The Boy's Voice Part 7

Dr. Longhurst takes the boys very young; as soon after seven as possible. In choosing a boy, he requires both voice and ear to be good.

Sometimes a boy excels in the one direction and not in the other; he can sing sweetly, but cannot imitate notes struck at random on the pianoforte, or else he has a poor voice and a good ear. But both endowments are necessary for a chorister. Dr. Longhurst, who was himself a boy at Canterbury, had a compa.s.s at that time of two-and-a-half octaves. As his voice changed he pa.s.sed from first to second treble, then sang alto for seven years, and at last settled to tenor. He does not regard boy altos as desirable in cathedrals, but in parish churches, where no adult male altos are to be had, they are, no doubt, in place.

Dr. Longhurst tells me that as a result of forty-eight years'

experience, he can tell by the look of a boy whether he will make a chorister. There is something about the brows and eyes, and general contour of the face which guides him. He is never mistaken. Some time since a clergyman with whom Dr. Longhurst happened to be staying, ridiculed the idea that the musical capability of boys can be judged by their looks. He took Dr. Longhurst into the village school, and invited him to pick out the boys of the choir as they sat among others at their lessons. This Dr. Longhurst did quite correctly. He has no knowledge of phrenology, and the faculty has come to him simply as the result of long experience.

On the day of my visit I heard the boys practise in their lofty music-room. Dr. Longhurst sat at the grand pianoforte, and the boys were grouped in fours or fives round four music-stands, on which the large folio voice parts, in type or MS., were placed. These desks stood on either side of the piano, so that the boys looked towards Dr.

Longhurst. Not many voice exercises are used, nor is there any talk about the registers. Pure tone is required, and the boys have not "to reason why." Six or seven of the youngest boys took no part in the practice of the service music. When the elder boys had done, the younger came forward and sang some solfeggio exercises. As a help in keeping time the boys clapped their hands sometimes at the first of the bar, and beat the pulses of the music. In the single voice parts, with long rests, this is a help. The boys do not sing any secular music. At one time they did, but now, with the schooling, the ordinary practices, and the violin lessons, there is no time. Flattening does not often occur.

As a rule, when they intone on G, the G remains to the end. The practice of singing the service unaccompanied on Fridays all the year round, and on Wednesdays in addition during Lent, must have a bracing effect on the choir. I was myself present on a Wednesday in Lent, and could detect no falling in pitch. The boys at Canterbury do not appear to receive much formal voice-training, and I attribute the excellent quality of their singing to two facts. First, Dr. Longhurst has evidently a knack of discerning a promising voice; and second, having established a tradition of good singing, the boys, entering at an early age, insensibly fall into it.

DR. BUCK'S BOYS AT NORWICH.

I have gathered from Mr. A. R. Gaul, Mus.B., of Birmingham, some particulars of the work of Dr. Buck, organist of Norwich Cathedral, who was known forty or fifty years ago all over the country as a trainer of boys' voices. Mr. Gaul was a boy at Norwich under Dr. Buck, and underwent the Spartan training which produced such notable results. "No chest voice above F or G" was his rule, and the flute-like voice, which goes by so many names, and is yet so unmistakable when heard, was developed in all the choristers. Dr. Buck had an endless number of contrivances for teaching his boys right ways. Each of them carried about him a pocket looking-gla.s.s, and at practice was taught to hold it in his hand, and watch his mouth as he sang. One finger on top of the other was the gauge for opening the mouth transversely, while nuts were held in the cheeks to secure its proper longitudinal opening. To look at the boys during this exercise, one might think they had the face-ache!

However, no joking over these matters was allowed; there was a penny fine for forgetting the looking-gla.s.s once, and a twopenny fine for forgetting it a second time. To prevent the use of too much breath in singing, Dr. Buck would take a piece of tissue paper, the size of a postage stamp, hang it by a fine thread in front of the mouth, and make the boys sing to it without blowing it away. Tongue-drill consisted in regular motions of the unruly member, until the boys were able to make it lie flat down at the bottom of the mouth, and raise it to the upper teeth as required. It was a daily plan to practise certain pa.s.sages with the lips entirely closed, this was done to prevent the objectionable quality of voice resulting from any stoppage of the nasal organs. There was no sol-faing; various words were used at scale-practice, chosen to develop the vowels, while a code of troublesome words and endings of words was drawn up, and repeated daily by the boys in the speaking-voice, so as to secure clear enunciation. I have more than once seen and heard it stated that Dr. Buck used to make his boys sing through the nose, with closed mouth, in order to get the higher register, but Mr. Gaul does not remember this. Dr. Haydn Keeton informs me that they had boy-altos at Norwich in Dr. Buck's time, so that he must have had more boys than usual to train.

