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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boy's Voice, by J. Spencer Curwen
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Boy's Voice
+       A Book of Practical Information on The Training of Boys'
+       Voices For Church Choirs, &c.
+
+Author: J. Spencer Curwen
+
+Release Date: April 17, 2010 [EBook #32023]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY'S VOICE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE BOY'S VOICE.
+
+[Illustration: _CHORISTER BOYS_.
+
+_Photographed by Mr George Hadley, Lincoln_.]
+
+
+
+
+THE BOY'S VOICE
+
+A BOOK OF PRACTICAL INFORMATION ON THE TRAINING OF BOYS' VOICES FOR
+CHURCH CHOIRS, &c.
+
+BY
+
+J. SPENCER CURWEN _Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music; President of
+the Tonic Sol-fa College._
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+London:
+
+J CURWEN & SONS, 8 & 9 WARWICK LANE, E.C.
+
+NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER AND SONS.
+
+_Price Two Shillings and Sixpence._
+
+=1891=
+
+LONDON: J. CURWEN AND SONS, MUSIC-PRINTERS, PLAISTOW, E.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The value of this little book, as the reader will soon discover, depends
+less upon my own work than upon the large number of choirmasters whose
+experience I have been fortunate enough, directly or indirectly, to lay
+under contribution. The conditions of the choir-trainer's work vary, in
+an endless way, according to his surroundings and opportunities. And it
+is just when work becomes difficult that contrivances and hints are most
+fruitfully evolved. Hence I have given in great detail the experiences
+of many correspondents, and some of the most useful suggestions for
+ordinary church choir work will be found to proceed from writers holding
+no great appointment, but seeking quietly and unostentatiously to
+produce good results from poor material.
+
+In view of a second edition, I shall be pleased to receive letters from
+readers who have further experiences to offer.
+
+J. S. C.
+
+_June_, 1891.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+CHAPTER I.                                    PAGES
+The Healthfulness of Singing                    1-5
+
+CHAPTER II.
+Management of the Breath                        6-7
+
+CHAPTER III.
+The Art of Managing Choir Boys                 8-11
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+Voice Training                                12-22
+
+CHAPTER V.
+Information on Voice-Training, collected
+by the Salisbury Diocesan Choral Association  23-26
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+Pronunciation in Singing                      27-28
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+Singing by Ear and by Note                    29-30
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+Flattening, and Singing out of Tune           31-39
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+On the Training of Boys' Voices               40-48
+
+CHAPTER X.
+The Special Difficulties of Agricultural
+Districts                                     49-58
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+Notes on the Practice of various Choirmasters
+in Cathedrals, &c.                            59-68
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+Notes on the Practice of various Choirmasters
+in Parish Churches                            69-74
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+Alto Boys                                     75-89
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+Schools for Choristers                        90-98
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+Concert Songs for Boys                       99-103
+
+[Illustration: THE BOY'S VOICE.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE HEALTHFULNESS OF SINGING.
+
+
+The boy's voice, though an immature organ of delicate structure, is
+capable of much work, providing only that its mechanism be rightly used
+and not forced. Some people are unnecessarily nervous about boys; as a
+rule, under competent guidance, they will get nothing but good from
+vocal work. A cathedral organist wrote to me the other day:--
+
+"Our best solo boy, who has a splendid voice and who sings beautifully,
+has been unwell, and the Dean and Chapter doctor (who has an idea that
+every choir-boy should be as robust as a plough-boy) has just stated
+that the boy is too feeble to remain in the choir. Notwithstanding my
+remonstrances, the Dean and Chapter decided yesterday to uphold the
+doctor. I tried his voice last week, and he sang with full, rich tone up
+to the C above the stave, and that after he had been skating from 9 a.m.
+to 5 p.m. I should have thought that a boy who could skate all day could
+not be in such a 'feeble' state as represented by the medical man. Three
+months ago a boy with a beautiful voice was sent away for the same
+reason. So you see what uphill work it is for me."
+
+It is to be hoped that fastidiousness of this sort is not common. The
+_abuse_ of the voice may lead, of course, to serious results. In the
+_New York Medical Record_ of March 21, 1885, p. 317, there is a case
+recorded of the bursting of a blood vessel through too energetic
+singing, but this is altogether abnormal, and beyond the scope of our
+enquiry. The voice, properly used, will last as long as any other organ,
+and it benefits by exercise. Mr. D. W. Rootham of Bristol, who now at
+middle age has a strong constitution and a fine baritone voice, tells me
+that as a boy at Cambridge he sang for seven years at five services
+every Sunday. The thing seems incredible, and it is an extreme case,
+though it shows what work the voice, properly managed, will do.
+
+Singing, it should be remembered, promotes health. It does so indirectly
+by causing cheerfulness, a genial flow of spirits, and the soothing of
+the nerves. It does so directly by increasing the action of the lungs.
+So far as these organs are concerned, singing is a more energetic form
+of speech. As we sing we breathe deeply, bring more air into contact
+with the lungs, and thus vitalise and purify the blood, giving stimulus
+to the faculties of digestion and nutrition. A physiologist, in fact,
+can trace the effects of singing from the lungs into the blood, from the
+blood into the processes of nutrition, back again into the blood, into
+the nerves, and finally into the brain, which of all organs is most
+dependent upon healthful and well-oxygenated blood. Dr. Martin (organist
+of St. Paul's Cathedral) has had many years' experience in training
+choir-boys, and he tells me that he has never known a boy to injure his
+voice, or lose it through singing. It is a question of method; if the
+voice be used properly it will stand any amount of work. He has seen
+boys disposed to consumption improve in health after joining the choir.
+The medical man who declared that if there were more singing there would
+be less coughing, expressed in a graphic way the healthful influence of
+vocal practice. Parents and guardians need never hesitate to allow their
+sons and charges to become choir-boys under proper choirmasters. They
+may be sure that nothing but good can come of the exercise.
+
+Two cautions only are needed. The first is, not to sing during a cold.
+When a slight inflammation has attacked the larynx--that is, when a cold
+has been taken--the vocal cords are thickened, and the act of
+vocalisation causes them to rub together, which increases the
+inflammation. If the cold is a bad one--that is, if the inflammation is
+great--the singer will be compelled to rest, because the congestive
+swelling of the vocal cords will be so great that they will be unable to
+vibrate sufficiently to produce tone. But whether slight or great, the
+cold demands rest. Otherwise permanent injury may be done to the voice.
+
+The second caution relates to the preservation, not of the boy's voice,
+but of the man's. There is no doubt that it is undesirable for a boy to
+continue to sing after his voice has shown signs of "breaking." What are
+the first signs of this change? Choirmasters notice that the middle
+register becomes weak, without any diminution in the power and quality
+of the upper notes, but that at the same time the thick register grows
+stronger, and the boy can strike middle C with firmness. "The striking
+of middle C," says Mr. G. Bernard Gilbert, "is usually sufficient to
+decide the point." The tradition of teachers is in favour of rest at
+this time, and a well-founded public impression counts for a good deal.
+The fact is that during the time of change not only do the vocal cords
+lengthen, but they are congested. An inflammatory action, like that
+which takes place during a cold, is set up. Hence rest is desirable.
+Nature herself also counsels rest because she reduces the musical value
+of the voice at this time to a low ebb. It becomes husky and of
+uncertain intonation. No doubt cases can be quoted of boys who have sung
+on uninterruptedly and developed into good tenors or basses, but there
+are cases equally strong in which the man's voice has completely failed
+after such a course. Sir Morell Mackenzie is the only medical writer who
+has advocated singing during change of voice, but not even his authority
+can upset the weight of evidence on the other side.
