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4. School life at Walthem Abbey. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHOIRS OF OLDEN TIMES 2 Saint Augustine landed in England in 597, and in his train came singers from Rome , who went about the country teaching the music of the Gregorian chant. One of his first acts was the establishment of a school in connection with Canterbury Cathedral, which survives to-day as the King's School ----the oldest school in England. In 663 we hear of the foundation of a song-school at York. Paulinus , who was one of Augustine's disciples, went to the north ,and having baptized King Edwin and founded the Minster , he left behind him one James the Deacon , who , as Bede tells us , "acted as Master to many in Church chanting after the Roman or Canterbury manner" It seems that the traditional song of the Church soon became corrupted , if not lost ; for one of the first actions of Theodore , who was sent to Canterbury as Archbishop in 668 , was to attempt to restore it. About the same time St. Wilfrid brought with him from Canterbury ( where he had been exercising episcopal functions pending Theodore's arrival ) two singers , Eddi and Eowan , in order to revive the art in the north. The English monk, Benedict Biscup , founded monasteries at Wearmouth (674) and Jarrow (682). ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Aelfric's Colloquy (c. 995 ) , which is described as a " Dialogue to exercise boys in speaking the Latin tongue ", and is written in Latin interlined with Anglo-Saxon , gives a vivid picture of the life of these young monks; and though it does not refer specifically to choirboys , yet it should be of interest to them as showing what the daily life was like in the early monasteries. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 Somewhat later ( about 1177 ) we get a picture of school life at Waltham Abbey under ' Master Peter '. A most copious spring of learning and instruction flowed from that Peter ..... for besides reading and the composition of letters and verses , singing was no less learnt and practised in the Church ; and a well-devised difference from the usual habit of boys was , that they walked , stood , read , and chanted, like brethren in religion [ i.e. monks], and whatever had to be sung at the steps of the choir or in the choir itself , they sang and chanted by heart , one or two or more together , without the help of a book. One boy never looked at another , when they were in their places in the choir , except sideways, and that very seldom , and they never spoke a word to one another ; they never walked about the choir to carry copes or books of for any other reason , always remaining in the choir unless sent on an errand by their master . As if walking in procession , from school they go to the choir , and on leaving the choir go to school , like canons getting up in the night for service . ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 The discipline of these monastic schools seems to have been terribly severe. Not only were the boys allowed no communication with the monks , but they were forbidden to touch one another or to speak to one another. Flogging seems to have been the main incentive to education in these early times , and indeed it will be found , from the frequent allusions in contemporary records , to have survived in choir-schools all through their long history and almost to the present day, [ as at 1932 ] All the records of choirboys we find the same sort of thing ,and in reminiscenses of ' old choristers ' we read how the old-fashioned Cathedral organists were wont to cane their pupils daily. Dr Fowler of Durham , speaking of Dr. Henshaw's severity ( organist 1813-63 ), tells how " strokes of the cane followed by piercing shrieks were sometimes heard as people passed the West Alley of the Cloisters. Not many years ago a Cathedral organist , when complimented on the efficient manner in which his boys took their leads , explained his method of teaching : " Well , if they don't I flog them !" The modern choirboy may perhaps look back with gratitude to his 'ancestors' who suffered from the practical application of Solomon's maxim, for having helped to create a tradition which has produced the blameless chorister of to-day , for whom such educational indignities are no longer felt to be fitting as daily diet ! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 But to return to less painful matters . The duties of choirboys were varied and were not confined to singing. The ' Customs of Sarum ' (about 1200 ) tell us that boys of the choir of Salisbury were employed both in the perfomance and ceremonial of the service.They were under the charge of the Precentor ; they were stationed in the lowest places and usually stood all through the service. They were specially responsible for singing certain parts of the service , and a senior boy was responsible each week for reading in chapter: others were responsible for parts of the ceremonial , the seniors as thurifers and cross-bearers, the juniors to carry candles and holy water. One boy was responsible each week for reading the first lesson at Mattins. Sometimes the duties of singing and serving at the altar were combined. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 The earliest mention of a seperate choristers' school is of that existing at Lincoln in 1236. But the real ancestor of the choir school of to-day is the ' School of the Almonry '. The Almoner was an official whose duty it was to distribute food and gifts to the poor at the monastery gates. About the beginning of the fourteenth century the custom grew up of appointing definite choristers to sing in the Lady Chapels of the monastic churches , and provision had to be made for their boarding as well as their education. In earlier days the choristers who had been employed in the great secular churches , such as cathedrals , either lived at home or were sometimes lodged in the houses of the Canons. St Paul's seems to have been the first Cathedral which made regular provision for the housing of its choristers , and here , as in monastic churches , they were sent to live with the Almoner , but under the responsibility of the Precentor. Lincoln soon adopted a similar plan , and in 1264 Richard of Gravesend ordered the the twelve boys , of whom two were incense-bearers , should dwell in one house and live together in common under a master ; and he appropriated certain revenues to their maintenance. He gave the Dean and Chaptor the right of admitting them and placed their teaching and discipline in the hands of the master , subject to the supervision of a Canon, called ' Custos ' or During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries these almonry schools sprang up all over the country in connection with the chief ecclesiastical establishments , so that it is estimated that at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries ( 1536 --9 ) there must have been not less than a thousand choirboys receiving their lodging and education in them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 It is perhaps not too fanciful to base certain conjectures on these known facts. The period when these Almonry , or choir schools , were becoming so general coincided with a time when music was emerging from its earliest forms of pure melody handed down by oral tradition. Hitherto , broadly speaking , all the music that was taught in the song-schools had to be learnt by heart ; and when we think of the enormous amount of it that has survived even to the present day , it is not surprising that the memorising of it occupied a large part of the time available for education. But the study of music , especially in the monasteries , was now entering on a period of experiment in harmony and notation,and it is quite probable that the new developments required more musical skill than could be expected from the ' young monks ' it was no longer sufficient for choirs to learn by heart the ancient melodies of the church : as soon as attempts were made to set music down in writing and to compose fresh tunes ,often with the embellishment of added parts, it must have become necessary to provide singers who could perform them. It is not possible that this explains the need for choirboys , and even men , recruited from outside ? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 At the time of the suppression of the monasteries it must have happened that a large number of boys , and perhaps men, who were expert singers , were turned loose upon society. This has been suggested as a partial explanation of the remarkable proficiency that was exhibited by ordinary folks in Elizabethan times , when any man who professed to be educated was expected to be able to take part in the singing of elaborate music.. These ejected choristers cannot have altogether forgotten their studies of bygone days, and they may well have formed a nucleus of ' musical amateurs ' when they were turned adrift. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 That a boy with a good voice was eagerly sought for as a chorister is evident. The sovereign himself from the earliest times has kept up a chapel. This reference to the term ' Chapel ' refers to the whole choral establishment , and not to any particular building. The ' Royal Chapel ' often accompanied the sovereign on his journeys. The following is a patent given to Richard Edwardes , who was appointed Master of the Children , 1561 To all mayours sherifs bayliefes constables and all other our officers gretinge. For that itis mete that our chappell royall should be furnysshed with well singing children from tyme to tyme we have and by these presentes do authorise our welbeloued servaunt Richard Edwardes master of our sayd chappell ..... to take as manye well singinge children as he .... shall thinke mete in all chathedrall and collegiate churches as well within liberties as without within this our realme of England whatsoever they be , And also at tymes necessarie , horses , boates , barges , cartes , and carres ,as he for the conveyance of the sayd children from any place to our sayd chappell royall shall thinke mete ,with all maner of necessaries apperteyning to the sayd children as well by lande as water at our prices ordynarye to be redely payed when they for our service shall remove to any place or places .....Wherefor we will and commaunde you and everie of you to whom this our comyssion shall come to be helpinge aydinge and assistinge to the uttermost of your powers as ye will answer at your uttermost perylles. We may picture the feelings of the local precentor and organist when their best chorister was suddenly whipped off to London. But no doubt the gain was often great for the boys themselves. Thomas Tusser ( died 1580 ) was one who was forcibly abducted from the Abbey at Wallingford for service at St.Paul's. The change for him , at least , must have been a welcome one , for he gives this description of his early school in a poem dealing with his life. O shameful time ! for every crime
We have a cursyd master , I tell you all for trew
------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 On the other side of the picture , the amenities of choristers life seem to have been considerable.The Children of the Chapel Royal , for example , were boarded and lodged in the royal palace , and had daily amongst them two loaves , one messe of greate meate , ij. gallons of ale ; and for wintere seasone iiij. candles piche, iij. talsheilds, and lyter for their pallets. [talsheilds = a shide or piece of wood of percribed length for cutting into billets for firewood ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 Some provision for the after-education of 'old boys' was made at most of the leading choir schools.It is interesting to note that at the Chapel Royal there were 'Yeoman of the Chappelle' , also called Pistoleres , or Epistolers.They were two in number and sat next to the Children at the Chapel Board , and they were chosen from amongst the Children whose voices had recently changed. Among their duties were those of reading the epistle , making ready the altar , taking care of the service and singing-books and the plate and the surplices: they seem , in fact to have acted more or less as 'Servers'. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 The Children of the Chapel were of course amongst the most favoured of these early choristers , and the fine red and gold uniforms which they ware to this day distinguish them as part of the Royal Household. Amongst other privileges they seem sometimes to have enjoyed the doubtful one of acting as 'whipping boys' to the royal princes , the idea being that when these young gentlemen were guilty of some offence they were whipped by deputy. In a play by Samuel Rowley , a contemporary of Shakespeare , called When you see me you know me , there is a scene laid in the court of Henry V111, Go, bear this yougster to the Chapel straight ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14 The Children of the Chapel , like other choristers , were allowed to levy 'spur-money ' from any knight who entered the church wearing spurs. In 1622 an order was issued "that if any knight or other person entitled to wear spurs , enter the Chapel in that guise , he shall pay to the quiristers the accustomed fine ; but if he command the youngest quirister to repeat his 'gamut' [gamut, really the scale -- a medieval system of learning music] and if he fails in so doing , the said knight or other shall not pay the fine " . The custom is a very early one but seems to have survived well into the nineteenth century, for it is narrated that the Duke of Wellington was once challenged for spur-money; however , he knew the rules of the game and replied to the youngest chorister , " Repeat your gamut ", which he could not do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 Inefficiency was far from uncommon in choirs , and 'admonitions' are frequent in early Cathedral records. For instance , about 1425 the Archbishop of York , in a visitation of his Cathedral , censured the musical authority in the following terms: that while pretending to be a Sub-chanter of the church he had greater care for the gorging of his own belly than for the solemn sustentation of the church. Also the Vicars who are there neglect their singing and behaviour and they themselves attend late and talk during service.Whilst the choristers are accused of being insolent and lovers of talk during divine service. The seniors and juniors absent themselves from the quire and are contumacious , also making lame excuses for the same , and they also sing discordantly and out of tune. The Vicars also wear wooden shoes contrary to the customs of the church. