0:00:08 > 0:00:09'Salisbury Cathedral.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13'Its spire, the tallest in England,
0:00:13 > 0:00:17'gathers the smooth Downs round it.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22'And now, come through the north gateway into the close.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24'You're in another world.
0:00:25 > 0:00:30'Great stretches of grass and billowing trees lead your eye
0:00:30 > 0:00:33'to the soaring immensity of the cathedral.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42'And the close is a walled world of its own.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45'The cathedral's school,
0:00:45 > 0:00:48'the canons in their houses.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58'Ever since the cathedral was built,
0:00:58 > 0:01:02'its close has been a place for learning and teaching.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06'And a choir, now, as then, to sing.
0:01:35 > 0:01:36Say goodbye to Daddy.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40- Bye, Dad.- And I'll see you in there. - Goodbye.- Have a lovely week.- I will.
0:01:46 > 0:01:4832 boys and girls have come back to school early,
0:01:48 > 0:01:52to prepare for one of the busiest times of their young lives -
0:01:52 > 0:01:55the week leading up to Easter, Holy Week.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00But these are no ordinary children,
0:02:00 > 0:02:03they are Salisbury Cathedral choristers,
0:02:03 > 0:02:07inheritors of one of Britain's oldest cultural traditions.
0:02:12 > 0:02:17This is the story of the chorister over the past 900 years
0:02:17 > 0:02:19up to the present day.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23The most musically gifted children, singing, day in, day out,
0:02:23 > 0:02:28the most sublime music in the most beautiful buildings.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39A chorister is someone who sings in a cathedral for their job,
0:02:39 > 0:02:42but they're child singers.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45They sing, normally, just every day.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48Normally, it's a boarding school where they go,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52and they sing in the cathedral, and that's their job.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55All right, then? Had a nice break?
0:02:55 > 0:02:59How many of you have not sung a note for about two weeks, hands up?
0:03:00 > 0:03:02Good, well, that's encouraging! Splendid!
0:03:06 > 0:03:10Salisbury Cathedral has two separate choirs of eight to 13-year-olds.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15The boy choristers have sung at Salisbury for some 900 years,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18making them members of one of England's oldest choirs.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25The girl's choir is equally historic.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28It was founded in 1991 -
0:03:28 > 0:03:32Salisbury being the first cathedral to grant girl choristers full equality
0:03:32 > 0:03:35with identical duties and funding to the boys.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39What's the mood of today? The mood.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41Rejoicing.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44It is, rejoicing, isn't this a really good day,
0:03:44 > 0:03:48because Jesus rode into Jerusalem in absolute triumph.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52So you don't need to walk around with a miserable look on your face today,
0:03:52 > 0:03:55you can think of nice things, like...
0:03:55 > 0:04:00- I don't know, Manchester City beating Manchester United.- Yes!
0:04:00 > 0:04:03And Salisbury City winning yesterday, was that right?
0:04:03 > 0:04:05Did they win?
0:04:05 > 0:04:08You told me they did. Excellent.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21'When I sing in the cathedral,
0:04:21 > 0:04:25'it's just thrilling to hear the sound echo
0:04:25 > 0:04:28'after you've finished a piece, or maybe a verse of a song.'
0:04:28 > 0:04:30The building is amazing,
0:04:30 > 0:04:34and working in it every day is just a really big bonus.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42Singing, for choristers, is part of them,
0:04:42 > 0:04:44they've grown up with it, usually.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48If you just said, "You're not allowed to sing any more", it's just...
0:04:48 > 0:04:50It would be like saying...
0:04:53 > 0:04:55It would be like saying to a parent,
0:04:55 > 0:04:58"You're not allowed to see your child again."
0:04:58 > 0:05:02Because it's just part of you, you've grown so used to it,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05that if you were never allowed to do it again, it would just be awful.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10The Salisbury choristers must work for the privilege
0:05:10 > 0:05:12of their subsidised private education.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20Salisbury Cathedral School, housed in the old bishop's palace,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23is a co-educational prep school with 200 pupils.
0:05:23 > 0:05:27But for Holy Week, the choristers have the place to themselves.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41'We definitely do a lot.
0:05:41 > 0:05:42'Of course, singing in the choir
0:05:42 > 0:05:45'is the most prominent part of our lives,
0:05:45 > 0:05:48'but we have to link in everything else -
0:05:48 > 0:05:51'our social life, our academic work, our own instrumental work,
0:05:51 > 0:05:55'and that does get very, very busy at times.'
0:05:55 > 0:05:58We don't really think of it as a negative thing,
0:05:58 > 0:06:01it's just something that happens from doing so much.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06Potential choristers are typically auditioned for the choir
0:06:06 > 0:06:08at the tender age of seven or eight.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10- Who are you?- I'm Helena.- OK.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12'Now then.'
0:06:12 > 0:06:13What are you going to sing for me?
0:06:13 > 0:06:16- I'm going to sing the first verse of Away In A Manger.- Thank you.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18OK. One, two.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22# Away in a manger
0:06:22 > 0:06:25# No crib for a bed... #
0:06:25 > 0:06:27These are very small human beings,
0:06:27 > 0:06:32but what I look for on that first occasion is,
0:06:32 > 0:06:35apart from a good musical ear,
0:06:35 > 0:06:40I just like that little bit of spark.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43SHE SINGS A SCALE
0:06:43 > 0:06:46Some of our best choristers have been the ones
0:06:46 > 0:06:50who have been untrained when they've come to us.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52When I came for my voice trial, I was only seven,
0:06:52 > 0:06:54and I was really quite nervous.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59'And there was this big, scary man sitting at the piano
0:06:59 > 0:07:00'who I didn't know at all.'
0:07:00 > 0:07:02Are you ready?
0:07:02 > 0:07:05SHE SINGS A SCALE
0:07:09 > 0:07:10HE PLAYS PIANO NOTE
0:07:10 > 0:07:11SHE SINGS THE SAME NOTE
0:07:14 > 0:07:20'I had to board, because I actually live in London.'
0:07:20 > 0:07:22The reason we chose here, partly,
0:07:22 > 0:07:26was that you can't go to any of the big cathedrals in London
0:07:26 > 0:07:28to be a chorister if you're a girl,
0:07:28 > 0:07:30and also this is a really good girls' choir, so...
0:07:30 > 0:07:33I didn't really want to go anywhere else.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36BOYS CHATTER
0:07:38 > 0:07:40'Wearing a cloak is warm in the winter,'
0:07:40 > 0:07:43and if someone in the winter throws a snowball at you
0:07:43 > 0:07:45while you're wearing the cloak, it bounces off.
0:07:48 > 0:07:53I have heard people saying, "You look like Harry Potter."
0:07:53 > 0:07:55I just really ignore it.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57I quite like Harry Potter!
0:07:59 > 0:08:03Sometimes children think we're sort of weird,
0:08:03 > 0:08:05and actually, we're not.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09If they did it, they'd think differently about us
0:08:09 > 0:08:12and what we do, and maybe they wouldn't sort of laugh at us
0:08:12 > 0:08:15when we walk around in our cassocks and look serious.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21I did it because he was running really quickly,
0:08:21 > 0:08:24and I was catching him up and got his leg and he fell over.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32Not all the choristers board, but during Holy Week it's obligatory
0:08:32 > 0:08:36as there are so many important Easter services to prepare.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41Ben's there, Alex is there.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44- I'm here.- No, no, Alex is there.
0:08:47 > 0:08:52It's fun, but I sometimes get a bit homesick, which is really annoying.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58It's quite weird, because I live right around the corner, so it's odd.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01Get changed, have a shower and then go to bed.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05- No, we're going outside. - Or go outside.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09- Or watch TV. - We have lots of choices what to do.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16OK, boys, who's going to play cricket?
0:09:16 > 0:09:18Nearly everyone?
0:09:24 > 0:09:26'In about half an hour,'
0:09:26 > 0:09:28I will send the youngest ones
0:09:28 > 0:09:32to go and just have ten minutes or so of quiet time in their room.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35Eight o'clock is their actual bedtime.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37What have you done?
0:09:37 > 0:09:40You'll be fine. Just wiggle your thumb. Yes, you're fine.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42All done.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59- Has it been a good day?- Yeah.
0:10:00 > 0:10:01- It's good to be back?- Yeah.
0:10:03 > 0:10:04Good.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08Sweet dreams, boys.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11Don't forget to go to sleep.
0:10:11 > 0:10:12Good night.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26'It's Easter Sunday today.'
0:10:26 > 0:10:28And we're doing a service in the cathedral.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31And there's loads of camera crews as well,
0:10:31 > 0:10:33because it's being broadcasted.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37The Easter Day Eucharist is being broadcasted today.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39When we go in it's going to be like,
0:10:39 > 0:10:42"Aargh, there's people watching us all over the country",
0:10:42 > 0:10:45but then it's going to be quite fun once we get into it.
0:10:45 > 0:10:50Well, we can't sort of yawn in the middle of a piece,
0:10:50 > 0:10:53or, like, get the words wrong or anything.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55Because it'll look really stupid.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57I'm looking forward to singing the Mozart
0:10:57 > 0:11:00because it's one of my favourite pieces.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02'I'm also looking forward to the lunch,'
0:11:02 > 0:11:06erm, and then I'm looking forward to going home.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09Easter and Christmas -
0:11:09 > 0:11:12the highest holidays of Salisbury Cathedral's year,
0:11:12 > 0:11:14are practically the only times
0:11:14 > 0:11:18when the Cathedral's boy and girl choristers combine.
0:11:18 > 0:11:23# Agnus Dei
0:11:25 > 0:11:30# Agnus Dei
0:11:30 > 0:11:36# Qui tollis peccata
0:11:36 > 0:11:39# Peccata mundi
0:11:42 > 0:11:45# Miserere
0:11:46 > 0:11:52# Miserere
0:11:52 > 0:11:55# Nobis
0:11:55 > 0:11:57# Miserere
0:11:58 > 0:12:03# Miserere
0:12:03 > 0:12:12# Nobis
0:12:12 > 0:12:17# Agnus Dei
0:12:19 > 0:12:23# Agnus Dei
0:12:25 > 0:12:31# Qui tollis peccata
0:12:31 > 0:12:36# Peccata mundi
0:12:36 > 0:12:39# Miserere
0:12:40 > 0:12:44# Miserere
0:12:44 > 0:12:46# Nobis
0:12:46 > 0:12:53# Miserere
0:12:53 > 0:12:55# Nobis
0:12:55 > 0:12:58# Miserere
0:12:58 > 0:13:03# Miserere
0:13:03 > 0:13:16# Nobis. #
0:13:16 > 0:13:21'Singing is something that Christian people do,
0:13:21 > 0:13:22'it's an attitude of mind.'
