St Albans Cathedral Choir is an English Cathedral Choir based in

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

, Hertfordshire, England. It is made up of around 20 boy

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 aged 7–14 and 12 adult

lay clerk 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. In 2003 it appeared in the coronation scene of the film

Johnny English ''Johnny English'' is a 2003 spy comedy film directed by Peter Howitt and written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and William Davies. It is a British-French venture produced by StudioCanal and Working Title Films, and distributed by Universal Pi ...

. In addition to the original boys-only choir, there is also St Albans Cathedral Girls' Choir (originally the Abbey Girls' Choir) founded in 1996.

Schedule

Unlike many cathedrals, St Albans does not have its own boarding choir school (although the Choir has strong links with many local day schools, including St Albans School and St Columba's College), meaning that services and rehearsals have to be fitted around a normal school week. Choristers are therefore expected to sing at the Cathedral both before and after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, on which days

Choral 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 beca ...

is sung, and before school on Mondays, in addition to an evening rehearsal with the Lay Clerks on Fridays and the commitment of up to four services over the weekend. A typical week will involve around 18 hours of singing, and over his seven-year career in the Choir a Chorister will spend approximately six months' worth of that singing in the Cathedral.

Touring

The Choir goes on tours to other countries every other year to perform concerts, with past tours including the United States, France, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, Italy, Germany and, in 2017, Spain, during which it performed concerts in

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is in the Inner Plateau ('' Meseta central''), near the northern slopes of t ...

, Madrid and

Alcalá de Henares Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish city in the Community of Madrid. Straddling the Henares River, it is located to the northeast of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municipalities ...

, and sang at a service in the Church of San Andrés in Madrid. In May 2019 it toured Italy, with performances given in

Pesaro Pesaro () is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the Marche, ...

and

Fano Fano is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the '' Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by po ...

Cathedrals, the Church of San Paulo in Fano, and Mass at the Basilica di Loreto.

Traditions

The annual Choir Camp was founded by

Peter Hurford Peter John Hurford OBE (22 November 1930 – 3 March 2019) was a British organist and composer. Life Hurford was born in Minehead, Somerset, to Gladys Hurford (née James) and Hubert Hurford, a solicitor. He was educated at Blundell's School ...

when he was organist at St Albans and held in the hamlet of Luccombe. The tents used by the Choir remained the same since the first Choir Camp in 1958, with most being army surplus from the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. On the Sunday the Choir would sing Choral Eucharist in St Mary's, Luccombe for the parishioners, and on each day the choristers and layclerks would go on hikes, often over ten miles in length, around the Somerset countryside. The Camp celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2008. The Choir also holds an annual cricket match and football match using the grounds of local schools. The games are played between the two 'sides' of the Choir, known in the English choral tradition as

Decani Decani (; la, of the dean) is the side of a church choir occupied by the Dean. In English churches, this is typically the choir stalls on the south side of the chancel. The opposite side is known as Cantoris. The association of the Dean with the ...

and

Cantoris Cantoris (Latin: "of the cantor"; ) is the side of a church choir occupied by the Cantor. In English churches this is typically the choir stalls on the north side of the chancel, although there are some notable exceptions, such as Durham Cathedral, ...

. Dec and Can have a close rivalry with Can winning football for the last 3 years and Dec winning Cricket for the last 3 years as well.

Organists

The Choir is directed by the Master of the Music, currently Andrew Lucas. The Assistant Master of the Music is currently Tom Winpenny. The current Organ Scholar is Dewi Rees.

Masters of the Music

*1302 Adam *1498

Robert Fayrfax Robert Fayrfax (23 April 1464 – 24 October 1521) was an English Renaissance composer, considered the most prominent and influential of the reigns of Kings Henry VII and Henry VIII of England. Biography He was born in Deeping Gate, Linco ...

*1529 Henry Besteney *1820 Thomas Fowler *1831 Edwin Nicholls *1833 Thomas Fowler *1837 Thomas Brooks *1846 John Brooks *1855 William Simmons *1858 John Stocks Booth *1880 George Gaffe *1907 Willie Lewis Luttman *1930 Cuthbert E. Osmond *1937 Albert Charles Tysoe *1947

Meredith Davies (Albert) Meredith Davies CBE (30 July 1922 – 9 March 2005) was a British conductor, renowned for his advocacy of English music by composers such as Benjamin Britten, Frederick Delius and Ralph Vaughan Williams. His co-conducting, with the com ...

