Angelic Voices: The Choristers of Salisbury Cathedral

'Salisbury Cathedral.

'Its spire, the tallest in England,

'gathers the smooth Downs round it.

'And now, come through the north gateway into the close.

'You're in another world.

'Great stretches of grass and billowing trees lead your eye

'to the soaring immensity of the cathedral.

'And the close is a walled world of its own.

'The cathedral's school,

'the canons in their houses.

'Ever since the cathedral was built,

'its close has been a place for learning and teaching.

'And a choir, now, as then, to sing.

Say goodbye to Daddy.

-Bye, Dad.

-And I'll see you in there.

-Goodbye.

-Have a lovely week.

-I will.

32 boys and girls have come back to school early,

to prepare for one of the busiest times of their young lives -

the week leading up to Easter, Holy Week.

But these are no ordinary children,

they are Salisbury Cathedral choristers,

inheritors of one of Britain's oldest cultural traditions.

This is the story of the chorister over the past 900 years

up to the present day.

The most musically gifted children, singing, day in, day out,

the most sublime music in the most beautiful buildings.

A chorister is someone who sings in a cathedral for their job,

but they're child singers.

They sing, normally, just every day.

Normally, it's a boarding school where they go,

and they sing in the cathedral, and that's their job.

All right, then? Had a nice break?

How many of you have not sung a note for about two weeks, hands up?

Good, well, that's encouraging! Splendid!

Salisbury Cathedral has two separate choirs of eight to 13-year-olds.

The boy choristers have sung at Salisbury for some 900 years,

making them members of one of England's oldest choirs.

The girl's choir is equally historic.

It was founded in 1991 -

Salisbury being the first cathedral to grant girl choristers full equality

with identical duties and funding to the boys.

What's the mood of today? The mood.

Rejoicing.

It is, rejoicing, isn't this a really good day,

because Jesus rode into Jerusalem in absolute triumph.

So you don't need to walk around with a miserable look on your face today,

you can think of nice things, like...

-I don't know, Manchester City beating Manchester United.

-Yes!

And Salisbury City winning yesterday, was that right?

Did they win?

You told me they did. Excellent.

'When I sing in the cathedral,

'it's just thrilling to hear the sound echo

'after you've finished a piece, or maybe a verse of a song.'

The building is amazing,

and working in it every day is just a really big bonus.

Singing, for choristers, is part of them,

they've grown up with it, usually.

If you just said, "You're not allowed to sing any more", it's just...

It would be like saying...

It would be like saying to a parent,

"You're not allowed to see your child again."

Because it's just part of you, you've grown so used to it,

that if you were never allowed to do it again, it would just be awful.

The Salisbury choristers must work for the privilege

of their subsidised private education.

Salisbury Cathedral School, housed in the old bishop's palace,

is a co-educational prep school with 200 pupils.

But for Holy Week, the choristers have the place to themselves.

'We definitely do a lot.

'Of course, singing in the choir

'is the most prominent part of our lives,

'but we have to link in everything else -

'our social life, our academic work, our own instrumental work,

'and that does get very, very busy at times.'

We don't really think of it as a negative thing,

it's just something that happens from doing so much.

Potential choristers are typically auditioned for the choir

at the tender age of seven or eight.

-Who are you?

-I'm Helena.

-OK.

'Now then.'

What are you going to sing for me?

-I'm going to sing the first verse of Away In A Manger.

-Thank you.

OK. One, two.

# Away in a manger

# No crib for a bed... #

These are very small human beings,

but what I look for on that first occasion is,

apart from a good musical ear,

I just like that little bit of spark.

SHE SINGS A SCALE

Some of our best choristers have been the ones

who have been untrained when they've come to us.

When I came for my voice trial, I was only seven,

and I was really quite nervous.

'And there was this big, scary man sitting at the piano

'who I didn't know at all.'

Are you ready?

SHE SINGS A SCALE

HE PLAYS PIANO NOTE

SHE SINGS THE SAME NOTE

'I had to board, because I actually live in London.'

The reason we chose here, partly,

was that you can't go to any of the big cathedrals in London

to be a chorister if you're a girl,

and also this is a really good girls' choir, so...

I didn't really want to go anywhere else.

BOYS CHATTER

'Wearing a cloak is warm in the winter,'

and if someone in the winter throws a snowball at you

while you're wearing the cloak, it bounces off.

I have heard people saying, "You look like Harry Potter."

I just really ignore it.

I quite like Harry Potter!

Sometimes children think we're sort of weird,

and actually, we're not.

If they did it, they'd think differently about us

and what we do, and maybe they wouldn't sort of laugh at us

when we walk around in our cassocks and look serious.

I did it because he was running really quickly,

and I was catching him up and got his leg and he fell over.

Not all the choristers board, but during Holy Week it's obligatory

as there are so many important Easter services to prepare.

Ben's there, Alex is there.

-I'm here.

-No, no, Alex is there.

It's fun, but I sometimes get a bit homesick, which is really annoying.

It's quite weird, because I live right around the corner, so it's odd.

Get changed, have a shower and then go to bed.

-No, we're going outside.

-Or go outside.

-Or watch TV.

-We have lots of choices what to do.

OK, boys, who's going to play cricket?

Nearly everyone?

'In about half an hour,'

I will send the youngest ones

to go and just have ten minutes or so of quiet time in their room.

Eight o'clock is their actual bedtime.

What have you done?

You'll be fine. Just wiggle your thumb. Yes, you're fine.

All done.

-Has it been a good day?

-Yeah.

-It's good to be back?

-Yeah.

Good.

Sweet dreams, boys.

Don't forget to go to sleep.

Good night.

'It's Easter Sunday today.'

And we're doing a service in the cathedral.

And there's loads of camera crews as well,

because it's being broadcasted.

The Easter Day Eucharist is being broadcasted today.

When we go in it's going to be like,

"Aargh, there's people watching us all over the country",

but then it's going to be quite fun once we get into it.

Well, we can't sort of yawn in the middle of a piece,

or, like, get the words wrong or anything.

Because it'll look really stupid.