SALISBURY.

A conversation with Mr. C. L. South, the organist and choirmaster, shows him to be a careful and able worker. The boys, who are boarded in the choir school, come from various parts. They are received at from 8 to 11 years; not over 11 unless the boy is very good and forward in music. The boys are chosen for their voices, but given two boys of equal voices, the one who knows most music would be selected. The music practice is an hour a day for five days of the week, under Mr. South himself. "I recognise," he says, "two registers in boys' voices, chest and head, and with careful practice you can get the voices so even that you can hardly tell where one ends and the other begins. The great thing, I believe, is to make the boys sing softly, and to get their register even throughout." Mr. South adds that the imitative power of boys is so strong that the younger ones fall into the habits of the elder ones, and thus make formal teaching about the registers less necessary. For vocal practice he uses Stainer's and Concone's Exercises, also solos like "Jesus, Saviour, I am Thine," and "Let the Saviour's outstretched arm"

(both from Bach's _Pa.s.sion_), as well as Handel's "Rejoice greatly,"

besides florid choruses from the _Messiah_. These are more interesting than formal studies, and they bring out the same points of breathing, phrasing, p.r.o.nunciation, and expression. He sometimes introduces a song of this kind into the service as an anthem. On one occasion, when thirteen boys had sung one of the Bach songs in unison, a member of the congregation asked the name of the soloist. The voices were so perfectly blended that they sounded like one. The full number of boys is eighteen, of whom two at least sing solos. Mr. South does not use nor like boy altos. The service music is selected on eclectic principles, and covers the ground from Gibbons to Villiers Stanford. The boys sometimes give concerts, performing such cantatas as Smart's _King Rene's Daughter_, and Mendelssohn's "Two-part Songs."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Decoration]

CHAPTER XII.

NOTES ON THE PRACTICE OF VARIOUS CHOIRMASTERS IN PARISH CHURCHES.

In the course of journeys and interviews extending over many years I have gathered much experience from choirmasters, and have watched and noted their plans. Here follow some of the results of this work. The churches described are some of them small, and but little known. This fact, however, does not affect the value of the experience. The highest degree of credit is due to the choirmaster who obtains good results from poor materials, and this book is especially intended to help those who have to make the best of ordinary opportunities.

LEEDS PARISH CHURCH.

This church has long been noted for its music, which is sung in cathedral style. There are about thirty boys, whose voices, even up to A, are round and clear, and throughout are big, true, and rich. Notable features of the style of the choir under Dr. Creser, are the long _dim_.

cadences in responses, and the independence which enables the singers to go on without the organ, if the expression suggests it. At the rehearsal in the parochial room Dr. Creser sits at the grand piano with the boys in their cantoris and decani places on each side of him just as in church. The boys rehea.r.s.e five days a week after evensong, and the juniors have an additional practice. After Sat.u.r.day evensong there is a full practice with the men. All the boys are trebles. Yorkshire is about the only district in England which produces adult male altos. The boys are chiefly promoted from district churches. They live at their homes, and receive a free education--the seniors in the Leeds middle-cla.s.s school, and the juniors in the parish church school. There is also a small salary paid quarterly, and when a boy leaves he receives from 15 to 25 if an ordinary chorister, and 50 if a good solo boy. Fines are imposed by the precentor for misbehaviour or mischievous tricks in church or precincts, but not for mistakes in singing. Dr. Creser teaches sight-singing on the lines of Curwen's "How to Read Music." The boys use the old notation, but have learnt it through Tonic Sol-fa, using the course ent.i.tled "Crotchets and Quavers." Occasionally the whole rehearsal consists of sol-faing. In every difficulty as to key relationship the Sol-fa makes matters clear. Dr. Creser was first led to use Tonic Sol-fa by noticing how easy it made the minor mode. The junior boys are always taught by Dr. Creser. Until the voices settle he would on no account delegate them to an a.s.sistant. The two chief rules of voice-training are to forbid forcing the chest register above [Ill.u.s.tration: a music staff with a treble clef and a whole note "E" on the first line.] and to begin scales at the top. Flattening takes place occasionally, but it is nearly always the fault of the congregation, who drag the pitch down. The arrangement of the music-library here is a model of order.

