the saxophone. He said: "I am happy to report that he made progress in all these areas and showed himself to be an innate musician, possessing a natural gift for phrasing and nuance.

"Indeed, it is my view that, were it not for his huge strength in cricket, he could have been a successful professional musician."

Talking to the current sports master and head of boarding, he says that the choristers often make the best cricketers in the school as, during the spring and summer, they can spend all their free time out in the playground batting, bowling and just playing. 

 

O Adonai and Advent

And now begins Advent; starting with two Advent processional services and culminating in two services on Christamas day itself via Handel's Messiah and Britten's Ceremony of Carols. All this in addition to the daily rhythm of Cathedral services. No wonder that the nurses work overtime to ensure that absences are kept to a minimum.

These additional services, ceremonies and concerts are hugely popular and the usually unfurnished North and South aisles are set out with seats for the few thousand who will attend, listen and worship.

The first Advent took place last night and our favourite Anthem is the Antiphon, O Adonai.

The choir breaks into two; boys and men's voices, each under the north and south transepts. Tom explained the boys' rather unique improvised performance.

"... the piece has a section which is is divided into five phrases, when the conductor brings you in you sing one phrase, whichever one, and you must have a five second break in between. You keep singing in your own order, so say you could do phrase two, phrase four or phase one then phrase five. When the conductor puts his hand up, you complete the rest of the phrases, then stop."

"... There's a solo at the beginning, and he sings all five sections of the phrase all through, then we start our orders, then once everyone's stopped, the soloist sings another solo but higher. Last night Hugh hit a top C, and that was quite amazing."

"The vicars Choral just sing the whole piece altogether, straight through."

Technically it might sound a little tricky, messy even but the experience is awesome. Add the natural acoustics of the dome, a deep and resonant bass solo and the result is truly breathtaking.

 

 

 

 

The Lord Mayor's Show

Not sure if you'd class this as a perk of the job or 'just another day at the office' but every year, the Lord Mayor's Show parades through the City and right past the Cathedral so that the new Mayor can be blessed by the Dean on the Cathedral steps.

The boys quite literally get a grandstand view of the parade before popping their surplices and medals on for the brief ceremony; they're joined by the School Chamber choir plus the Dean and Chapter in all their finery.

After the parade there's a funfair in the churchyard for those boys who stay in and for those lucky enough to be able to pop home, it's a 1pm-7.30 leave.

Worth a coming down to watch plus the Cathedral's open all day for sightseeing at no charge. Here are just a few pictures...

 

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New term, first post

Oops. Blogging is a bit of a responsibility, and I've been rather slack since the beginning of term.

To be honest it does feel like we've got into a bit of a groove and this first half of Autumn term has been very brief, 5 weeks? Then a 2 week half term and now we're in the home straight to Christmas.

So; what's been going on?

Well, the beginning of term we had a small hiccup - seems to be normal for Tom, the going back to school, boarding and the Cathedral, especially after such a long holiday.

Tom's now a 2nd desk. He's been promoted and now carries his own music, sings more complex parts and generally has more responsibility. Tom actually leads in the Sunday Eucharist procession and leads out Evensong. I'm guessing he's seen as a safe pair of hands. This also means he wears his medal on Sunday's and high days. Tom is sponsored by the Worship Company of Plaisterers, the 46th livery company in the City of London, and wears their medal.

He was commended in his grade 1 cello and received a merit in his grade 1 piano. It's a good start.

Packing away in the dorm with help from his sister

First Night of the Proms

Towards the end of the year, in fact at the last weekend but one, comes the opportunity for the boys to sing at the first night of the proms. This year it was Mahler's 8th, the Symphony of a Thousand; alongside Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral Choirs at the Royal Albert Hall.

It's optional, but say Yes.

It makes for an even busier last few weeks, many additional hours of rehearsal but it's worth it.

Get tickets for the performance through the Cathedral, or failing that, watch it on HD. You won't be disappointed; and the boys? They love it.

 
St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Cathedral and Westminster Abbey choirs, plus a choir from Sydney Australia and the Crouch End chorus.

 
The boys, close-up.  

 
Singing with seasoned professionals.

 
... and demanding conductors.  

Orchestral Mass and the growing choir...

Great to see the Probationers 'acting up' in to the full choir and what a weekend too. Saturday was the School Summer Fair, albeit bracketed by two rehearsals whilst Sunday was the second orchestral Mass.

I remember when Tom spent his first weekend in the Cathedral, very exciting for us and especially for Tom as all of the parts of the jigsaw puzzle began to fit into place. New timings, arrangements and for us, the beginning of weekend services at the Cathedral.

We actually missed the summer fair on Saturday as we had a family wedding, one of the few reasons that Choristers are let off their duties. Pity to miss the fair (Tom had planned a stall with one of his mates), although early reports are that we did well and all had a good time. As a member of the school PTA I had organised the raffle tickets as this was one of the few tasks that could be completed in advance of the day. The fair is our main fund raising activity of the year and the raffle key to that; although looking at the numbers the children's stalls actually raised more than the raffle (and their efforts go straight to a Children's charity).

Due to the wedding, we had a very early start Sunday as Tom needed to get back for a 09.15 rehearsal. Because the 11.00 service was with orchestra, the rehearsal took place in the School hall (not the smaller Cathedral rehearsal room); and as mum took him back she was able to take a little peek at the session from the gallery. In the two years Tom has been at St. Paul's, we've never seen a rehearsal; it really does happen behind closed doors. The boys are in School Uniform (no tie) and the gentlemen are the professional Vicars Choral who provide the Alto, Tenor and Bass. Hugely talented all of them and along with the organist and Director of Music makes St. Paul's Cathedral Choir one of the finest in the World.

   

The mass was Mozart's Missa Solemnis in C (K.337) as part of the July series celebrating the genius of Mozart, performed with the City of London Sympnonia. Truly remarkable and awesome, especially given the setting under the great dome.

Two of the boys sang solos, standing, metaphorically, head and shoulder with the male Vicars Choral soloists. Amazing to see how these young lads of 11 and 12 years of age take this in their stride.

In a break from our tradition of sitting closest to the Choir on Sunday mornings (for the Eucharist they sit under the dome, not in the Quire), we sat directly opposite them across the dome so they were singing straight at us, as it were. It might have looked something like this. 

After a wonderful lunch in the Crypt restaurant, it was off to Evensong at 3.15. Along with Tom's Uncle (himself an ex-Chorister) and Nannie and Gramps, we sat in the quire stalls with a great view as the Choir took their places. Now with 5 or 6 probationers acting up, there were 12 boys on Decani; room for a few more, but not many. The Pros in their black Cassock and stiff white Ruff looked very wonderful; and in September they'll receive their white surplice and be made up to full Chorister just like Tom did last year.