Which choirs don't we hear from?

[Vox Humana]

Quality of performance? All choirs have their ups and downs for a variety of reasons, some short-term, some long-term.

[mopsus]

Using the BBC Choral Evensong Underground Archive as a source which goes back to 2002 - the English Cathedral Choirs that have not been heard from are Bradford, Carlisle ans Leicester with Coventry's last gig in 2002. We haven't heard from Chelmsford or Newcastle lately nor Rochester since 2009.

Any reasons why? I can only guess that the call hasn't come.

I recall a broadcast from Carlisle a few years after I sang there in 1997 - presumably just before the underground archive started up. Bradford's choral foundation was IIRC abolished altogether at one stage and had to reform as a parish church-style choir; perhaps others can fill in the history more accurately.

There certainly are choirs which used to broadcast which haven't for quite a few years. I remember, for example, broadcasts from Paisley Abbey and from St. Clement Danes Church in London. However, the door is not necessarily shut forever - Bath Abbey didn't broadcast CE for about 25 years, after the early 80's, but have done so at least three times since their return a few years ago.

[DracoM]

It has been suggested that mystery shoppers evaluate foundations and deem whether quality may / may not be sufficient for a CE broadcast. Comments?

[Magnificat]

Draco,

St Albans were booked to sing in October 2012 but the BBC changed the schedule to put on Wagner's Ring Cycle live from somewhere.

Great shame as the choir is currently very good indeed. They have just released a Mozart CD on Naxos recorded in The Summer of 2012 which has had very good reviews in Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine and will give members a pretty good idea of the choir's current shape in place of the cancelled broadcast. I was hoping that they might broadcast later this term but I doubt it as a tour to Italy, the massive Patronal Pilgrimage in June and the IOF Three Choirs will no doubt get in the way.

I last heard them singing a stunning concert a little while back in Stevenage which was standing room only.

VCC

Update:

St Albans will be broadcasting CE on July 3rd.

VCC

[Bullock in D]

Hexham Abbey who had a fantastic choir in the 80's and St Peters Collegiate Church Wolverhampton....which is not a cathedral by the way but a Royal Peculiar.

[Bullock in D]

When did we last hear from Bangor?

[Alex Woodrow]

[QUOTE=mopsus;294634] Bradford's choral foundation was IIRC abolished altogether at one stage and had to reform as a parish church-style choir; perhaps others can fill in the history more accurately.

Hello,

I have been directed to this post and can provide both some further details as well as an account of recent progress at Bradford.

It is well known that the Cathedral Choir split effectively into two in 1981: an independent choir of former Cathedral men and boys regrouped under Keith Rhodes (who had been the widely respected Organist and Choirmaster at Bradford from the mid-1960s) to form the Bradford Choristers, an itinerant choir that sang liturgically across the diocese and beyond and which existed as such for some 25 or so years; others maintained their singing at the Cathedral under Geoff Weaver and Alan Horsey, lending much dedication and commitment to the Choir during a testing period. This was a fractious situation and the Cathedral has had some turbulent periods - this is not to apportion blame, but having two independent liturgical choirs in a single and increasingly multicultural city is obviously far from an ideal or healthy situation.

Happily, around six or seven years ago the then Cathedral Director of Music, Andrew Teague, and the Bradford Choristers' Director Richard Darke began to explore, with the encouragement of Dean David Ison, the possibility of the two choirs merging once again and being based at the Cathedral. The Cathedral Choir, meanwhile, had become a sizeable ensemble of boys, girls, adult sopranos and ATB Lay Clerks. Andrew and Richard achieved the complete inclusion of the former Bradford Choristers within the Cathedral Foundation, to their great credit. A Monday Evensong was established in 2003 and a Tuesday Evensong in 2009. Four of the current lay clerks were former Bradford Choristers for many years and are now incredibly supportive of the Cathedral's music; one of the current head boys started as a Bradford Chorister 6 years ago before becoming fully part of the Cathedral Choir; Ann Foster, my Administrator, was for many years in charge of the practical arrangements of the Choristers as well as being key to the reconciliation between the choirs in 2006-8.

