Singing Life After Boyhood: The Choir 5. Feb.

[doversoul1]

It's a fate which stares every boy singer in the face: the breaking voice and inevitable end of a treble career. But how best to lay the foundation for singing as an adult?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01blmcp

A son of a friend of mine was a boy chorister at the Kings College. I am not sure what he did between leaving the choir and the university but he graduated from Cambridge and came home. Within a couple of month, he took overdose. He survived and now in his 40s he has a good professional job (not in music) but it has only been in the last few years that his mother says ‘yes, he is fine now’.

I don’t expect the programme will include any stories of this kind and I believe it is a rare case. All the same, every time I hear the King’s Choir sing, I can’t help remembering what my friend often said to me, ‘what have I done wrong?’

I apologise for this rather personal post but I have never found a place where I can unload this without having to explain what it is all about.

[DracoM]

If a boy has literally made his education, friendship groups, self-esteem and money in terms of schols / bursaries etc out of his treble voice, the breaking /losing / changing of it is devastating in many cases. IME, seen it time out of mind. Ongoing behavioural probs are often endemic, and even if / when the new voice appears, such boys can be very reluctant to use it in case that too lets them down and new initiatives are subverted yet again by the losing of it a second time.

Once knew a Head Chorister from Durham, voice broke about five minutes after entering his new school, never sang again until the last six months of his school career. Between those times, he was suspended from school twice, suspected of being involved in a cannabis ring in his home town, and was in and out of mega hassles at school. He became an unstructured mess without the highly structured choral commitment. And he was by no means the only sad case. The school he attended had so many ex-choristers attending it that they deputed a teacher / tutor to care for, watch, counsel them as and when felt necessary. It is a hidden problem. Some thrive, glad to be rid of something that dominated their entire lives in and out of school / choir, and take to the new life with real zeal and joy, but many do not. They are usually clever kids, and are often mystified by their own drift and wallow in simple but drowning boredom with the lack of challenge and highs in their everyday lives.

And I bet this programme ducks more or less every issue in chummy clliches.

[decantor]

And I bet this programme ducks more or less every issue in chummy clliches.

I must say I rather hope it does. If a large proportion of ex-choristers experiences subsequent psychological problems, then the issue is not best addressed in an R3 programme chaired by Aled Jones; if the problems affect only a few, then an alarmist discussion might frighten off those who would in fact benefit. Anyway, despite the sad cases cited above, there are converse examples - Aled himself, or Simon Keenleyside who (according to his own blog) was not especially happy as a chorister but went on to find musical fulfilment through a professional career. Furthermore, a programme aimed at celebrating choral achievement is hardly the place for gloom and despondency over the fate of young singers. No, I hope there is a positive line - not long ago we heard of steps being taken around the Three Choirs to provide choral opportunities for ex-choristers.

[Simon]

If a large proportion of ex-choristers experiences subsequent psychological problems, then the issue is not best addressed in an R3 programme chaired by Aled Jones; if the problems affect only a few, then an alarmist discussion might frighten off those who would in fact benefit.

Absolutely.

I don't believe that many choristers do experience massive problems, though I'd change my mind given reliable evidence. Some will find the change dificlut perhaps for a while. I did. I was happy to begin singing a sort of uncertain tenor once my voice had settled down, but I wasn't allowed to tax it for some time, as per music dept. instructions.

What I missed most were three things.

The first, and most fundamental, was the sheer joy of singing out and soaring high in some of the most glorious music ever created. I still do miss that, in a strange way, sometimes, when I hear music like "How lovely" and start singing along...

The second was the structure of daily practices and services that had been my life from 9-14. It was quite an abrupt change.

The third - and I suspect that it is from here that perhaps the majority of any problems which might occur to exacerbate the uncertainties of puberty would arise - was the change from being a part of the choral team that was seen as "special" (and if one is a senior boy or HC that feeling is even more pronounced) to being nothing more than an ordinary schoolboy, bereft of all the special allowances, perks, seniority - and, yes, of the pride and the glory, that has been one's lot for quite some time.

Plus, you are no longer seen as almost untouchable. There wasn't much bullying with our lot, though there was some. A few days after I left the choir, I was hammered, I think deservedly, by another, stronger, non-chorister boy whom I'd been annoying for some time. We soon became friends again, as one generally does in a boarding environment, but I know he only felt able to do it because I was no longer HC!

But if anyone is reading this who is wondering about sending their own child to a simialr place - then please don't hesitate. Childhood, or life, is never without some setback, and it won't always be 100% perfect. Without darkness, we would not comprehend light, etc. But of all the many things my parents did for me, sending me off to that school and putting me through the voice trial for the cathedral choir is the single thing that I thank them most for. Apart from a first-class academic education and the chance to learn valuable lessons about life with my peers away from home, the singing and musical experience is unforgettable and holds a place inside me that I can't imagine being filled by anything else.

I'm fairly sure that most posters on here who have had a similar opportunity would agree.

bws S-S!

[Gabriel Jackson]

Absolutely.

I don't believe that many choristers do experience massive problems, though I'd change my mind given reliable evidence. Some will find the change dificlut perhaps for a while. I did. I was happy to begin singing a sort of uncertain tenor once my voice had settled down, but I wasn't allowed to tax it for some time, as per music dept. instructions.

