Issue 7, June 2003 (Back to Contents)

Stephen Clark, Precentor

This year's May Day Madrigals (Click to enlarge)

All ORs will have clear memories of singing in Chapel. Whether or not Chapel was occasionally a chore, I would be surprised if many ORs don't look back with affection at the time they spent in that beautiful building.

The Chapel Choir is an essential part of all services in Chapel and, despite invaluable help from female Dons and wives, it is increasingly difficult to provide a balanced choir, when very few of even the youngest Shells have any treble voice to speak of when they arrive at Radley.

There are a number of possible solutions to this problem, but by far the most interesting way to tackle this in my view is to see it as more of an opportunity. The cathedral choral tradition in this country of training boys from the age of 8 to 13 to sing as part of an all male choir, whilst not quite unique, is undoubtedly regarded by other countries as a treasure to be nurtured. One has only to look at the respect that British cathedral choirs command worldwide to appreciate the importance of this tradition, of which we at Radley are a part. Ironically, while the public show their appreciation of our choral tradition by buying recordings such as the very successful recent New College CD 'Agnus Dei', this same choral tradition is being chipped away by the demands of modern life and culture, and for the first time in perhaps 800 years, choral foundations are finding it harder and harder to recruit and maintain the quality of their boy choristers.

Here at Radley we are proposing to start a Choristership Scheme, open to boys between the ages of 8 and 12. These boys would sing the treble line at Sunday services in Chapel as well as at other events, meaning that Shells can be more comfortably allocated to the lower parts of alto, tenor and bass. This will bolster both our top line and the numbers singing alto in the choir, enabling us to maintain a balance between all voices.

The young choristers will have many of their rehearsals alone, learning not only the technique of singing through separate specialist lessons, but also music theory and general musicianship. We hope to be able to develop them as all-round musicians, and envisage that, once the scheme is running, many of them may apply for music awards to Radley when their choristerships come to an end.

We will be presenting the scheme primarily to independent and state schools within fairly easy reach of Radley, as we envisage that many of the boys interested in becoming choristers will need to be local. We hope that this will also foster stronger links between Radley, the community and local schools.

In the short time I have been at Radley, I have greatly enjoyed working with the Chapel Choir and I am extremely excited by the possibilities that this scheme offers both to the boys who sing in Chapel, and I hope to those who listen.