0:13:22 > 0:13:27I often say there are two things about the Christian community -
0:13:27 > 0:13:31one, see how they love one another, sometimes that is true,
0:13:31 > 0:13:33and secondly,
0:13:33 > 0:13:35they sing together.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41Music is right at the heart of what we do on Easter Day.
0:13:41 > 0:13:47We carry the big message through the music.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50# Agnus Dei
0:13:50 > 0:13:53# Qui tollis
0:13:53 > 0:14:01# Peccata. #
0:14:01 > 0:14:06And it's the most extraordinary, large event.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09I don't know how they keep their nerve, these little people,
0:14:09 > 0:14:15when they see a completely packed cathedral. And yet they do,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18and we have this most extraordinary celebration.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28As St Augustine said those who sing pray twice.
0:14:31 > 0:14:36Singing elevates the heart and mind and imagination.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38Raises it up to a different plane.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43Transporting us, giving us an ecstatic experience,
0:14:43 > 0:14:46taking us out of ourselves and our mundane level,
0:14:46 > 0:14:49but also binds us together.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54# Gloria, gloria in excelsis
0:14:54 > 0:14:57# In excelsis deo
0:14:57 > 0:15:04# Et in terra pax, pax hominibus
0:15:08 > 0:15:16# Bonae voluntatis... #
0:15:18 > 0:15:20- Bye.- Bye!
0:15:20 > 0:15:25Go home, eat lots and lots of Easter eggs, and play on my X Box.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32My daughter is the head chorister and this is her last Easter.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35Which is... I think, for the parents,
0:15:35 > 0:15:39it's quite sad because we've lived this choral life
0:15:39 > 0:15:43for the last few years and it becomes part of life.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45It'll be sad.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00Bye!
0:16:02 > 0:16:04CAR HORN HONKS
0:16:16 > 0:16:19CHOIR SINGING SCALES
0:16:27 > 0:16:31At the Cathedral School, the summer term has started
0:16:31 > 0:16:34But while the rest of their classmates are still in bed,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37the choristers' day has already begun.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41The cloister bell goes at about ten to eight in the morning
0:16:41 > 0:16:43and we go and get our cloaks
0:16:43 > 0:16:46and then we go and line up.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49The choristers practice twice a day.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52They work 16 hours in a normal week,
0:16:52 > 0:16:54over and above their regular schooling
0:16:54 > 0:16:57and will sing more than 150 different anthems
0:16:57 > 0:16:59and other works in the cathedral
0:16:59 > 0:17:01over the course of the summer term.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07The boys have only got a few weeks to learn from scratch
0:17:07 > 0:17:10one of England's finest pieces of church music.
0:17:10 > 0:17:16The Victorian composer Stanford's classic Magnificat In G.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19Now then, go in your time machine to Mr Stanford,
0:17:19 > 0:17:21who was born in which country?
0:17:21 > 0:17:24- Erm...- Wrong!
0:17:24 > 0:17:27- England?- Wrong. - Ireland.- Yes, good.
0:17:27 > 0:17:28He was Irish.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31Now then, one of the thing we sing all the time.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33Nearly every day, Louis,
0:17:33 > 0:17:37are the words, "My soul doth magnify the lord." Yes?
0:17:37 > 0:17:39It's called The Magnificat.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42The question is who can tell me
0:17:42 > 0:17:44what those words mean?
0:17:44 > 0:17:49Who first sang them and what are they about? OK, yes.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53- Mary first sang them. - Mary first sang them. When and why?
0:17:56 > 0:17:59Take your time. I must rush you at this point.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01Countdown!
0:18:01 > 0:18:03Representing those with a broken limb.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06- Yep?- The Annunciation.
0:18:06 > 0:18:07- That's right. Meaning?- Erm...
0:18:09 > 0:18:11- Oh, now you're asking! - LAUGHTER
0:18:11 > 0:18:13Well, it's a great word. It's when she was told...?
0:18:13 > 0:18:17- Oh! She was going to have Jesus. - That's right, going to have a baby.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19It has a treble solo.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22I want three of you to have a go at it.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25You, Noah. You, Freddie, and you, Finbarr. OK?
0:18:25 > 0:18:28You three are going to have a go all together.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30So, looking alert. Good luck.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32HE PLAYS PIANO
0:18:32 > 0:18:35Today's the first time the boys have seen the music.
0:18:35 > 0:18:41# My soul doth magnify the Lord
0:18:41 > 0:18:47# And my spirit doth rejoice in God my saviour... #
0:18:47 > 0:18:49Shall we have another go at that?
0:18:49 > 0:18:53The first couple of notes were a bit of an accident. Got to be...
0:18:53 > 0:18:54PIANO TINKLING
0:18:54 > 0:18:58Think of something lovely. Think of your girlfriend.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01With flowing hair,
0:19:01 > 0:19:05presenting you with a large Easter egg or something. Anything!
0:19:05 > 0:19:07HE PLAYS PIANO And go.
0:19:07 > 0:19:13# For behold from henceforth
0:19:13 > 0:19:19# All generations will call me blessed... #
0:19:19 > 0:19:21If you make a mistake, just put your hand up.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24It just shows me that you know that you've made a mistake.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27It's not that I'm going to throw a book at you or something,
0:19:27 > 0:19:29it means that I know that you know, OK?
0:19:29 > 0:19:32It's important, isn't it?
0:19:32 > 0:19:35If you know you've made a mistake, the chances are you might possibly...
0:19:35 > 0:19:39BOY CHATTING Possibly get it right the next time.
0:19:39 > 0:19:47# As he promised to our forefathers
0:19:49 > 0:19:56# Abraham and his seed
0:19:56 > 0:20:05# Forever, forever, forever
0:20:05 > 0:20:09# Forever. #
0:20:09 > 0:20:14Music and Christian worship have always been inextricably linked.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18But for its first 1,000 years or so in Salisbury,
0:20:18 > 0:20:23it would not have sounded much like Stanford's Mag In G.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27When in the year 596, Pope Gregory the Great sent Christianity
0:20:27 > 0:20:32to Southern England, he is said to have dispatched singers
0:20:32 > 0:20:35to teach the Anglo Saxons to sing in the Latin way.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37Gregorian chants. Plainsong.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41- SINGING IN GREGORIAN STYLE - # One thing have I desired of the Lord
0:20:41 > 0:20:44# Which I require
0:20:45 > 0:20:51# Even that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
0:20:51 > 0:20:54# All the days of my life.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58# To behold the beauty of the Lord... #
0:20:58 > 0:21:02Singing is the way you speak in church.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04If you go into some very resonant churches
0:21:04 > 0:21:09and you hear somebody speaking, then the range of intonation
0:21:09 > 0:21:13and inflection actually becomes a blur.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16FLAT VOICE TONE: If you start to speak at a very single level
0:21:16 > 0:21:21then it becomes much clearer, both your vowels and your consonants,
0:21:21 > 0:21:24and if that then gradually turns into singing...
0:21:24 > 0:21:29# And you can mark a full stop. Or a comma. #
0:21:29 > 0:21:31And you start shaping the words.
0:21:31 > 0:21:36# The secret place of his dwelling shall he hide me
0:21:36 > 0:21:41# And set me up upon a rock of stone... #
0:21:41 > 0:21:4480%, perhaps 90% of what was sung
0:21:44 > 0:21:47was on a monotone with little decorations
0:21:47 > 0:21:50to show where the punctuation goes.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52So you mark the beginning of the psalm,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55then you sing on a monotone, then you inflect.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58You have a break, you sing again, and then you have the ending.
0:21:58 > 0:22:04# Put my trust in the Lord. #
0:22:06 > 0:22:10I don't like plainsong because it's quite boring.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13It's not the type of music that I usually sing
0:22:13 > 0:22:15and it's different.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19It doesn't have the kind of musical fireworks that you'd expect
0:22:19 > 0:22:22from the big pieces, of Parry or Stanford.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24'But when I say to the choristers
0:22:24 > 0:22:27'imagine that hundreds of years ago, people just like you
0:22:27 > 0:22:29'were singing music just like this,
0:22:29 > 0:22:33'it puts it in perspective for them.'
0:22:33 > 0:22:36I've got to be very, very careful with this
0:22:36 > 0:22:39because this is so beautiful.
0:22:39 > 0:22:40Wow.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42Look at this.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46This is plainsong.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50All of this was handwritten. Different colours,
0:22:50 > 0:22:52probably for different people
0:22:52 > 0:22:54to actually speak these passages.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58This is a book which the person taking the Eucharist
0:22:58 > 0:23:00would probably have used.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02- So it's like a missal?- It is.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05Or I think it's called a breviary, isn't it? Yes?
0:23:05 > 0:23:08It's like a service book.
0:23:08 > 0:23:09It's not just wall-to-wall music.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12As you can see, lots of bits have no music at all.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15It's illuminated to make it absolutely beautiful.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18- See, this is gold leaf. - Is it? Oh, wow.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20I suppose I shouldn't really touch it, should I?
0:23:20 > 0:23:24You've got the four lines. The red ones, yeah?
0:23:24 > 0:23:29"Loquebantur variis linguis. apostoli, alleluia."
