"Diamond" choir

[Triforium]

Gabriel,

What SS really meant to say, I think, is that St Paul's choir is good enough and big enough to provide all the singing needed for this service just as they did in the Silver Jubilee service and just as WA choir would be at a similar event. There is no need for a separate choir.'

VCC

Well they may have to augment the men. They only go with 12 these days. The additional 6 for weekends were cut two years ago. They sometimes augment with one or two in the bass section.

[MrGongGong]

It's not about 'need' it's about creating an opportunity for other young people to participate musically in the service. There's not actually any 'need' for cathedral choirs...

Absolutely sir
and definitely no need for any of them to include GIRLS
the idea that having GIRLS might discourage boys is hilarious !

And I hope you have asked permission from sir to have a bar of 7/8 in your new piece ?

[DracoM]

< the idea that having GIRLS might discourage boys is hilarious ! >

It does happen, I have seen it happen, and the choir in question now has no boys on top line at all. Took five years. 'Girls get all the solos' was a not uncommon cry. But if the boys are not up to solos the girls get all the solos. Try telling 11 yr olds they are not good enough and then watch them drift off to some where else.

Real world, matey, real world.

[secret squirrel]

Thank-you, VCC (sorry, Magnificat!).

Yes you are correct: I was not wishing to infer that the present choir was not good or big enough (see later), but simply asking why there was a perceived need for such a gathering of others who are not from the Royal Establishments, that’s all, as it was in ’36 (I think)!

That said, I can see that today’s choral world is wildly different from 1897 and 1936 and if the music we love and adore is to be continued, then perhaps ‘opening the doors to others’ is not necessarily a bad thing for such an occasion.

As for its usual numbers, I think it no secret that the numbers of the St. Paul’s choir have become less over recent times: 18 men daily since Stainer’s day (and the quire screen’s removal) until 1981 then 18 on Sundays and specials until 2011 and now only 12 for all services; meanwhile the boys’ numbers used to be 36-40 (with 8 probationers) and now I do not believe they enjoy such forces on the front row.

The latter may clearly be a reason for the former, but still a sadness none-the-less, but clearly the forces have to match...

But no, I was not saying they are not good or big enough for the occasion!

Enjoy it all of you!

Vivat Regina!