La Maîtrise de Toulouse

[ardcarp]

On Record Review this morning, the above sang (rather slowly but beuatifully) the Agnus Dei from Frank Marin's Mass. It's the first I've heard of them, but an Englisjhmen was instrumental in setting it up alongside the music conservatoire in Toulouse.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma%C3%AEtrise_de_Toulouse

It's pretty much a word-for-word translation of the French Wiki article.

The choristers (aged eleven to fifteen) are educated at the Collège Michelet in specialist classes made up also of instrumentalists and dancers, who are taught in an annexe of the Collège within the buildings of the Conservatoire.

I gather it was founded by Mark Opsted an English guy who was a cathedral chorister and organ scholar at Balliol.

If anyone knows more about them do please post it up. I seem to remember a previous maitrise in Northern France being set up a long time ago (at Caen?) by another Englishman, but I don't seem to have heard much about it.

Record Review https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001hx77 Martin about 20min 45sed from start.

[Nick Armstrong]

I didn’t know anything about them, but this has been a favourite Christmas disc for some years:

[subcontrabass]

I seem to remember a previous maitrise in Northern France being set up a long time ago (at Caen?) by another Englishman, but I don't seem to have heard much about it.

There appear to be ten such choir schools in France. The one in Caen was founded in 1987 by Robert Weddle, formerly organist at Coventry Cathedral. See https://www.maitrise-de-caen.fr/inde...jet/artistique and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ish_cathedrals

[ardcarp]

That's the one Subc,

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma%C3%AEtrise_de_Caen

Haven't heard much about them lately. This is a diversion but there are two very fine churches in Caen, l'Abbaye aux Hommes (St Etienne, where William the Conqueror is buried) and my favourite, l'Abbaye aux Dames where his wife is interred! The latter is a wonderfully white Romanesque building with absolutely wonderful acoustics. I think it benefited from extensive restoration after the ravages of WW2.

[Alain Maréchal]

This is a diversion but there are two very fine churches in Caen, l'Abbaye aux Hommes (St Etienne, where William the Conqueror is buried) and my favourite, l'Abbaye aux Dammes where his wife is interred! The latter is a wonderfully white Romanesque building with absolutely wonderful acoustics. I think it benefited from extensive restoration after the ravages of WW2.

Three fine churches: St Pierre, a magnificent late Gothic structure, is effectively the Parish Church of the City. Visitors mistake it for a Cathedral.
p.s. only Duke William's thighbone is buried in St.Etienne. The rest is missing, I believe.

[ardcarp]

That's not what we ae told in the guide-books! But having consulted Wiki, it looks as if you're right. But I suppose a thigh-bone is technically 'William's remains'.

There appear to be ten such choir schools in France.

A pity the state of music IN CHURCH is generally so poor in much of France.