+
+Nevertheless, on the principle of "hear both sides" I quote the
+following from a letter by Mr. E. H. Saxton, choirmaster of St. James's
+church, at Buxton:--
+
+"Upon the question of resting completely from singing during the period
+of change of voice, I hold that one must be guided by the circumstances
+of each individual case. I carefully watch each boy when I am expecting
+the change to commence, and it usually shows itself by the upper thin
+register giving way. If I cannot immediately spare the boy from the
+treble part (and good leading boys are not plentiful), I caution him to
+leave high notes alone, never to force them, and as soon as possible I
+relegate him to the alto part, where he often remains useful to me for a
+year or eighteen months. All the time he is singing the alto part I keep
+watch over him, and forbid his singing as soon as there are indications
+that the effort is in the slightest degree painful. Generally I find
+this prohibition to be only necessary for notes above [Illustration:
+middle f] Should a vacancy occur in the senior choir (if the boy shows
+signs of his voice developing to either tenor or bass) I get him passed
+from the junior to the senior choir, warning him, however, to be very
+careful of his high notes, and never to force them. My general
+experience leads me to the conclusion that it is a most arbitrary and
+unnecessary rule to lay down that every boy should rest at this time. In
+some cases it is necessary, no doubt, but my opinion is, after twenty
+years' practical experience, that in a large number of cases it is
+cruel, and about as much use with regard to the after-development of the
+voice as it would be to prohibit speaking. Speaking practically--not
+scientifically--I hold that the vocal organ is beneficially exercised
+when singing is allowed in moderation, and within the restricted limits
+which every choirmaster ought to know how to apply. I have experienced
+boys who have never rested developing good voices, as well as those who
+have rested. But I have no experience of boys who have never rested
+developing bad voices, though I have of those who did rest. I have three
+boys in one family in my mind now, one of whom had a good alto, the
+other two good soprano voices. The alto and one soprano never rested,
+and developed respectively a good tenor and bass. The other rested
+(through removal to another town), and developed a very indifferent
+bass."
+
+In spite of this weighty and well-argued statement, my own opinion is
+that the preponderance of evidence is in favour of rest. It is certainly
+a new physiological doctrine for a short period of rest to injure or
+prevent the development of any organ. In short, I cannot see how there
+can be any disadvantage in a few months' rest, while from the other
+point of view there can be no musical advantage in the use of an
+unmusical instrument. As soon as the man's voice shows signs of
+settlement its practice should gently begin.
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+MANAGEMENT OF THE BREATH.
+
+
+Breathing in singing is a matter of the utmost importance. The breath is
+the motive power, the primary force, to which the larynx and the
+resonance chamber are but secondary. In speech we can manage with short
+breathing and half-filled lungs, but in sustaining the sounds of song,
+we need to breathe deeply, and to breathe in a right way. Manifestly the
+act of breathing consists of two parts--(1) the drawing in, and (2) the
+letting out of the breath. When we speak of modes of breathing, however,
+we refer to the drawing in of the breath. There are three ways of doing
+this. First, by lowering the diaphragm, and thus compelling the lungs to
+enlarge and fill the vacant space created. Second, by extending the ribs
+sideways, causing the lungs to expand laterally. Third, by drawing up
+the collar-bone and shoulder blades, causing the upper part of the lungs
+to expand. The third method is bad; the ideal breathing is a combination
+of the first and second. Upon this athletes as well as singers are
+agreed. This is the breathing which we practise unconsciously in sleep,
+or in taking a long sniff at a flower. The musical results of bad
+breathing are flattening and a hurrying of the time; hence the
+importance of the matter. Practice may well begin with a few minutes
+devoted to breathing exercises. Let the boys inhale a long breath
+through the nose; hold it for a time, and then slowly exhale. Again let
+them slowly inhale, hold, and exhale quickly, allowing the sides of the
+chest to collapse. Again, let them, while holding the breath, press it
+from the lower to the middle, and to the upper part of the chest, and
+_vice versa_. During this exercise the body should be in the position of
+"stand at ease." The spirometer, a useful but rather expensive little
+instrument, measures accurately lung capacity. These breathing exercises
+may be followed by practice in holding a single tone for a period just
+short of exhaustion.
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE ART OF MANAGING CHOIR BOYS.
+
+
+To some choirmasters the management of their boys is a perfectly easy
+matter; to others it is a constant source of trouble. Everything depends
+upon knack. Max O'Rell has some wise maxims on the subject which it may
+be well to quote. "Face the boys," he says, "or you will be nowhere.
+Always be lively. Never show your temper: to let the boys see that they
+can ruffle you is to give them a victory. Allow no chatting. Never
+over-praise clever boys; never snub dull ones. Never expect any thanks.
+If a boy laughs at a mistake made by another boy, ask him for the answer
+immediately, and he will be dumb. If you do not love boys, never become
+a choir [school] master."
+
+Discipline is preserved by giving the boys seats in the same relative
+position at rehearsal and in church. There should be a double row of
+desks in the practice room, provided with a shelf for books, just as in
+the stalls. If the boys have to hold the books and music in their hands
+they stoop, and the singing suffers. Each boy should have a copy of the
+music, and it should bear his number, so that he is personally
+responsible for its good keeping. Punctuality at rehearsal is important.
+Let the choirmaster call for order at the exact time, and let the roll
+be gone over at once. To be unpunctual, or not to register early
+attendance, is to encourage laxity.
+
+There is no doubt that the long services in many churches are trying to
+the choir boys. In some churches the morning service lasts two hours and
+a quarter. It is very hard even for an adult to keep his thoughts from
+wandering, and his eyes from glancing over the congregation during all
+this time. How much more hard is it, then, for a boy who is by nature a
+fidget, and if healthy, brimming over with activity? Nevertheless boys
+can be trained, if not to control their thoughts, at least to an outward
+reverence and quietude in harmony with the service. Reproof, if it is
+needed, is best administered in private. Boys should be paid, if only a
+small sum; this gives the choirmaster a hold upon them, and enables him
+to impose fines, if necessary. Payment can be increased for those who
+take Tonic Sol-fa or other sight-singing certificates, which of course
+increase their value as choristers. Let it be noted that the voices will
+carry further if the boys hold up their heads. This caution is
+especially needed when they are singing in the kneeling posture.
+
+All that can be done to interest the boys in their work by encouraging
+the social feeling, will be to the advantage of the choir. Their hearts
+are easily won. An excursion, an evening party once a year are great
+attractions. Mr. H. B. Roney, of Chicago, advocates a choir guild, and
+in the choir-room he would have a library, games, puzzles, footballs,
+bats and balls, Indian clubs, and dumb-bells. He would open and warm the
+choir-room an hour before each service and rehearsal. To some extent he
+would let the youngsters govern themselves, and says that the gravity
+with which they will appoint a judge, a jury, sheriff, prisoner, and
+witnesses to try a case of infraction of the choir rules, would bring a
+smile to the face of a graven image. Prizes at Christmas are part of his
+scheme; these should be awarded for such points as punctuality, progress
+in music, reverential demeanour, and general excellence.
+
+According to Mr. Sergison, organist of St. Peter's, Eaton Square,
+London, the choirmaster will have power if he make himself beloved. He
+should enter into the boys' way of looking at things, and remember that
+they have deep feelings. The boys should be arranged in classes, each
+higher class having higher pay, with sundry little privileges. Mr.
+Sergison says that by putting the boys upon their honour, and treating
+them well, he has always maintained strict discipline, and has never
+yet had to resort to corporal punishment. The Rev. E. Husband, of
+Folkestone, who is an enthusiastic choir-trainer, is strongly of opinion
+that for vocal purposes working-class boys are better than the sons of
+gentlemen. He finds that boys of a lower class have richer and fuller
+voices than those above them in the social scale. I was myself present,
+not long since, at a concert at Eton College, and although I was greatly
+struck with the purity of the tone, its volume was thin and somewhat
+shallow. One reason why working-class boys excel, probably, is that
+plain food and outdoor life keep the body in the best condition, so that
+the children of the poor, so long as they are well-nourished, are
+healthier than the children of the rich. But the working-class boys have
+also this advantage, that they begin life at four years of age in an
+Infant School, where they sing every day, and receive systematic Tonic
+Sol-fa teaching which is continued when they pass into the boys'
+department. Boys who are trained under governesses and at private
+preparatory schools often learn no singing at all. It is to be hoped
+that the diffusion of musical knowledge will make these
+class-comparisons, from a musical point of view, unnecessary. The
+choir-boys of Christ Church, Oxford, are all the sons of professional
+men, but then the choice is a wide one, as they come from all parts of
+the country.
+
+The precentor of a cathedral writes to me on an important branch of our
+subject. I sincerely hope that his picture is not one that is generally
+true:--
+
+"My own experience would suggest that in connection with the training of
+cathedral choristers the attention of cathedral organists might be very
+advantageously drawn to the very great importance of efficiency in the
+art of teaching--of imparting knowledge. The instruction given may be as
+good as could well be desired, but the manner of imparting it just as
+bad--such as would be condemned in any well-conducted Public Elementary
+School. Uncontrolled temper, the cane, boxing of the ears, are matters
+which go far to prove a teacher very seriously incompetent as a teacher.
+A cathedral organist is specially exposed to the temptation to
+hastiness and harshness, owing to the power he possesses. A parent
+values the position of a chorister for his son, and the organist is
+tempted soon to take advantage of the parent's unwillingness to withdraw
+his son. In a parish choir, either voluntary or paid at a very low rate,
+the exhibition of bad temper or discourtesy in manner is quickly
+followed, in all probability, by the loss of the offended chorister.