I'm looking forward to singing the Mozart

because it's one of my favourite pieces.

'I'm also looking forward to the lunch,'

erm, and then I'm looking forward to going home.

Easter and Christmas -

the highest holidays of Salisbury Cathedral's year,

are practically the only times

when the Cathedral's boy and girl choristers combine.

# Agnus Dei

# Agnus Dei

# Qui tollis peccata

# Peccata mundi

# Miserere

# Miserere

# Nobis

# Miserere

# Miserere

# Nobis

# Agnus Dei

# Agnus Dei

# Qui tollis peccata

# Peccata mundi

# Miserere

# Miserere

# Nobis

# Miserere

# Nobis

# Miserere

# Miserere

# Nobis. #

'Singing is something that Christian people do,

'it's an attitude of mind.'

I often say there are two things about the Christian community -

one, see how they love one another, sometimes that is true,

and secondly,

they sing together.

Music is right at the heart of what we do on Easter Day.

We carry the big message through the music.

# Agnus Dei

# Qui tollis

# Peccata. #

And it's the most extraordinary, large event.

I don't know how they keep their nerve, these little people,

when they see a completely packed cathedral. And yet they do,

and we have this most extraordinary celebration.

As St Augustine said those who sing pray twice.

Singing elevates the heart and mind and imagination.

Raises it up to a different plane.

Transporting us, giving us an ecstatic experience,

taking us out of ourselves and our mundane level,

but also binds us together.

# Gloria, gloria in excelsis

# In excelsis deo

# Et in terra pax, pax hominibus

# Bonae voluntatis... #

-Bye.

-Bye!

Go home, eat lots and lots of Easter eggs, and play on my X Box.

My daughter is the head chorister and this is her last Easter.

Which is... I think, for the parents,

it's quite sad because we've lived this choral life

for the last few years and it becomes part of life.

It'll be sad.

Bye!

CAR HORN HONKS

CHOIR SINGING SCALES

At the Cathedral School, the summer term has started

But while the rest of their classmates are still in bed,

the choristers' day has already begun.

The cloister bell goes at about ten to eight in the morning

and we go and get our cloaks

and then we go and line up.

The choristers practice twice a day.

They work 16 hours in a normal week,

over and above their regular schooling

and will sing more than 150 different anthems

and other works in the cathedral

over the course of the summer term.

The boys have only got a few weeks to learn from scratch

one of England's finest pieces of church music.

The Victorian composer Stanford's classic Magnificat In G.

Now then, go in your time machine to Mr Stanford,

who was born in which country?

-Erm...

-Wrong!

-England?

-Wrong.

-Ireland.

-Yes, good.

He was Irish.

Now then, one of the thing we sing all the time.

Nearly every day, Louis,

are the words, "My soul doth magnify the lord." Yes?

It's called The Magnificat.

The question is who can tell me

what those words mean?

Who first sang them and what are they about? OK, yes.

-Mary first sang them.

-Mary first sang them. When and why?

Take your time. I must rush you at this point.

Countdown!

Representing those with a broken limb.

-Yep?

-The Annunciation.

-That's right. Meaning?

-Erm...

-Oh, now you're asking!

-LAUGHTER

Well, it's a great word. It's when she was told...?

-Oh! She was going to have Jesus.

-That's right, going to have a baby.

It has a treble solo.

I want three of you to have a go at it.

You, Noah. You, Freddie, and you, Finbarr. OK?

You three are going to have a go all together.

So, looking alert. Good luck.

HE PLAYS PIANO

Today's the first time the boys have seen the music.

# My soul doth magnify the Lord

# And my spirit doth rejoice in God my saviour... #

Shall we have another go at that?

The first couple of notes were a bit of an accident. Got to be...

PIANO TINKLING

Think of something lovely. Think of your girlfriend.

With flowing hair,

presenting you with a large Easter egg or something. Anything!

HE PLAYS PIANO And go.

# For behold from henceforth

# All generations will call me blessed... #

If you make a mistake, just put your hand up.

It just shows me that you know that you've made a mistake.

It's not that I'm going to throw a book at you or something,

it means that I know that you know, OK?

It's important, isn't it?

If you know you've made a mistake, the chances are you might possibly...

BOY CHATTING Possibly get it right the next time.

# As he promised to our forefathers

# Abraham and his seed

# Forever, forever, forever

# Forever. #

Music and Christian worship have always been inextricably linked.

But for its first 1,000 years or so in Salisbury,

it would not have sounded much like Stanford's Mag In G.

When in the year 596, Pope Gregory the Great sent Christianity

to Southern England, he is said to have dispatched singers

to teach the Anglo Saxons to sing in the Latin way.

Gregorian chants. Plainsong.

-SINGING IN GREGORIAN STYLE

-# One thing have I desired of the Lord

# Which I require

# Even that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

# All the days of my life.

# To behold the beauty of the Lord... #

Singing is the way you speak in church.

If you go into some very resonant churches

and you hear somebody speaking, then the range of intonation

and inflection actually becomes a blur.

FLAT VOICE TONE: If you start to speak at a very single level

then it becomes much clearer, both your vowels and your consonants,

and if that then gradually turns into singing...

# And you can mark a full stop. Or a comma. #

And you start shaping the words.

# The secret place of his dwelling shall he hide me

# And set me up upon a rock of stone... #

80%, perhaps 90% of what was sung

was on a monotone with little decorations

to show where the punctuation goes.

So you mark the beginning of the psalm,

then you sing on a monotone, then you inflect.

You have a break, you sing again, and then you have the ending.

# Put my trust in the Lord. #

I don't like plainsong because it's quite boring.

It's not the type of music that I usually sing

and it's different.

It doesn't have the kind of musical fireworks that you'd expect

from the big pieces, of Parry or Stanford.

'But when I say to the choristers

'imagine that hundreds of years ago, people just like you

'were singing music just like this,

'it puts it in perspective for them.'

I've got to be very, very careful with this

because this is so beautiful.

Wow.

Look at this.

This is plainsong.

All of this was handwritten. Different colours,

probably for different people

to actually speak these passages.

This is a book which the person taking the Eucharist

would probably have used.