0:23:29 > 0:23:31So I reckon this would go like this.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34SINGS IN GREGORIAN STYLE # Loquebantur. #
0:23:34 > 0:23:36See? And then going on.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38SINGS NOTES
0:23:38 > 0:23:43# Da, da, da, da, da. #
0:23:43 > 0:23:45I can only imagine trying to read that.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48# La, da, da, da
0:23:48 > 0:23:49# Da, da, da... #
0:23:49 > 0:23:52Though now nearly 800 years old,
0:23:52 > 0:23:56Salisbury Cathedral is officially the cathedral of New Sarum.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00The original cathedral, almost certainly home
0:24:00 > 0:24:04to the first child choristers, lies a couple of miles up the road.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08OK, boys. Seatbelts on, fellas.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15Just as English history is traditionally supposed to work,
0:24:15 > 0:24:20the choir's story really does seem to start with William the Conqueror.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22BOYS CHATTERING
0:24:22 > 0:24:28The cathedral at Old Sarum was established soon after 1066.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30This was no remote monastery
0:24:30 > 0:24:33for monks leading inward-looking, contemplative lives.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37Old Sarum, with its royal castle, town and cathedral,
0:24:37 > 0:24:41was one of the key addresses in Norman England.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46The most important of the buildings there was for the bishop.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50The bishop is the key figure here. By far the most important person.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53In fact, the bishop in the early 12th century,
0:24:53 > 0:24:55was second in England after the king.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58So he's an immensely powerful man.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01The Bishop and his senior canons were worldly men,
0:25:01 > 0:25:05often called away by affairs of church and state.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09But the cathedral's purpose remained its divine office.
0:25:09 > 0:25:14Chanted services eight times a day, each a regulated order of psalms,
0:25:14 > 0:25:18hymns, prayers and canticles, as well as sung masses.
0:25:18 > 0:25:23OK, we're standing right here, which is at the entrance to the choir,
0:25:23 > 0:25:26which is where the singers would've sung the services.
0:25:26 > 0:25:30Behind us is the nave.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33- Were there boys here, like us? - Almost certainly yes.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37Right when this cathedral was built in the 11th century,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40services were sung certainly by men.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43They were called lay vicars and they were usually men
0:25:43 > 0:25:48who weren't priests, just like our lay vicars now, in the new cathedral.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51Our word "vicar" in fact emerges from this use -
0:25:51 > 0:25:55someone employed to stand in vicariously at a service
0:25:55 > 0:25:57in another's place.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01The bishop and many canons had subcontracted their tasks
0:26:01 > 0:26:04and for that, no doubt boys came in very handy.
0:26:06 > 0:26:11I can't imagine they would have boys on site who didn't sing.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13They would have had singing men
0:26:13 > 0:26:16and they must have included boys
0:26:16 > 0:26:19in the singing of the daily services.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22This then was the origin of the chorister.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25Boys plucked from the neighbourhood
0:26:25 > 0:26:28and given a little Latin and basic education.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31They were fit to take part in singing the divine office,
0:26:31 > 0:26:35and do every chore asked of them in return for board and lodgings.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39But though there's no evidence they were chosen for any musical ability,
0:26:39 > 0:26:43the very nature of their treble voices would eventually
0:26:43 > 0:26:46help change the history of sacred music.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55The Cathedral Church Of The Blessed Virgin Mary at New Sarum,
0:26:55 > 0:26:57today's Salisbury Cathedral,
0:26:57 > 0:27:01is one of the wonders of mediaeval Christendom.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06It has the tallest spire in England, the largest cloister
0:27:06 > 0:27:09and the biggest precinct.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13Built of 70,000 tonnes of stone,
0:27:13 > 0:27:16on foundations only four feet deep,
0:27:16 > 0:27:19it was completed in just 38 years.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23This was a far cry from wind-swept,
0:27:23 > 0:27:26waterless, cramped Old Sarum
0:27:27 > 0:27:32They were looking down a mile or two into beautiful, lush valleys
0:27:32 > 0:27:35with plenty of water and a much better place to live.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39It allowed them to do all of the things they had begun to develop.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41Their patterns of liturgy,
0:27:41 > 0:27:43which often involved procession
0:27:43 > 0:27:48inside and outside the building and around the cloisters and so on.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50They seized that with both hands.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54The new cathedral was consecrated in 1258.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58And thanks to one rare volume in the Cathedral Library,
0:27:58 > 0:28:03we know exactly what everyone's roles and responsibilities were.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05To find out what the boys really do,
0:28:05 > 0:28:09or indeed what everybody does, you have a book of rules, if you like.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13A so-called customary, and this is a fantastic manuscript.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16This dates from the early years of the new cathedral.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20And in it, in the first part and in the last part,
0:28:20 > 0:28:24this very close written text is telling you what items to sing
0:28:24 > 0:28:26all through the year at each service.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28And then the middle,
0:28:28 > 0:28:32this lays down everybody's roles for different days of the year.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35So it starts at the beginning here describing the dean's duties,
0:28:35 > 0:28:38the precentors, the chancellors and the treasurers.
0:28:38 > 0:28:43Then it moves in to deal with who sits where, how they're sat.
0:28:43 > 0:28:45The boys sit on the front row, just as they do now.
0:28:46 > 0:28:51This was very frequent and very complicated sung liturgy
0:28:51 > 0:28:55in a vast new church, providing the foundation for church services
0:28:55 > 0:28:57for centuries across Britain.
0:28:57 > 0:28:59It was known as the The Sarum Rite
0:28:59 > 0:29:04and much of it survived The Reformation, finding its way
0:29:04 > 0:29:06into The Book Of Common Prayer.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09And it wouldn't have been possible without the boys.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11If you take Salisbury,
0:29:11 > 0:29:16yes, there were 52 canons by the time the cathedral moved here.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20But those people are busy people, just as the canons now are.
0:29:20 > 0:29:25They needed 52 vicars or substitutes who were the work horses,
0:29:25 > 0:29:27who sustained worship each day.
0:29:27 > 0:29:32And then you need the front row of people who will do again
0:29:32 > 0:29:36more dogs-bodying of sustained worship. But the boys have got
0:29:36 > 0:29:41not only singing duties, but also a great deal of ceremonial duties.
0:29:41 > 0:29:45And indeed, until probably the 15th century,
0:29:45 > 0:29:48their ceremonial duties are every bit as important as their musical.
0:29:50 > 0:29:55The boys were housed with the canons in the newly built Cathedral Close.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58And as at Old Sarum, they also had to minister
0:29:58 > 0:30:00to the canons' every need.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03If anything, despite the splendid surroundings,
0:30:03 > 0:30:06their condition even worsened.
0:30:06 > 0:30:08They were pretty badly treated,
0:30:08 > 0:30:11right the way up to the mid-19th century.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14Of course, if you ask my choristers now,
0:30:14 > 0:30:16they might say they're still badly treated.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19Some of the choristers now think they're quite hard done by,
0:30:19 > 0:30:21that they do a lot of work.
0:30:21 > 0:30:23They do get a lot out of it, but it doesn't seem like that
0:30:23 > 0:30:25when you're actually doing it.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28I mean, then it must've actually been a lot harder than it is now.
0:30:28 > 0:30:30The food can't have been very good either,
0:30:30 > 0:30:33because there wasn't much food to be had.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36If you wanted vegetables or anything, you had to farm them.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39You only had meat as a special treat, really.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42We eat very well here.
0:30:42 > 0:30:45We have breakfast, break, lunch,
0:30:45 > 0:30:47little tea, supper.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50But then they wouldn't have those three meals a day.
0:30:50 > 0:30:52They must have been hungry a lot of the time.
0:30:52 > 0:30:57By the 14th century, many canons spent most of their time in Rome.
0:30:57 > 0:31:02Salisbury's 14 boy choristers were left to fend for themselves.
0:31:02 > 0:31:04The bread is ruined.
0:31:04 > 0:31:07"Like little children, they asked for bread
0:31:07 > 0:31:10"but cannot find anyone to break a piece for them.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13"They are compelled of necessity to go round flocking
0:31:13 > 0:31:15"to crave a beggars dole each day,"
0:31:15 > 0:31:19"so as to get enough victuals to keep the wolf from the door."
0:31:19 > 0:31:25In time, the boys' basic conditions did improve slightly.
0:31:25 > 0:31:28They were no longer forced to live with or wait on the canons.
0:31:28 > 0:31:33For the first time, they were chosen primarily for their musical skills.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36Local boys were to be recruited...
0:31:36 > 0:31:41"Unless perchance strangers, being also of good character,
0:31:41 > 0:31:44"show much greater excellence in music."
0:31:44 > 0:31:49Up till then, the choir is the assembled body of the clergy
0:31:49 > 0:31:54from boys up to oldest, who are sustaining daily worship.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57Then you find that you get a separate group of people,
0:31:57 > 0:32:00A small group of boys and a small group of vicars,
0:32:00 > 0:32:04and you're starting to get a little unit.
0:32:04 > 0:32:08And it's this little unit, now focused more fully on music
0:32:08 > 0:32:10and chosen for musical ability
0:32:10 > 0:32:13who between 1300 and 1500,
0:32:13 > 0:32:18gradually and perhaps by accident, discover a new way of making music.
0:32:18 > 0:32:23One of the things you taught boys in the later Middle ages
0:32:23 > 0:32:27was how to look at the chant and know how, taking the chant in the middle,
0:32:27 > 0:32:31you could imagine it down a bit lower and then sing it an octave higher,
0:32:31 > 0:32:33and that gives you a second part.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36Then underneath that, you have a third part.
0:32:36 > 0:32:40That gives you three parts, a chord, and that runs along.
0:32:40 > 0:32:43You could get a group of people who could look at a chant and one of them
0:32:43 > 0:32:46will start and the other two would start improvising.
0:32:46 > 0:32:51Kind of a medieval jam session, if slightly more high-brow than that.
0:32:51 > 0:32:53CHOIR SINGS
0:32:58 > 0:33:03This was a revolutionary moment. Different singers,
0:33:03 > 0:33:07with different vocal ranges, singing different parts.
0:33:07 > 0:33:11What we understand as the choir had been born.
0:33:41 > 0:33:43We're going to look at some music by John Sheppard.
0:33:43 > 0:33:48This is part of a service we're singing on Thursday which is
0:33:48 > 0:33:53a reconstruction of what would have been done in an ancient service,
0:33:53 > 0:33:56which means there's lots of plainsong
0:33:56 > 0:33:58but also lots of music for four parts.
0:34:00 > 0:34:02# Gloria in excelsis... #
0:34:02 > 0:34:04In a normal week, the boys
0:34:04 > 0:34:08and girls will split nine services in the Cathedral between them.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10But for the boys,
0:34:10 > 0:34:12Thursday's evening service will be rather tricky,
0:34:12 > 0:34:18recreating the complex ritual of medieval worship at Salisbury.