+Offensive manners on the part of the trainer quickly endanger the
+existence of the choir. Not so in cathedrals, and the cathedral organist
+knows this. 'I cannot think why that boy does not sing in tune; I have
+boxed his ears;' said a cathedral organist once to me quite seriously.
+This proves, I think, how blind even a highly-trained musician may be to
+the need for any art in the mode of imparting instruction. I fear there
+is a vulgar notion (only half defined, most probably) that irascibility
+in the musical trainer is a mark of genius. I write from experience,
+having been upwards of a quarter of a century in cathedrals, and a
+considerable portion of that time precentor."
+
+In conclusion, the custom of throwing a halo of sentiment round
+choir-boys, and petting them, is much to be deprecated. It has become
+the custom to write tales and songs about them, in which they are made
+out to be little angels in disguise. All this is very foolish and
+harmful. Choir-boys, as a rule, are no better and no worse than other
+boys. They respond well to wise treatment, but need to be governed by
+common sense, and to be taught their places. I am myself somewhat to
+blame for illustrating this book with two pictures of choir boys. It is
+really inconsistent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+VOICE TRAINING.
+
+
+                  { C2
+                  { B1
+    Small         { A1
+                  { G1
+                  {F1
+    Upper Thin.   {E1
+                 { {D1
+                 {C1
+    Lower Thin.  {B
+                 {A
+                 {G
+                 { {F
+    Upper Thick.  {E
+                  {D
+                  { C
+    Lower Thick.  { B_1
+                  { A_1
+                  { G_1
+
+Before commencing to train a voice the choirmaster must make sure that
+it is a voice worth training. He must take the boy alone, test his voice
+by singing scales, and try especially his notes in the treble compass,
+say, [Illustration: musical notation] He must test his ear by playing
+phrases, and asking the boy to sing them. He must enquire into his
+theoretical knowledge, if any, and ask if he has had a Tonic Sol-fa or
+any other systematic training. The ear of the choirmaster must decide
+upon the voice. It is said by some that boys' voices partake of one or
+other of two qualities, the flute quality or the oboe quality. They
+differ, no doubt, in _timbre_, but these two divisions are not clearly
+marked. The diagram at the side gives the compass of the registers in
+boy trebles and altos. The names are those invented by the late John
+Curwen, and have the advantage of describing the physiological action
+that goes on. Thus in the Thick Register, the vocal cords vibrate in
+their whole thickness; in the Thin Register their thin edges alone
+vibrate; and in the Small Register a small aperture only is made,
+through which the sound comes. The registers are practically the same as
+those of women's voices. They may be shown on the staff, thus:--
+
+[Illustration: Lower Thick. Upper Thick. Lower Thin. Upper Thin. Small.
+
+Chest. Middle. Falsetto.]
+
+I give below the staff another set of names which are sometimes used,
+but different voice-trainers attach to these different meanings.
+
+It is undesirable to tell the boys anything about the registers. The
+spirit of voice-training at the present time is too analytical. The
+theory of the registers is for the teacher, not for the pupil. Some
+voice-trainers seem to think that it is their business to discover the
+registers, but as far as tone goes it is their business to conceal them.
+Trainers work better through possessing physiological knowledge, but the
+end is a smooth and homogeneous voice, blended and well-built.
+
+Roughly speaking, the boys to be rejected are those who through
+carelessness, excitement, or confirmed habit, force up the thick
+register while singing. And those to be accepted are the boys who have
+sufficient reserve and care to turn into the fluty tone at the proper
+place, whether the music be loud or soft, and whatever be the shape of
+the melodic passage. The right use of the voice is most likely to come
+from boys who, whatever their social status, are well brought up, and
+have been taught to avoid screaming, coarse laughing and bawling, and if
+possible to speak in a clear way.
+
+Voice studies are of two kinds. First come those which promote the
+building and setting of the voice. These are generally sung slowly. When
+the voice is becoming settled exercises for agility may be introduced.
+Of agility exercises most voice-training books contain plenty. There is
+a good selection in Mr. Sinclair Dunn's "The Solo Singer's Vade Mecum"
+(J. Curwen & Sons, price 1s.) and Sir John Stainer has written a set,
+printed on a card, which is published by Mowbray, Oxford and London,
+price 6d.
+
+When the system of probationers is at work the voice-building exercises
+will not be much needed. The little boys will insensibly fall into right
+habits. They will learn to produce tone as they learnt to speak--by ear.
+But when a new choir has to be formed, the building exercises are
+necessary. And the first object of these is to make the boy feel the
+thin register and strengthen it by use. For this purpose such phrases as
+these, which leap into the thin register, and quit it by step are the
+best:--
+
+[Illustration: KEY =E=[b]. d1 t l s d1 t l s m1 r1 d1 t d1]
+
+[Illustration: KEY =G=. s f m r f m r d l s f s m]
+
+These exercises should be sung to several vowels, but especially to the
+sound "koo," which will at first immensely amuse the boys, but will
+afterwards be found to throw the tone forward towards the teeth in a way
+that no other sound does.
+
+Pure vowel tone goes with pure and resonant voice. The broad and pure
+vowels of the Yorkshire dialect have, more than anything else, produced
+the Yorkshire voices. Hence the choirmaster must make a determined
+effort to cure provincialisms in so far as they prevent the issue of
+pure vowel sounds from the mouth. The vowels should be sung in their
+vocal order as recommended by Mr. Behnke, oo (as in _you_), o (as in
+_owe_), ah (as in _Shah_), a (as _pay_), and ee (as in _see_). These may
+be taken to slow scales, thus:--
+
+[Illustration: oo-o-ah-a-ee oo-o-ah-a-ee, &c.]
+
+Let the choirmaster watch carefully for impure sounds, and call upon
+each boy to sing two measures by himself from time to time.
+
+In singing the boy should stand upright and free. He must not lean or
+bend his body. The mouth must be fairly opened, but not too wide. As the
+voice ascends the mouth opens wider. The lips must lie lightly on the
+teeth, and the tongue should lie at rest, just touching the front teeth.
+If, for the sake of change during a long rehearsal, the boys sit, let it
+be remembered that there are many ways of sitting, and that the upright
+posture hinders the breath less than lolling and a crooked posture.
+Rigidity is the enemy of all good singing. Let the whole body and vocal
+apparatus be relaxed, and pure tone will result. "If I hear a boy
+forcing up his voice," said Herr Eglinger, of Basel, to me, "I ask the
+rest of the class to point him out, and they do it at once." This at
+once cures the transgressor and sharpens the consciences of the other
+boys. As to the vowel on which singers should be trained, there are
+differences of opinion. Maurice Strakosch, the trainer of Patti,
+Nilsson, &c., used "ha," which causes a slight breath to precede the
+articulation. This, he said, gives the voice a natural start. It is
+something like the "koo" of Mrs. Seiler. Learners he required to lower
+their heads while singing, and to show the upper teeth, so as to keep
+the lips out of the way of the tone. Mr. Barnicott, a successful
+choirmaster at Taunton, uses "ka." But as in the actual singing of the
+English language all the vowels are encountered in turn, it would seem
+reasonable that they should all be included in the practice.
+
+Mr. Walter Brooks, quoted elsewhere, lays stress upon long-sustained
+notes in the scale of E flat, and up to G. These expand the lower part
+of the lungs, and produce steady, firm tone. They should be sung both
+loud and soft, the boys one by one and together. An admirable plan is to
+keep boys on the alert listening for faults, asking those not singing,
+"Whose fault is that?" Jealousy and conceit, says Mr. Brooks, are
+avoided by giving a solo to three or four boys to sing in unison. Three
+or four will blend better than two, and after proper rehearsal the tone
+is so like one voice that people say, "What a beautiful voice that boy
+has!"
+
+As to balance of parts, the following table is given by Mr. H. B. Roney
+of Chicago:--
+
+    Sopranos    12    17    25    37    50
+    Altos        4     5     7    11    14
+    Tenors       4     5     8    11    14
+    Basses       5     8    10    16    22
+                --    --    --    --    --
+                25    35    50    75   100
+
+Mr. Stocks Hammond says that during voice exercise the boys should stand
+perfectly erect, with mouth well open, the shoulders being thrown back.
+After exercise in slowly inhaling and exhaling the breath, comes the
+uniting of the registers. This is accomplished by singing up and down
+the scales of C, D, and E to the syllable "ah." Each tone is taken with
+decision, and is followed by a slight pause. The same scales are
+afterwards sung to "oh" and "oo." This exercise should not last longer
+that ten or fifteen minutes. Staccato scales to "ah!" "oh!" and
+chromatic passages are introduced later.