-So it's like a missal?

-It is.

Or I think it's called a breviary, isn't it? Yes?

It's like a service book.

It's not just wall-to-wall music.

As you can see, lots of bits have no music at all.

It's illuminated to make it absolutely beautiful.

-See, this is gold leaf.

-Is it? Oh, wow.

I suppose I shouldn't really touch it, should I?

You've got the four lines. The red ones, yeah?

"Loquebantur variis linguis. apostoli, alleluia."

So I reckon this would go like this.

SINGS IN GREGORIAN STYLE # Loquebantur. #

See? And then going on.

SINGS NOTES

# Da, da, da, da, da. #

I can only imagine trying to read that.

# La, da, da, da

# Da, da, da... #

Though now nearly 800 years old,

Salisbury Cathedral is officially the cathedral of New Sarum.

The original cathedral, almost certainly home

to the first child choristers, lies a couple of miles up the road.

OK, boys. Seatbelts on, fellas.

Just as English history is traditionally supposed to work,

the choir's story really does seem to start with William the Conqueror.

BOYS CHATTERING

The cathedral at Old Sarum was established soon after 1066.

This was no remote monastery

for monks leading inward-looking, contemplative lives.

Old Sarum, with its royal castle, town and cathedral,

was one of the key addresses in Norman England.

The most important of the buildings there was for the bishop.

The bishop is the key figure here. By far the most important person.

In fact, the bishop in the early 12th century,

was second in England after the king.

So he's an immensely powerful man.

The Bishop and his senior canons were worldly men,

often called away by affairs of church and state.

But the cathedral's purpose remained its divine office.

Chanted services eight times a day, each a regulated order of psalms,

hymns, prayers and canticles, as well as sung masses.

OK, we're standing right here, which is at the entrance to the choir,

which is where the singers would've sung the services.

Behind us is the nave.

-Were there boys here, like us?

-Almost certainly yes.

Right when this cathedral was built in the 11th century,

services were sung certainly by men.

They were called lay vicars and they were usually men

who weren't priests, just like our lay vicars now, in the new cathedral.

Our word "vicar" in fact emerges from this use -

someone employed to stand in vicariously at a service

in another's place.

The bishop and many canons had subcontracted their tasks

and for that, no doubt boys came in very handy.

I can't imagine they would have boys on site who didn't sing.

They would have had singing men

and they must have included boys

in the singing of the daily services.

This then was the origin of the chorister.

Boys plucked from the neighbourhood

and given a little Latin and basic education.

They were fit to take part in singing the divine office,

and do every chore asked of them in return for board and lodgings.

But though there's no evidence they were chosen for any musical ability,

the very nature of their treble voices would eventually

help change the history of sacred music.

The Cathedral Church Of The Blessed Virgin Mary at New Sarum,

today's Salisbury Cathedral,

is one of the wonders of mediaeval Christendom.

It has the tallest spire in England, the largest cloister

and the biggest precinct.

Built of 70,000 tonnes of stone,

on foundations only four feet deep,

it was completed in just 38 years.

This was a far cry from wind-swept,

waterless, cramped Old Sarum

They were looking down a mile or two into beautiful, lush valleys

with plenty of water and a much better place to live.

It allowed them to do all of the things they had begun to develop.

Their patterns of liturgy,

which often involved procession

inside and outside the building and around the cloisters and so on.

They seized that with both hands.

The new cathedral was consecrated in 1258.

And thanks to one rare volume in the Cathedral Library,

we know exactly what everyone's roles and responsibilities were.

To find out what the boys really do,

or indeed what everybody does, you have a book of rules, if you like.

A so-called customary, and this is a fantastic manuscript.

This dates from the early years of the new cathedral.

And in it, in the first part and in the last part,

this very close written text is telling you what items to sing

all through the year at each service.

And then the middle,

this lays down everybody's roles for different days of the year.

So it starts at the beginning here describing the dean's duties,

the precentors, the chancellors and the treasurers.

Then it moves in to deal with who sits where, how they're sat.

The boys sit on the front row, just as they do now.

This was very frequent and very complicated sung liturgy

in a vast new church, providing the foundation for church services

for centuries across Britain.

It was known as the The Sarum Rite

and much of it survived The Reformation, finding its way

into The Book Of Common Prayer.

And it wouldn't have been possible without the boys.

If you take Salisbury,

yes, there were 52 canons by the time the cathedral moved here.

But those people are busy people, just as the canons now are.

They needed 52 vicars or substitutes who were the work horses,

who sustained worship each day.

And then you need the front row of people who will do again

more dogs-bodying of sustained worship. But the boys have got

not only singing duties, but also a great deal of ceremonial duties.

And indeed, until probably the 15th century,

their ceremonial duties are every bit as important as their musical.

The boys were housed with the canons in the newly built Cathedral Close.

And as at Old Sarum, they also had to minister

to the canons' every need.

If anything, despite the splendid surroundings,

their condition even worsened.

They were pretty badly treated,

right the way up to the mid-19th century.

Of course, if you ask my choristers now,

they might say they're still badly treated.

Some of the choristers now think they're quite hard done by,

that they do a lot of work.

They do get a lot out of it, but it doesn't seem like that

when you're actually doing it.

I mean, then it must've actually been a lot harder than it is now.

The food can't have been very good either,

because there wasn't much food to be had.

If you wanted vegetables or anything, you had to farm them.

You only had meat as a special treat, really.

We eat very well here.

We have breakfast, break, lunch,

little tea, supper.

But then they wouldn't have those three meals a day.

They must have been hungry a lot of the time.

By the 14th century, many canons spent most of their time in Rome.

Salisbury's 14 boy choristers were left to fend for themselves.

The bread is ruined.

"Like little children, they asked for bread

"but cannot find anyone to break a piece for them.

"They are compelled of necessity to go round flocking

"to crave a beggars dole each day,"

"so as to get enough victuals to keep the wolf from the door."

In time, the boys' basic conditions did improve slightly.

They were no longer forced to live with or wait on the canons.

For the first time, they were chosen primarily for their musical skills.