0:34:20 > 0:34:22When the celebrant actually starts the Gloria,
0:34:22 > 0:34:26you do the sign of the cross, yes? Four points, OK?
0:34:26 > 0:34:28Do it.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31Head, tummy button, left, right.
0:34:31 > 0:34:36OK. All right? This is what they did. Isn't it great?
0:34:38 > 0:34:42By the 16th century, Salisbury's boy choristers were already under
0:34:42 > 0:34:46professional musical direction.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49And now, celebrated composers began to write increasingly complicated,
0:34:49 > 0:34:52multi-part music for them. Polyphony.
0:34:52 > 0:34:57John Sheppard was a major composer who specialised in this sort of music
0:34:57 > 0:35:05and what he does is combine plainsong verses with these choral verses.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07PLAYS PIANO
0:35:11 > 0:35:13So, there's your plainsong.
0:35:14 > 0:35:18Then it goes into what is called polyphony. Quite simple.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22CHOIR SINGING OVER PIANO
0:35:22 > 0:35:25CHOIR SINGING ONLY
0:35:43 > 0:35:46So the piece has a very old feel to it,
0:35:46 > 0:35:48which is wonderfully worshipful,
0:35:48 > 0:35:51and a bit of incense adds to the atmosphere.
0:35:59 > 0:36:01Doing these reenactments,
0:36:01 > 0:36:06it's really exciting to see all the ceremonial, all the chant
0:36:06 > 0:36:08and those soupcons of polyphony,
0:36:08 > 0:36:10and indeed bringing this building to life.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21CHOIR SINGS
0:36:51 > 0:36:57I came up to the high altar and I was holding the book for the Precentor.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00Centuries ago they were probably doing the same thing.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02It would be quite tricky.
0:37:02 > 0:37:06I don't see how they could do it every single day.
0:37:06 > 0:37:08It's just totally nerve wracking.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33I have to say, boys, listen to me, it went very well, I thought.
0:37:33 > 0:37:35I don't know what the bowing and stuff was like behind me,
0:37:35 > 0:37:38but it felt just about right. I'm sure I made some mistakes.
0:37:38 > 0:37:42But just think that you were recreating what was done
0:37:42 > 0:37:45all the time in this wonderful building.
0:37:45 > 0:37:47Thank you all very much.
0:37:47 > 0:37:49It's fascinating that this is the way to do it.
0:37:49 > 0:37:51It didn't just sound like wall-to-wall Latin,
0:37:51 > 0:37:53- it sounded like worship.- Yes.
0:37:53 > 0:37:54Or it felt to me like worship,
0:37:54 > 0:37:57I know I was doing all the busy bits up at the altar.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00- But everybody else was following them.- Yes.
0:38:02 > 0:38:04That was jolly fun, wasn't it?
0:38:04 > 0:38:07- Ready?- Yes.- OK. Had a good evening?
0:38:07 > 0:38:10- Yes.- Yes. A great evening.
0:38:12 > 0:38:16Right, now it's after lights, none of this chatting.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18I don't think you're going to expect to have any chatting
0:38:18 > 0:38:20because I'm jolly tired.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24- Good.- Good night.- Off to sleep. All right, sweet dreams, chaps.
0:38:24 > 0:38:25Good night.
0:38:38 > 0:38:41Let's go round again, so it's Milo's turn. >
0:38:46 > 0:38:49Let's do the chorus with everybody. >
0:38:55 > 0:38:59In the late Middle Ages, England's Cathedrals
0:38:59 > 0:39:02competed for the most musically gifted boys.
0:39:02 > 0:39:07They were known to pay Premiership-style transfer fees to secure them
0:39:07 > 0:39:11and choristers were sometimes even kidnapped by rival cathedrals.
0:39:12 > 0:39:17Salisbury's top boys today will find out who's going to sing
0:39:17 > 0:39:20the solo in Stanford's Magnificat in G.
0:39:20 > 0:39:25After only two rehearsals, either Freddie, Finnbar,
0:39:25 > 0:39:28or Noah, will be picked to sing what is widely regarded
0:39:28 > 0:39:32as one of THE treble solos in a chorister's repertoire.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36Let's split the solo up. Finnbar, you start it off.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39And then, Noah, you do the next bit when I look at you.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42And you do the next bit, Freddie, when I glare at you. Ready, Finn?
0:39:42 > 0:39:45FINNBAR SINGS
0:39:50 > 0:39:52It's just part of our life that we have solos.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55Some solos we do get, some solos we don't get.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59I don't think I'll feel disappointed if I don't get the solo.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01Eight out of ten for that.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05I've had so many and it's good to let someone else have one for once.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07NOAH SINGS
0:40:15 > 0:40:18FREDDIE SINGS
0:40:23 > 0:40:24It feels really good.
0:40:24 > 0:40:29It's not as bad as the first time I did it where I was shaking so much.
0:40:29 > 0:40:31You're doing a really good job, all three of you.
0:40:31 > 0:40:34- This is really good. Yes, Noah? - They've missed out a rest.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36Thank you, Noah, yes, they have.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39Excellent. Now, I think what I'm going to do,
0:40:39 > 0:40:41Finn, I'm going to get you to do this, OK?
0:40:41 > 0:40:43- All right?- Yes, fine.- Good man.
0:40:43 > 0:40:48You two, you'll be fine, they'll be other solos to do, OK?
0:40:48 > 0:40:53Loads of other solos. So... Yes, don't look so relieved. OK.
0:40:53 > 0:40:58Secretly, in my heart, it would have been good to do a brand new solo
0:40:58 > 0:41:01and say that, "This is me, I sight read this once and I'm the best",
0:41:01 > 0:41:03but that's sort of boastful.
0:41:03 > 0:41:08I'm pleased for Finnbar, but I'm also quite envious of him
0:41:08 > 0:41:10cos I really like that.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13HE WHISPERS: I am pleased with myself because
0:41:13 > 0:41:17I got the solo and Freddie didn't, Freddie and Noah didn't.
0:41:17 > 0:41:21So I got chosen. I don't want the other guys to hear.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24It's quite important to keep it sort of undercover.
0:41:28 > 0:41:29By the 1540s, the Sarum Right -
0:41:29 > 0:41:33elaborate, musical services with boys playing a prominent role -
0:41:33 > 0:41:37was made the official form of service in England and Wales.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40But the new theology of Protestantism
0:41:40 > 0:41:42was gaining ground in Europe
0:41:42 > 0:41:46and Henry VIII's marital troubles ushered in the Break from Rome.
0:41:48 > 0:41:52Suddenly, almost everything that defined Salisbury Cathedral
0:41:52 > 0:41:54was under threat.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57There would have been catastrophic changes as regards
0:41:57 > 0:42:00people like the musicians and the clergy here
0:42:00 > 0:42:03because all of the things they took for granted
0:42:03 > 0:42:08about the long-running tradition of this place and its music and worship
0:42:08 > 0:42:12were suddenly turned over and were changed out of all recognition.
0:42:12 > 0:42:18Henry VIII's son, a very protestant Edward VI, decreed that all
0:42:18 > 0:42:21remnants of Catholicism should be excised from worship.
0:42:22 > 0:42:24Page upon page has got lines through.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28This is the Bidding of the Bedes, now crossed out.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32And sections here of all the relics, which, of course,
0:42:32 > 0:42:35relics became quite unacceptable, so it's just blacked out.
0:42:35 > 0:42:37They got rid of them all.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40So there's a great deal of change going on
0:42:40 > 0:42:43in the way the Cathedrals worship
0:42:43 > 0:42:47and theology and spirituality is changing.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51The extraordinary thing is that, in spite of this, the choirs survive.
0:43:06 > 0:43:12A lot of composers throughout history have had to adapt to changes
0:43:12 > 0:43:15of monarch or political pressure
0:43:15 > 0:43:19and William Byrd was no exception.
0:43:19 > 0:43:23I think Byrd was perhaps the greatest composer
0:43:23 > 0:43:25that England ever had.
0:43:25 > 0:43:28And perhaps had he not been a Roman Catholic
0:43:28 > 0:43:32then his international reputation might have been that much greater.
0:43:32 > 0:43:37That he survived in a Protestant environment
0:43:37 > 0:43:39is an indication of the respect he had.
0:43:40 > 0:43:46Byrd wrote, I think, one of the finest pieces of church music,
0:43:46 > 0:43:48It's called Ave Verum Corpus.
0:43:48 > 0:43:50If I played you these two chords...
0:43:53 > 0:43:55..which is A minor...
0:43:57 > 0:43:58..which is E major...
0:43:59 > 0:44:02..what would come next?
0:44:02 > 0:44:05And sometimes I get the choristers to actually come round to the piano
0:44:05 > 0:44:08and play a chord and they'll play something silly.
0:44:08 > 0:44:10A lot of them will do this.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13Here are the two chords, and they might go...
0:44:15 > 0:44:17..which is great. This is what William Byrd does...
0:44:23 > 0:44:27..which is the most extraordinary chord sequence.
0:44:27 > 0:44:33It still as wonderful and exciting as it was when it was first heard.
0:44:34 > 0:44:39This beautiful piece, which has poignant words, beautiful music,
0:44:39 > 0:44:41is even more impressive
0:44:41 > 0:44:45when you think of the turbulent times in which it was written.
0:44:46 > 0:44:52# O dulcis
0:44:52 > 0:44:57# O pie
0:44:58 > 0:45:04# O Jesu
0:45:04 > 0:45:12# Fili Maria
0:45:16 > 0:45:21# Miserere mei
0:45:21 > 0:45:25# Miserere mei
0:45:25 > 0:45:28# Miserere mei
0:45:28 > 0:45:33# Miserere mei
0:45:33 > 0:45:39# Miserere mei
0:45:39 > 0:45:46# Miserere mei
0:45:48 > 0:45:54# O dulcis
0:45:54 > 0:46:00# O pie
0:46:01 > 0:46:07# O Jesu
0:46:07 > 0:46:15# Fili Maria
0:46:19 > 0:46:24# Miserere mei
0:46:24 > 0:46:27# Miserere mei
0:46:27 > 0:46:31# Miserere mei
0:46:31 > 0:46:34# Miserere mei
0:46:34 > 0:46:37# Miserere mei
0:46:37 > 0:46:43# Miserere mei
0:46:43 > 0:46:51# Miserere mei
0:46:53 > 0:47:01# Amen. #
0:47:14 > 0:47:16CHORISTERS SING SCALES
0:47:16 > 0:47:18Such is their busy workload,
0:47:18 > 0:47:22time off for the choristers is precious.
