Cambridge Blog
The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
For many who have grown up listening to their glorious singing and soaring descants, Christmas Eve would not be complete without the choir of men and choristers known as The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, performing the Nine Lessons and Carols.
The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge is one of the few choral groups whose renown extends far beyond the United Kingdom. This Cambridge Choir is one of today’s most accomplished and respected representatives of the great British choral tradition. Created by King Henry VI, founder of the College in 1441, the Choir’s original (and continuing) task was to provide daily singing in the magnificent Chapel. So connected is the Choir with the Chapel, that it is impossible to think of one without the other.
Stephen Cleobury, the Cambridge Choir’s director since 1982, is the latest of a list of directors that reaches back to 1876, with Arthur Henry Mann, the Choir’s first holding that title. Other notable directors have been Harold Darke (who substituted for Boris Ord from 1940-1945 due to Word War II); Sir David Willcocks, under whose direction the Choir gained more worldwide acquaintance thanks to the BBC broadcasts of its Nine Lessons and Carols performances from the Chapel.
According to the statutes of Cambridge King’s College, there are sixteen choristers. These are the boys who are educated at King’s College School. From the beginning of the 20th century fourteen Undergraduates have also sung in the choir as Choral Scholars. Former members of the Choir (including Directors of Music and Organ Scholars) are able to join the Cambridge King’s College Choir Association.
The fourteen Choral Scholars are male students (usually Undergraduates) at the College. These Cambridge students must succeed at both the general entry requirements as well as the Choral Trials in order to be part of the Choir.
Two of the Choral Scholars are assigned the role of Beater, as Senior and Junior Beater; these two are normally responsible for the direction of the Collegium Regale (Latin for “King’s College”). As the title suggests, these two Choral Scholars usually “beat” (conduct while in the choir stalls) the psalms, and often the introit, during the service, even when the Director of Music is present.
Infrequently, a Lay Clerk may be appointed in place of a Choral Scholar, usually in the event of an unexpected vacancy: for example, when a student, having gained a conditional place at the college (dependent upon A-level grades being achieved) fails to meet the conditions. Such Lay Clerks have all of the same status as a Cambridge Choral Scholar. The few Lay Clerks that have existed (since the establishment of Choral Scholars) have often been Choral Scholars who agree to remain for an additional year.
The Cambridge Choral Scholars comprise collectively, in their spare time, a separate group called Collegium Regale. They sing a wide variety of music that has been composed for men’s voices, from early music to barbershop arrangements, many of these latter having been written exclusively for the group by present or former Choral Scholars.
Interestingly, a number of singing groups have been spawned from groups of Choral Scholars, notably: The King’s Singers; Pange Lingua; Polyphony; and The Scholars.
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