NEWS

More Choral Brilliance!

Saturday, 17th April, and two of our finest choristers headed for Liverpool's Metropolitan Cathedral for the sternest examination of their musical skills and liturgical knowledge. Head Chorister Joseph Mansfield and Benjamin Thompson were to be examined for the highly-prized Bishops' Chorister Award.Thirty minutes later, following a series of gruelling singing tests and questions about the liturgy of the church each emerged relatively unscathed!

Well done to Joe and Ben - they both passed!

It wasnt all over of course; these awards are not easily won, so on Saturday 8th May, both boys formed part of the choir at the RSCM Area Festival where their awards were formally conferred.

The Festival Evensong was at St Anne's Stanley, and the programme was understandably quite difficult; befitting choristers at the peak of their careers. They were put through their paces by the Master of the Choristers at St Anne's Stanley, Geoff Williams, accompanied by the Director of Music at Holy Trinity, Southport, Ian Wells. The music included 'O Lord, the Maker of al thinge' (Joubert) and 'O thou, the central orb' (Wood). The Canticles were a very lively setting by Kelly in C.

Ben (left) and Joe at St Anne's Stanley after being presented with their Bishops' Chorister Awards.

Head Choristers Ben and Joe share a joke with Peter Miller at the Bishops' Chorister Awards Service.

Choir Holiday

Members of St Mary’s choir enjoyed a brilliant trip to the youth hostel at Corris recently. Watch this space for a report to be published shortly.

A trip up another tower

Late October saw an unusual visit for boys, mums and others as the huge tower at Liverpool Cathedral was open for visitors during the evening. A group of us met up with Shannon, (who got us very preferential rates) and we slowly made our way, three at a time, up the tower using two lifts and many steps until we emerged, somewhat breathless 331 feet above the ground.

During the ascent, we passed the highest and heaviest peal of church bells in the world, all 31 tons of it. The views from the top were magnificent and the boys were amazed at how far across the city we could see; as they clambered around they felt like they were on top of the world.

It wouldn’t be choir trip if we didn’t hear some of the beautiful music we enjoy every Sunday, and the boys gave a lovely rendition of Simon Lindley’s ‘Mathew, Mark, Luke & John’. A perfect end to an excellent trip.

Kevin Mulcahy

WANTED!

We are looking for more choir boys!

Peter Miller recently visited St. Mary’s School and auditioned a number of boys, some of whom have been offered places in the choir. It may be that other boys would like to join the choir as probationers – no commitment at first, just an exploratory period!

Anyone who has a son aged between six and ten, and who would like to learn more about choir membership is welcome to attend the meeting. Just come along, or mention it to Peter beforehand. A simple audition to judge suitability is necessary at some stage – singing a few notes and a simple hymn usually suffices.

Peter Miller 226 4273 / 07753 258 504 pmiller1946@hotmail.co.uk

How it used to be!

If the choirboys think that they are hard done by these days, spare a thought for those from years gone by. A choirboy from the 1950’s recently made contact, and this short extract is food for thought for today’s boys. (Maybe one or two from today’s choir remember this chap).

John Warburton was a choirboy in the 1950’s under the watchful eye of Rev’d Frank Jones. John remembers it well:

‘I bet the Choirboys get more than 2/6d (12.5p) per wedding that we got in the late 50's (and you only got picked if you did Communion/Matins and Evensong on the previous Sunday). We looked forward to the beginning of April when most people got married for tax reasons and we could do 5 weddings on a Saturday and earn 12/6d (62p) - this was a 1/4 of my Fathers weekly wage. We actually got paid 4/-

(4 Shillings - (20p)) per three months for being a choirboy! The only outings we had were playing hide and seek in the church grounds’.

John has promised to share more of his memories with us in the future.

The Germans have landed!

The members of the Choir have been kept very busy recently. During Lent we managed to sing Choral Evensong every Sunday – and this involves quite a lot of music, with a different setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis every Sunday, as well as an introit and an anthem.

The men sang Compline every Tuesday evening; this (a further commitment) was well attended, not only by the choristers but also by the members of Gerwyn’s study group. Compline is one of the ancient monastic services sung entirely to plainchant and based around the appointed psalms. The chancel was dimly lit by candle light and subtle use of the church’s electric lighting – as subtle as we could get it, anyway! The calm, peaceful atmosphere was much appreciated and allowed moments for reflection and prayer. The choristers then processed to the Halton Castle for light refreshment – some good real ales – and participated in the weekly quiz which, on one occasion, they won!!

The choir men also enjoyed, one Friday evening, a visit to one of Liverpool’s unique and legendary pubs, full of character and an interesting clientele – Peter Cavanagh’s, in Catherine Street – where they were well looked after by the landlord and enjoyed a good variety of bitter beers.