0:47:22 > 0:47:23THEY SHOUT AND CHATTER
0:47:23 > 0:47:26The girls are on duty Mondays and Wednesdays,
0:47:26 > 0:47:28the boys sing on Tuesdays and Thursdays
0:47:28 > 0:47:31and both choirs share weekend duties.
0:47:31 > 0:47:32- ALL:- Bombs away!
0:47:34 > 0:47:38Usually, I get my sleep back on Saturday evenings -
0:47:38 > 0:47:41if I'm not doing the Sunday morning, I can sleep in.
0:47:41 > 0:47:42- ALL:- Two! One!
0:47:42 > 0:47:44SCREAMING
0:47:44 > 0:47:47You do sometimes think, "I REALLY don't want to do this.
0:47:47 > 0:47:50"I just want to go back to the boarding house."
0:47:50 > 0:47:51And you do get very tired
0:47:51 > 0:47:55because, I mean, once a term, you get a weekend off.
0:47:55 > 0:47:59But soon, you kind of forget what it was like,
0:47:59 > 0:48:00so you just don't think,
0:48:00 > 0:48:03"We're doing a lot more than other children."
0:48:03 > 0:48:05It just kind of happens.
0:48:05 > 0:48:09Quite often, I feel I just want to go home
0:48:09 > 0:48:12and finish off my prep, cos after evensong, most of the time,
0:48:12 > 0:48:17I've got lots of prep to do, and that's just killing, almost.
0:48:20 > 0:48:22Right, boys. Here we go.
0:48:22 > 0:48:27It's now practice number three of Stanford's Mag in G.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30Finnbar's been learning his solo on his own,
0:48:30 > 0:48:33but has only sung it twice with the other boys.
0:48:34 > 0:48:39# My soul doth magnify the Lord
0:48:39 > 0:48:46# And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my saviour... #
0:48:46 > 0:48:50Just... I think you need to just go for a bit more diction.
0:48:50 > 0:48:51It's a little bit...
0:48:51 > 0:48:53HE MUMBLES: La, la, la, la.
0:48:53 > 0:48:55Make your mouth work. OK?
0:48:55 > 0:48:57And be a bit careful on that second note -
0:48:57 > 0:48:59# Da DAAAAA. #
0:48:59 > 0:49:00Just relax.
0:49:00 > 0:49:03Really tune up to the organ.
0:49:06 > 0:49:08# My soul... #
0:49:08 > 0:49:09Stop.
0:49:09 > 0:49:13That's slightly sharp. Just really, really tune into the organ.
0:49:13 > 0:49:17You just need to be a bit careful of F-sharps - they're going very sharp.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20Really, really listen, OK?
0:49:20 > 0:49:22Words - it's written there.
0:49:22 > 0:49:26- OK? Yes?- Yeah. - That's what we're all about.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29OK, let's have another go. A little darker. OK, after three.
0:49:29 > 0:49:32One, two, go.
0:49:32 > 0:49:33# For He hath... #
0:49:33 > 0:49:39Finnbar's voice is a pure, clear voice, which is nice to listen to.
0:49:39 > 0:49:40And...
0:49:41 > 0:49:44..you can see Mr Halls likes it.
0:49:44 > 0:49:48'His voice is still developing, though, and like a boy of 12,
0:49:48 > 0:49:51'of course, it's developing and then it's going to go,
0:49:51 > 0:49:55'so I firmly predict for the next year, if I'm lucky,
0:49:55 > 0:49:57'he'll be a top singer for us.'
0:49:57 > 0:50:00- That's well done. - # And holy is His name... #
0:50:00 > 0:50:02That's it, boys. Good.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06You fellas, keep up the energy, OK?
0:50:06 > 0:50:09Just really, really concentrate, yes?
0:50:09 > 0:50:11Don't be sloppy, don't make silly mistakes, OK?
0:50:11 > 0:50:14Well done. It could be very, very good. Try...
0:50:14 > 0:50:16I know it's difficult - try and relax, in a way.
0:50:16 > 0:50:20Just enjoy it. It's lovely. The rest of you are doing really well.
0:50:20 > 0:50:25'Erm, I'm feeling quite nervous about my solo, actually.'
0:50:25 > 0:50:28Really kind of wishing it's over.
0:50:28 > 0:50:30Get on with it.
0:50:30 > 0:50:31Yeah.
0:50:32 > 0:50:36Bedtime now, so let's go. Well done, up you go. Thank you.
0:50:37 > 0:50:45# He hath filled the hungry with good things
0:50:47 > 0:50:49# And the rich... #
0:50:49 > 0:50:53Right, stop protracting lights out. Good trick, but it hasn't worked.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56Lights out, please, Ben. Well done.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00# He rememb'ring his mercy... #
0:51:00 > 0:51:04Good night, boys. Love you lots. See you in the morning.
0:51:04 > 0:51:05- Night.- God bless.
0:51:05 > 0:51:12# ..hath holpen His servant Israel... #
0:51:16 > 0:51:20Despite all the turbulence of the Reformation under the Tudors,
0:51:20 > 0:51:23there's only been one moment without singing
0:51:23 > 0:51:25in Salisbury Cathedral's long history -
0:51:25 > 0:51:29after Oliver Cromwell's victory in the English Civil War.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32There was a lot of violence,
0:51:32 > 0:51:35and there was a battle actually in the close here.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38The fixtures in the cathedral, the statues of the saints,
0:51:38 > 0:51:40many of them were smashed up.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43Effectively, everything was dispersed.
0:51:43 > 0:51:45The boys would have been dispersed.
0:51:45 > 0:51:49The cathedral carried on - the mayor was in charge after that,
0:51:49 > 0:51:51the mayor of Salisbury effectively took over.
0:51:51 > 0:51:56And there was a Presbyterian-type church in the cathedral,
0:51:56 > 0:52:00so worship did probably carry on, but certainly not with music.
0:52:02 > 0:52:06There were no choristers at Salisbury for a decade,
0:52:06 > 0:52:10yet even while they were told that singing was an insult to God,
0:52:10 > 0:52:15Cromwell employed two choristers in his entourage to sing after dinner.
0:52:15 > 0:52:18No wonder, when the Restoration came in 1660,
0:52:18 > 0:52:22choristers swiftly returned, along with the monarchy.
0:52:23 > 0:52:25If ever there was a situation
0:52:25 > 0:52:29where a cathedral had to stop having children as their choristers,
0:52:29 > 0:52:32then I would take heart from the 1650s,
0:52:32 > 0:52:34because it can come back.
0:52:34 > 0:52:37And those people who are doom and gloom about this
0:52:37 > 0:52:39perhaps ought to know that, in the past,
0:52:39 > 0:52:41if there's a will, there's a way.
0:52:43 > 0:52:45And that way, in Restoration England,
0:52:45 > 0:52:48was led by one-time boy chorister -
0:52:48 > 0:52:52arguably England's greatest composer - Henry Purcell.
0:52:56 > 0:52:59Purcell wrote both sacred and secular music
0:52:59 > 0:53:01that was innovative and modern,
0:53:01 > 0:53:05informed by the latest French and Italian styles.
0:53:05 > 0:53:10But it was steeped in the pre-reformation sacred tradition.
0:53:10 > 0:53:14If you take a piece like Henry Purcell's Hear My Prayer, O Lord,
0:53:14 > 0:53:17which is just a fragment of what was going to be a bigger anthem...
0:53:17 > 0:53:21# Hear my prayer, o Lord... #
0:53:21 > 0:53:25..then you hear this grand, polyphonic style still there.
0:53:25 > 0:53:29# And let my cry... #
0:53:29 > 0:53:33The voices coming in, one by one, imitatively.
0:53:33 > 0:53:35# ..come unto thee... #
0:53:35 > 0:53:37But now with this scrunchy harmony.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41A really powerful and emotive piece.
0:53:41 > 0:53:47# Let my cry
0:53:47 > 0:53:50# Let my cry... #
0:53:50 > 0:53:53'Purcell's Hear My Prayer
0:53:53 > 0:53:56'is one of those pieces in the cathedral repertoire
0:53:56 > 0:53:58'which makes it all worthwhile.'
0:53:58 > 0:54:01It's just as good as the Byrd Ave Verum,
0:54:01 > 0:54:04it's absolutely magnificent.
0:54:04 > 0:54:08# Let my cry... #
0:54:08 > 0:54:11'It lasts, I think, two minutes,
0:54:11 > 0:54:15'and it is pure genius from one bar to the next.'
0:54:16 > 0:54:21# Hear my prayer
0:54:21 > 0:54:29# Hear my prayer, o Lord
0:54:29 > 0:54:35# Let my cry
0:54:36 > 0:54:44# And let my cry
0:54:44 > 0:54:50# Come unto thee
0:54:50 > 0:54:52# And let my cry
0:54:52 > 0:54:59# And let my cry
0:54:59 > 0:55:07# Cry
0:55:07 > 0:55:12# Come
0:55:12 > 0:55:17# Unto
0:55:17 > 0:55:22# Thee. #
0:55:24 > 0:55:27When I sing, it feels really special,
0:55:27 > 0:55:33because people from all round the world come to hear us sing.
0:55:33 > 0:55:39And we sing lots of very different and interesting, magic services.
0:55:39 > 0:55:42At some moments, like when there's really loud music,
0:55:42 > 0:55:44you can hardly hear yourself.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47Especially with Noah right next to me.
0:55:48 > 0:55:49It's a good feeling,
0:55:49 > 0:55:53and it almost sends nice, warm little shivers down my spine,
0:55:53 > 0:55:57as if you've just walked in to a fire on a cold winter's day.
0:55:57 > 0:56:00And it feels a bit like that.
0:56:01 > 0:56:05Musical standards today are probably the best they've ever been.
0:56:05 > 0:56:09It's likely the late 17th century was the nadir.
0:56:09 > 0:56:13There are reports the organist was regularly drunk or absent,
0:56:13 > 0:56:18and there was fighting and bad language in the choristers' pews.
