Death of the Head Chorister?

[Magnificat]

No doubt there are difficulties in making these appointments but that does seem like an abdication of responsibility by your DoMs

Surely the easiest way out of the pushy parent problem is to always appoint the senior boy by age and/or date of joining the choir unless he is obviously going to be a hopeless candidate which isn't very likely I would have thought.

I am not absolutely sure how it works at St Albans, which was my regular cathedral for many years, but they couldn't have more than one head chorister as the latter has a specifically named endowment ( the Alban Choristership donated by the Fraternity of Friends of the Cathedral ). However, the system there could be said to be democratic as all the boys have £25,000 endowments with an associated medal.

The other top year boys there would be the Deputy ( The Friends of Cathedral Music endowment ) and senior choristers all distinguished by the colour of their medal ribbons.

I should have thought a really good Head Chorister is worth his weight in gold to the DoM.

VCC.

[DracoM]

< I should have thought a really good Head Chorister is worth his weight in gold to the DoM >

The underlying assumption and hitherto unchallenged in this thread is that HC's are 'a good thing'.
Can any contributors give solid reasons, practical reaons, why HC 's should be deemed to be 'gold dust' to DoMs?

[Keraulophone]

Their value to a DoM must depend on the qualities of the individual, and if the 'next in line' has shortcomings, he/she will be less useful and even cause problems. If two, three or even four of the eldest boys/girls are given various responsibilities according to their own talents, all practical and leadership issues can be covered. At least, that is how it has worked down here for about a dozen years. Nobody around here would view it in VCC's terms as 'an abdication of responsibility' by the DoM, nor would there seem to be any desire to return to having a uni-HC.


Off-topic PS: To wine enthusiasts VCC = Vieux Chateau Certan, a Pomerol of sublime succulence. The current vintage (2010) may be their best ever!

[colonial]

Off-topic PS: To wine enthusiasts VCC = Vieux Chateau Certan, a Pomerol of sublime succulence. The current vintage (2010) may be their best ever![/QUOTE]

At upwards of $450CDN a bottle (275GBP, roughly ... sorry, no pound symbol on my colonial keyboard) and being an impoverished musician, I can only dream.

[Magnificat]

Similarly, Draco I should like to know the rationale for not having a Head Chorister at all in the places mentioned in the Cathedral Music article.

The implication seems to be that candidates either don't have all the abilities necessary ( but does anyone in a position of leadership in any walk of life? A good manager will always delegate as much as he can in areas where he is not particularly strong) or that choristers these days are lacking character compared with their predecessors. Do they balk at taking a leadership role?

Perhaps I am totally out of touch as to how kids see this sort of thing these days.

Keraulophone

I still find it difficult to see how you can have four head choristers. It would seem that what you really have are four prefects with varying responsibilities with no one as primus inter pares.

I still think that the DoM should have the courage to make a decision. Out of four senior boys one must have enough of what it takes to lead the team surely.

I agree with you, though, I am indeed sublimely succulent!!

VCC

[Keraulophone]

I still think that the DoM should have the courage to make a decision. Out of four senior boys one must have enough of what it takes to lead the team surely.

At present we have three in their top year, one of whom is head boy in the prep school which takes the choristers. Not only is he physically much larger than his peers, he is also a leader whom the trbles all (literally) look up to and respect. However, he is not a naturally talented singer, and the DoM rarely risks using him in solos. His two colleagues take many of those, and gain the respect of their peers for their wonderful singing. There are different roles for a Head Chorister, musical and otherwise, and it is rare to find the ideal combination of qualities in one individual.

VCC, don't let our colonial friend put you off trying your vinous namesake - there are cheaper lesser vintages than 2010. That reminds me of the wine list in Rules of Covent Garden, London's oldest restaurant, which is biased towards the Old World but has a small sub-section listing 'Wines from the Former Colonies'. (No Canadian ice wine, alas.)

[Frostbites]

My son has just finished as HC after 19 months (6 years as a Chorister). He was preceded by 6 HCs of various character, some of whom only held the post for a term. At a cathedral that doesn't have a choir school appointments to HC seem to be even more problematic. Pushy parents complained about and therefore delayed my son's appointment. I would like to emphasise that the DOM knows best who to appoint or indeed to leave the position vacant if there is no obvious candidate. My son has progressed without a gap to singing alto as a lay clerk and is indeed one of the complimented counter- tenors in a recent Wednesday CE broadcast. The whole experience has been the making of him. We are so grateful.

