The Choir of Salisbury Cathedral exists to sing services in

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The buildi ...

, Wiltshire, England, and has probably been in existence since the consecration of the cathedral in 1258. The choir comprises twenty boy choristers and twenty girl choristers aged from 8 to 13 years and six professional Lay Vicars singing

countertenor A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist (a s ...

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

and bass. Salisbury Cathedral was the first English cathedral to recruit girl choristers (in 1991) and, when in the cathedral, the girls' choir is usually wholly independent of the boys'. The weekly services are equally divided between the boy and girl choristers throughout the school year. The choristers are educated at

Salisbury Cathedral School Salisbury Cathedral School is a co-educational independent school in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, which was founded in 1091 by Saint Osmund. The choristers of Salisbury Cathedral are educated at the school. History The school was founded i ...

, which is situated in the Cathedral Close. The Lay Vicars live locally. In addition to services, the choir is involved in BBC broadcasts, concerts, CD recordings and the annual

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 ...

. The choir also broadcasts frequently on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

and

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

. A documentary programme about the choir was shown on BBC4 television in March 2012 under the title ''Angelic Voices''; it included episodes in the life of the members of both choirs over a four-month period. The choir is directed by the Director of Music, currently David Halls, and accompanied by the Assistant Organist, plus an

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 ...

, who is selected by audition on an annual basis.

Tours

In previous years the boys and men have travelled to Latvia, Estonia and France; the girls have visited Italy and Austria. In 2009 the boys and men of Salisbury Cathedral Choir made their first visit to Salisbury's twinned city of Saintes, France, a visit they repeated together with the girls choir in 2014. Another tour to Salisbury's other twin town of

Xanten Xanten (, Low Rhenish: ''Santen'') is a town in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the district of Wesel. Xanten is known for the Archaeological Park, one of the largest archaeological open air museums in the wor ...

, Germany, took place just after Easter 2016.

Recordings

Recent recordings include: *2019 - Poetry in Music: Musical Settings of Words by George Herbert * 2017 - Music for Sunday * 2016 - Complete Psalms of David Volume 9 Series 2 * 2013
Great Hymns from Salisbury
* 2009 - Christmas at Salisbury Cathedral * 2009 - Bernard Naylor - The Nine Motets * 2009 – Anthems from Salisbury * 2008 – Christmas Carols from Wells and Salisbury * 2008 – The Resurrection * 2006 - The Virgin Mary's Journey * 2004 - Praise and Thanksgiving: Anthems from Salisbury * 2003 - King of Glory: Evensong from Salisbury * 2001 - Angels' Song: The New Music of Salisbury Cathedral * 2001 – From Darkness to Light * 1997 – Britten: Spring Symphony * 1997 – Sing Choirs of Angels * 1996 – An English Chorister's Songbook

Notable former choristers

* Edward Lowe (composer) (c.1602 – 1682) *

Sir Stephen Fox Sir Stephen Fox (27 March 1627 – 28 October 1716) of Farley, Wiltshire, Farley in Wiltshire, of Redlynch, Somerset, Redlynch Park in Somerset, of Chiswick, Middlesex and of Whitehall, was a royal administrator and courtier to King Charles ...

(1627 – 1716) * Bernard Rose (musician) (1916–1996) *

Nicholas Daniel Nicholas Daniel (born 9 January 1962) is a British oboist and conductor. In 2003 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Leicester International Music Festival. Education He was educated at Salisbury Cathedral School and the Purcell School ...

(born 1962),

oboist An oboist (formerly hautboist) is a musician who plays the oboe or any oboe family instrument, including the oboe d'amore, cor anglais or English horn, bass oboe and piccolo oboe or oboe musette. The following is a list of notable past and pres ...

References

External links

Choristers at Salisbury Cathedral SchoolCathedral Friends annual report re musicRecent music listsVideo about the choristers
{{Authority control Girls' and women's choirs English choirs Organisations based in Wiltshire 1258 establishments in England Musical groups established in the 13th century Organizations established in the 1250s

Choir 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 ...

Tours

Recordings

Notable former choristers

See also

References

External links