+
+Mr. G. Bernard Gilbert, F.C.O., of West Ham Parish Church, is an
+exceptionally skilled trainer of boys' voices. He meets his boys
+half-an-hour before each of the Sunday Services and "tunes them up," an
+admirable plan, which cannot be too widely imitated. The first thing he
+does in training boys is to teach them to attack and leave sounds with
+precision, neatness, and proper register or quality of voice. He gives
+chief attention to the sounds between [Illustration: here the author
+expresses a range from the F above middle-C (or F4) to the C above
+middle-C (C5) by inserting a staff] and first practises them. If beauty
+of tone is to be obtained, it is of the utmost importance that these
+sounds should be given in the thin register. Mr. Gilbert has cultivated
+this register in his own voice, and is able to give the boys a pattern
+in the right octave, which he thinks of great use. The change from upper
+thick to lower thin takes place between E and F. The boys should intone
+in the thin register. Flattening while intoning is almost entirely due
+to boys using the thick register. Mr. Gilbert uses the vowels as
+arranged by Mr. Behnke, oo-o-ah-ai-ee, practised first with a slight
+breath between each, afterwards all in one breath, _piano_ and
+_staccato_. Consonants preceding these vowels are of little value, as
+they only disguise a wrong action of the glottis, without removing the
+fault. He uses also sustained sounds, and short major or minor arpeggi,
+and last of all scale passages. If due attention be given to the
+intonation of the arpeggio, the scale should not be, as it too often is,
+all out of tune. The arpeggio is its skeleton or framework. Mr. Gilbert
+alternates this work with the singing of intervals and the practice of
+time rhythms. He attaches great value to the vowel "e" in practising
+sustained notes, scales or arpeggi, though other vowels must receive due
+attention. "E" has the advantage of bringing the vocal cords very close
+to together, thereby effecting a greater economy of the breath than is
+possible with the other vowels. He has constantly succeeded in making
+boys produce a pure and beautiful tone to this vowel, especially in that
+part of the voice called the upper thin, when he could not do so with
+the others. Of course "e" can be sung badly, and boys will sometimes
+make a nasal squeak of it, but the correct placing of the tone is
+quickly learnt if the teeth are kept nicely apart. Mr. Gilbert teaches
+the boys when very young the mechanism which governs their voices above
+[Illustration: high f] This is the "small" register. He is careful also
+about pronunciation, recommends that boys should be paid, and that bad
+behaviour, laziness, or irregularity, if they occur, should be punished
+by fines. One of the most marked excellences of Mr. Gilbert's choir is
+its chanting, and the elocutional phrasing of the words of the hymns.
+The rigidity of the time is often broken with impressive effect in
+order, by an elocutional pause, to throw into relief a prominent word or
+idea.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mr. T. H. Collinson, Mus.B., organist of St. Mary's Cathedral,
+Edinburgh, has given me some interesting particulars of the training
+which his excellent boys undergo. The process of selection is as
+follows:--(1) Advertisement. (2) Trial of voice, and entry of
+particulars of school, school standard, father's occupation, &c. (3)
+Choice of most promising voices. (4) Inspection of homes, as to
+overcrowding, &c. (5) Appointment of probationers. (6) Full appointment,
+with religious service of admission by the Dean. The parents engage in
+writing to retain the child in the choir school until his voice changes,
+or to the average age of fourteen. The boys are taken at all ages from 9
+to 12-1/2.
+
+"Cultivation of tone, blending of registers, and accuracy of pitch are
+specially studied, the principal means being as follows:--(1)
+Mouth-opening (silently). (2) Breathing exercise. (3) Sustained notes
+_piano_, each to full length of breath. (4) _Piano_ scales. (5) Simple
+flexibility exercises, _e.g._, Sir J. Stainer's card of exercises,
+published by Mowbray. (6) _Crescendo_ and _Diminuendo_. (7) Behnke's
+resonance vowels, oo-o-ah. (8) Behnke's glottis-stroke exercises,
+oo-o-ah-ai-ee. (9) No accompaniment, except a single note on the
+pianoforte every three or four bars to test pitch. Where badly flat, a
+scolding, and going back to try over again. (10) At early morning
+practice no _forte_ singing is allowed, as a rule.
+
+"By the above means, especially sustained notes and _piano_ scales,
+flatness is easily avoided, and the registers blend perfectly. A curious
+local peculiarity has to be specially treated in the junior boys. The
+Scottish 'u' as in 'gude' (good), 'puir' (poor), 'nü' (new), is
+identical with the French 'u' in 'tu' or 'Hugo,' and the little fellows
+sing an amusing exercise like the following:--
+
+    You should do two,
+
+on every note of the scale, with special care to protrude the lips to a
+round whistling shape for the 'oo.' Very oddly they sing a good 'oo' in
+the falsetto register, and a certain solo boy used to sing Handel's 'How
+beautiful are the feet' in its first two phrases in alternate Scotch and
+English, the vinegary 'ü' in the first (low) phrase, and a fine round
+'oo' in the higher phrase, where 'beautiful' begins on E flat.
+
+"Raw candidates and ill-taught children generally come minus any
+register at all above [Illustration: high d] and grin with surprise on
+being taught to produce sweet upper notes by open-mouth _piano_ 'ah.'
+
+"Colds and petty hoarseness, interfering with the upper notes, are
+terribly common in this climate in the class of boys obtained for the
+choir. A successful soloist at Friday rehearsal may be found incompetent
+by Sunday, so that all solo work is carefully understudied. A few
+minutes each day suffice for the purely technical voice exercises. The
+services are many in number; three on Sunday, two on week-days, and
+occasional extra services at special seasons. The number of boys is kept
+up to say 30, and they are worked in divisions to minimise their duties.
+The boys are educated free, and seniors receive payment. 'I think that
+boys' voices are much like unto boys' legs--they need daily exercise if
+they are to be worth anything.'"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mr. R. H. Saxton, of Buxton, writes:--"My choir boys are almost
+exclusively drawn from the working class, and the majority of them use
+the thick register for the speaking voice. I take them at nine years of
+age, sometimes younger if they can read fairly well, and my first effort
+is to suppress the thick register altogether in singing. If they were
+encouraged to use it they would most certainly abuse it by carrying it
+far beyond its proper range. Soft singing is the only effective plan I
+know of for removing the tendency to use the thick register. This I
+insist on in modulator voluntaries and time exercises. The time
+exercises are always laa'd on or above [Illustration: middle A]. In
+modulator work I at first avoid beginning in the lower keys where the
+thick register would naturally be used. By thus constantly cultivating
+the thin register, never allowing faulty intonation to pass unnoticed,
+and always checking the natural tendency of boys to sing coarsely;
+together with a free use of ear exercises, in which they are taught to
+recognise tones by their mental effect, I succeed at last in getting
+fairly good tone. It is, however, a work of time and difficulty, on
+account of the daily surroundings of the boys, and the habitually coarse
+way in which they are allowed to sing in school. To avoid flattening, I
+believe the course I have indicated to be the best remedy, as eye, ear,
+and voice are cultivated simultaneously.
+
+"In training the thin register special care must be taken that the Upper
+Thin is brought out at [Illustration: high d] and it is often better
+that the C also should be taken in the Upper Thin. A strained Lower Thin
+on C sharp or D will be sure to induce flattening, while if the Upper
+Thin is properly used there is no difficulty whatever in using the high
+D and E within reasonable limits as the reciting note in chanting. When
+the music moves about stepwise in close proximity above and below the
+breaks, we have another cause of flattening. As most of our country
+choirs consist at the best of but partly-trained voices, composers and
+choirmasters should bear this in mind. It must not be supposed that boys
+are the sole cause of flattening. Far from it, they are too often the
+victims of an untuneful tenor or bass.
+
+"From the first moment a boy comes under my care he is encouraged to
+take the Tonic Sol-fa certificates, and few leave the choir without
+having passed the Intermediate. I am of course now speaking of those
+boys who remain with us till they are no longer of use as boys."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I append an extract from a letter by Mr. J. C. E. Taylor, master of the
+Boys' National School at Penzance, and choirmaster of St. Mary's Church,
+which is interesting as showing the extent to which singing by ear can
+be carried:--
+
+"The children here, as in most Cornish towns, are fond of music, and
+have a quick ear. I pick my boys from a school of nearly 400. I choose
+them by the way they _read_ in school. They are generally of Standard
+V., and between ten and eleven years of age. If younger the Psalms
+puzzle them. I try a new boy's voice at the choir practice. If he has a
+sweet tone, and can reach F sharp, however faintly, I accept him, and
+keep him on probation at the practices. About half-a-dozen are so kept,
+and the best lad fills any vacancy occurring in the choir. I have no
+trouble as regards discipline, as a fine, or the knowledge that their
+places can be instantly filled by the probationers, keeps the choristers
+well in their places. At the choir practices I begin with running up and
+down the scales with their voices together, beginning soft, and allowing
+the voices to increase as the scales ascend, and diminish on descending,
+but holding on to the top-most notes whilst I play a chord or two on it.