0:56:19 > 0:56:26For 230 years from 1716, the choristers lived here at Wren Hall.
0:56:26 > 0:56:30So 16 boys lived here, spent all their time here.
0:56:30 > 0:56:34Now, you might be very surprised to know that the choristers
0:56:34 > 0:56:37were extremely badly behaved on occasion,
0:56:37 > 0:56:40and we know from one chorister in particular,
0:56:40 > 0:56:41who was called John Harding,
0:56:41 > 0:56:47he became a chorister because he was replacing a boy who had been expelled
0:56:47 > 0:56:53because he had just stabbed the head chorister, called John Arnold.
0:56:53 > 0:56:55So what I'd like you to do, everybody,
0:56:55 > 0:56:57is have a look around this room
0:56:57 > 0:57:01and see if you can find anything at all to do with John Arnold.
0:57:01 > 0:57:03There's a...
0:57:03 > 0:57:07- 1744.- 1701. - At first, we thought it was 18!
0:57:07 > 0:57:08There's a 1703.
0:57:08 > 0:57:10Yeah, there's a... Sorry!
0:57:10 > 0:57:14- There's 1701 over there. - Is there? Where?
0:57:14 > 0:57:16THEY ALL CHATTER
0:57:18 > 0:57:20Mr Greenfield?
0:57:20 > 0:57:21Mr Greenfield! Mr Greenfield?
0:57:21 > 0:57:25We just found his name up there, on the cupboard.
0:57:29 > 0:57:31So you found his name?
0:57:31 > 0:57:35Marvellous. Now, why do you think it's up there? Freddie?
0:57:35 > 0:57:39- Was it his cupboard? - It was his cupboard. Yes, exactly.
0:57:39 > 0:57:41What happened to them when they were naughty?
0:57:41 > 0:57:44Well, what do you think happened to them? They were caned, yes.
0:57:44 > 0:57:47They could be caned quite brutally. Really, really brutally.
0:57:47 > 0:57:50An old chorister told me at the weekend that he was caned
0:57:50 > 0:57:53and he had bruises on his legs for a month afterwards.
0:57:53 > 0:57:54So that must have really hurt.
0:57:54 > 0:57:56Are we ready?
0:57:56 > 0:57:57We're going back!
0:58:01 > 0:58:04CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:58:07 > 0:58:11What was effectively sometimes little short of neglect and abuse
0:58:11 > 0:58:15at Salisbury mirrored the plight of choristers nationwide.
0:58:16 > 0:58:19A 19th-century spinster, Maria Hackett,
0:58:19 > 0:58:21was so appalled by their treatment
0:58:21 > 0:58:26that she visited every cathedral in England to investigate.
0:58:26 > 0:58:30Salisbury got off rather lightly in her report.
0:58:31 > 0:58:35Maria Hackett would become known as "The Choristers' Friend".
0:58:35 > 0:58:38She saw them as children at risk -
0:58:38 > 0:58:41innocent, godly and precious.
0:58:41 > 0:58:47# How beautiful are the feet of them
0:58:47 > 0:58:51# That preach the gospel of peace
0:58:52 > 0:58:57# How beautiful are the feet
0:58:57 > 0:59:03# How beautiful are the feet of them
0:59:03 > 0:59:07# That preach the gospel of peace
0:59:13 > 0:59:19# How beautiful are the feet of them
0:59:19 > 0:59:23# That preach the gospel of peace
0:59:25 > 0:59:30# And bring glad tidings
0:59:30 > 0:59:34# And bring glad tidings... #
0:59:34 > 0:59:37'There's something about children's voices
0:59:37 > 0:59:39'which make it incredibly special.
0:59:39 > 0:59:42'I think it is a beautifully pure instrument.'
0:59:42 > 0:59:45# And bring glad tidings... #
0:59:45 > 0:59:50'Young, well-trained singers singing the most beautiful music
0:59:50 > 0:59:53'that we have in existence, really.'
0:59:53 > 0:59:59# And bring glad tidings
0:59:59 > 1:00:04# Glad tidings of good things
1:00:04 > 1:00:12# Glad tidings of good things... #
1:00:12 > 1:00:16The 18th and early 19th centuries had seen the Church of England
1:00:16 > 1:00:19relatively eclipsed, even marginalised.
1:00:19 > 1:00:24But Victorian England witnessed extraordinary religious revival
1:00:24 > 1:00:28and with it came the finest English Church music,
1:00:28 > 1:00:33with composers like Wesley, Parry and Stanford.
1:00:33 > 1:00:35Finnbar's big moment has arrived.
1:00:35 > 1:00:37'If you're sitting in evensong
1:00:37 > 1:00:41'and you hear the organ start the rippling accompaniment
1:00:41 > 1:00:44'of Stanford's Magnificat in G, you know what's going to happen.
1:00:44 > 1:00:47'You wonder which boy is going to sing it.'
1:00:49 > 1:00:53For me, I can see a series of boys just starting that piece,
1:00:53 > 1:00:56and the eye contact you have with the boy to encourage them on.
1:00:57 > 1:01:03And then just believing in them, and the whole choir willing that solo.
1:01:03 > 1:01:05It's a most fantastic experience.
1:01:07 > 1:01:12# My soul doth magnify the Lord
1:01:12 > 1:01:20# And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my saviour
1:01:20 > 1:01:24# For He hath regarded
1:01:24 > 1:01:29# The lowliness of His handmaiden
1:01:29 > 1:01:31# For behold
1:01:31 > 1:01:39# From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed
1:01:39 > 1:01:44# Blessed, blessed
1:01:44 > 1:01:50# For He that is mighty hath magnified me
1:01:50 > 1:01:53# And holy is His name
1:01:53 > 1:01:57- # And holy is His name - Holy is His name
1:01:57 > 1:02:02# Holy is His name
1:02:02 > 1:02:09# And His mercy is on them that fear Him
1:02:09 > 1:02:15# Throughout all generations
1:02:15 > 1:02:20# He hath showed strength with His arm
1:02:20 > 1:02:24# He hath scattered the proud
1:02:24 > 1:02:30# In the imagination of their hearts
1:02:30 > 1:02:35# He hath put down
1:02:35 > 1:02:39# The mighty from their seat
1:02:39 > 1:02:45# And hath exalted the humble and meek
1:02:45 > 1:02:50# He hath filled the hungry
1:02:50 > 1:02:53# With good things
1:02:54 > 1:02:56# And the rich
1:02:56 > 1:03:02# He hath sent empty, empty away
1:03:02 > 1:03:05# He rememb'ring his mercy
1:03:05 > 1:03:09# He rememb'ring his mercy
1:03:09 > 1:03:11# Hath holpen His servant
1:03:11 > 1:03:16# Hath holpen His servant, Israel
1:03:16 > 1:03:21# His servant, Israel
1:03:22 > 1:03:28# As He promised
1:03:28 > 1:03:34# To our forefathers
1:03:34 > 1:03:40# Abraham
1:03:40 > 1:03:48# And his seed forever
1:03:48 > 1:03:52# Forever, forever
1:03:52 > 1:04:00# He promised forever... #
1:04:05 > 1:04:08When I hear Finnbar sing, it's just amazing.
1:04:08 > 1:04:11Obviously, I'm hugely proud of him.
1:04:11 > 1:04:13But it's always mixed with terror.
1:04:13 > 1:04:17All parents are terrified that their children are going to go wrong.
1:04:18 > 1:04:21# And to the Son... #
1:04:21 > 1:04:25You stand there and think, "Ahh, the big moment's coming!"
1:04:25 > 1:04:28But I know, from the first note he sings,
1:04:28 > 1:04:30that it's going to be hugely confident and it's great.
1:04:30 > 1:04:34Then I relax and I do enjoy it.
1:04:34 > 1:04:39# ..is now and ever shall be
1:04:41 > 1:04:48# World without end
1:04:48 > 1:04:56# Amen. #
1:05:03 > 1:05:08'I just really hope that one day I'll be able to do that solo.'
1:05:08 > 1:05:16And because Ollie will be my age compared to Finnbar if I did that,
1:05:16 > 1:05:20just for him to think, "Oh, wow, he's a good singer."
1:05:20 > 1:05:23As I thought about Finnbar tonight.
1:05:23 > 1:05:24He was just...
1:05:26 > 1:05:27..a brilliant soloist.
1:05:31 > 1:05:33Over the last century or so,
1:05:33 > 1:05:35choristers have helped sustain worship
1:05:35 > 1:05:39in an established church confronted by falling attendances.
1:05:39 > 1:05:42It has witnessed dramatic social change
1:05:42 > 1:05:46and offered spiritual leadership in troubled times.
1:05:46 > 1:05:49Eight former choristers were among the school alumni
1:05:49 > 1:05:51killed in the First World War.
1:05:53 > 1:05:57But life on Choristers Green has always remained somewhat timeless.
1:05:59 > 1:06:03The oldest surviving Salisbury Chorister is Michael Shiner.
1:06:04 > 1:06:08I think I must have been about eight for that one.
1:06:08 > 1:06:11What dates were you in the choir?
1:06:11 > 1:06:161928, 1929, right up till 1932.
1:06:16 > 1:06:20What was your favourite part of being a chorister?
1:06:20 > 1:06:22Just being.
1:06:22 > 1:06:23Just being, literally.
1:06:23 > 1:06:27I absorbed every single bit of it. I loved my time here.
1:06:27 > 1:06:29Did you like playing cricket here?
1:06:29 > 1:06:34Yes. And I...fielded if I possibly could,
1:06:34 > 1:06:39either at deep square leg or at deep mid-off.
1:06:40 > 1:06:44There were very few people allowed in the close,
1:06:44 > 1:06:50and a lot of the time, elderly ladies would come and sit on the seats.
1:06:50 > 1:06:54Then, quite suddenly, you would hear, "Psst! Psst!"
1:06:55 > 1:06:57And I used to turn round...
1:06:57 > 1:07:01and there the elderly lady sat.
1:07:01 > 1:07:02She'd beckon me over...
1:07:05 > 1:07:08HE WHISPERS: "Would you like a sweet?"
1:07:08 > 1:07:10And then the over would be over
1:07:10 > 1:07:13and I'd hastily pretend I hadn't been anywhere near her.
1:07:13 > 1:07:15CHILDREN LAUGH
1:07:15 > 1:07:19There won't be enough for everybody. We'll have to give him one.
