| From John Coates…….. Women After
reading John Fowler’s article in the January 2006
edition of Community I was prompted as a church
chorister since the age of seven to reply to his comments. John’s
observation about the number of boys in church under the
age of 16 (most of which were in the choir) giving the
message that the boys who are really imported is quite
wrong. There are only two boys in the choir that hail
from our parish, but for the choir the remainder of the
boys would not be attending All Saints, so that the
number in church would be no more than girls. With
regard to the purity of boys' voices I also disagree. I
have recently had three years singing in a church choir
in We are so
lucky at All Saints to have a male choir perhaps the only
one in the Canterbury Diocese (other than the cathedral)
but most certainly in the Maidstone Deanery. I have been
told many times by members of other churches how they
mourn the loss of their traditional male choirs and have
to endure a guitar and a few voices singing religious
songs! Whilst I
am aware that some cathedrals have girls choirs we, at
All Saints, are not in a position to employ full time
musicians to do the same, nor could Peter Richards have
the hours to train such. The knowledge we have about the
demise of choirs once they become mixed starts with the
fat that the boys will not stay and (something not to be
attempted) without boys the future of singing four (or
more) part harmony will eventually disappear as the
choirboys are the choir men of the future. We are
fortunate to have a sister church in our parish who have
soprano voices in the choir, girls who wanted to sing
could join St. Philip’s and they could not be
considered less valuable. I do not
think that maintaining our male choir is referring back
to medieval church. Yes, some of the lovely music we sing
was composed then but we regularly sing works from modern
composers which congregations at Choral Evensong and our
well attended Candlelight Service of Nine Lessons and
Carols bear witness. We should
thank God for the musical tradition that we have
inherited at All Saints, the devotion and expertise of
musicians past and present that we have, and have had is
the envy of many, and they all have descended from CHOIR
BOYS! John
Coates |