+Then with a nod of my head they descend. At times one note is given them
+on which to _cres._ and _dim._, for breathing exercise. Not one lad
+knows his notes except as to their rise and fall and values. They depend
+on their ear entirely, even in the most difficult fugues."
+
+At this church anthems and settings of the Canticles are sung every
+Sunday evening. The men are voluntary; the head boys get from 30s. to
+40s. a year, the solo boys receiving 3d. or 6d. as an encouragement
+after rendering a solo or verse part.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In spite of all that can be written on the subject of voice-training,
+the art is one most difficult to communicate. Some teachers succeed;
+others fail. A remarkable instance of this came under my notice lately.
+The headmaster of a school asked me to pay his boys a visit in order, if
+possible, to discover the reason of the great falling-off in their
+singing. His previous singing-teacher had brought the boys to a high
+pitch of excellence. When he left, the singing was placed under the
+charge of an undermaster, who had for a year or more heard all the
+singing lessons given by his predecessor, who used the same voice
+exercises with the same boys in the same room. Surely, one would have
+thought the results must be the same. But the singing had deteriorated;
+flattening, and a lifeless manner had overcome the boys. The causes, so
+far as I could discover, were first that the new teacher wanted the
+magnetic, enthusiastic way of the old, and second, that he had not so
+quick an ear for change of register, and allowed the lower mechanism of
+the voice to be forced up higher than its proper limits.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+This chapter focuses a large amount of valuable experience, but amid the
+many hints which are given, two ways of securing right tone stand out
+with marked prominence. They are, soft singing, and the downward
+practice of scales.
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+INFORMATION ON VOICE-TRAINING, COLLECTED BY THE SALISBURY DIOCESAN
+CHORAL ASSOCIATION.
+
+
+I am indebted to the Rev. W. Miles Barnes, rector of Monkton,
+Dorchester, for the following information, recently obtained by him on
+the subject of voice-training. It appears that for the information of
+choir instructors (some 200 in number) in union with the Salisbury
+Diocesan Choral Association, the advice of precentors and organists of
+cathedrals was lately sought as to the best way of correcting a very
+common fault in the singing of country choirs.
+
+The following questions were proposed:
+
+"(I.) It is a common practice in country choirs for boys and
+tenors to force the lower register to sing notes which
+should be taken in the higher or head register. The
+notes thus forced are harsh and unmusical in tone, and
+generally flat in pitch. How would you correct this
+fault in boys?"
+
+"(II.) What method is employed in ---- Cathedral for developing
+and strengthening the higher (head) register in
+boys' voices?"
+
+The following are extracts from the replies:--
+
+    Rev. F. J. HELMORE, Precentor of Canterbury.
+
+I should recommend the practice of the first five notes of the scales of
+A, B[b], B, and C, _piano_, taken rather slowly, and then of intervals
+from G to D, G to E[b], G to E, A to E, &c. &c. After that I would try
+them with the complete scales of E, F, F[#], and G, fast and _forte_,
+thus:--
+
+[Illustration: musical notation]
+
+If no improvement is perceptible, begin again. Practice is the main
+thing, after a boy has got to understand his faults.
+
+    Rev. W. MANN, M.A., Precentor of Bristol.
+
+(1.) I think it almost impossible to remedy the evil you complain of
+after the boys have been accustomed to sing upper notes from the chest
+for some time--say one or two years. Our practice here is to secure boys
+between the ages of 9 and 11, before they have been singing elsewhere,
+or certainly before they have acquired any faulty tricks of forcing the
+voice.
+
+(2.) In training boys' voices never allow them to shout. If they
+commence singing when young they may be taught by scale practice (always
+singing quietly) to bridge over the break which exists between the chest
+and head voice. This is an art, and requires experience.
+
+(3.) Speaking generally, I should say that judicious scale practice is
+the remedy likely to be of most service in the case specified, teaching
+boys, by singing quietly, to glide the chest voice into the upper
+register. I recommend the syllable "la" as generally best for the
+purpose all through the scale. Boys should keep their tongues down, open
+mouths well, sing not through teeth, &c. &c. I find that boys acquire
+the cathedral style of singing (with the well-known flute or bell-like
+tone) chiefly by example. In singing with boys who have already acquired
+it the younger ones catch the style, just as birds are taught to sing by
+trained songsters. The untrained rustic can never naturally produce this
+tone, but much may be done by (1) careful scale practice; (2) strict
+enforcement of a quiet easy style, and rigid prohibition of shouting, or
+forcing the voice; (3) the occasional example of trained singers.
+
+    Rev. C. HYLTON STEWART, Precentor of Chester.
+
+The great thing is not to train boys _up_ through break in the voice,
+but _down_ through it, and so to coach them that the break becomes
+imperceptible. The top notes ought to be practised very softly until a
+good round note is procured. This, however, can seldom be done out of a
+cathedral, as it requires constant attention.
+
+    Rev. W. E. DICKSON, Precentor of Ely.
+
+In this Cathedral, and I suppose in every other, the boys have at least
+one hour of daily practice under the most favourable circumstances of
+quiet music-room and good pianoforte, and an able teacher. The two
+orderly services follow with the regularity of a clock, and in these the
+voices of the boys are balanced and supported by those of adult
+singers--presumably, good vocalists.
+
+I think you will agree that no practical rules, available by instructors
+of village choirs, can be founded upon arrangements so far beyond their
+reach. To describe any "Method" of developing voices under such
+circumstances would be quite delusive.
+
+A life-long experience in the training of parish choirs would lead me to
+say that the best approach to true voice production is made when a lady
+takes charge of the choir, and has the boys to practise at her own
+house.
+
+To say that all instructors should use unwearied diligence and unfailing
+patience and kindness in the attempt to get soft singing, is only to
+repeat a very trite remark.
+
+In schools, the mistake is often made of singing almost all the
+exercises in the key of C, and commencing all scales with the syllable
+"Do." In trying candidates for admission to the choir, we constantly
+find that they have been accustomed to a scale of 13 notes only (one
+octave) up and down. The scales should begin on all or any of the
+notes--D[#], B[Symbol: natural], G[b], &c., and the peculiarities of the
+intervals should be familiarly explained.
+
+A pamphlet might be written. But there is no "Royal road."
+
+    J. M. W. YOUNG, Esq., Organist of Lincoln.
+
+The precentor has forwarded your note to me. In answer to your question
+asking how to prevent the trebles in country choirs from forcing the
+upper notes, I would suggest that when practising the choir, care should
+be taken that the trebles are never allowed to sing even the _middle_
+notes _loud_, only _mf_, and they should be frequently practised to sing
+_piano_. If this be attended to, it will, in a great measure, prevent
+the forcing of the voice on the higher notes, which should never be
+practised otherwise than softly.
+
+Country choirs nearly always sing twice as loud as they ought to do,
+consequently the tone becomes harsh and grating, and they invariably
+sing the upper notes out of tune.
+
+I never allow the Cathedral choristers to practise in a loud tone of
+voice, yet their voices are rich and mellow, and there is never any want
+of power when it is required. Any tendency to force the voice is checked
+at once. It will be found very useful to practise the trebles with the
+diatonic scale at a moderately quick pace, taking care to sing it
+_smoothly_ and _piano throughout_, first to "OO," next to "Oh," and
+finally to "Ah."
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+PRONUNCIATION IN SINGING.
+
+
+It is impossible to emphasise too strongly the importance of clear
+pronunciation in singing. The English, as a rule, pronounce
+indistinctly. "We carry on our talk," says Mr. H. Deacon, "in mere
+_smudges_ of sound," a graphic and true way of putting things. The
+Scotch, Welsh, and Americans pronounce better than we do. Indistinctness
+and bad dialect arise, roughly speaking, from two sources--impure vowels
+and omitted consonants. The impure vowels are generally due to local
+habits of speech, such as the London dialect, which makes a colourless
+mixture of all the vowels. In some parts of Scotland also the vowels are
+very impure. The voice-training exercises given elsewhere are several of
+them directed towards the production of good vowel tone, but the danger
+is lest the power gained in these should not be applied to the actual
+words encountered in psalm, canticle, anthem, or hymn. A sentence
+containing all the vowels may be chanted repeatedly on a monotone, but
+after all the best exercise consists in constant watchfulness against
+mispronunciation in the ordinary weekly practice.
