The Boy and Girl thing

[Guest]

Never understand why people have to post these sorts of comments either,

Not normally my style, but I feel out of my depth here sometimes and, having seen such comments before, it was an attempt to look "Cool and with-it" I thought it was a "house style" I will shut up now!

[Magister Chori]

Some thoughts on this subject from the Rector of St Thomas Church 5th Avenue, NYC:

https://www.saintthomaschurch.org/2022/07/24/the-rectors-message-for-the-week-of-july-24th-2022/

[DracoM]

So, all in all, we seem to be witnessing centuries of one particular tradition being wiped out in the space of months?
Are we surprised that there is disquiet and regret?

[Keraulophone]

Some thoughts on this subject from the Rector of St Thomas Church 5th Avenue, NYC:
https://www.saintthomaschurch.org/20...uly-24th-2022/

If only Ofsted and the ISI thought along those lines, we might have been able to preserve and sustain our collegiate and cathedrals' fragile boy treble lines for the future. As it is, they will become a precious rarity.
.

[Braunschlag]

So, all in all, we seem to be witnessing centuries of one particular tradition being wiped out in the space of months?
Are we surprised that there is disquiet and regret?

Is it really centuries old? Not sure about that.

[Braunschlag]

Try Timothy Day’s Book - I saw eternity, he thinks otherwise, and it’s very well researched

[Vox Humana]

Is it really centuries old? Not sure about that.

It is, but exactly how many centuries depends how you define the 'tradition'. Choirboys are mentioned in the Sarum Customary which was drawn up in 1210, but their function was largely ceremonial and, like the rest of the choir, they only sang plainsong. Still, that was your cathedral choir: for the first few centuries polyphony was the preserve of just three or four skilled men. What most people tend to think of as a cathedal choir—a body of boys and men singing choral polyphony—was a development of the mid fifteenth century.

[Vox Humana]

Try Timothy Day’s Book - I saw eternity, he thinks otherwise, and it’s very well researched

Day's book traces the history of the sound of King's College, Cambridge, and challenges the notion that this 'pure' sound and the choir's high standards represent the pinnacle of a centuries-old tradition of musical excellence. That's a quite different thing.