[Magnificat]

[QUOTE=Keraulophone;57984]Not only is he physically much larger than his peers, he is also a leader whom the trbles all (literally) look up to and respect. However, he is not a naturally talented singer, and the DoM rarely risks using him in solos.

K,

Last year's Head Chorister at St Albans was 6.1' tall at 14 towering over Andrew Lucas who I could swear cowered a bit whenever the boy approached him! Very nice lad though and a fine singer. He sang that terrific treble solo in Stanford in G Mag in the 2009 broadcast from the Abbey.

You are quite right the other boys do respect the talented soloists.

One lad I knew quite well at St Albans a few years ago absolutely hero - worshipped the Head and Deputy who really were superb soloists ( now fine tenors) and he turned out to have very good voice himself (singing treble until he was 16 after he left the choir) although perhaps not Head Chorister material.

I see from the details of the Regent recording on the Salisbury thread that you are at Truro. Along with St Albans, easily in the top half dozen of our cathedral/chapel choirs at present and have been for some years in my opinion.

VCC

[ilikewillis]

You still haven't given any decent reasons for why having Head Choristers would be an advantage.

[Magnificat]

I should have thought being a role model for the other boys and maintaining discipline when the DoM is not around were two advantages for a start ( I have seen choristers getting extremely rowdy in the latter situation which is not good in public and has to my knowledge provoked at least one Dean to exasperation ( I hope he had a word with the DoM).

I imagine that most cathedral/chapel/church choirs still have head choristers so presumably the majority of DoMs think there are advantages in having them.

When I said above that a GOOD head chorister should be worth his weight in gold to a choirmaster I was actually relating a statement made by the late great George Guest so he obviously saw advantages.

I originally asked why they were being dispensed with in some places, the only answer so far seems to be that it is considered to be more democratic these days.

[muticus]

I agree with all that you have said Magnificat, and since when has good music making been democratic - benign dictatorship gives FAR better results!

[MrGongGong]

I agree with all that you have said Magnificat, and since when has good music making been democratic - benign dictatorship gives FAR better results!

well "benign dictatorship" is fine for some musics
but
AMM , SME , The Scratch Orchestra etc ?

[decantor]

My experience of these things is ancient, going back 20 years and more to when I ran the chapel choir of a boys' boarding school. I always appointed an HC. The main qualities required were: musicality and a reliable commitment to what we trying to do; the ability and willingness to give a vocal lead at the sight-singing stage, and take a solo at the drop of a hat; personal organisation that would ensure punctuality, having the right score to hand, and so on; and a helpful disposition so that he could be asked to do necessary little jobs both during and outside rehearsal sessions. He was also expected - though not uncompromisingly required - to work for a high RSCM award, as the HC medallion looked better when worn with a red ribbon; this would both win him respect among the other choristers and encourage them to make similar efforts. Finally, he could keep me informed privately about grass-roots opinion - which repertoire was causing excitement or disaffection, perhaps, or what the rank-and-file were hoping for as a treat.

I would have regarded it as grossly unfair to expect the HC to take responsibility for discipline in my absence: if he could do it, all well and good, but only rarely did it happen. We sometimes had as many as 24 trebles and 6 altos - all volunteers on the principle that if a boy wants to sing and has the ear for it, he should have access to Tallis, Britten, psalmody. and all the rest. But it would be tough on any 13yo lad who had the above qualities to be expected to control the ebullience of his peers and immediate juniors -- or even to grass-up their misdemeanours!

If PC has killed off the HC, I would regard it as a pity but not a disaster. If all the Year-8s are pulling their weight, the need for a primus inter pares is not obvious, and we live in an age where honoris causa appointments are unfashionable.

[muticus]

My apologies MrGongGong - AMM? SME? I bow to your greater knowledge of acronyms at least.....whilst still maintaining that any group of musicians that takes a vote as to tempo will founder at the first cadence.

[MrGongGong]

My apologies MrGongGong - AMM? SME? I bow to your greater knowledge of acronyms at least.....whilst still maintaining that any group of musicians that takes a vote as to tempo will founder at the first cadence.

AMM : http://www.matchlessrecordings.com/amm
SME: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_Music_Ensemble

voting is not the way to decide most things (apart from who empties the bins maybe ?)

Your internet appears not to work the same as mine , I seem to be able to use it to find out about things I don't know about ??