+
+Man, according to Mr. R. G. White, may be defined as a consonant-using
+animal. He alone of all animals uses consonants. The cries of animals
+and of infants are inarticulate. So is the speech of a drunken man, who
+descends, vocally as well as in other ways, to the level of the beasts.
+This idea has been expressed in another way, by saying that vowels
+express the emotional side of speech, and consonants its intellectual
+side. All these distinctions point to the great importance of a clear
+enunciation of initial and final consonants, and a clear separation of
+words. A well-known bishop said to a candidate for ordination, "Before
+uttering a second word be sure that you have yourself heard the first."
+
+It is of no use to give a list of common errors, because each part of
+the country has its own bad points of dialect. The choirmaster should
+take his standard of English from the best preacher and reader he has
+the chance to hear, and endeavour to conform his boys to it.
+
+But localisms are not the only faults. Boys are very apt to clip their
+words in chanting, to omit the smaller parts of speech altogether, and
+to invent new and meaningless sounds of their own. The most familiar
+parts of the service need frequent and watchful rehearsal to prevent
+this tendency. Chanting, as a rule, is much too fast, and the eagerness
+of the boys must be restrained in this direction.
+
+In those rare cases where pronunciation and elocutional phrasing reach a
+high pitch of excellence, the music of the service makes a double appeal
+to the heart. It bears not only the charm of sweet sounds, but the
+eloquence of noble words.
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+SINGING BY EAR AND BY NOTE.
+
+
+Many choirmasters maintain that, considering the short musical life of
+the choir-boy, it is not worth while to teach him to sing by note. The
+quickness of boys' ears for music, they say, is astonishing, while their
+memories are equally good. Between the two faculties--ear and memory--we
+are told that all things necessary are supplied. The boys, it is said,
+don't like theory, and it saves time and patience not to have to teach
+it to them.
+
+I am altogether at issue with this view. I believe theory can be made
+interesting to boys, especially if the Tonic Sol-fa system is used, and
+that if they are taught sight-singing the choirmaster saves himself a
+vast amount of trouble. The after musical doings of the boys should also
+be considered, and whether they become tenors and basses, or take to an
+instrument, the power to read music will be a happiness through their
+whole lives.
+
+The leading anthems, services, and psalters are now published in the
+Tonic Sol-fa notation, so that boys who have learnt to sing from the
+letters at school may quickly be put to sing their parts in the church
+choir. The late Alfred Stone, of Bristol, who used the Tonic Sol-fa
+notation for his choir boys, found it a great time-saver. So quickly was
+the service music got through at the weekly practice that there was
+nearly an hour to spare for singing glees and getting up cantatas. Mr.
+Stone arranged his boys in two grades. The upper grade all held a Tonic
+Sol-fa certificate, and they received higher pay than the lower grade.
+The result of this arrangement was that the lower boys got the upper
+ones to teach them Tonic Sol-fa in their playtime, and thus saved the
+choirmaster a great deal of trouble.
+
+A serious disadvantage of the ordinary way of learning to sing from the
+staff notation is that practice usually begins in, and is for several
+months confined to key C. For boys' voices this is the most trying of
+all the keys--the one most likely to lead to bad habits in the use of
+the registers. The keys for boys to begin in are G and F, where you can
+get a cadence upon the tonic in the thin register. A German choirmaster,
+whose choir is greatly celebrated, has sent me a little book of
+exercises which he uses, and I find that, as in most English
+publications of a similar kind, there are pages of exercises in key C,
+before any other key is attempted. In Tonic Sol-fa all keys are equally
+available from the first.
+
+I have had a wide experience of boys taught on all systems, both in this
+country and abroad. I have been present, by the courtesy of
+choirmasters, at rehearsals in all parts of the country. And I have
+noticed that boys taught by ear, or taught the staff notation by the
+fixed _do_, make mistakes which boys trained by Tonic Sol-fa and singing
+from it, or applying their knowledge of it to the staff notation, could
+not make. The class of mistake I refer to is that which confuses the
+place of the semitones in the scale. A sight-singing manual which I
+picked up the other day says that the whole matter of singing at sight
+lies in knowing where the semitones come. And from one point of view
+this is true, but to the Tonic Sol-faist the semitones always come in
+the same places, _i.e_., between _me_ and _fah_, and between _te_ and
+_doh_. He has only one scale to learn, and as to modulation, that is
+accomplished for him by his notation, while the time marks, separating
+and defining the beats or pulses of the music, make rhythm vividly
+clear.
+
+If choirmasters wish to save themselves trouble, and get confident
+attack and good intonation from their boys, they should teach them the
+Tonic Sol-fa notation, and let them sing from it always. The staff
+notation they can easily learn later on.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+FLATTENING, AND SINGING OUT OF TUNE.
+
+
+The trainer of adult voices has constantly before him the problem of
+making his pupils sing in tune. With boys this matter is less of a
+trouble, for this reason. Many adults have fine voices which, if their
+intonation can be improved, will do great things. Others have incurably
+bad voices, but possessing the ambition and the means for studying
+singing, they come under the hands of the professor. In the case of
+boys, however, there is a preliminary process of selection by which the
+teacher rejects at the outset any defective ears and voices. The trainer
+of boys chooses his pupils; adult students of singing, as a rule, choose
+their teacher.
+
+Even, however, when a good set of boys has been chosen and trained,
+every choirmaster is troubled from time to time by the evils which I
+have named at the head of this paper.
+
+What are their causes? Probably no cause is so fruitful as a misuse of
+the registers of the voice, a straining upwards of the lower register
+beyond its proper limits. This may be placed in the front as a perpetual
+cause of bad intonation and loss of pitch. This straining is usually
+accompanied with loud singing, but boys who have formed this bad habit
+will not at once sustain the pitch if told to sing softly. Their voices,
+under these circumstances, will at first prove weak and husky, and will
+flatten as much with soft singing as they did with loud. A slow process
+of voice training can alone set them right. But as boys' voices last so
+short a time this treatment is not worth the trouble. Boys who have
+fallen into thoroughly bad habits should therefore be dismissed, and a
+fresh selection made.
+
+Some choirmasters imagine that practice with the organ or the pianoforte
+will cure flattening and uncertainty. This, however, is not the case.
+Probably the effort to keep up the pitch which singers make when
+unaccompanied keeps their minds and throats tense and active, while the
+consciousness that the instrument is supporting them makes them
+careless. An instrument reveals loss of pitch, but does not cure it. No
+good choirmaster rehearses with the organ. A pianoforte, lightly
+touched, is commonly used, but the teacher should frequently leave his
+seat, and accustom the choir to go on alone.
+
+It is a mistake to suppose that boys flatten because the music is too
+high. This is very rarely the case. They are more likely to flatten
+because it is too low. Boys attack high notes with greater ease than
+women.
+
+Nervousness will cause a singer who has sung in perfect tune at home to
+sing sharp or flat at a concert. But nervousness does not greatly
+trouble boys.
+
+Carelessness will sometimes cause these troubles. The way to cure this
+is to increase the interest of the rehearsal, to make the boys feel
+bright, happy, and comfortable.
+
+To mark the breathing places is a good way of preventing flattening,
+which is often caused by exhausted lungs.
+
+Singing is a mental as well as a physical act, and unless the boy has a
+clear conception in his mind of the sound of the note he wants, the
+intonation will be uncertain. Here comes in the Tonic Sol-fa system with
+its "Mental Effects," which give a recognisable character to each note
+of the scale, and guide the voice and ear.
+
+Bad voice production, throaty and rigid, must always go with flattening
+and wavering pitch. The act of singing should be without effort; the
+muscles of head, neck, and throat should be relaxed. A boy inclined to
+these faults should be told to smile while singing. The tone will then
+become natural.
+
+But in spite of all these hints, flattening occurs from time to time in
+the best trained choirs, and seems to defy the skill of the
+choirmaster. All agree that a half empty church, a cold church, an
+ill-ventilated church promotes flattening, and it may be added that
+certain chants and tunes so hover about the region of the break that
+they invite false intonation.
+
+Mr. H. A. Donald, headmaster of the Upton Cross Board School, tells me
+that he has not much flattening, but that when it comes it seems to be
+beyond control. The discipline of his school is excellent, but on a
+given day there will come, as it were, a mood over the boys which makes
+it impossible for them, try as they will, to avoid sinking. Sometimes,
+but not always, this will happen in warm weather. He has more than once
+abandoned the singing lesson, and taken up some other study because of
+it. One day recently the boys were most attentive, and their vexation
+and disappointment with the flattening was evident. Another day it does
+not trouble them in the least. This is a school where voice-training is
+exceptionally well looked after.