In 2012, we recruited a healthy number of probationers and I made the decision - with the complete support of the clergy - to split the treble lines completely after some years of the Cathedral Choir being essentially a mixed ensemble of boys, girls and adults, such that we now have two independent lines of boys and girls. It is unwise to be complacent, but this is working very well after a year or so, and we have no reason to fear this shouldn't be a sustainable prospect. A Cathedral Consort of adults has widened our provision and provided an excellent outlet for the adult sopranos to sing alongside our volunteer lay clerks. We recruited so many girls that we now maintain a junior girls' choir (ages 8 - 11) and a senior girls' group (12-18).

The boys and girls play exactly a 50/50 role in the singing of services and maintain a completely distinct repertoire. Each group therefore sings as a separate treble line for either 2 or 3 services each week, in line with most modern foundations . We attract choristers from over 25 schools and from across the district; their commitment is extraordinary given the daily battles with rush hour traffic and the fact that so many of them live a great distance away. With so many boys being new in 2012, we sought to build confidence by embarking upon an initially very limited repertoire; this is happily now widening as the group becomes more confident. The senior girls are an extremely competent group and sing a full Cathedral repertoire; canticles by Howells, Leighton and Mathias all feature at Evensong. A third midweek Evensong on a Thursday was introduced this January, being sung alternately by boys or girls alone, providing excellent training in self-reliance and confidence in having to sing a Cathedral service without back row support. There is no reason why the boys and girls should not both be equally strong lines before too long; with a good group of hardworking and chirpy year 5, 6 and 7 boys, the majority of them brand new only 12 months ago, we are already coming close to this goal.

With the excellent work of my predecessors, Andrew Teague and his Assistant, David Condry, and with the current team (Jonathan Eyre, my Assistant DoM and Paul Bowen, a longstanding member of staff as Cathedral Organist), we now have five fully choral services per week, amply resourced choirs in terms of number of choristers, a superbly supportive back row, a wide repertoire and excellent relationships with schools for our music outreach work and our chorister recruitment. Recent highlights in the past twelve months have included three recordings for the BBC (2 Sunday Half-Hours and a live Radio 4 Sunday Worship) and successful tours to the North East (girls and men) and Cambridge and London (boys). An Organ Appeal has been launched with the aim of having a refurbished instrument in time for our centenary of elevation in 2019 and some £15,000 has been raised in just three months. The Choirs are in good spirits, we are all deeply committed to developing and sustaining high quality Cathedral worship at Bradford, and we look forward greatly to the installation of our new Dean, the Revd Canon Jerry Lepine, in July. Bradford Cathedral is once again a happy, warm and welcoming place and I am happy to put the record straight; do pop in to one of our choral services or a Wednesday lunchtime Organ Recital.

All good wishes,
Alex Woodrow
Director of Music, Bradford Cathedral

[DracoM]

< There do seem to be limited opportunities for choirs from Cathedrals in Wales (apart from Ty Ddewi)>

St Davids coming up on 29th May.

[french frank]

do pop in to one of our choral services or a Wednesday lunchtime Organ Recital

Failing which, a Choral Evensong on R3?

Thanks for the choir history, Alex - and good luck with all the projects.

[Keraulophone]

Well actually their last one was June 2010...

Trinity used to broadcast an Epiphany Carol Service (2003-06 on the Seboldt index), and CEs (2007-10).
In addition to their perfectionist CD issues, Trinity Choir webcast three services per week. This may be why a R3 CE may have become a lower priority for them, making room for others on the Shipley Chart.

[DracoM]

And many of the personnel are regularly involved in whole or in part in many of Stephen Layton's other enterprises, plus having the not insignificant matter of university studies to pursue.

[Gary Cole]

and St Peters Collegiate Church Wolverhampton....which is not a cathedral by the way but a Royal Peculiar.

Well it was until 1848, when it became a Rectory in the Diocese of Lichfield. Before that there was a college of canons headed by the 'Dean of Windsor and Wolverhampton' - surreal, or what?!

Gary Cole
(Director of Music at St Peter's, Wolverhampton, 1998-2001)

[Gabriel Jackson]

And many of the personnel are regularly involved in whole or in part in many of Stephen Layton's other enterprises, plus having the not insignificant matter of university studies to pursue.

What other enterprises?

[ardcarp]

the not insignificant matter of university studies to pursue.

.....university what?

[ardcarp]

I'd just like to add my thanks (along with those of ff) to Alex Woodrow for giving us such a detailed account of the musical establishment at Bradford. It certainly sounds as if things are on a fast upward curve! Perhaps for the organ nerds amongst us, either you, Alex or one of your colleagues could give us an account of the current state of the instrument?