Local boys were to be recruited...

"Unless perchance strangers, being also of good character,

"show much greater excellence in music."

Up till then, the choir is the assembled body of the clergy

from boys up to oldest, who are sustaining daily worship.

Then you find that you get a separate group of people,

A small group of boys and a small group of vicars,

and you're starting to get a little unit.

And it's this little unit, now focused more fully on music

and chosen for musical ability

who between 1300 and 1500,

gradually and perhaps by accident, discover a new way of making music.

One of the things you taught boys in the later Middle ages

was how to look at the chant and know how, taking the chant in the middle,

you could imagine it down a bit lower and then sing it an octave higher,

and that gives you a second part.

Then underneath that, you have a third part.

That gives you three parts, a chord, and that runs along.

You could get a group of people who could look at a chant and one of them

will start and the other two would start improvising.

Kind of a medieval jam session, if slightly more high-brow than that.

CHOIR SINGS

This was a revolutionary moment. Different singers,

with different vocal ranges, singing different parts.

What we understand as the choir had been born.

We're going to look at some music by John Sheppard.

This is part of a service we're singing on Thursday which is

a reconstruction of what would have been done in an ancient service,

which means there's lots of plainsong

but also lots of music for four parts.

# Gloria in excelsis... #

In a normal week, the boys

and girls will split nine services in the Cathedral between them.

But for the boys,

Thursday's evening service will be rather tricky,

recreating the complex ritual of medieval worship at Salisbury.

When the celebrant actually starts the Gloria,

you do the sign of the cross, yes? Four points, OK?

Do it.

Head, tummy button, left, right.

OK. All right? This is what they did. Isn't it great?

By the 16th century, Salisbury's boy choristers were already under

professional musical direction.

And now, celebrated composers began to write increasingly complicated,

multi-part music for them. Polyphony.

John Sheppard was a major composer who specialised in this sort of music

and what he does is combine plainsong verses with these choral verses.

PLAYS PIANO

So, there's your plainsong.

Then it goes into what is called polyphony. Quite simple.

CHOIR SINGING OVER PIANO

CHOIR SINGING ONLY

So the piece has a very old feel to it,

which is wonderfully worshipful,

and a bit of incense adds to the atmosphere.

Doing these reenactments,

it's really exciting to see all the ceremonial, all the chant

and those soupcons of polyphony,

and indeed bringing this building to life.

CHOIR SINGS

I came up to the high altar and I was holding the book for the Precentor.

Centuries ago they were probably doing the same thing.

It would be quite tricky.

I don't see how they could do it every single day.

It's just totally nerve wracking.

I have to say, boys, listen to me, it went very well, I thought.

I don't know what the bowing and stuff was like behind me,

but it felt just about right. I'm sure I made some mistakes.

But just think that you were recreating what was done

all the time in this wonderful building.

Thank you all very much.

It's fascinating that this is the way to do it.

It didn't just sound like wall-to-wall Latin,

-it sounded like worship.

-Yes.

Or it felt to me like worship,

I know I was doing all the busy bits up at the altar.

-But everybody else was following them.

-Yes.

That was jolly fun, wasn't it?

-Ready?

-Yes.

-OK. Had a good evening?

-Yes.

-Yes. A great evening.

Right, now it's after lights, none of this chatting.

I don't think you're going to expect to have any chatting

because I'm jolly tired.

-Good.

-Good night.

-Off to sleep. All right, sweet dreams, chaps.

Good night.

Let's go round again, so it's Milo's turn. >

Let's do the chorus with everybody. >

In the late Middle Ages, England's Cathedrals

competed for the most musically gifted boys.

They were known to pay Premiership-style transfer fees to secure them

and choristers were sometimes even kidnapped by rival cathedrals.

Salisbury's top boys today will find out who's going to sing

the solo in Stanford's Magnificat in G.

After only two rehearsals, either Freddie, Finnbar,

or Noah, will be picked to sing what is widely regarded

as one of THE treble solos in a chorister's repertoire.

Let's split the solo up. Finnbar, you start it off.

And then, Noah, you do the next bit when I look at you.

And you do the next bit, Freddie, when I glare at you. Ready, Finn?

FINNBAR SINGS

It's just part of our life that we have solos.

Some solos we do get, some solos we don't get.

I don't think I'll feel disappointed if I don't get the solo.

Eight out of ten for that.

I've had so many and it's good to let someone else have one for once.

NOAH SINGS

FREDDIE SINGS

It feels really good.

It's not as bad as the first time I did it where I was shaking so much.

You're doing a really good job, all three of you.

-This is really good. Yes, Noah?

-They've missed out a rest.

Thank you, Noah, yes, they have.

Excellent. Now, I think what I'm going to do,

Finn, I'm going to get you to do this, OK?

-All right?

-Yes, fine.

-Good man.

You two, you'll be fine, they'll be other solos to do, OK?

Loads of other solos. So... Yes, don't look so relieved. OK.

Secretly, in my heart, it would have been good to do a brand new solo

and say that, "This is me, I sight read this once and I'm the best",

but that's sort of boastful.

I'm pleased for Finnbar, but I'm also quite envious of him

cos I really like that.

HE WHISPERS: I am pleased with myself because

I got the solo and Freddie didn't, Freddie and Noah didn't.

So I got chosen. I don't want the other guys to hear.

It's quite important to keep it sort of undercover.

By the 1540s, the Sarum Right -

elaborate, musical services with boys playing a prominent role -

was made the official form of service in England and Wales.

But the new theology of Protestantism

was gaining ground in Europe

and Henry VIII's marital troubles ushered in the Break from Rome.

Suddenly, almost everything that defined Salisbury Cathedral

was under threat.

There would have been catastrophic changes as regards

people like the musicians and the clergy here

because all of the things they took for granted

about the long-running tradition of this place and its music and worship

were suddenly turned over and were changed out of all recognition.

Henry VIII's son, a very protestant Edward VI, decreed that all

remnants of Catholicism should be excised from worship.

Page upon page has got lines through.

This is the Bidding of the Bedes, now crossed out.