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 A more pleasant picture of the medieval chorister's life is given in Bishop Beckington's Rules for his choristers at Wells (1443) The Master of the choristers is to be sober, ever observing discretion , temperance , and moderation in the matter of chastisement , according to the heinousness of the offence, with a constant zeal for ruling and teaching , lest through the poverty of the milk of doctrine and good rulein life , the lambs in his hands should perish. Some regulations as to dress of the boys follow, surplices being prescribed for church , and at other times " cassocks reaching to the ankles , long and short tunics and short shoes , in order that the boys so dressed may the rather be made humble , and therefore the more disposed to good conduct". Such points as the day's routine , including regulations for play-time, are dealt with . Among the rules for behaviour at table we find : When the boys are duly seated they should behave like gentlemen , not dirtying their napkins or other things at the table ; they should take up their meat with nicety and decorum: cut or carefully break their bread , nor tear it with their nails: drink only when their mouths are empty , and eat their food slowly and not ravenously . They should seperate the bone from the meat ; they should not clean their teeth with their knives. When they go to bed directions are given for their prayers ; then ---- these said , and their clothes off , let them jump into bed , so that in each bed there be boys lying in the manner following ; two small boys with their heads at the head of the bed, and one elder with his head at the foot of the bed , who is to put his feet between the feet of the smaller boys. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 The most delightful of all times for the choristers of olden days must have been the Feast of St. Nicolas, patron saint of sailors, thieves , vagabonds , pawn-brokers, scholars and boys. In his honour the ceremonies of the Boy Bishop were celebrated in all Cathedrals and in many churches and colleges in medieval times. They were suppressed at the Reformation , revived with great popularity by Queen Mary , and finally abolished by Elizabeth. An early account of the ceremonies of the Boy Bishop is given in Certain Learned Tracts by John Gregorie, MA., and Chaplain of Christ Church in Oxford , 1649. As this book is scarce it seems worth while to quote his pleasant description , which he entitles " Epicopus Puerorum in die Innocentium , or a Discoverie of an Ancient Custom in the Church of Sarum , making an Anniversarie Bishop among the Choristers ". From this daie till Innocents daie at night ( it lasted longer at the First ) the Episcopus Puerorum was to bear the maner and hold up the State of a Bishop ,answerably habited with a Crosier or Pastorall Staff in his hand , and a Miter upon his head , and such an one too som had,as was multis Episcoporum mitris sumtuosior ( saith one ), verie much richer than those of Bishops indeed. But the Rubrick to the Pie saith , Sacerdos dicat , Bothe the Praier and the Laetamini , that is som Rubricks do, otherwise I take the Benediction to bee of more Priestlie consequence than the Oremus &c. which yet was solemnly performed by the Chorister Bishop , as will follow. In their return from the Altar Praecentor puerorum incipiat &c. The Chanter Chorister is to begin De Sancta Maria &c. The Respond is Felix namque &c. &c. sic processio &c. The procession was made into the Quire , by the West door, and in such order (as it should seem by Molanus) .......That the Dean and Canons went foremost ; the Chaplains next ; The Bishop with his little Prebends in the last and highest place ; the Bishop taketh his seat ,and the rest of the children dispose of themselvs upon each side of the Quire , upon the uppermost asscent , the Canons resident bearing the Incens , and the book, and the Petit Canons , the Tapers according to the Rubrick ....And from this hour to the full end of the next daies Procession Nulles clericorum solet gradum superiorem ascendere cujuscunque conditionis fuerit [ None of the clergy may go up to the higher seats whatever his rank may be] The Episcopus in sede sua dicat verbum. Speciosus forma, &c. Diffusa est gratia in labiis tuis &c. Benedicat vos omnipotens Deus, And all was done with that Solemnitie of Celebration, and appetite of seeing that the Statute of Sarum was forced to provide ....that no man whatever ,under the pain of Anathema should interruptor press upon these Children, at the Procession spoken of before,or in anie other part of their Service in anie waies, but to suffer them quietly to perform and execute what it concern'd them to do. And the part was acted yet more earnestly, for Molanus saith the Bishop in some places did receive Rents , Capons &c. during his Year, And it seemeth by the Statute of Sarum that hee held a kinde of Visitation , and had a ful correspondencie of all other State of Prerogative. Master Gregorie then proceeds to quote a lengthy statute in Latin from which we gather that the Boy Bishop is to live in the common house with his fellows, and that immediately after the Feast of the Innocents he is to return with the rest to his duties in the Church and the School. In case the Chorister Bishop died within the Month, his Exequies were solemnized with an answerable glorious Pomp and Sadness. Hee was buried ( as all other Bishops ) in all his Ornaments. There is no doubt that in early times at any rate these functions were taken quite seriously.There underlying motive seems to have been the " perfecting of praise out of the mouth of babes and sucklings" ; so , on Childermas Eve during the Magnificat , at the words " he hath put down the mighty from their seats" , the dignitaries descended from their stalls and the boys took their places. That such ceremonies were regarded as ministering to edification is shown by the fact that Dean Colet , the founder of St.Paul's School , orders that his scholars shall come every Childermas " to Paulis Church and hear the Chylde-Byshop's sermon" , and there are records of kings and noblemen attending the boys ministrations. One or two of the Boy Bishops' sermons are still extant. Nicholas Litlyngton , when Prior of Westminster , founded an 'anniversary' for himself on his name-day, December 6, and from the proceeds of the land at South Benfleet with which he endowed it, the sum of three shillings and fourpence was to be paid for the recreation of the Boy Bishop and his companions .In the Treasurer's accounts for 1386 there is an entry et dat duobus pueris ludentibus in Misericordia praecepto domini Prioris iij s iv d. ( and he gives to two boys playing in the Misericord by order of the Lord Prior 3 shillings and 4 pence ). An inventory of 1388 gives a minute description of the vestments provided for the use of the Westminster Boy Bishop. These include a mitre with silvered and gilt plates and gems , and the inscription Sancte Nicholae ora pro nobis set in pearls. There was a pastoral staff with images of St.Peter and St. Edward the Confessor upon thrones: two pairs of cheveril gloves to match the mitre; an amice , rochet and surplice ; two albs, and a cope of blood-coloured worked with gryphons and other beasts and cisterns spouting water. There was another 'principal' cope of ruby and blood-coloured velvet embroidered in gold, and with the 'new arms of England' woven into it. An older mitre and pair of gloves and a ring had been laid aside as old-fashioned or worn-out. Several of the vestments are again inventoried in 1540. At York , in 1367 ,the Chapter register requires that "the Bishop shall be the boy who has served longest and proved the most useful in the Minster", but " he must be handsome and elegantly shaped, else the election shall be void". In 1390 the following addition was made , " the Bishop must be a lad with a good voice". Apparently , though the elections took place on St.Nicolas Day , the Boy Bishop at York did not begin to function till Candlemas, and during this time he and his retinue made tours about the diocese, collecting valuable 'subsidies' There are many references to the Boy Bishop and his vestments in the records of Cathedrals , Colleges, Schools and Parish churches , which are evidence of the great popularity of these festivities. 1293. St.Paul's Cathedral 1380. St.Martin's Ludgate. 