ST. PETER'S, EATON SQUARE, LONDON.

Here, under the direction of Mr. de Manby Sergison, a very fine Anglican service is maintained. There are twenty boys, and a few probationers.

The boys have an hour's practice every day, and sing the Psalms and a hymn at the daily choral service. Formerly a choir boarding-school was kept up, but this was abolished, being found to be too expensive. Now the boys are selected from schools in and near the parish, and Mr.

Sergison finds the ordinary London boy equal to all the demands of the church. When the choir-school was given up he was able within a month to prepare an entirely new set of boys, so proficient that the congregation scarcely noticed a difference. The vocal practice of the boys includes "Concone's Exercises," and their phrasing in the service music is very good. The full choir sings on Sundays and Saints' Days, and their rehearsal takes place once a week in the church, Mr. Sergison being at the organ. In the chapter on the management of choir-boys I have quoted some wise remarks by Mr. Sergison, which explain his success as a choirmaster.

ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, CHELSEA.

This is a Training College for schoolmasters, which has long been noted for its musical services. Mr. Owen Breden, the present organist and choirmaster, is the successor of Dr. Hullah, Mr. May, and the Rev. F.

Helmore. The choir-boys, who number 26, only sing on Sundays. They are drawn from the practicing school, which contains 800 boys. They enter the choir at nine years of age, and there are always six or eight probationers, who attend the practices and are ready to fill vacancies.

Thus a good style of singing is maintained. People say to Mr. Breden, "There is no telling one voice from another, your boys are so much alike." At the bi-weekly practice with Mr. Breden the boys have voice-training. They sing to _la_ and sol-fa syllables scales gradually rising. They are not trained above G, but if a boy has a good G he can always go higher. The boys can all read from the Sol-fa modulator, and Mr. Breden gives them ear-tests. The alto part is taken entirely by boys at St. Mark's. The choir-boys, past and present, perform an operetta in costume every Christmas. Anthems like Macfarren's "The Lord is my Shepherd," Bennett's "G.o.d is a Spirit," Goss's "O Saviour of the world,"

&c., are sung unaccompanied. In fact, whenever the organ part merely duplicates the voices, they take the opportunity at St. Mark's to enjoy the pure chording of human voices.

ST. MARY'S CHURCH, BERLIN.

My friend, Herr Th. Krause, the organist and choirmaster of this church, allowed me to attend a rehearsal of the eighty boys and twenty men who form his fine choir. The large number of boys is explained by the fact that nearly half of them are altos. The motet of the Lutheran church is invariably unaccompanied. It closely resembles in form our anthem, but the German Protestants look upon the _a capella_ style, which continues the tradition of the Sistine Chapel at Rome, as the purest and highest in church music. On no account would they use the organ to accompany a motet. This gives rise to elaborate compositions, often like Mendelssohn's "Judge me, O G.o.d," in eight parts. By treating the boys and men as separate choirs, each in four parts, and getting responses between them, a variety of tone colour, which is almost orchestral, is obtained; and when both choirs unite in solid eight-part harmony, the result is imposing. As the Germans are usually not sight-singers, the labour involved in learning these motets is immense. The higher register of the boys is well trained. They sing up to B flat without effort, and with purest tone. The same may be said of the Dom Choir, for which Mendelssohn wrote his motets. At my last visit to Leipzig, I carried an introduction to Dr. Rust, trainer of the Thomas Church choir, but I was there just after Whitsuntide, when the yearly shifting of cla.s.ses had just taken place, and Dr. Rust, who wished me to hear his boys at their best, asked me not to come to a rehearsal. Speaking generally, the voices of German boys are thinner than those of English boys, more like fifes than flutes.

ST. CLEMENT DANES, STRAND.

The choirmaster here, Mr. F. J. Knapp, is also master of the parish day school. Here he insists on quiet singing, and stops coa.r.s.eness directly.

The boys are taught on the Tonic Sol-fa system, which, says Mr. Knapp, has alone enabled him to produce his results. Some time ago at St.

Stephens, Walworth, he was called upon to produce a choir in a week, and he did this, by nightly rehearsals, to the satisfaction of everyone.

Complete oratorios, with band, were frequently given by this choir of sol-faists. At St. Clement Danes he had to produce a choir in five days, and here again he succeeded by the use of Tonic Sol-fa. "Our choir-boys," he says, "can now sing at sight almost anything I put before them. We never have more than two or three practices (one only, full) for the most difficult anthems we do. There is an anthem every Sunday, a choral communion once a month, offertory sentences on alternate Sundays, cantatas and oratorios at Festivals." Mr. Knapp adopts the useful plan of "tuning-up" his boys before the morning service. Flattening, when it occurs, is due, he considers, to damp weather, a cold church, &c. But he is rarely troubled with it. The boys'

voice exercises are taken at the harmonium, first slow notes to "koo-ah," or to "oo-ay-ah-ee," or to a sentence containing consonants.

This exercise is done both ascending and descending, but especially descending. He also uses the chromatic scale from B flat up to F:--[Ill.u.s.tration: A music staff with a treble clef on the left. Two quarter notes: B flat below the staff and F on the top line.] He tells the boys nothing about the registers, but watches constantly against shouting.

SALZUNGEN CHOIR.

This (Protestant) choir of men and boys is well-known in Germany, and not only sings at Salzungen, but occasionally makes tours, and gives concerts. Herr Muhlfeld, the trainer, tells me that he takes the boys from 11 years of age upwards, and that before entering the choir they have a fair knowledge of notes, and can sing at sight. The voices are examined on entry, low ones being put to sing alto, and high ones being put to sing soprano. The boys have two lessons of an hour each per week, in which they practise exercises, _chorale_, school songs, and church music. Flattening, according to Herr Muhlfeld, is due to (1) bad ear, (2) imperfect training, (3) fatigue of the voice. The boys are taught to listen to each note that they sing, and to make it blend with the instrument or the leading voice. In order to do this they must sing softly, and thus hear their neighbours' voices. The 3rd, 6th, 7th, and 8th tones of the scale are, says Herr Muhlfeld, often sung flat, and exercises should be specially given to secure the intonation of these sounds. The boys must also learn the intervals, and whenever they appear to be tired a pause must be made.

UPTON CROSS BOARD SCHOOL.

This is not a church, but a boys' school, from which a good many choristers are drawn, and where excellent results have been obtained.

The boys have often won prizes in choral compet.i.tions. Mr. H. A. Donald, the headmaster, tells me that he examines the voices of the boys one by one in his own room, once a year. Those who can take G and A [Ill.u.s.tration: musical notation] sweetly and easily are put down as first trebles. Those who can go below C [Ill.u.s.tration: musical notation]

are altos. The rest are second trebles. He finds that after a year a boy's voice will often have changed--a treble become an alto, or vice versa. In modulator practice, and as far as possible in pieces of music, he keeps the trebles above [Ill.u.s.tration: musical notation]. Below this they get coa.r.s.e. He never gives on the modulator an ascending pa.s.sage which begins below this G. One may leap up, and come down by step, but not ascend by step. He uses Mr. Proudman's "Voice-training Exercises"

(J. Curwen & Sons) for first trebles, and his contralto exercises for contraltos. Coa.r.s.eness he checks at once, and he silences boys whose voices are breaking.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Decoration]

CHAPTER XIII.

ALTO BOYS.

How is the alto part, in a church choir consisting of males, to be sung?

In our cathedrals this part has been given, ever since the Restoration, to adult men, generally with ba.s.s voices singing in their "thin"

register. For this voice our composers of the English cathedral school wrote, carrying the part much lower than they would have done if they had been writing for women or boy-singers. For this voice, also, Handel wrote, and the listener at the Handel Festival cannot but feel the strength and resonance which the large number of men altos give to the harmony when the range of the part is low. The voice of the man alto, however, was never common, and is becoming less common than it was. It occupies a curious position, never having been recognised as a solo voice. I have heard of an exceptionally good man alto at Birmingham who was accustomed to sing songs at concerts, but this is an isolated case.

The voice seems to have been generally confined to choral music.

This voice is entirely an English inst.i.tution, unknown on the continent.