And sections here of all the relics, which, of course,

relics became quite unacceptable, so it's just blacked out.

They got rid of them all.

So there's a great deal of change going on

in the way the Cathedrals worship

and theology and spirituality is changing.

The extraordinary thing is that, in spite of this, the choirs survive.

A lot of composers throughout history have had to adapt to changes

of monarch or political pressure

and William Byrd was no exception.

I think Byrd was perhaps the greatest composer

that England ever had.

And perhaps had he not been a Roman Catholic

then his international reputation might have been that much greater.

That he survived in a Protestant environment

is an indication of the respect he had.

Byrd wrote, I think, one of the finest pieces of church music,

It's called Ave Verum Corpus.

If I played you these two chords...

..which is A minor...

..which is E major...

..what would come next?

And sometimes I get the choristers to actually come round to the piano

and play a chord and they'll play something silly.

A lot of them will do this.

Here are the two chords, and they might go...

..which is great. This is what William Byrd does...

..which is the most extraordinary chord sequence.

It still as wonderful and exciting as it was when it was first heard.

This beautiful piece, which has poignant words, beautiful music,

is even more impressive

when you think of the turbulent times in which it was written.

# O dulcis

# O pie

# O Jesu

# Fili Maria

# Miserere mei

# Miserere mei

# Miserere mei

# Miserere mei

# Miserere mei

# Miserere mei

# O dulcis

# O pie

# O Jesu

# Fili Maria

# Miserere mei

# Miserere mei

# Miserere mei

# Miserere mei

# Miserere mei

# Miserere mei

# Miserere mei

# Amen. #

CHORISTERS SING SCALES

Such is their busy workload,

time off for the choristers is precious.

THEY SHOUT AND CHATTER

The girls are on duty Mondays and Wednesdays,

the boys sing on Tuesdays and Thursdays

and both choirs share weekend duties.

-ALL:

-Bombs away!

Usually, I get my sleep back on Saturday evenings -

if I'm not doing the Sunday morning, I can sleep in.

-ALL:

-Two! One!

SCREAMING

You do sometimes think, "I REALLY don't want to do this.

"I just want to go back to the boarding house."

And you do get very tired

because, I mean, once a term, you get a weekend off.

But soon, you kind of forget what it was like,

so you just don't think,

"We're doing a lot more than other children."

It just kind of happens.

Quite often, I feel I just want to go home

and finish off my prep, cos after evensong, most of the time,

I've got lots of prep to do, and that's just killing, almost.

Right, boys. Here we go.

It's now practice number three of Stanford's Mag in G.

Finnbar's been learning his solo on his own,

but has only sung it twice with the other boys.

# My soul doth magnify the Lord

# And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my saviour... #

Just... I think you need to just go for a bit more diction.

It's a little bit...

HE MUMBLES: La, la, la, la.

Make your mouth work. OK?

And be a bit careful on that second note -

# Da DAAAAA. #

Just relax.

Really tune up to the organ.

# My soul... #

Stop.

That's slightly sharp. Just really, really tune into the organ.

You just need to be a bit careful of F-sharps - they're going very sharp.

Really, really listen, OK?

Words - it's written there.

-OK? Yes?

-Yeah.

-That's what we're all about.

OK, let's have another go. A little darker. OK, after three.

One, two, go.

# For He hath... #

Finnbar's voice is a pure, clear voice, which is nice to listen to.

And...

..you can see Mr Halls likes it.

'His voice is still developing, though, and like a boy of 12,

'of course, it's developing and then it's going to go,

'so I firmly predict for the next year, if I'm lucky,

'he'll be a top singer for us.'

-That's well done.

-# And holy is His name... #

That's it, boys. Good.

You fellas, keep up the energy, OK?

Just really, really concentrate, yes?

Don't be sloppy, don't make silly mistakes, OK?

Well done. It could be very, very good. Try...

I know it's difficult - try and relax, in a way.

Just enjoy it. It's lovely. The rest of you are doing really well.

'Erm, I'm feeling quite nervous about my solo, actually.'

Really kind of wishing it's over.

Get on with it.

Yeah.

Bedtime now, so let's go. Well done, up you go. Thank you.

# He hath filled the hungry with good things

# And the rich... #

Right, stop protracting lights out. Good trick, but it hasn't worked.

Lights out, please, Ben. Well done.

# He rememb'ring his mercy... #

Good night, boys. Love you lots. See you in the morning.

-Night.

-God bless.

# ..hath holpen His servant Israel... #

Despite all the turbulence of the Reformation under the Tudors,

there's only been one moment without singing

in Salisbury Cathedral's long history -

after Oliver Cromwell's victory in the English Civil War.

There was a lot of violence,

and there was a battle actually in the close here.

The fixtures in the cathedral, the statues of the saints,

many of them were smashed up.

Effectively, everything was dispersed.

The boys would have been dispersed.

The cathedral carried on - the mayor was in charge after that,

the mayor of Salisbury effectively took over.

And there was a Presbyterian-type church in the cathedral,

so worship did probably carry on, but certainly not with music.

There were no choristers at Salisbury for a decade,

yet even while they were told that singing was an insult to God,

Cromwell employed two choristers in his entourage to sing after dinner.

No wonder, when the Restoration came in 1660,

choristers swiftly returned, along with the monarchy.

If ever there was a situation

where a cathedral had to stop having children as their choristers,

then I would take heart from the 1650s,

because it can come back.

And those people who are doom and gloom about this

perhaps ought to know that, in the past,

if there's a will, there's a way.

And that way, in Restoration England,

was led by one-time boy chorister -

arguably England's greatest composer - Henry Purcell.

Purcell wrote both sacred and secular music

that was innovative and modern,

informed by the latest French and Italian styles.

But it was steeped in the pre-reformation sacred tradition.

If you take a piece like Henry Purcell's Hear My Prayer, O Lord,

which is just a fragment of what was going to be a bigger anthem...

# Hear my prayer, o Lord... #

..then you hear this grand, polyphonic style still there.

# And let my cry... #

The voices coming in, one by one, imitatively.

# ..come unto thee... #

But now with this scrunchy harmony.

