The musical foundation of

Chichester Cathedral Chichester Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in West Sussex, England. It was founded as a cathedral in 1075, when the seat of ...

consists of the organist and master of the choristers, the assistant organist and the

organ scholar An organ scholar is a young musician employed as a part-time assistant organist at a cathedral, church or institution where regular choral services are held. The idea of an organ scholarship is to provide the holder with playing, directing and adm ...

; together with six singing men (called

lay vicar A lay clerk, also known as a lay vicar, song man or a vicar choral, is a professional adult singer in an Anglican cathedral and often Roman Catholic Cathedrals in the UK, or (occasionally) collegiate choir in Britain and Ireland. The vicars chora ...

s), eighteen

chorister A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

s, six probationers – and including a head chorister and a senior chorister (deputy head) who both wear a notable medallion on a red ribbon according to their office held. The choristers and probationers are all boarders at the Prebendal School, the cathedral's choir school. The lay vicars are professional singers who all have everyday jobs. During school term, the cathedral has eight sung services a week. As well as singing, choristers learn the piano and an orchestral instrument, spending at least eighteen hours a week on musical performance.

Appearances

Evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. In origin, it is identical to the canonical hour of vespers. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which became ...

is sung by the choir every day, with the exception of Wednesday. Additionally, on Sunday,

Mattins The Daily Office in Anglican churches focuses the traditional canonical hours on daily services of Morning Prayer (also called Matins or Mattins, especially when chanted) and Evening Prayer (called Evensong, especially when celebrated chorally ...

and

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

are sung in the morning. Each year, the choir appears at the

Chichester Festival Theatre Chichester Festival Theatre is a theatre and Grade II* listed building situated in Oaklands Park in the city of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, it was opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Mart ...

at Christmas where they sing Christmas concerts alongside local school choirs, including the Bishop Luffa School Choir, and are accompanied by the Band of HM Royal Marines, Portsmouth. They sing a variety of carols and are directed by the organist and master of the choristers. The choristers return to the Prebendal School in the interval and Close Company perform. ChicChoir1958

The choir sing at the Chichester Festivities each year in a concert called "Chichester Cathedral Choir By Candelight". The programme normally consists of music by composers who are being commemorated that year. As tradition follows, the choir leave the stage and exit the cathedral, carrying

candle A candle is an ignitable wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. A person who makes candle ...

s and singing a

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hy ...

, " The Day thou Gavest Lord is Ended". It is one of the festival's perennial favourites. In the concert, there are also solo items played by the assistant organist and organ scholar. The ensemble accompanying the choir also performs its own piece. They also participate in the

Southern Cathedrals Festival The Southern Cathedrals Festival (known for short as "SCF") is a 5-day music festival held in rotation among the cathedrals of Chichester, Winchester and Salisbury in England, in the penultimate week of July. The festival was restored in 1960 aft ...

with the cathedral choirs of Winchester and

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

. They have taken part in this annual festival since it was first established in 1904. The choir stays at the hosting cathedral's choir school. The choir perform concerts, sing

and participate in

masterclass Yanka Industries, Inc., doing business as MasterClass, is an American online education subscription platform on which students can access tutorials and lectures pre-recorded by experts in various fields. The concept for MasterClass was conceiv ...

es. The choir has appeared with many different artists including

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

Richard Stilgoe Sir Richard Henry Simpson Stilgoe (born 28 March 1943) is a British songwriter, lyricist and musician, and broadcaster who is best known for his humorous songs and frequent television appearances. His output includes collaborations with Andrew ...

the King's Singers The King's Singers are a British a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the 19 ...

, the Cambridge Buskers, the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble and

Cantabile In music, ''cantabile'' , an Italian word, means literally "singable" or "songlike". In instrumental music, it is a particular style of playing designed to imitate the human voice. For 18th-century composers, ''cantabile'' is often synonymous wit ...

. Television appearances have included Placido' Domingo's Christmas programme and ''

Rumpole of the Bailey ''Rumpole of the Bailey'' is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, a middle-aged London barrister who defended a broad variety of clients, oft ...

''. In 2009 their recording of Christmas music won the Critics Christmas Choice of the Year award in both ''

Gramophone Magazine ''Gramophone'' is a magazine published monthly in London, devoted to classical music, particularly to reviews of recordings. It was founded in 1923 by the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie who continued to edit the magazine until 1961. It was ac ...

'' and '' BBC Music Magazine''.

Tours

Each year, the choir visits churches in the

Diocese of Chichester The Diocese of Chichester is a Church of England diocese based in Chichester, covering Sussex. It was founded in 681 as the ancient Diocese of Selsey, which was based at Selsey Abbey, until the see was translated to Chichester in 1075. The cath ...

and sing Evensong. They also frequently tour other countries with links to Chichester Cathedral. Choir tours since 1998 include: *2017 -

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...

and Haarlem, Holland *2015 – Chartres, France *2013 – Bamberg & Bayreuth, Germany *2011 –

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...

, Italy *2010 –

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, Germany *2007 – Bamberg, Germany *2006 – Chartres, France *2006 –

Lessay Lessay () is a commune in the Manche department in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, the former commune of Angoville-sur-Ay was merged into Lessay. Geography Lessay is a small town in the centre of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. His ...

, France *2005 –

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, South Africa *2000 – Bamberg, Germany *2002 – Bayreuth, Germany *1998 – Chartres, France

Recordings

Recordings since 1976 include: *2018 - Lest We Forget *2016 – Long, long ago *2016 – The Complete Psalms of David: Volume 10, Series 2 *2016 – Music for Lent and Passiontide *2013 – The Day Thou Gavest *2012 – Advent Procession *2010 – Holst in Chichester *2009 – Carols from Chichester Cathedral *2007 – Jubilate *2007 – Let Us Lift Up Our Heart: 19th Century Church Music *1999 – Benedicite *1997 – Sing Ye to the Lord *1996 – Chichester Commissions *1996 – Great Cathedral Anthems Vol. 7 *1994 – Malcolm Archer: Requiem *1991 – Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis Vol. 2 *1991 – The Welkin Rings *1984 – 19th Century Church Music by Goss, Ousely, Smart, Stainer and S.S. Wesley *1984 – Cathedral Music by Geoffrey Burgon *1977 – Christmas in Chichester *1976 – In Quires and Places...

Close Company

Close Company is the name used by the

s of Chichester Cathedral when they sing the men's voices barbershop repertory made popular in the United Kingdom by the King's Singers. As well as being professional singers, most of them work everyday jobs. Every evening they are back in the cathedral with the choristers for Evensong at 5.30 pm. The

who has been in the cathedral choir for the longest is given the title of senior lay vicar. Their duties with the cathedral choir also include singing concerts and making concerts in the UK and abroad, but they are perhaps best known for their performances at the annual Christmas Carols, having been part of that tradition since 1993 when they first stepped out in their white jackets. Throughout the rest of the year, Close Company performs in a variety of venues and performances include an evening at the Alexandra Theatre, Bognor Regis, the

Assembly Rooms In Great Britain and Ireland, especially in the 18th century Britain, 18th and 19th centuries, assembly rooms were gathering places for members of the higher social classes open to members of both sexes. At that time most entertaining was done ...

in North Street, St John's College, West Dean College, the Tudor house of St Mary's House, Bramber and the

. On the choir's 2005 tour of South Africa, Close Company had the honour of performing for Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

References

{{Authority control Chichester Cathedral English choirs Year of establishment missing Church choirs British church music

Appearances

Tours

Recordings

Close Company

See also

References