+
+Several correspondents have favoured me with experience on this point,
+and I now proceed to quote their letters. Mr. W. W. Pearson, of Elmham,
+writes:--
+
+"Ordinary flat singing is the result of want of practice and experience.
+Chronic flat singing is incurable, as it is due to a defective ear. A
+new lot of choir boys will be liable to sing flat, and to lower their
+pitch at any time for the first year or so; but after they have been in
+training for a considerable time, I never find that there is any
+inclination to sing flat. The notes most liable to be sung flat are the
+third and sixth of the scale, or any high note that requires courage and
+increased effort. One of these, having been sung flat, is taken by the
+singers as a new departure, and being used as a standard, the pitch is
+lowered, and all succeeding notes are flat.
+
+"When I first formed my present choir I was very much plagued with flat
+singing, but I am seldom troubled in that way now, and I think the
+reason is that a large proportion of the members have been under
+training for a long time.
+
+"I used to find flattening prevail more in muggy, damp, or cold
+weather, and in heated rooms. I never allowed the choir to go on in this
+way, but stopped them at once, making them begin again after singing the
+scale of the key a few times. This, of course, refers to practice. In
+church I used to play the organ louder when I heard the pitch going
+down; or I would put on a powerful solo stop for the melody, and
+slightly prolong the final note of a cadence, in order that when the
+choir ceased singing they might hear the difference. When flattening
+occurred in the concert room I used to stop the accompaniment, which is,
+I think, about all that can be done under those circumstances. When the
+choir have been hopelessly bad in a hot practice room I have cured them
+by bringing them out into a cold room adjoining."
+
+Mr. C. Hibberd, of Bemerton, Salisbury, writes:--
+
+"To prevent flattening I give great attention to the posture, seeing
+that the boys do not stand carelessly. A careless posture, I think,
+betokens a careless mind. I am careful not to overtire the children.
+They sit immediately one piece is finished, and stand immediately I
+sound the first chord of the next piece. I always start the practice
+with a few simple voice exercises. When training the choir of a place
+far away in the country, I spent more time than usual in giving ear
+exercises (dictation), as well as voice-training exercises. I pay great
+attention to 'mental effect,' and endeavour to let each boy or girl have
+a Tonic Sol-fa copy of the music. The syllables recall the mental effect
+to the mind. There should be no uncertainty as to either time or tune,
+and both words and notes should be attacked or struck with confidence. I
+always practise scales downwards, and have as little to do with the
+harmonium as possible at practice. Boy altos I rarely come across. I
+tried them once, but found they aided in flattening. We have two men
+altos here, who sing in a falsetto voice. The boys here have a name for
+singing well in tune, and they are very willing to do anything to keep
+up their character."
+
+Mr. Walter Brooks, in a paper in the _Monthly Musical Record_, expresses
+the opinion that the 3rd and 7th of the major scale are often sung
+flat. To cure this, each boy must tune up separately, then all should be
+tried together. Minor passages are often sung flat. Loss of pitch during
+service may, he says, be remedied, not by loud organ stops, but by
+playing the boys' part an octave higher. Sharp singing, which often
+arises from naturally defective or badly-trained ears, is cured best by
+checking those who can only sing loudly, and by insisting on _piano_
+singing. To put on more organ power makes the loud sharp singing worse.
+
+Herr Eglinger, of Basel, whose qualifications I have referred to
+elsewhere, considers that flattening is generally due to fatigue. The
+membranes which produce the voice are not yet strong, and they relax,
+producing flattening. He works on the principle that children are
+quickly tired, and quickly rested, and gives the singing in small doses.
+Unfortunately, in church work the length of the dose is not a matter of
+choice. He notices, what others have noticed, that when the voices are
+divided into three parts, it is the middle part that flattens most; this
+is because it plays about the break. To choirmasters whose boys flatten,
+Herr Eglinger says:--
+
+"Give rest; require a proper use of the registers; get sharp and exact
+pronunciation, especially of the consonants; and keep up with a strong
+hand the attention and interest of the choir."
+
+I close this chapter by printing a short paper on the subject kindly
+written for me by Mr. W. H. Richardson, formerly trainer of the
+celebrated Swanley Orphans' Choir, which gave concerts in all parts of
+the country. Mr. Richardson, while he was at Swanley, obtained results
+of the most remarkable excellence. At Swanley there was no selection of
+voices: all were made to sing, and all were individually trained, as
+well as collectively. "My conviction," says Mr. Richardson, "is that
+there are no more defective voices than there are eyes and ears." The
+Rev. W. J. Weekes, late Precentor of Rochester Cathedral, said of the
+Swanley boys:--
+
+"The smaller boys were first tested--some thirty or forty little
+fellows, some of them new arrivals. Here the tone, though of course not
+strong, was pure and sweet, such as would have done credit to cathedral
+boys after a couple of years' training, and they 'jumped' their
+intervals most clearly, lighting as full and fairly on the correct note
+as a bird does on a bough. Thence we moved into the larger schoolroom,
+where were assembled some hundred older boys, and such a body of sound,
+so full and pure, so free from throatiness, and so true in intonation as
+these hundred throats emitted, I certainly never heard from boys' voices
+before."
+
+In 1885 I took the late Signor Roberti, teacher of singing in the Normal
+College at Turin, and an Italian composer of eminence, to hear the
+Swanley boys, and he afterwards wrote to Mr. Richardson:--
+
+"I do not exaggerate in any way by saying that I found there a true
+perfection in tune and in rhythm, but above all, in what concerns the
+pure and correct emission of voices, the careful and judicious training
+of which confers much honour upon you, and I would be happy to see it
+even partly imitated by the teachers of the so-called Land of Song."
+
+These facts are enough to prove the weight that attaches to Mr.
+Richardson's utterances:--
+
+"My experience has been that flattening will give the teacher very
+little trouble after the pupils have been drilled with voice-training
+exercises, but until the voices are built and strengthened, he will have
+unpleasant surprises of all kinds. If he would have a reliable choir he
+must begin, continue, and end with regular voice training based on an
+undeniably good system. From the very outset the pupil should be taught
+to fear flat singing as a demon. With my boys I was for ever laying down
+the self-evident truth, 'People can endure your singing if it be
+tuneful, even though all other points of excellence are low, but no one
+can put up with your singing out of tune, except as martyrs.' The cause
+of flattening is always lack of culture. In the choirs I have trained it
+has ceased to trouble me after a few months. The habit of letting the
+pitch drop fosters itself in a remarkable manner, until at last the ear
+of the performer is perfectly satisfied with the production of a
+monstrosity. In proof of this I would mention a case which has come
+painfully under my own notice. A number of boys known to me have been in
+the daily habit of singing the tune:--
+
+[Illustration: key E[b].:d | m:f:r | d:-:m | s:-:l | s:-:s | d1:-:t |
+l:-s | &c.]
+
+and as they have only had a 'go as you please system' to hold them in,
+they now commence flattening at once with a _crescendo_ which culminates
+in the second line, and creates the effect:--
+
+[Illustration::d | m:f:r |d:-:m |s:-:l | s:-:s | 1d1:-:t |l:-:s|| &c.]
+
+The original quite gone, they quite satisfied! The cause of continued
+flat singing is allowing the _bad habit_. I am not, of course, dealing
+with exceptional cases of natural inaptitude. These are rare, and I say
+this after having had some years of experience in testing individual
+voices. I could now with very little difficulty name the few pupils I
+had at Swanley who were naturally unable to sing tunefully, and I doubt
+not that nearly all my old scholars could do the same. They were in
+reality exceptions, numbering, during the whole of the time I was with
+them, not more than half-a-dozen.