A really powerful and emotive piece.

# Let my cry

# Let my cry... #

'Purcell's Hear My Prayer

'is one of those pieces in the cathedral repertoire

'which makes it all worthwhile.'

It's just as good as the Byrd Ave Verum,

it's absolutely magnificent.

# Let my cry... #

'It lasts, I think, two minutes,

'and it is pure genius from one bar to the next.'

# Hear my prayer

# Hear my prayer, o Lord

# Let my cry

# And let my cry

# Come unto thee

# And let my cry

# And let my cry

# Cry

# Come

# Unto

# Thee. #

When I sing, it feels really special,

because people from all round the world come to hear us sing.

And we sing lots of very different and interesting, magic services.

At some moments, like when there's really loud music,

you can hardly hear yourself.

Especially with Noah right next to me.

It's a good feeling,

and it almost sends nice, warm little shivers down my spine,

as if you've just walked in to a fire on a cold winter's day.

And it feels a bit like that.

Musical standards today are probably the best they've ever been.

It's likely the late 17th century was the nadir.

There are reports the organist was regularly drunk or absent,

and there was fighting and bad language in the choristers' pews.

For 230 years from 1716, the choristers lived here at Wren Hall.

So 16 boys lived here, spent all their time here.

Now, you might be very surprised to know that the choristers

were extremely badly behaved on occasion,

and we know from one chorister in particular,

who was called John Harding,

he became a chorister because he was replacing a boy who had been expelled

because he had just stabbed the head chorister, called John Arnold.

So what I'd like you to do, everybody,

is have a look around this room

and see if you can find anything at all to do with John Arnold.

There's a...

-1744.

-1701.

-At first, we thought it was 18!

There's a 1703.

Yeah, there's a... Sorry!

-There's 1701 over there.

-Is there? Where?

THEY ALL CHATTER

Mr Greenfield?

Mr Greenfield! Mr Greenfield?

We just found his name up there, on the cupboard.

So you found his name?

Marvellous. Now, why do you think it's up there? Freddie?

-Was it his cupboard?

-It was his cupboard. Yes, exactly.

What happened to them when they were naughty?

Well, what do you think happened to them? They were caned, yes.

They could be caned quite brutally. Really, really brutally.

An old chorister told me at the weekend that he was caned

and he had bruises on his legs for a month afterwards.

So that must have really hurt.

Are we ready?

We're going back!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

What was effectively sometimes little short of neglect and abuse

at Salisbury mirrored the plight of choristers nationwide.

A 19th-century spinster, Maria Hackett,

was so appalled by their treatment

that she visited every cathedral in England to investigate.

Salisbury got off rather lightly in her report.

Maria Hackett would become known as "The Choristers' Friend".

She saw them as children at risk -

innocent, godly and precious.

# How beautiful are the feet of them

# That preach the gospel of peace

# How beautiful are the feet

# How beautiful are the feet of them

# That preach the gospel of peace

# How beautiful are the feet of them

# That preach the gospel of peace

# And bring glad tidings

# And bring glad tidings... #

'There's something about children's voices

'which make it incredibly special.

'I think it is a beautifully pure instrument.'

# And bring glad tidings... #

'Young, well-trained singers singing the most beautiful music

'that we have in existence, really.'

# And bring glad tidings

# Glad tidings of good things

# Glad tidings of good things... #

The 18th and early 19th centuries had seen the Church of England

relatively eclipsed, even marginalised.

But Victorian England witnessed extraordinary religious revival

and with it came the finest English Church music,

with composers like Wesley, Parry and Stanford.

Finnbar's big moment has arrived.

'If you're sitting in evensong

'and you hear the organ start the rippling accompaniment

'of Stanford's Magnificat in G, you know what's going to happen.

'You wonder which boy is going to sing it.'

For me, I can see a series of boys just starting that piece,

and the eye contact you have with the boy to encourage them on.

And then just believing in them, and the whole choir willing that solo.

It's a most fantastic experience.

# My soul doth magnify the Lord

# And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my saviour

# For He hath regarded

# The lowliness of His handmaiden

# For behold

# From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed

# Blessed, blessed

# For He that is mighty hath magnified me

# And holy is His name

-# And holy is His name

-Holy is His name

# Holy is His name

# And His mercy is on them that fear Him

# Throughout all generations

# He hath showed strength with His arm

# He hath scattered the proud

# In the imagination of their hearts

# He hath put down

# The mighty from their seat

# And hath exalted the humble and meek

# He hath filled the hungry

# With good things

# And the rich

# He hath sent empty, empty away

# He rememb'ring his mercy

# He rememb'ring his mercy

# Hath holpen His servant

# Hath holpen His servant, Israel

# His servant, Israel

# As He promised

# To our forefathers

# Abraham

# And his seed forever

# Forever, forever

# He promised forever... #

When I hear Finnbar sing, it's just amazing.

Obviously, I'm hugely proud of him.

But it's always mixed with terror.

All parents are terrified that their children are going to go wrong.

# And to the Son... #

You stand there and think, "Ahh, the big moment's coming!"

But I know, from the first note he sings,

that it's going to be hugely confident and it's great.

Then I relax and I do enjoy it.

# ..is now and ever shall be

# World without end

# Amen. #

'I just really hope that one day I'll be able to do that solo.'

And because Ollie will be my age compared to Finnbar if I did that,

just for him to think, "Oh, wow, he's a good singer."

As I thought about Finnbar tonight.

He was just...

..a brilliant soloist.

Over the last century or so,

choristers have helped sustain worship

in an established church confronted by falling attendances.

It has witnessed dramatic social change

and offered spiritual leadership in troubled times.

Eight former choristers were among the school alumni

killed in the First World War.

But life on Choristers Green has always remained somewhat timeless.

The oldest surviving Salisbury Chorister is Michael Shiner.

I think I must have been about eight for that one.

What dates were you in the choir?

1928, 1929, right up till 1932.

What was your favourite part of being a chorister?

Just being.

Just being, literally.

I absorbed every single bit of it. I loved my time here.

Did you like playing cricket here?