1:07:19 > 1:07:22- What are you doing? - You're going to break the bag!
1:07:24 > 1:07:28We lived for the cathedral. That was our prime purpose -
1:07:28 > 1:07:31to sing in the cathedral.
1:07:31 > 1:07:37And behave, as the old ladies of the close used to say,
1:07:37 > 1:07:38like little angels.
1:07:39 > 1:07:44In my day, the choir master and organist of the cathedral
1:07:44 > 1:07:48was Sir Walter Alcock. He was a marvellous man.
1:07:48 > 1:07:51He was, quietly, a sort of father to us.
1:07:53 > 1:07:56But there was a boundary over which you did not intrude.
1:07:57 > 1:08:02Once a year, you were invited to a tea party at his house,
1:08:02 > 1:08:06and he had a model railway which went round the garden.
1:08:06 > 1:08:10And it was one of these railways on which you could ride.
1:08:10 > 1:08:12And if you were very good and well-behaved,
1:08:12 > 1:08:15you were permitted to ride around the garden on the railway.
1:08:15 > 1:08:18We used to have a scrumptious tea
1:08:18 > 1:08:23and, you know, that was really a highlight of the year.
1:08:23 > 1:08:25I can remember that.
1:08:26 > 1:08:30Like many Salisbury masters of choristers before and since,
1:08:30 > 1:08:35Walter Alcock himself added to the canon of sacred choral music.
1:08:36 > 1:08:42He wrote his Sanctus for the coronation of George V in 1911.
1:08:42 > 1:08:45It starts with the word "holy," of course.
1:08:45 > 1:08:50HE PLAYS THE TUNE ON PIANO
1:08:50 > 1:08:52And the choir comes in with...
1:08:52 > 1:08:56# Holy... #
1:08:56 > 1:09:00So it sort of starts right in the depths.
1:09:00 > 1:09:02Got a high A-flat for the boys.
1:09:02 > 1:09:06HE PLAYS THE TUNE
1:09:08 > 1:09:10Here it is.
1:09:13 > 1:09:18And then there's some big chords, and on the page turn...
1:09:19 > 1:09:21..a top A.
1:09:21 > 1:09:29# Glory
1:09:30 > 1:09:38# Glory be to thee
1:09:38 > 1:09:43# O Lord most high... #
1:09:43 > 1:09:49And the music then winds down to a very peaceful end.
1:09:53 > 1:10:15# Amen. #
1:10:17 > 1:10:19One, two, three, four!
1:10:19 > 1:10:24THEY PLAY UPBEAT JAZZ
1:10:24 > 1:10:29I don't just sing. I play the trumpet and I play the piano.
1:10:29 > 1:10:34Jazz Bites is a musical club which we do at lunchtimes on Fridays.
1:10:34 > 1:10:37It's quite nice to stop doing singing
1:10:37 > 1:10:39and play a bit of jazz because... Well, there's improvising,
1:10:39 > 1:10:42where you need to make up the music as you go along.
1:10:42 > 1:10:46But with the church music, it's all set before you.
1:10:52 > 1:10:56HE PLAYS A SOLO
1:11:32 > 1:11:35Thank you. Awesome.
1:11:35 > 1:11:38As the summer term nears its end, and the Year Eights
1:11:38 > 1:11:40prepare to leave the school,
1:11:40 > 1:11:43there are a couple of big decisions to be made -
1:11:43 > 1:11:48who will be the next head choristers from the current batch of Year Sevens?
1:11:48 > 1:11:52In the boys' choir, the head is known as the Bishop's Chorister,
1:11:52 > 1:11:55and in the girls', she's the Dean's Chorister.
1:11:55 > 1:11:57Good luck!
1:11:57 > 1:12:01'What we look for in a head chorister is a mixture of things.
1:12:01 > 1:12:03'We need a good singer, clearly.
1:12:03 > 1:12:05'They need to be able to hold their own
1:12:05 > 1:12:07'and lead the others in terms of the music.
1:12:07 > 1:12:11'But there are other things as well. There's leadership qualities'
1:12:11 > 1:12:16which are important to me, often in areas outside the choir stalls.
1:12:16 > 1:12:20You know, just marching the children over to the cathedral and back.
1:12:20 > 1:12:22Looking after them when we do a concert.
1:12:22 > 1:12:24I can't be everywhere at once.
1:12:24 > 1:12:26- Good luck.- Good luck.- Good luck.
1:12:26 > 1:12:30- This isn't even about this thing. We're just talking about tennis! - Yeah.
1:12:30 > 1:12:34- Boys, you're just cool?- Yeah, we're cool. We're talking about tennis.
1:12:34 > 1:12:36Yeah? Any tears? No?
1:12:36 > 1:12:40- No way. We're awesome. - Cooler than cool? Good.
1:12:40 > 1:12:43You'll be fine. You'll all be fine.
1:12:43 > 1:12:46- I'm really nervous. - GIRLS LAUGH
1:12:46 > 1:12:49I don't know. I just am. I'm always nervous
1:12:49 > 1:12:52when something like this happens, something big.
1:12:52 > 1:12:54- All the girls cry at the end. - Big, big, big!
1:12:54 > 1:12:58- This is huge.- Devastating.
1:12:58 > 1:13:02- Good luck, guys.- Good luck. - Good luck, guys.
1:13:02 > 1:13:05- Please try and cry! - THEY LAUGH
1:13:05 > 1:13:09First of all, I'll tell you what I wanted to say to you -
1:13:09 > 1:13:12I think you've been fantastic this year -
1:13:12 > 1:13:13really, really good.
1:13:13 > 1:13:17So, Sebastian and Jack, you're going to be the Turners.
1:13:17 > 1:13:21- Thank you.- Yep.- Finn, you're going to be the Vestry Monitor.
1:13:21 > 1:13:24- Freddie, you're going to be the Bishop's Chorister.- Thank you.
1:13:24 > 1:13:27So, congratulations! You don't have to say anything.
1:13:27 > 1:13:32You can just disappear now and think about that. Well done! OK.
1:13:32 > 1:13:36So, the way out, boys, is going to be that way, OK?
1:13:36 > 1:13:39- Thank you very much. - Thank you, sir.- Thank you.
1:13:44 > 1:13:48Ladies...your time has come.
1:13:48 > 1:13:51Thanks, sir(!)
1:13:51 > 1:13:55I'm really pleased with myself about being Bishop's Chorister
1:13:55 > 1:13:57and I'm really pleased for the others.
1:13:57 > 1:14:02OK. Are you ready for this? It's like The X Factor, isn't it?
1:14:02 > 1:14:07Helena, Kelly, Georgiana and Hermione. Those are the Turners.
1:14:07 > 1:14:12And the Precentor's Chorister will be Rosanna.
1:14:12 > 1:14:18And the Dean's Chorister is Flora.
1:14:18 > 1:14:23So, congratulations. Your way out is that door, there. If you'd like to lead off, Helena,
1:14:23 > 1:14:26that would be great. I'll see you later, girls.
1:14:26 > 1:14:29Thank you very much. Leave the door open.
1:14:29 > 1:14:34- THEY SQUEAL - I'm head! I'm head!
1:14:34 > 1:14:37- Congratulations.- Sorry, girls. - Well done. It's all right.
1:14:37 > 1:14:40Rosanna, your dad's waiting in reception. Go and tell him, darling.
1:14:40 > 1:14:45Kelly, it's all right, darling. It's all right.
1:14:45 > 1:14:48- I'm Deputy Chorister!- You're Deputy Chorister? Well done! Brilliant!
1:14:48 > 1:14:50That's really exciting. Good girl.
1:14:50 > 1:14:53- Who's the top one, then?- Flora.- Oh.
1:14:53 > 1:14:56Hi, Mummy. I'm head. Rosanna's dep.
1:14:56 > 1:14:58SHE LAUGHS
1:14:58 > 1:15:00Good girl.
1:15:00 > 1:15:02Don't start crying.
1:15:02 > 1:15:04He went along the line. It was Helena first in the line,
1:15:04 > 1:15:09then it was Kelly, then Georgiana. I thought he was going to point at me for Turner, but he went to Hermione.
1:15:09 > 1:15:14Then he said, "The Precentor's Chorister is Rosanna." I was like, "Hang on, who's left?" It was me!
1:15:14 > 1:15:16I'm so happy.
1:15:16 > 1:15:18Probably time to clean teeth and hop into bed,
1:15:18 > 1:15:21- and I'll come and see you in a bit, all right?- OK.
1:15:21 > 1:15:25Good girl. I'm really proud of you. Well done, darling. Good girl.
1:15:25 > 1:15:28Who have we got in here, then?
1:15:28 > 1:15:31# I cannot play with you My dolly's got the flu
1:15:31 > 1:15:32# Chicken pox and measles, too
1:15:32 > 1:15:35# Flush her down the drain pipe... #
1:15:35 > 1:15:39'I have no idea why Mr Halls picked me.'
1:15:39 > 1:15:42I'm still wondering about that
1:15:42 > 1:15:44and by the end I'm finished being head chorister,
1:15:44 > 1:15:47I'll still be thinking about why he chose me.
1:15:47 > 1:15:50BELLS PEAL
1:15:55 > 1:15:5920 years ago, there were no cathedrals in the Church Of England
1:15:59 > 1:16:03that allowed girls to become full-time choristers.
1:16:03 > 1:16:06Salisbury was the first to break ranks.
1:16:06 > 1:16:14Now, 25 other Anglican cathedrals have followed Salisbury's lead.
1:16:14 > 1:16:18'Singers in choirs are not just boys.
1:16:18 > 1:16:22'Not only boys are gifted with musical sense, as we all know.
1:16:22 > 1:16:24'And also,'
1:16:24 > 1:16:29we live in times where this idea of only boys and only men can do things
1:16:29 > 1:16:31is a lot of nonsense,
1:16:31 > 1:16:35and the Church, too - perhaps a bit late in the day -
1:16:35 > 1:16:39has also had to learn that lesson,
1:16:39 > 1:16:44and wanted to embody the idea of men and women
1:16:44 > 1:16:49sharing ministries of all kinds, whether as priests or choristers.
1:16:49 > 1:16:53We all have a place within the divine economy
1:16:53 > 1:16:57and this should be reflected in the way the Church organises itself.