What I missed most were three things.

The first, and most fundamental, was the sheer joy of singing out and soaring high in some of the most glorious music ever created. I still do miss that, in a strange way, sometimes, when I hear music like "How lovely" and start singing along...

The second was the structure of daily practices and services that had been my life from 9-14. It was quite an abrupt change.

The third - and I suspect that it is from here that perhaps the majority of any problems which might occur to exacerbate the uncertainties of puberty would arise - was the change from being a part of the choral team that was seen as "special" (and if one is a senior boy or HC that feeling is even more pronounced) to being nothing more than an ordinary schoolboy, bereft of all the special allowances, perks, seniority - and, yes, of the pride and the glory, that has been one's lot for quite some time.

Plus, you are no longer seen as almost untouchable. There wasn't much bullying with our lot, though there was some. A few days after I left the choir, I was hammered, I think deservedly, by another, stronger, non-chorister boy whom I'd been annoying for some time. We soon became friends again, as one generally does in a boarding environment, but I know he only felt able to do it because I was no longer HC!

But if anyone is reading this who is wondering about sending their own child to a simialr place - then please don't hesitate. Childhood, or life, is never without some setback, and it won't always be 100% perfect. Without darkness, we would not comprehend light, etc. But of all the many things my parents did for me, sending me off to that school and putting me through the voice trial for the cathedral choir is the single thing that I thank them most for. Apart from a first-class academic education and the chance to learn valuable lessons about life with my peers away from home, the singing and musical experience is unforgettable and holds a place inside me that I can't imagine being filled by anything else.

I'm fairly sure that most posters on here who have had a similar opportunity would agree.

bws S-S!

I agree with all of this, Simon!

[DracoM]

I did not intend suggest that many have massive problems. I have seen some sad cases, and there are a number that find life a bit confusing after such exhilaraion and discipline. They can have sad lives for a bit until they learn or are helped to learn to branch out and welcome the new life.

[rauschwerk]

The question is: to what extent is the damage to these boys caused simply by sending them to boarding school at that age?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The question is: to what extent is the damage to these boys caused simply by sending them to boarding school at that age?

I think that is the most relevant point.

[doversoul1]

The question is: to what extent is the damage to these boys caused simply by sending them to boarding school at that age?

This is my guess from what my friend told me, and obviously there are a lot more to it than a mother’s tale but what affected her son the most was, as Simon puts it succinctly, that he became an ordinary schoolboy.

I imagine those who look after the boys today are much more aware of these issues than those who did 30 years ago.

Completely off the topic: Jonathan Swain is playing some wonderful choral works sung by Danish Radio Concert Choir on TTN (Tuesday 31).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019pqh8

[chrisjstanley]

Hello S-S,

Yes, I can agree with almost all that you write. HC (at least at Southwell in 1970) was a special position and although my dear late mentor Kenneth Beard broke the news gently that I would be leaving after Bishop Wakeling's enthronement, it was still a bit of a shock when it was the very next day. However, at that fateful Sunday afternoon evensong (and yes Simon, coincidentally Brahms 'How lovely...' was the final act), I could hardly get out of the vestry door after the service for well-wishers including the Provosts wife and that brought home to me that I had at least made some positive impression.

Yes, the routine sets one up for the rest of life and I have had other leadership roles in my present career (scientist, not musician). I'm not sure whether any have been quite as fulfilling though.

I will leave it to others to judge how mentally scarred (or not) I might be from having been sent away from home aged 8. Personally, I'm with Simon in that I probably wouldn't be where I am in my present career without that experience.

bws
Chris S

[doversoul1]

Re: being sent away from home
One thing my friend was absolutely sure was that her son would have been very unhappy if he’d been kept at home. He wasn’t packed away by any means. He wanted to go and sing in 'that choir’.

I think that is what was so hard for the mother. She kept saying, ‘should I have kept him at home even if it would have made him unhappy?’

[DracoM]

Most choristers boarding or not - and let's remember that these days quite a lot attend day schools or are day pupils at boarding preps - are so fantastically busy that in term time at least they hardly have time to turn around.

[BBMmk2]

This most certainly is true a boarding/day schools. At every level, at the school I work in, the pupils are kept busy from the moment they arrive till home time. Then at home they have enormous amount of prep to do as well!!

[secret squirrel]

I agree with nearly all of what has been said above, but I would like to add that were it not for a particular schoolmaster at Ardingly College who understood former choristers (he was once Head Boy at Winchester) then I would have been expelled in my first term!

That master had been through it himself and could empathise (he then went to Rugby, thence to Trinity Cambridge, thence to Ardingly) and, of course, had seen dozens of former choristers pass through under him over the years (including some very notable adult musicians).

One has to accept, though, that the chorister life and usual secondary education in Public schools (not always before you all jump at me!) is very insular compared to 'real' life outside and unless one goes back into the music industry, one will ALWAYS have a piece of you missing (there will always be a corner of a cathedral that will be forever 'mine', so to paraphrase).

We were made fully aware of what was to come in our last year or term or so and perhaps today's so-called choir schools with their non-singing pupils helps no end towards the transition at 13, but still, it is the sacrifice one makes: after all, we're not castrati !!!!

SS

[DracoM]

Top post, SS.