Yes. And I...fielded if I possibly could,

either at deep square leg or at deep mid-off.

There were very few people allowed in the close,

and a lot of the time, elderly ladies would come and sit on the seats.

Then, quite suddenly, you would hear, "Psst! Psst!"

And I used to turn round...

and there the elderly lady sat.

She'd beckon me over...

HE WHISPERS: "Would you like a sweet?"

And then the over would be over

and I'd hastily pretend I hadn't been anywhere near her.

CHILDREN LAUGH

There won't be enough for everybody. We'll have to give him one.

-What are you doing?

-You're going to break the bag!

We lived for the cathedral. That was our prime purpose -

to sing in the cathedral.

And behave, as the old ladies of the close used to say,

like little angels.

In my day, the choir master and organist of the cathedral

was Sir Walter Alcock. He was a marvellous man.

He was, quietly, a sort of father to us.

But there was a boundary over which you did not intrude.

Once a year, you were invited to a tea party at his house,

and he had a model railway which went round the garden.

And it was one of these railways on which you could ride.

And if you were very good and well-behaved,

you were permitted to ride around the garden on the railway.

We used to have a scrumptious tea

and, you know, that was really a highlight of the year.

I can remember that.

Like many Salisbury masters of choristers before and since,

Walter Alcock himself added to the canon of sacred choral music.

He wrote his Sanctus for the coronation of George V in 1911.

It starts with the word "holy," of course.

HE PLAYS THE TUNE ON PIANO

And the choir comes in with...

# Holy... #

So it sort of starts right in the depths.

Got a high A-flat for the boys.

HE PLAYS THE TUNE

Here it is.

And then there's some big chords, and on the page turn...

..a top A.

# Glory

# Glory be to thee

# O Lord most high... #

And the music then winds down to a very peaceful end.

# Amen. #

One, two, three, four!

THEY PLAY UPBEAT JAZZ

I don't just sing. I play the trumpet and I play the piano.

Jazz Bites is a musical club which we do at lunchtimes on Fridays.

It's quite nice to stop doing singing

and play a bit of jazz because... Well, there's improvising,

where you need to make up the music as you go along.

But with the church music, it's all set before you.

HE PLAYS A SOLO

Thank you. Awesome.

As the summer term nears its end, and the Year Eights

prepare to leave the school,

there are a couple of big decisions to be made -

who will be the next head choristers from the current batch of Year Sevens?

In the boys' choir, the head is known as the Bishop's Chorister,

and in the girls', she's the Dean's Chorister.

Good luck!

'What we look for in a head chorister is a mixture of things.

'We need a good singer, clearly.

'They need to be able to hold their own

'and lead the others in terms of the music.

'But there are other things as well. There's leadership qualities'

which are important to me, often in areas outside the choir stalls.

You know, just marching the children over to the cathedral and back.

Looking after them when we do a concert.

I can't be everywhere at once.

-Good luck.

-Good luck.

-Good luck.

-This isn't even about this thing. We're just talking about tennis!

-Yeah.

-Boys, you're just cool?

-Yeah, we're cool. We're talking about tennis.

Yeah? Any tears? No?

-No way. We're awesome.

-Cooler than cool? Good.

You'll be fine. You'll all be fine.

-I'm really nervous.

-GIRLS LAUGH

I don't know. I just am. I'm always nervous

when something like this happens, something big.

-All the girls cry at the end.

-Big, big, big!

-This is huge.

-Devastating.

-Good luck, guys.

-Good luck.

-Good luck, guys.

-Please try and cry!

-THEY LAUGH

First of all, I'll tell you what I wanted to say to you -

I think you've been fantastic this year -

really, really good.

So, Sebastian and Jack, you're going to be the Turners.

-Thank you.

-Yep.

-Finn, you're going to be the Vestry Monitor.

-Freddie, you're going to be the Bishop's Chorister.

-Thank you.

So, congratulations! You don't have to say anything.

You can just disappear now and think about that. Well done! OK.

So, the way out, boys, is going to be that way, OK?

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you, sir.

-Thank you.

Ladies...your time has come.

Thanks, sir(!)

I'm really pleased with myself about being Bishop's Chorister

and I'm really pleased for the others.

OK. Are you ready for this? It's like The X Factor, isn't it?

Helena, Kelly, Georgiana and Hermione. Those are the Turners.

And the Precentor's Chorister will be Rosanna.

And the Dean's Chorister is Flora.

So, congratulations. Your way out is that door, there. If you'd like to lead off, Helena,

that would be great. I'll see you later, girls.

Thank you very much. Leave the door open.

-THEY SQUEAL

-I'm head! I'm head!

-Congratulations.

-Sorry, girls.

-Well done. It's all right.

Rosanna, your dad's waiting in reception. Go and tell him, darling.

Kelly, it's all right, darling. It's all right.

-I'm Deputy Chorister!

-You're Deputy Chorister? Well done! Brilliant!

That's really exciting. Good girl.

-Who's the top one, then?

-Flora.

-Oh.

Hi, Mummy. I'm head. Rosanna's dep.

SHE LAUGHS

Good girl.

Don't start crying.

He went along the line. It was Helena first in the line,

then it was Kelly, then Georgiana. I thought he was going to point at me for Turner, but he went to Hermione.

Then he said, "The Precentor's Chorister is Rosanna." I was like, "Hang on, who's left?" It was me!

I'm so happy.

Probably time to clean teeth and hop into bed,

-and I'll come and see you in a bit, all right?

-OK.

Good girl. I'm really proud of you. Well done, darling. Good girl.

Who have we got in here, then?

# I cannot play with you My dolly's got the flu

# Chicken pox and measles, too

# Flush her down the drain pipe... #

'I have no idea why Mr Halls picked me.'

I'm still wondering about that

and by the end I'm finished being head chorister,

I'll still be thinking about why he chose me.

BELLS PEAL

20 years ago, there were no cathedrals in the Church Of England

that allowed girls to become full-time choristers.

Salisbury was the first to break ranks.

Now, 25 other Anglican cathedrals have followed Salisbury's lead.

'Singers in choirs are not just boys.