1:16:57 > 1:17:03In 1991, the Church Of England was going through one of its greatest changes
1:17:03 > 1:17:05since Henry VIII split with Rome -
1:17:05 > 1:17:09passionately divided about whether to ordain women.
1:17:09 > 1:17:15So Salisbury's decision to start a separate choir for girls was truly radical.
1:17:15 > 1:17:17It's all very well
1:17:17 > 1:17:20having a pipe dream like this,
1:17:20 > 1:17:24but putting it into practice is a completely different thing.
1:17:24 > 1:17:30# ..Father, Son and Holy Spirit
1:17:30 > 1:17:32# Rests the Trinity... #
1:17:38 > 1:17:42I had to get a "yes" from the Dean, Precentor,
1:17:42 > 1:17:45the rest of chapter. I had to get a "yes" from the six men in the choir.
1:17:45 > 1:17:50And I think had there been any one of them
1:17:50 > 1:17:54that really said, "Richard, if you do this, then I'm off,
1:17:54 > 1:17:57or, "You shouldn't do this."
1:17:57 > 1:18:01But it was a wonderful "yes" all the way down the line.
1:18:01 > 1:18:05I'm hugely grateful to have lived at a time
1:18:05 > 1:18:09of rapid social change about women.
1:18:09 > 1:18:14You know, I think of all of those girls and women, musically able,
1:18:14 > 1:18:18who had no possibility of it ever happening for them.
1:18:18 > 1:18:23And so I look at our choristers and I think, "Aren't you lucky?"
1:18:23 > 1:18:26and I think, "Aren't I lucky?" to have lived at a time
1:18:26 > 1:18:33when the opportunities for women changed pretty rapidly, actually.
1:18:35 > 1:18:40It does make you feel very important to be doing this.
1:18:40 > 1:18:45Singing is something you have, and it is something that is inside you,
1:18:45 > 1:18:47and that's what singing means to me.
1:18:47 > 1:18:51- It's just something I'm able to do. - OK, girls.
1:18:51 > 1:18:55We're going to do the Gaelic Blessing of John Rutter. He wrote a piece for the Royal Wedding. Was it good?
1:18:55 > 1:18:58- I liked it. - Unfortunately I didn't hear it.
1:18:58 > 1:19:00- You think it was odd?- Yes.
1:19:00 > 1:19:04I'll tell him! I'll give him your address. Are you ready?
1:19:04 > 1:19:09The majority reaction to having a girl's choir has been delight.
1:19:09 > 1:19:11Euphoria, even.
1:19:11 > 1:19:15And, when you see the girls perform, who could resist them?
1:19:15 > 1:19:23# Deep peace of the flowing air to you... #
1:19:23 > 1:19:29And yet, I regularly get a copy of the newsletter on my desk
1:19:29 > 1:19:32that is pledged to oppose girls' choirs.
1:19:32 > 1:19:38I get offensive letters from people who tell me girls can't sing.
1:19:38 > 1:19:45# ..Deep peace of the running wave to you
1:19:45 > 1:19:47# Deep peace... #
1:19:47 > 1:19:50And a minority of people still think
1:19:50 > 1:19:55that we have sold the past with the English choral tradition.
1:19:55 > 1:20:05# ..Deep peace of the quiet earth to you
1:20:05 > 1:20:15# Deep peace of the shining star to you
1:20:15 > 1:20:28# Deep peace of the gentle night to you
1:20:28 > 1:20:38# Moon and stars pour their healing light on you
1:20:38 > 1:20:47# Deep peace of Christ
1:20:47 > 1:20:53# Of Christ
1:20:53 > 1:21:06# The light of the world to you
1:21:06 > 1:21:27# Deep peace of Christ to you. #
1:21:36 > 1:21:38Quick as you can, please.
1:21:38 > 1:21:41Girls, really quick. I need to see uniform going on now, please.
1:21:41 > 1:21:44We need to leave in 20 minutes, which includes packing.
1:21:44 > 1:21:48Every year, Salisbury Cathedral necessarily loses
1:21:48 > 1:21:50up to a third of its choristers.
1:21:50 > 1:21:55For ten children, this will be their very last day as a chorister.
1:21:55 > 1:21:57'I think I'll miss being a chorister.
1:21:57 > 1:22:02'I think it will definitely be a good memory and something to HAVE done.
1:22:02 > 1:22:04'I'm finding it hard to sing the top notes
1:22:04 > 1:22:07'because my voice is starting to change,
1:22:07 > 1:22:09'leaving the boy of me behind.'
1:22:09 > 1:22:15It's almost a sense of loyalty that makes it...and pride,
1:22:15 > 1:22:17that makes being a chorister great.
1:22:17 > 1:22:21- Chorister's blazer.- That's right. - The one and only.
1:22:21 > 1:22:23'It's really sad.'
1:22:23 > 1:22:25I can't believe it's our last day, it's gone so fast.
1:22:25 > 1:22:27I remember coming to the boarding house.
1:22:29 > 1:22:33We've got two more services left and then it's home time and,
1:22:33 > 1:22:36um...then we'll be starting at a new school!
1:22:36 > 1:22:40Yeah, it's quite... a really scary thought.
1:22:41 > 1:22:46The handing down of the tradition is, of course, vital.
1:22:46 > 1:22:49It's what the church more or less works on.
1:22:49 > 1:22:53But certainly, in terms of choirs,
1:22:53 > 1:22:57you rely on things to be handed from one chorister age group to another.
1:22:57 > 1:23:02This incredible feeling that you're only part of a timeline -
1:23:02 > 1:23:07a tiny part - I find very humbling.
1:23:07 > 1:23:10Thinking I'm just a small part of this
1:23:10 > 1:23:14and those choristers are a small part but vital.
1:23:14 > 1:23:16CHOIR SINGS
1:23:16 > 1:23:20CHORISTERS CHATTER
1:23:20 > 1:23:23Shh!
1:23:40 > 1:23:41EXCITED CHATTER
1:23:41 > 1:23:43Shh! (Guys!)
1:23:45 > 1:23:49- Know what I mean?- It's not the last time we'll...- I didn't mean that!
1:23:49 > 1:23:53It's, like, the last time we'll ever get robed up.
1:23:53 > 1:23:57- Yes.- We'll have to de-robe.- Tut! The last time we walked over.
1:23:57 > 1:24:01- I'm going to cry during the bit where we get up.- Definitely.
1:24:01 > 1:24:04- And during the hymn. - And the hymn, yeah.
1:24:04 > 1:24:07I can't cry in front of parents cos they're just, like...
1:24:07 > 1:24:09They just come up to you and go, "Oh!"
1:24:09 > 1:24:11My parents don't! They just go, "Man up!"
1:24:11 > 1:24:14They'll say, "Oh, it's all right."
1:24:14 > 1:24:17ORGAN PLAYS SOFTLY
1:24:29 > 1:24:34# Blest pair of Sirens
1:24:34 > 1:24:39# Pledges of heaven's joy
1:24:39 > 1:24:46# Sphere-born harmonious sisters
1:24:46 > 1:24:50# Voice and Verse
1:24:50 > 1:24:55# Wed your divine sounds
1:24:55 > 1:25:00# And mix't power employ
1:25:00 > 1:25:09# Dead things with inbreathed sense
1:25:09 > 1:25:13# Able to pierce... #
1:25:16 > 1:25:18I am handing down,
1:25:18 > 1:25:23not just the burden of tradition...
1:25:24 > 1:25:28..but I am also handing down, I hope,
1:25:28 > 1:25:31a love of music to the children,
1:25:31 > 1:25:35who I hope will pass it on to their children
1:25:35 > 1:25:38because that's probably the most important thing to me.
1:25:38 > 1:25:41CHOIR SINGS IN UNISON
1:25:41 > 1:25:48And I just want them to understand that, for whatever reason,
1:25:48 > 1:25:52what we do is desperately important.
1:26:00 > 1:26:02I will keep it on for the rest of my life
1:26:02 > 1:26:07and I'll always love to hear music and love to play it.
1:26:07 > 1:26:10And...I think that...
1:26:11 > 1:26:15..after having been a chorister here,
1:26:15 > 1:26:21I think everybody in the choir will want to keep on singing.
1:26:29 > 1:26:34My fondest memory will be with my friends, actually.
1:26:34 > 1:26:36I think I'll look back and say,
1:26:36 > 1:26:38"What a great time I had with my friends, singing."
1:26:38 > 1:26:40That's just what I did best.
1:26:40 > 1:26:45And now, I think, I'm ready to move on, cos you do when you get older.
1:26:49 > 1:26:53I think being part of history, itself, is pretty cool.
1:26:53 > 1:26:56You could say everyone is part of history,
1:26:56 > 1:26:59but to be a chorister is leaving something behind
1:26:59 > 1:27:04for someone else to find in the future about you.
1:27:06 > 1:27:10Every century has contributed towards this wonderful legacy
1:27:10 > 1:27:13and nobody's going to tell me
1:27:13 > 1:27:16that that's going to be confined to the dust.
1:27:17 > 1:27:21It will go on. Boys and girls will always want to sing.
1:27:21 > 1:27:25People are at their happiest when they're singing.
1:27:25 > 1:27:27CONGREGATION APPLAUDS
1:28:02 > 1:28:06I hope that if you turned up in Salisbury in 800 years' time,
1:28:06 > 1:28:12you'll find girls and boys and men singing music.
1:28:12 > 1:28:16Of course they should be singing music which is contemporary to them
1:28:16 > 1:28:18but you can't ignore the past.
1:28:18 > 1:28:23It's what gives us the foundation for all that we do.
1:28:24 > 1:28:27Good. Well done! It's tremendous stuff.
1:28:27 > 1:28:30Tea and sticky buns...is that right?
1:28:30 > 1:28:34Well, lemon drizzle no doubt.
1:28:34 > 1:28:36But thanks ever so much.
1:28:36 > 1:28:40That was a good service, great stuff from everybody. Don't be upset.
1:28:40 > 1:28:44One door closes, another opens, doesn't it?
1:28:47 > 1:28:50OK! Shall we lead off, please? Go!
1:28:55 > 1:28:58CHORISTERS ARE APPLAUDED
1:29:20 > 1:29:23Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd