Choristers

The earliest mention of a choir at Lichfield is around 1265 when six choristers chosen by the bishop were mentioned. They were led by a precentor and a deputy called a sub-chanter. A Master Peter is listed in 1272 and he might have been their teacher. It is known boy trebles were singing in cathedrals as early as the year 909 when boys sang in Wells Cathedral. Perhaps, with Lichfield and Wells cathedrals having a similar history it might be conjectured the choristers were boys and earlier than the 13th century at Lichfield.

In the 14th-century choristers wore surplices and caps and were paid a penny each for attending certain special services. They were given a pension on retirement. In 1315, Bishop Langton provided accommodation in the Vicar’s Close for Lay Vicars and they added to the choir.

The earliest singing would have been plainsong or plainchant. If Lichfield was like elsewhere, from the early part of the 14th-century polyphony (literally many sounds) was sung on special occasions.[1] Only a fraction of the music has survived, though composers like John Dunstaple (or Dunstable) were known throughout Europe.[2] His compositions mostly used 3, 4, or 5 parts sung by men and boys.

By 1535, there were twelve choristers and services increased in number including one in the night. Choristers were now taught to read music (pricksong), sing a range of church music, and play the organ. In 1547, the Vicars Choral were allowed one month's leave each year, and the master of the choristers took on the role of choosing and managing the choristers. Bishop Hales left money in 1490 to build a house for the choristers to live together and this was thought to have been completed on the north side of The Close c. 1511. Entrance was by a fine gateway. In 1527, the house had its own cook. 

Gateway to the Chorister’s House, drawn in 1773. The inscription is ‘Domus Choristes’.

 

          After Reformation, 1534, music was purged of idolatrous elements.[3] Eventually much of the music was set to parts of the Book of Common Prayer. This would be a change from chant in Latin to singing in the vernacular.[4] The sung vernacular psalm would have been the main music..

 

In the late 15th-century to the early 16th, a boy-bishop, sometimes called a chorister-bishop, was chosen by fellow choristers on St Nicholas Day, 6th December, and later led a service on Holy Innocents' Day, 28 December. It marked the answer given by Jesus as to who is the greatest. “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.” (Luke Chapter 9 v 46). How this played out at Lichfield is unknown, but if similar, to the service elsewhere the boy was dressed in full bishop's robes with mitre and crozier, and with other boys dressed as assisting priests, they might enter the town to bless the people. There was then a service in the cathedral with the boys occupying the chancel and the adults sitting elsewhere. Special hymns were sung as the boy-bishop presided over the whole liturgy and gave blessings to the church.  A wealthy parishioner often invited all to a feast; though in some cathedrals this was forbidden. The ritual was abolished by the time of Reformation, 1534.

 

Head of a boy wearing a medieval bishop’s mitre and assumed to be a boy-bishop. The head is found on the south wall of the Chapter House.

           Another ritual was to sing from the slit windows on the west front on Palm Sunday. It is a re-enactment of Jesus entering the gates of Jerusalem. Seven choristers had to sing the possibly 9th-century hymn ‘All Glory, Laud and Honour’ as the congregation approached the west front of the cathedral, having processed around the outside of the cathedral. The hidden voices would appear as if the angel statues on the front were singing.

          A third ancient custom was for choristers at Christmas to call at houses with a cup and insist on money or drink. This tradition of wassailing included the eating of Simnel cake with the drink.

         

          In the 16th century the works of Thomas Tallis and William Byrd would have been prominent. If so, the difficulties of singing their compositions would have tasked the combined men and boy choirs. It would also have needed trained instrumentalists. Choral Evensong is often presumed to have been common to this time, but it is not true. Hymns, sung responses, canticles and anthems simply did not exist.[5]  The most commonly sung music was from Thomas Sternhold and John Hopkin’s book, The Whole Book of Psalmes, Collected into English Meter, 1562. There was no organ accompaniment and no harmony. The congregation would follow the parish clerk or cantor line-by-line. This was the music of Anglican worship for over 200 years.[6]

          In the 1580s after the loss of pilgrimage and revenue, there were eight choristers and by 1600, there were few choristers and little money to pay them. They were no longer living together in a chorister’s house. Between 1610 and 1618, the composer Michael East became master of the choristers and remained until his death in 1648. He wrote many anthems used in the cathedral. He built a schoolroom for the choristers above the adjoining gateways of two canonical houses. After the Civil War destruction and by 1663, the choristers' music school was reopened. Little is known about the choir for the next two centuries, but it is assumed the music tradition was being cared for. The works of Henry Purcell would have been favoured and required highly trained singers and instrumentalists. The chorister’s house was rebuilt in 1772.

          In 1794 there were eight choristers which in 1861 increased to ten. The choristers and probationers were now given free education from a schoolmaster appointed in 1866. By the 19th century the metrical psalm tradition was seen as dreary and often sung badly. Church music was now being influenced by compositions from outside of the church. Folk songs, mixed bands and dance tunes began to influence music particularly in non-conformist churches. Many hymns were written in the 18th and 19th centuries, especially in Dissenting Chapels. High Church Anglican clergy frowned on this new, popular singing and choral reform became the response. In time, this became choirs singing and the congregation listening; congregational participation was minimal. Music was entirely with an organ. The choir became positioned close to the clergy and not the congregation. The challenge for cathedrals was to find and fund trained singers. Schools of church music began to be founded and financed.

 

During the early 20th-century, the choristers were housed and educated in Dam Street, outside the Cathedral Close. By the 1930s, the number of choristers had risen to 18, and there were 36 boys (two sets of 18) receiving free education at the chapter's expense. In 1942, the preparatory school was named St. Chad's Cathedral School and feepaying non-choristers were admitted. From 1955, the school occupied the Bishop's Palace. In 1970, there were around 80 boys in the school, of which 18 were choral scholars with fees paid by the chapter. Girls were admitted to the school for the first time in 1974 and a girl choir started in 2006.[7]

          Lichfield Cathedral Chorus, originally Lichfield Cathedral Special Choir, was formed in 1959. Lichfield Cathedral Chamber Choir was formed in 1980–1.

 

          In the cathedral library is a highly valued ‘First Book of Selected Church Music’ from 1641 and known as ‘The Barnard Part Books’. It is seven of the original ten volumes of the first printed collection of music with works by Gibbons, Byrd, Tallis, Morley, Tye, Batten, Parsons and Shepperd. The leather-bound volumes were the work of John Barnard of St Pauls who dedicated them to Charles I.

 

          Paradoxically, cathedrals might have in recent years grown their congregations because of the decline in traditional music and liturgy in parish churches.[8] The success of cultural, ethnic and diverse religions in alternative churches must be connected to their new musical traditions. Clearly, choirs and new forms of music have become an essential part of worship. The cathedral is now a venue for all sorts of musicians and singers as well as concerts.

[1] N. Orme, Going to Church in Medieval England, (Yale: 2021), 78.

[2] J. Morris, A people’s church. A history of the church of England. (London: 2022), 258.

[3] Ibid. 259. Idolatry included references to purgatory, invocation of the saints, transubstantiation, and reference to the pope. Settings to Marian texts were ignored.

[4] Ibid. 260.

[5] Ibid 262. The commonest singing was of ‘metrical psalms’ with a regular metre capable of being sung by the most untrained individual.

[6] Ibid. 263

[7] Salisbury Cathedral was the first to have a girl choir, formed in 1991.

[8] J. Morris (2022), 278.