*1951 Claude Peter Primrose Burton *1957

*1978

Stephen Darlington Stephen Mark Darlington (born 21 September 1952) is a British choral director and conductor, and president of the Royal College of Organists from 1999–2001. Darlington attended King's School, Worcester. Then during the early 1970s, he was o ...

*1985 Colin Walsh *1988

Barry Rose Barry Michael Rose OBE FRAM FRSCM HonFRCO (born 24 May 1934) is a choir trainer and organist. He is best known for founding the choir and the pattern of daily sung worship at the new Guildford Cathedral in 1961, as well as directing the music a ...

*1998 Andrew Lucas

Assistant Masters of the Music

The assistant master of music at St Albans may also be the Master of Music at St Albans School. For example,

John Rutter John Milford Rutter (born 24 September 1945) is an English composer, conductor, editor, arranger, and record producer, mainly of choral music. Biography Born on 24 September 1945 in London, the son of an industrial chemist and his wife, Rutte ...

's ''Donkey Carol'' is dedicated "to Simon Lindley and the choir of St. Albans School". *1908–09 John Cawley *1921–30 George C. Straker *1936–39 Sydney John Barlow *1948–51 Frederick Carter *1951–70 John Henry Freeman *1970–75

Simon Lindley Simon Lindley (born 10 October 1948) is an English organist, choirmaster, conductor and composer. He was Leeds City Organist from 1976 to 2017 (named City Organist Emeritus in Summer 2017) and is Organist Emeritus of Leeds Minster, having been o ...

*1975–76 John Clough *1976–2001 Andrew Parnell *2001–08 Simon Johnson *2008–current Tom Winpenny

Notable ex-choristers

Rod Argent Rodney Terence Argent (born 14 June 1945) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Argent came to prominence in the mid 1960s as the keyboardist, founder and leader of the ...

(born 1945) – pop musician, founding member of

The Zombies The Zombies are an English rock band formed in the early 1960s in St Albans and led by keyboardist and vocalist Rod Argent and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group had a British and American hit in 1964 with "She's Not There". In the US, two fu ...

and writer of international hits including "

She's Not There "She's Not There" is the debut single by British rock band the Zombies, written by keyboardist Rod Argent. It reached 12 in the UK Singles Chart in September 1964, and 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States at the beginning of ...

", "

Tell Her No "Tell Her No" is a hit single written by Rod Argent and included by English rock band the Zombies on their debut album ''The Zombies'' in 1965. It peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States in March 1965 and was one of thr ...

" and "

Time of the Season "Time of the Season" is a song by the British rock band the Zombies, featured on their 1968 album ''Odessey and Oracle''. It was written by keyboard player Rod Argent and recorded at Abbey Road Studios in August 1967. Over a year after its origin ...

" *

Rogers Covey-Crump Rogers Henry Lewis Covey-Crump (born 1944) is an English tenor noted for his performances in both early music and contemporary classical music. He has sometimes been identified as an ''haute-contre'' tenor. He has performed for over 50 years i ...

(born 1944) – tenor * Mike Newell (born 1942) – film director * Alfred Victor Smith VC Croix de Guerre (1891–1915) – recipient of both the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

and the Croix de Guerre *

Julian Trevelyan Julian Otto Trevelyan (20 February 1910 – 12 July 1988) was an English artist and poet. Early life Trevelyan was the only child to survive to adulthood of Robert Calverley Trevelyan and his wife Elizabeth van der Hoeven. His grandfather wa ...

(born 1998) – concert pianist

Trivia

St Albans Cathedral Choir appeared in the 2003 film

, starring

Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles on the sitcoms '' Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and ''Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and the film series ''Johnny English'' (2003–201 ...

and

John Malkovich John Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Screen Actors Guild Aw ...

, as the choir of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

during the coronation scene.

Performances

St Albans Cathedral Choir most notably hosts the Three Choirs Concert, a key part of the

St Albans International Organ Festival The International Organ Festival (IOF) is a biennial music festival and organ competition held in St Albans, England since 1963. Originally held annually, it was changed to every two years in 1965 due to the complexity of organising the increasin ...

. Since 2015, the Choir has accomplished three

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 ...

broadcasts, and has performed in two

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

television programmes. It has performed with several world-famous choirs, the most recent examples being the 2017 Three Choirs Concert, when it performed jointly with St Paul's Cathedral Choir and Temple Church Choir, and the 2019 Three Choirs Concert, with the Chapel Choir of Jesus College, Cambridge and the choirs of Salisbury Cathedral.

References

External links

St Albans Cathedral Choir website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Albans Cathedral Choir English choirs Cathedral Choir Boys' and men's choirs Music in Hertfordshire