During Holy Week the choir sang at the daily Eucharists, beginning the week with a performance of Malcolm Williamson’s exciting “Procession of Palms” and ending with a vibrant Solemn Evensong and Procession on Easter Day itself, when C.S. Lang’s exciting setting of “Christ the Lord hath risen!” was the anthem. This Easter evensong, the last of the ten choral services of Holy Week, was attended by the Bishop of Warrington, who spoke, in his sermon, of the special place of Choral Evensong in the worship of the Church of England – and noted with pleasure that the service continues to be sung in St. Mary’s every week. The Bishop took part in the solemn “figure of eight” procession, and censed the high altar during the singing of the Magnificat to Stanford’s wonderfully pompous setting in C. The attendance of choir members at the various Holy Week services was excellent – and much time was spent, not only singing at the services themselves, but also rehearsing the music. Many thanks to them!

Daniel Mansfield, Dean Murray and Craig Thompson (Head Chorister) attended all the choral services and choir practices in Lent, Holy Week and Easter, between 21st February (Ash Wednesday) and 8th April (Easter Day) – [28 attendances in 47 days] a marvellous record! Our regular core of men all rallied round and supported the choir with their usual loyalty. Kevin Mulcahy played the organ for all the choral services in Holy Week and on Easter Day with his usual flair and brilliance, and sensitive, supportive accompaniments.

The senior choir boys enjoyed an “up and down the towers tour” one day in Holy Week and caused quite a disturbance on the way! Aided and abetted by Gerwyn and myself, we first of all clambered around the organ, reaching those parts which others (except the tuner) seldom see, including the first floor where the pipes are, with its interior view of those ugly bricked- up windows. We visited the underground chamber which contains the blower, clambered up the tower stairs to the clock chamber, peered precariously down into the chancel, emerged at the top of the tower and visited the bell chamber on our descent – which is why some older locals might have thought the Germans had, at last, landed. Then, having seen the cathedral tower from the top of St. Mary’s tower, we went into Liverpool and made an ascent of the Cathedral Tower and were able to look across the miles to West Derby and glimpse our own little church tower on the hazy horizon. The afternoon concluded with afternoon tea in the cathedral gallery café…and back to St. Mary’s for more singing.

Peter Miller, April 2007.

BITTER, BLACK SHOES AND BREWER IN D

Interesting reading in my bank holiday Telegraph….Fewer and fewer boys are applying for places in schools attached to cathedrals, churches and university college chapels. The chief reason for this fall is the reluctance of parents to commit their children to the demands it makes on their time, whether it be daily evensong or Sunday services.

The shortage is having a knock-on effect by depleting the pool from which lay clerks - adult male singers - are largely drawn, threatening the future of a musical tradition that has existed for more than a thousand years.

The Master of the Music at York Minster, Philip Moore, said numbers had also been hit by the decline of parish church choirs, a recruiting ground for the boy choristers needed to produce the distinctively pure sound of English cathedral choirs.

Church choirs themselves have also been hit by evangelical clergy who have introduced "happy clappy" worship with guitars and drums.

The Daily Telegraph comments: "The music performed in our cathedrals, churches and chapels, ad majorem Dei gloriam, is one of the pinnacles of our culture. Singing services is both physically demanding and aesthetically satisfying, and often held in a ravishing architectural setting. Far from being reluctant to commit their children, parents should be encouraging them to volunteer for an experience that will enrich the rest of their lives.

Here in West Derby we still manage to maintain a choir of men and boys - though, just like Paul Hale, the Rector Chori at Southwell Minster, the author of this article also occasionally "wakes up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night" worrying about the future of the choir and its members!

Saint Mary's has the only traditional Anglican Church choir of men and boys in the Liverpool area, apart from the two cathedrals. There has been such a choir in Saint Mary's from the very beginning. Our predecessors, men and local boys, sang at the laying of the foundation stone in 1853 when, with ceremonial trowel, the Earl of Sefton descended into an excavation and put the stone in its place.

The choir has always enjoyed a good reputation. Currently we have eighteen boys in the choir who work very hard to perform a variety of choral music at our services - two sung services every Sunday at least, and at least two weekday practices every week as well! In Holy Week (which I count as lasting for ten days, Friday to Easter Day, 7th to 16th April) the boys attended every day, often twice a day, for practices and services. There were never fewer than twelve boys at a service, usually more - a fantastic record! They sang about twenty different pieces of music - not including all the different settings, psalms and hymns. And, of course, the boys' parents spent much time ferrying, fetching and carrying the boys around, washing surplices, and cleaning black shoes and grimy faces.

Our loyal group of men (all ex-choir boys from somewhere or other!) supported the boys superbly, again attending extra practices and singing at daily services - quite unique for a parish church choir, and a considerable achievement. It was good to welcome back once more Adam Price, Gerard Thompson and Jonathan Yates from university.

We need more choir boys now. Please have a word with me if you know of a boy who might be interested in joining the choir. A short, simple audition will be arranged. We practise every Monday and Friday. The boys meet for football at about 6.15 pm (either in the Millennium Centre or on our own pitch!) and this is followed by drinks before the practice proper begins at 7.00 pm.

We also urgently need men to sing alto, tenor or bass. It helps if you can read music and, again, a short audition will be arranged. Please ask if you want to know more. We will share our mints with you and might buy you a pint after choir practice - on the first occasion!

Peter Miller