'Not only boys are gifted with musical sense, as we all know.

'And also,'

we live in times where this idea of only boys and only men can do things

is a lot of nonsense,

and the Church, too - perhaps a bit late in the day -

has also had to learn that lesson,

and wanted to embody the idea of men and women

sharing ministries of all kinds, whether as priests or choristers.

We all have a place within the divine economy

and this should be reflected in the way the Church organises itself.

In 1991, the Church Of England was going through one of its greatest changes

since Henry VIII split with Rome -

passionately divided about whether to ordain women.

So Salisbury's decision to start a separate choir for girls was truly radical.

It's all very well

having a pipe dream like this,

but putting it into practice is a completely different thing.

# ..Father, Son and Holy Spirit

# Rests the Trinity... #

I had to get a "yes" from the Dean, Precentor,

the rest of chapter. I had to get a "yes" from the six men in the choir.

And I think had there been any one of them

that really said, "Richard, if you do this, then I'm off,

or, "You shouldn't do this."

But it was a wonderful "yes" all the way down the line.

I'm hugely grateful to have lived at a time

of rapid social change about women.

You know, I think of all of those girls and women, musically able,

who had no possibility of it ever happening for them.

And so I look at our choristers and I think, "Aren't you lucky?"

and I think, "Aren't I lucky?" to have lived at a time

when the opportunities for women changed pretty rapidly, actually.

It does make you feel very important to be doing this.

Singing is something you have, and it is something that is inside you,

and that's what singing means to me.

-It's just something I'm able to do.

-OK, girls.

We're going to do the Gaelic Blessing of John Rutter. He wrote a piece for the Royal Wedding. Was it good?

-I liked it.

-Unfortunately I didn't hear it.

-You think it was odd?

-Yes.

I'll tell him! I'll give him your address. Are you ready?

The majority reaction to having a girl's choir has been delight.

Euphoria, even.

And, when you see the girls perform, who could resist them?

# Deep peace of the flowing air to you... #

And yet, I regularly get a copy of the newsletter on my desk

that is pledged to oppose girls' choirs.

I get offensive letters from people who tell me girls can't sing.

# ..Deep peace of the running wave to you

# Deep peace... #

And a minority of people still think

that we have sold the past with the English choral tradition.

# ..Deep peace of the quiet earth to you

# Deep peace of the shining star to you

# Deep peace of the gentle night to you

# Moon and stars pour their healing light on you

# Deep peace of Christ

# Of Christ

# The light of the world to you

# Deep peace of Christ to you. #

Quick as you can, please.

Girls, really quick. I need to see uniform going on now, please.

We need to leave in 20 minutes, which includes packing.

Every year, Salisbury Cathedral necessarily loses

up to a third of its choristers.

For ten children, this will be their very last day as a chorister.

'I think I'll miss being a chorister.

'I think it will definitely be a good memory and something to HAVE done.

'I'm finding it hard to sing the top notes

'because my voice is starting to change,

'leaving the boy of me behind.'

It's almost a sense of loyalty that makes it...and pride,

that makes being a chorister great.

-Chorister's blazer.

-That's right.

-The one and only.

'It's really sad.'

I can't believe it's our last day, it's gone so fast.

I remember coming to the boarding house.

We've got two more services left and then it's home time and,

um...then we'll be starting at a new school!

Yeah, it's quite... a really scary thought.

The handing down of the tradition is, of course, vital.

It's what the church more or less works on.

But certainly, in terms of choirs,

you rely on things to be handed from one chorister age group to another.

This incredible feeling that you're only part of a timeline -

a tiny part - I find very humbling.

Thinking I'm just a small part of this

and those choristers are a small part but vital.

CHOIR SINGS

CHORISTERS CHATTER

Shh!

EXCITED CHATTER

Shh! (Guys!)

-Know what I mean?

-It's not the last time we'll...

-I didn't mean that!

It's, like, the last time we'll ever get robed up.

-Yes.

-We'll have to de-robe.

-Tut! The last time we walked over.

-I'm going to cry during the bit where we get up.

-Definitely.

-And during the hymn.

-And the hymn, yeah.

I can't cry in front of parents cos they're just, like...

They just come up to you and go, "Oh!"

My parents don't! They just go, "Man up!"

They'll say, "Oh, it's all right."

ORGAN PLAYS SOFTLY

# Blest pair of Sirens

# Pledges of heaven's joy

# Sphere-born harmonious sisters

# Voice and Verse

# Wed your divine sounds

# And mix't power employ

# Dead things with inbreathed sense

# Able to pierce... #

I am handing down,

not just the burden of tradition...

..but I am also handing down, I hope,

a love of music to the children,

who I hope will pass it on to their children

because that's probably the most important thing to me.

CHOIR SINGS IN UNISON

And I just want them to understand that, for whatever reason,

what we do is desperately important.

I will keep it on for the rest of my life

and I'll always love to hear music and love to play it.

And...I think that...

..after having been a chorister here,

I think everybody in the choir will want to keep on singing.

My fondest memory will be with my friends, actually.

I think I'll look back and say,

"What a great time I had with my friends, singing."

That's just what I did best.

And now, I think, I'm ready to move on, cos you do when you get older.

I think being part of history, itself, is pretty cool.

You could say everyone is part of history,

but to be a chorister is leaving something behind

for someone else to find in the future about you.

Every century has contributed towards this wonderful legacy

and nobody's going to tell me

that that's going to be confined to the dust.

It will go on. Boys and girls will always want to sing.

People are at their happiest when they're singing.

CONGREGATION APPLAUDS

I hope that if you turned up in Salisbury in 800 years' time,

you'll find girls and boys and men singing music.

Of course they should be singing music which is contemporary to them

but you can't ignore the past.

It's what gives us the foundation for all that we do.

Good. Well done! It's tremendous stuff.

Tea and sticky buns...is that right?

Well, lemon drizzle no doubt.

But thanks ever so much.

That was a good service, great stuff from everybody. Don't be upset.

One door closes, another opens, doesn't it?

OK! Shall we lead off, please? Go!

CHORISTERS ARE APPLAUDED

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