1446. Eton College 1502. Faversham ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 During the celebration of the Festival it was customary for the boys to present " shows of miracles, with farces and other sports" , and it is likely that the proficiency acquired by taking part in such elaborate ceremonial , with its accompanying dramatic adventures , would have cultivated in the boys a taste for acting , and a relic of this habit no doubt lingers in the Christmas waits and in children's expectation of a visit from ' Santa Claus' ( a corruption of Saint Nicolas). ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19 It is not suprising , then , to find that as early as 1378 the choristers of St.Paul's were giving public performances of a play on an Old Testament subject. Gradually such enterprises were more widely extended , and three principal companies of boy actors became definitely established , namely the Children of the Chapel Royal , of St.Paul's and of Windsor. At first the performances of these boys were mainly confined to Court functions , but their popularity increased to such an extent that in the early part of Elizabeth's reign drama was fairly under the domination of these boy companies ,and they had become a serious menace to those composed of adults. They gradually died out about 1590 , but a decade later were revived on more commercial lines. Nathaniel Giles (1597) , Master of the Children of the Royal Chapel , who was running his boys' company on business lines for his own profit , abused the royal commision which he held for impressing boys for the service of the choir, and complaint was made to the Star Chamber that he and others in confederation with him had set up a playhouse for their own profit at Blackfriars , and that under cover of the commision he had taken boys , not for service in the Chapel Royal , but for employment in acting interludes : various boys specified as having been so taken who were " no way able or fitt for singing , nor by anie the sayd confederates endevoured to be taught to singe ". As a consequence of this , in a later Commision (1606), the words are added: Provided alwayes and wee doe straightlie charge and commaunde that none of the saide Choristers of Children of the Chappell so be taken by force of this commision shall be used or imployed as Comedians or Stage,players or to exercise or acte any stage playes interludes comedies or tragedies,for that it is not fitt or decent that such as should singe the praises of God Almightie shoulde be trayned upp or imployed in such lascivious and prophane exercises. At Windsor the chorister-players were exploited largely by Richard Farrant , the well-known composer , who later joined forces with the Blackfriars theatre. The St. Paul's boys , who under Redford and earlier masters had acted either at Court or in their own song-school , followed the example of the others and by 1576 were transferring their performances to Farrant's theatre at Blackfriars. The performances of these professional boy companies , now that they had regular theatre in which to act , formed an even more serious menace to the prosperity of adult rivals.The competition that they were able to offer is better understood when it is remembered that even in adult companies boys were regularly employed to take the female parts , and no less an authority than Sir E.K. Chambers tells us that " although it would be going rather too far to say that a woman never appeared upon the Elizabethan Stage, woman were not included in the ordinary companies . Woman only began to act regularly at the Restoration." There is an interesting allusion to boy actors ( and evidently singing-boys ) in Shakespeare's Hamlet.The scene is the Court of Denmark , and a troop of Players is introduced : ROSENCRANTZ. There is , sir , an eary of children , little eyases , that cry out on the top of question, and are most tyrannically clapped for't : these are now the fashion , and so berattle the common stages ----- so they call them ------ that many wearing rapiers are afraid of goose-quills, and dare scarce come, thither. HAMLET. What , are they children ? who maintains 'em ? how are they escoted ? Will they pursue the quality no longer than they can sing ? Later Hamlet greets some players: HAMLET. O, my old friend ! thy face is valiant since last I saw thee: com'st thou to beard me in Denmark ? What ! my young lady and mistress ! By'r lady , your ladyship is nearer heaven than when I saw you last, by the altitude of a chopine (chopine -- a contrivance fixed by ladies under their shoes to increase their height ) Pray God , your voice , like a piece of uncurrent gold , be not cracked within the ring. (This reference is to gold coins ,which were taken out of circulation when they became cracked.) Not only were the boy companies not popular with the regular actors , but the rising tide of Puritan opinion contributed to their downfall .In 1569 a pamphlet entitled The Children of the Chapel stript and whipt speaks of them in the following terms: Plaies will never be supprest, while her majesties unfledged minions flaunt it in silks and sattens. They had as well be at their Popish service , in the deuils garments. And again : Even in her majesties chappell do these pretty upstart youthes profane the Lordes Day by the lascivious writhing of their tender limbs , and gorgeous decking of their apparell , in feigning bawdie fables gathered from the idolatrous heathen poets. The boy companies continued for some time , retaining their original titles though they had become seperate theatrical ventures ; but with the development of the drama and of mature dramatic productions they naturally disappeared. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 As the years passed choirs seemed to have shared the corruptions of the age , and even by the time of James 1 things seem to have fallen into a bad state at Cathedrals. A report of that date states that the places of singing men were bestowed upon tailors, shoemakers and tradesmen which can only sing so much as they have been taught [ that is , they cannot read music , but only sing by ear ], and divers of the said places are bestowed on their own [the Dean and Canons'] men, , the most of which can only read in church , and serve their master with a trencher at dinner , to the end that the founder may pay the Dean's or Prebend's man his wages ,and save the hire of a servant to the master's purse. Much the same sort of thing happened with the boys , so that choirs were filled with 'dumb choristers'. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21 Puritan sentiments were bitterly opposed to choirs, as relics of Popery.A petition was submitted to Parliament in 1586 which prays that all Cathedral Churches may be put down , where the service of God is grievously abused by piping the organs , singing, ringing, and trowling of Psalms from one side of the Choir to another , with the squeaking of chanting choristers disguised in surplices ; some in corner caps and filthy copes , imitating the fashion and manner of Antichrist the Pope ,that Man of Sin and Child of Perdition , with his other rabble of Miscreants and Shavelings. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22 Matters came to a head with the execution of Laud, in 1644 , and during the Rebellion organs were broken down all over the country , and music-books destroyed in the most wanton fashion ; at Westminster Abbey , for instance, " they brake down the organs , and pawned the pipes at several ale houses for pots of ale. They put on some of the singing-men's surplices being the hare and the rest the hounds." The position with regard to choirs is summed up in a curious pamphlet called The Organ's Farewell, or the Querister's Lamentation ( 1642 ), which purports to be a dialogue between a chorister and an organist on the hard times , and concludes with this lament : We may now abjure our singing A Querister may hang himself Let Ceremonies then deplore ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23 With the restoration of Charles 11 the Cathedral services were reinstated , though under great difficulties.There were at first no boys available for choirs and the treble parts had to be supplied by cornetts or by men with falsetto voices. Charles 11 was , however , fond of music , and a very competent choir-trainer , a certain Captain Henry Cooke ,who had served with distinction in the Royalist army , was appointed Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal . He managed to secure some brilliant muscians among his boys , and three of them at least in a few years' time began to blossom out as composers, even while they were still in the choir , Pelham Humfrey , John Blow, and Michael Wise . The King showed much interest in their work and sent one of them, Pelham Humfrey to study in France under the great composer Lully. Henry Purcell joined the choir a little later. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24 Samuel Pepys in his Diary , September 14, 1662, tells us: To Whitehall chapel , where sermon almost done , and I heard Captain Cooke's new musique. This is the first day of having vialls and other instruments to play a symphony between every verse of the anthems ; but the music more full than it was the last Sunday, and very fine it is. But yet I could discern Capt. Cooke to over do his part at singing, which I never did before. The innovation of employing other instruments besides the organ for symphonies during the anthem was a marked feature of the period , due to French influences ; contemporary reference to the new fashion is found elsewhere ; but their introduction does not seem to have been an entire novelty , for as early as November 22, 1633 , we find in the Durham Chapter books this entry : The Sackbutts and Cornetts to pay sixpence per day for their absence , and for every Sunday twelve pence to be stopped by the Treasurer. It would thus seem that additional instruments had already become part of the regular musical equipment of this northern Cathedral. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25 Turning to Pepys again , we find : Nov. 22 , 1663, The anthem was good after the Sermon, being the 51st Psalm , made for five voices by one of Captain Cooke's boys , a pretty boy. And they say there are four or five of them can do as much. Pepys was evidently much interested in these boys : Aug. 21. 1667 This morning came two of Captain Cook's boys whose voices are broken and gone from the Chapel , but have extraordinary skill ; and they and my boy , with his broken voice , did sing in three parts ; their names were Blow and Loggings ; but not withstanding their skill, yet to hear them sing with their broken voices , which they could not command to keep in tune, would make a man mad -- so bad it was. {John Blow -- The celebrated composer, afterwards organist of Westminster Abbey} Nov. 15, 1667. Home, and there did find , as I expected , little Pelham Humphreys , lately returned from France , and is an absolute Monsieur , as full of form , and confidence , and vanity , and disparages everything and everybody's skill but his own. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26 As soon as things became more settled after the great upheaval , the normal course of Cathedral services gradually became reinstated : but more and more they came to be regarded merely as a curious survival from a past age and as having little if any religious value. It is not surprising , therefore , to find records in Chaptor books which reflect a state of things which can hardly have been conducive to a high standard in the performance of Divine service. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 27 The following incident from Durham shows that peace did not always reign within its cloistered walls. Sep. 4, 1623. That the Chapter is pleased to entertain Toby Brooking , the counter-tenor , and to pay for his table till Mr Dean's coming down. The Chapter were evidently impressed with Toby's singing ,and did not wish to lose a good amn : but the organist does not seem to have got on with him ; for we read : April 1, 1628. In regard to Richard Hutchinson's ( Organist ) frequent haunting of alehouses ( and divers other misdemeanours), and especially for the breaking of the head of Toby Brooking one of the singing men of this church , with a candlestick in an alehouse , wounding him very dangerously : Being now this day called before the said Mr. Dean and aforesaid Prebendaries : he had given him by the said Mr.Dean a public admonition for his present amendment , and his sober , quiet and religious deportment of himself hereafter , or else to expect and abide the censure of the statute, which is expulsion from this Church, as there it is provided. Apparently the warning was of little use, for only a month after it we find: May 7, 1628. That Richard Hutchinson , as organist shall totally from henceforth relinquish the command government and teaching of the choristers He had to provide a deputy for this work, and it is interesting to notice the duties connected with this office , besides the mere preparation of services The said Richard Hutchinson doth faithfully promise by himself or his sufficient deputy to be ready three times in every week, that is on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays in the afternoon from twelve of the clock unto the beginning of Evening Prayer, and to teach the choristers to play upon the virginals or organs , or to hear them and try them for their skill and fitness in singing any anthems or church service. Even this plan, however , did not work for long , for we read: July 8, 1628. Richard Hutchinson to have an allowance of twenty marks per annum, and so to be wholly discharged from any service or dealing in the Church until midsummer next, unless that herafter he shall give further cause of greater punishment. The Chaptor seem to have been lenient , for he was restored to the organist's place on November 23 of the same year, and seems to have retained it till 1643. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 28 Such conduct does not seem to have been exceptional , as will be seen by the following extracts : the first is from a letter from the Precentor to the Dean of Lincoln. 14 March 1663. Mr. Mudd hath been so debauched these assizes, and hath so abused Mr. Derby [an organ builder] that he will hardly be persuaded to stay to finish his worke unless Mudd be removed. And I have stuck in the same Mudd too ; for he hath abused me above hope of Pardon. I wish you would be pleased to send us downe an able and more civil organist. 16 March 1663. Yesterday Mr. Mudd shewed the effects of his last week's tipling, for when Mr.Joynes was in the midst of his sermon Mudd fell a-singing aloud , insomuch as Mr Joynes was compelled to stopp; all the auditorie gazed and wondered what was the matter , and at length some neere him, stopping his mouth, silenced him, and then Mr. Joynes proceeded: but this continued for the space of neere half a quarter of an houre. So that now wee dare trust him no more with our organ, but request you (if you can ) to help us to another ; and with what speed may be. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29 Matters do not seem to have been much better at Gloucester , where the eccentricities of Stephen Jeffries (organist, 1682 -- 1710 ) draw upon him the wrath of the Dean and Chapter: 31st Janry. 1684 . Jeffries' first monition " for manifold neglect and unreasonable absence from the Church without leave desired or obtained " 8th Feby. 1688 Mr Subdean pronounced against Mr. Stephen Jeffries , Organist of this Church , his second monition to depart this Church , for that he , the said Stephen Jeffries , did upon Thursday last in the morning , (being the Thanksgiving day ), immediately after the sermon ended and the Blessing given play over upon the organ a comman ballad in the hearing of 1500 or 2000 people, to the great scandal of religion, prophanation of the Church , and grievous offence of all good Christians. And further, because though Dr. Gregory ( the Senior Prebendary of this Church) did immediately express his great detestation of the same to Mr. Deighton , the Chaunter of this Church , and Mr John Tyler, the senior singingman of the Choir , informing them of unspeakable scandal that universally was taken at it, and that they immediately acquainted the said Stephen Jeffries therewith , yet he, the said Stephen Jeffries , in direct despite to religion , and affront to the said Dr. Gregory , did after evening prayer, as soon as the last Amen was ended, in the presence and hearing of all the congregation , fall upon the same strain , and on the organ played over the same common ballad again; insomuch that the young gentlewoman invited one another to dance, and strangers cryed, it were better that the organs were pulled down than that they should be so used, and all sorts declared that the Dean and Chapter could never remove the scandal if they did not immediately turn away so insolent and profane a person out of the Church. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30 Things went from bad to worse, and Cathedral music reached its lowest ebb in the latter part of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Little interest seems to have been shown in the choirs, which were allowed to get into an appalling state of slackness. In London, for instance, the same person often held a lay-clerkship at different places like the Abbey, St Paul's and the Chapel Royal , and did duty either himself, or quite as often by deputy , in all three places.Thus, even as late as Queen Victoria's coronation, of the three chief London choirs which are bound to attend, only one infact existed --that of the Chapel Royal : from the Abbey itself only one Lay Vicar attended 'personally', the others all being represented by deputy, and all the St.Paul's men sent deputies,John Goss the organist, alone attended personally ( and that in the capacity of a Lay Vicar ). ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31 It is only fair, however , to point out that in some places at least an attempt was made by the Deans and Chapters to maintain the services at a proper levelof efficiency. Durham seems always to have aimed at a high standard, and to have had regard for the welfare of its choir. There are, for example, in the Chapterbooks frequent indications of a kindly interest in the choristers, which did not cease when they left the choir: 1701. To John Haywood , the singing boy , to bind him an apprentice to the college Cook, three pounds. 1722. That the singing-boys' salaries be augmented to four pounds per annum , under obligation that they appear with clean surplices , to commence from Michaelmas: and that every boy that comes into the choir be allowed a new surplice to be bought by the Treasurer. 1725. Ordered that the choristers who have served well in the choir and have gained a good proficiency in music, shall be made King's Scholars ( at the Grammar School ) preferably to all others. 1764. Agreed that Mr. Hogg clothe the choristers at an expense not exceeding fifteen pounds for coat, waistcoat and breeches. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 32 The advancement of the Lay clerks , too, was not neglected. Applications for increase of salary were constantly considered favourably . In 1723 'Smith the singing-man' is given leave to go to London for the improvement of his music, for so long as the Chapter shall think fit, and to have his salary paid. The leave of absence was extended tonearly three years,and he returned with a salary augmented by £20. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 33 There are frequent Chapter orders at Durham requiring the presence of the choir at the 'Sacrament' on the first Sunday of every month and on the great Festivals: this is interesting evidence of a regular maintenance of the Choral Celebration of the Holy Communion. In this connection it is interesting to note that it was not till 1760 that "the old copes (those raggs of popery) which had been used in the Communion service ever since the time of the Reformation ,were ordered by the Dean and Chapter to be totally disused and laid aside. The daily choral services were undoubtedly maintained, and morning prayer , which some at least of the choir were bound to attend , was at the early hour of 6 A.M. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 34 But such a situation must have been quite exceptional. Choir practices were almost unheard of, the repertory was reduced to a minimum , and services were generally performed in the most perfunctory manner : absentee Deans and Canons were the rule rather than the exception, and Cathedral life seemed almost to be extinct.The late Dr. Ford, who was appointed organist of Carlisle Cathedral in 1846,told the present writer (Sydney Nicholson) that when he took up his appointment there he found the whole repertory to consist of twelve services and twenty anthems , and on these the changes were rung , year in and year out.The Dean was also Rector of St.Georges , Hanover Square ,(London) and the Deanery was only opened for his summer holiday ! Writing in 1843, the Rev.John Jebb, the zealous reformer and liturgical expert,speaks of the service in Westminster Abbey as follows. After referring to its rich endowments and its religious and historical associations, he says that the Abbey has long claimed the pre-eminence of setting the most perfect example that perhaps any Collegiate Church in the Realm affords, of coldness, meagreness, and irreverence in the performance of the divine offices ........The Choir , till of late years wretchedly few in number, were permitted to perform their duties by deputy; and these were discharged in a manner which at best was barely tolerable, without life or energy. The Lessons were commonly read with the same degree of solemnity as the most ordinary document by a clerk in a Court of Law. The service was opened in a manner the most careless: no decent procession was made ; and the stricking of a wretched clock was the signal for beginning to race through the office: there was a squalid neglect in all the accessories of divine worship ; the books were torn and soiled , and the custom of the place apparently enjoined on the Choir boys the use of surplices more black than white.The whole aspect of the Church plainly indicated the mechanical performance of a burthensome duty. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 35 About the middle of the nineteenth century some measure of reform was initiated , and the younger generation of Cathedral organists and precentors set themselves to remedy the worst of the abuses. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 36 During the period of decadence the choristers of the ancient foundations had fallen upon evil days. The old almonry schools had more or less survived,and the boys were usually placed under some sort of Master who was responsible for their education, and in some cases for their board and lodging. But these duties were for the most part shamefully neglected, and in order to remunerate the Master for his services it was customary to allow him to hire out the boys for concerts and other secular employment. Fortunately a champion for their rights and welfare was found in Miss Maria Hackett, known as ' The Choristers Friend ' , who devoted the whole of her long life and a great part of her fortune to getting these abuses remedied. She visited every Cathedral in the land to collect first-hand evidence of the condition of things, and she issued her Brief Account of Cathedral and Collegiate Schools in 1827. This work , which represents an enormous amount of research and scholarship, was brought before the authorities of all the places concerned.Her voluminious correspondence with Deans,Canons and other dignitaries, and their often evasive replies, show the difficulties with which she was confronted. Her special interest was in the choir of St.Paul's. She began her campaign with a letter to the Bishop of London in 1811, quoting documentary evidence as to the rights of the choristers and showing how unjustly they had been deprived of them. The Bishop replies that it is not his business, and says he will send her letter to the Dean. Accordingly she addresses the Dean and all the members of the Chapter individually. But she gets little satisfaction, and in July 1813 she writes to the Chancellor ( to whom in old days the care of the education of the choristers belonged): REV.Sir --As you have never condescended to take the slightest notice of my representations concerning your neglected charge at St. Paul's , I am at liberty to interpret your total silence into a tacit acknowledgement that the documents respecting the Cathedral School, which I transmitted to you in the month of September last, continue unanswered, because they cannot be controverted, etc. This brings a somewhat evasive answer, and she next tries Dr.Hughes, who refuses to discuss the matter and writes : " If any parent , or other person standing in the place of a parent , have justifiable ground of complaint respecting the treatment of their child, the residentiary of the day will always attend to such complaint; but I think it right to add that your remonstrance will in my opinion , not come within this description". Her reply is, at least , trenchant; You refer the protection of the Choristers to the "Residentiary of the day ". There is no Residentiary of the day.In your absence there is seldom anyone to whom an appeal can be made. The Dean's attendance for the last ten months has not amounted to so many days. I believe Dr. Weston has not been in the Cathedral since July. Dr Wellesley, however kindly disposed he may be towards the Members of the Choir, rarely favours them with his presence above thirty days in a year:- - and I do not understand that they have delegated any authority to the Gentlemen who in their absence officiates as deputy in the stall and in the pulpit. So the correspondence dragged on, but , nothing daunted , in 1816 she published a large body of documentary evidence supporting the rights of the choristers to the benefits she claimed for them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 37 A very striking contribution to the reform of Cathedral services and of Choral Foundations was made when the Rev., Sir Frederick Gore Ouseley founded the College of St.Michael, Tenbury , in 1854. This was the first regular Choral Foundation to be constituted since the Reformation, and with its full complement of Warden , Fellows, Choirmaster, Schoolmaster,Organist, Lay Clerks and Choristers, governed by Statute , it was modelled on the lines of the ancient Collegiate churches. The object of the founder was the establishment of a Choral Foundation which should serve as a model to the whole church in the rendering of services, the regular performance of the best music, and the education of choristers under ideal conditions. The outlook was frankly that of the Cathedral rather than the Parish Church, and the Foundation formed an effective protest against the slackness and inefficiency that was still prevalent in many quarters. Thus the remote Worcesteshire countryside became a centre of choral worship whence there radiated a powerful influence on the revival of Cathedral music; and many musicians and clergy who have since done excellent service to the church in promoting the ideals of the pious founder , received their early training in its delightful surroundings. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 38. EDIT ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 39 An attempt must now be made to trace the history of Parish church choirs after the Reformation, at which time such as were in existence wre disbanded. At the period of the restoration of the Roman Catholic services during the reign of Queen Mary many of the most zealous of the English reformers were driven in exile to Switzerland. There they learnt the habit of singing metrical psalms , the whole congregation joining together. This habit of common psalmody they brought back with them to England , where it soon took root and gradually became the custom in almost all Parish churches. -------------------------------------------------------------------------
40 Many interesting and amusing records of the doings of the west gallery bands and choirs in country places have been preserved , of which one or two must serve as examples. The band at Heanton Punchardon Church ( Devon ) comprised a fiddle , cornet and trombone.On special occasions a clarionet player came over from Braunton , and now and then there was also a flute. The band sat in the western gallery of the Church, so did the choir of about twelve boys and girls with an adult leader named Richard Clarke. During the early part of the service band and choir sat in mystic seclusion behind two red curtains running on rods. When the time came for the hymn these curtains were noisily drawn back,and the congregation turned round in the pews ,and with backs to the Altar faced the performers. A very full account of the old west gallery bands and choirs is given in Sussex Church Music in the Past , by Rev. K.H. Macdermott, Rector of Selsey, to which the reader is referred for accounts of the musicians , the instruments they employed , the music they sang and for many amusing anecdotes. These west gallery choirs were exceedingly tenacious of their rights and strongly resented interference: it was often customary to keep the music in the hands of one family, some of whom sang while others played. The number of instruments was commonly three , namely violin, clarionet and bass viol (which means ' cello , not double bass ); sometimes a flute or a basson would be added. An organ in villages was rare, and when it existed was more often than not operated by a barrel mechanism. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 41 As time went on the singing became less and less congregational, the self-appointed and self-governing musicians expected the congregation to sit and listen, entranced by their efforts. Attempts at reform were made, though they do not seem to have had much practical result. A writer in 1784, for example , says: How often has my patience been tried, and my nerves put upon the rack, by the impertinent quaverings in some country choirs: while at the same time I have observed the congregation either laughing or frowning, and all serious people uneasy at seeing every good end defeated for which music was brought into the Church. Some improvement seems to have been effected in the towns by making more organised use of the ' Charity Children ', and teaching them something like regular singing. But on the whole Church music was certainly at a very low ebb. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 42 The Oxford movement began in 1833. Into the history of this is not necessary to enter --the principles for which it stood are well known. In the matter of Church music it soon began to show its power. There was a strong desire that everything in Church should be done decently and in order, and there was a tendency to go back to ancient precedent. But for Parish church music there was little ancient precedent to turn to. Most thinking people wre disgusted with the present state of things, and they naturally looked to the Cathedrals, which alone had conserved the ancient musical traditions of the Church. Consequently there arose a tendency to take the Cathedral as a model for the Parish church choir. So west gallery organs and the old bands of musicians were dethroned, tentatively at first, and then more rapidly, their place being taken by surpliced choirs in the chancel and organs or harmoniums at the East end adjoining them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 43 It may be taken as certain that on the whole the changes werea great improvement on the old methods; but it is equally certain that the reaction went too far, and that the Cathedral service was not in all cases the best model for ordinary Parish churches.Churches, for instance, that were architecturally unfitted, owing to lack of space in the chancel, were in hundreds of cases ruined by the insertion of choir-stalls and organs; while prevailing desire for ' correctness ' led to the dressing in surplices of boys and men who had had not the most rudimentary idea of proper singing, and the setting before them of music quite unsuited to their capacity or to the needs of the congregation. At the same time very definite efforts were made to encourage the singing of the congregation, and such men as John Hullah were real pioneers in that part of choral worship which perhaps makes the strongest appeal to-day. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 44 The regular dress of choirs, when on duty, from the earliest times seems to have been the surplice, though we find mention of albs at certain places, e.g. at York, 1399, " New albes for the choristers ". For great occasions they wore copes in processions ( Sarum Customary ) . An inventory of Magdalen College , Oxford , mentions for the boys, " tunicles, red, white and crimson, with orfreys of damask and velvet, one set of albs of blue damask , and two with apparels of red silk". At St. Frideswide's Monastery, Oxford , the inventory taken by Henry V111's commissioners mentions, "For the Choristers tunicles of red and white damask and silk, amesses of blue and white baundekin, and chequered with red silk and gold, besides the albs". At Exeter at least, if not elsewhere, the choristers received the tonsure. At the time of Edward V1 ( First English Prayer Book ) it was ordered that the ancient albs were to be made into surplices for the Ministers and choristers. Surplices were used for the choir not only in Cathedrals and regular Choral Foundations but in Parish Churches.The Inventory of St.Nicholas,Bristol gives,1541--2," Item for mendyng childes suplis belonging to the quer. 1d." , and 1542 --3, "Item ffor vi elles and a quartere ffor to make ii lades surplys at viid. the ell". The surpliced choir of this church continued to sit in the chancel in the time of Elizabeth. For ordinary wear the choristers and very often the singing-men were provided with Livery. This probably consisted of a long gown, something like a cassock: the cassock was the normal dress for clergy and students, and these garments were worn under the surplice in church. Before the time of the Revolution, Denis Granville, the Dean , complained of irregularities at Durham, speaks of " Singing men and boyes wearing no gowns at all, when they officiate, under their surplices". At the Chapel Royal , in an order given just after the restoration, it is directed that " Gentlemen being decently habited in their gownes and surplices ( not in cloakes and bootes and spurs ) shall come into Chappell orderly together. There have always been certain exceptions to the use of the surplice for choirboys . The York choristers , for example , in olden days had for their choir habit ' furred gowns ' . The Durham choristers are described as having furred gowns like those of York. The furred gowns continued to be used by the choristers at York for many years, and as late as 1870 were used during Lent. The two senior boys at Lincoln still wear black gowns with grey facings which are a modification of the old choir copes. The Norwich boys, except on Sundays and Saints' days when they have surplices , wear purple gowns with bands and ruffs. (as at 1932 ) The Chapel Royal children, of course, wear their royal livery. The custom of robing the choir of Cathedrals and Churches claiming a royal foundation in scarlet cassocks is a modern one: in ancient days the colour of cassocks varied, but red was not specially associated with royal churches or ' peculiars ' , except in so far as it was a normal colour for royal liveries. There is then no question of a ' right ' to wear red or blue or any other colour: the question is simply one of suitability and aesthetic taste In Parish churches the use of the surplice for the choir seems practically to have disappeared at the Reformation, and many attempts were made to banish it from Cathedrals, but without success. In Parish churches the use of the surplice for the choir seems practically to have disappeared at the Reformation, and many attempts were made to banish it from Cathedrals, but without success. Obscured by mean and humble birth, Oh, look for ever kindly down Some attempt was made to organise the singing of these children, of course on simple lines, and they were collected together in great numbers for Festival services under the dome of St.Paul's, presenting what contemporary records describe as an ' affecting spectacle'. The reintroduction of surplices for Parish church choirs was one of the outward and visible effects of the Oxford Movement.One of the first to adopt them was Leeds Parish Church , for the consecration in 1841. Other churches quickly followed suit, and in the next few years the practice became quite general : as early as 1845 it had reached the antipodes, for we find that in that year a surpliced choir was formed for the consecration of Christ Church, Sydney, N.S.W. These ' rags of Popery ' caused the utmost consternation amongst those who were opposed to the new ideas, and they formed a casus belli for many who indulged in ' No-popery ' rioting. But after a while they came to be accepted as normal and practically devoid of any party significance , so that the surplice, in spite of all opposition , remains to-day , as it has always been, the distinctive dress for choirs ; it should be duly honoured by them if only for its historic interest. 45 And so we come to the present day ( 1932 ) It is a far cry from the days of John the Deacon , the Venerable Bede, the early song schools with their rule of the rod, the ceremonies of the Boy Bishop , the peccadilloes of Restoration Organists and Lay Clerks , the efforts of west gallery bands and Charity Children.Yet in our choirs of to-day we see the lineal successors of these singers of the past; and in music our choristers sing , in dress they wear, and in service they offer ,we have a reminder of a continuity with the past that can hardly be matched elsewhere. What, then, is the golden thread that binds this long procession together ? what is it that made such continuity possible ? Surely it is the common ideal which , though often obscured , has been the underlying quest of those who have kept the tradition alive through all these long ages ; and that ideal is summed up in the old phrase , Opus Dei -- the work of making the worship of God acceptable to Him to whom it is offered. That is the key-note of all that is best in the past, and if choirs are to be worthy of their great inheritance and to hand on the torch to succeding generations , this must be their watchword for the future --- Opus Dei, Work for God.
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