+
+"There is one stage in the voice training where the teacher finds his
+pupils (boys I am speaking of, my experience with adults not having been
+so extensive) habitually _sharpen_. In my own neighbourhood a teacher
+who has commenced to properly train his boys to sing, in a conversation
+he had with me told me of this, to him, unexpected difficulty. To get
+good intonation in part-singing, I found the singing of chords a great
+help. The class should be divided rapidly, and one note of the chord
+assigned to each section. Then it should be sung softly. This should be
+repeated with other chords, and followed by easy phrases. Voices do not
+at once blend, and until they do the singing should be never loud. I
+look upon the earlier work as tentative--a feeling for the beauty of
+perfection of pitch, tunefulness, and intonation. A practice to be
+condemned is that of learning the parts of a tune separately, and then
+bringing them together. There are, of course, places where it is
+absolutely necessary to give special attention to exceptional passages,
+but it is a mistake to teach each part as though it were an independent
+tune--to give the direction, which I have often heard, 'Now sing your
+part, and never mind what the others are doing,' or 'Don't you listen to
+any other part.' This system is answerable for the most offending cases
+of want of tunefulness, in which one part will sing on with the greatest
+of satisfaction in a key a semitone from that in which the part above or
+below is moving. The ear should be prepared by a symphony, or by
+thinking of the key before a piece is commenced. My own practice has
+been to wait after giving the key-note for the pupils to do this. I have
+recently come across a method of allowing the pupils to find the tonic
+of a song about to be sung, which in nine cases out of ten will make the
+opening as 'restless' as the sea waves. The teacher strikes the C fork,
+and the tonic being F, all the pupils sing C', B, A, G, F--doh. The C',
+B, A, G, F is, I think, as likely to unsettle the ear as anything that
+could be imagined. The teacher should give the key-note. He may teach
+his pupils to use the fork if he will, but _not_ in a way so exquisitely
+calculated to unsettle the ear when it should be strongly decided.
+
+"With regard to Registers, I do not know whether the nomenclature I
+employed with my Swanley choir will be commended by you, but as it was
+successful I will describe it. The registers we called, perhaps
+inelegantly, 'Top,' 'Middle,' and 'Bottom,' these terms being handier
+than Upper Thin, Lower Thin, and Upper Thick. The earliest exercises
+were in the Top Register--that is, the Upper Thin. Boys untrained are,
+taken in bulk, unconscious of the Thin Register. Having got them to
+sing, say C to koo, I have followed it by singing to the same syllable
+the tune:--
+
+[Illustration: KEY A[b] | m:m |f:f |s:--|m:--|| &c.]
+
+('Now the day is over,'--_A. & M._), and the delight has been intense
+when the pupils have thus discovered how clearly and sweetly they could
+sing. When this is done great possibilities seem to open, and the pupil
+is on the road to perfection. B[b] and E[b] I found most convenient for
+change. The Small Register must have been used, as my lads sang up to
+C2 with the greatest ease and finish, though one of our foremost
+teachers, in a conference I had with him on the subject, said he would
+stake his reputation that the small register was not employed by them.
+It received no name in our practices after that authoritative statement,
+and ever afterwards I was in dread of being called over the coals for
+allowing the Top register to get too high.
+
+"Boy altos can be made to sing without flattening, though they
+invariably give more trouble than trebles on account of their
+willingness to let the lower register overlap the one above--to force
+upward. They should practise with the trebles such exercises as:--
+
+[Illustration: KEY E[b] s f m r d]
+
+so as to strengthen this part of the voice, which may be termed their
+flattening field."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+ON THE TRAINING OF BOYS' VOICES.
+
+By W. H. RICHARDSON, Formerly Conductor of the Swanley Orphanage
+Choir.[A]
+
+
+[A] Mr. Richardson has responded to my request for hints with such
+fulness and weight that I devote a separate chapter to his essay. In
+writing, he has specially had in view the difficulties of choir trainers
+in rural districts.
+
+All that a writer on the training of voices can do is to lay down
+general lines, and give comprehensive suggestions. The teacher, to make
+any use of them must be indeed a _teacher_, not a mere mechanically
+automatic individual of only sufficient calibre to take the directions
+of a writer, and give them again. He should be both enthusiastic in his
+work, and willing to spend his strength in patience if he would have a
+choir of boys to sing _reliably_ well. It is of the greatest importance
+that work should be set out on right lines, and that a thoughtfully
+prepared scheme should be arranged before commencing. I would here give
+my experience of two choirs I had at different times in agricultural
+districts, and in one of them I was well satisfied with the progress we
+made, while in the other my work was completely thrown away. The reason
+for the failure in the second instance (which I foresaw from the outset)
+will be gathered from the following account of our plan of campaign. The
+choir was a village one which met for rehearsal once a week. The
+organist attended and presided at a harmonium, and, _nolens volens_, I
+had at the beginning of each practice to take the choir through the
+whole of the next Sunday's services. The boys' voices were, at the
+beginning of my connection, uncivilised, and at the end of
+it--fortunately the question of ways and means not allowing the interval
+to extend beyond a few months--were as barbarous as at the commencement.
+There was absolutely no chance of making a name through these
+youngsters; and as to voice culture! How could it be possible to attempt
+it after labouring through such a programme as Canticles, Hymns, Psalms,
+Kyrie, and Amens?
+
+I determined never to take office again unless I could have my own way
+in fixing the time-table of work. My success in the other case was owing
+greatly to the fact that I had one night a week entirely devoted to
+musical training and voice culture. This did not preclude us from
+relieving the drudgery of work by the singing of songs and hymns, _but_
+it allowed me the use of an unfettered judgment in the _choice_ of what
+should be attempted. A teacher is heavily handicapped if after getting
+his boys for the first time to sing in the upper thin register, he is to
+follow his delicate work by singing half-a-dozen verses to a tune which
+will in the very first verse undo all that he has done, simply because
+its melodic progression encourages forcing. Experienced teachers will
+appreciate what I say on this point. Take such a tune as:--
+
+[Illustration: &c.
+
+KEY E[b]. {|m:f |s:l |t:d1 |s:f || &c.]
+
+--a tune which inevitably causes a wrong use of the registers by
+inexperienced boys. The tunes selected should further the work of the
+exercises, not undo it, and with diligence the teacher can find suitable
+tunes and chants for this purpose. My advice to all teachers is that
+before commencing work they should insist upon conditions that do not
+preclude success, and that they should not spend their labour in
+wearying drudgery with the full consciousness that to attain it is
+impossible.
+
+One suggestion I would make is that the choirmaster, if he be not, as is
+often the case in villages, also schoolmaster, would do well to enlist
+the services of the school teachers in the village. It is not often
+practicable to have more than one--or two at the most--meetings of a
+choir during the week, and the length of the lesson must be, in
+consequence, at least an hour. For voice training in the earlier stages
+six lessons a week of fifteen minutes each are preferable to one of an
+hour and a half, and therefore I would urge the _necessity_ of getting
+hold of the sympathies of the school teacher, and putting him on right
+lines to work out the choirmaster's ideas, if the offices be not united.
+
+Voice work should be begun in the infant school. At Swanley it was my
+practice to give, I believe, daily lessons in the Infant Department, and
+the remarks made by visitors will bear out what I am about to say as to
+the possibility of getting young children to sing, and sing like little
+angels. I was always as pleased to exhibit my infants' vocal powers as
+to show those of my more advanced boys, and success was, comparatively
+speaking, more easily gained with them than with older boys, for
+inasmuch as the difficulty of registers and breaks does not exist as
+such with these tiny ones, and unless our plans be artificial or formed
+of caprice, this is what should be expected.
+
+In the infant school the teacher can take hold of the good that is
+innate, and mould it; in the higher school he has to spend hours and
+hours eradicating the bad habits which shouting and untamed license have
+allowed to grow. By all means begin with the infants, and let their
+songs and nursery rhymes be written so as to "give them a chance."
+
+But I am asked to say something that may be helpful to the choirmaster
+having to train the vocal organs of boys who are beyond infantile
+methods. I will therefore suppose myself for the first time before an
+ordinary country group of lads with all the vocal faults that now appear
+indigenous to the locality. I should first get them to find the Upper
+Thin Register, and my plan is to confine the work to this region
+[Illustration: musical notation] and get the boys to sing "koo" to D,
+E, or F, making my own "Exercises," which are suggested by present
+circumstances:--
+
+[Illustration: Koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo
+
+KEY D[b]. d1 m1 m1 d1 m1 r1 d1 d1 r1 m1
+
+Koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo
+
+KEY D. d1 r1 d1 l t d1 d1 t r1 d1
+
+Koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo
+
+KEY E[b]. d1 r1 t d1 r1 d1 l s d1
+
+Koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo
+
+KEY B[b]. s f m r d s m s s s]
+
+As at this stage the boys know nothing of the diatonic scale, I let them
+imitate. The exercises _may_ be played on a pianoforte, if the teacher
+cannot sing them, though in the latter case it is preferable that he
+should adopt the plan of selecting his best pupils for the models.
+
+I once had to commence with some uncultured boys, and knowing the
+difficulty of getting them to make a start, took with me a few of my own
+trained lads, who sang the exercises first, after which I added one or
+two of the beginners to them, and sympathetically they soon sang in the
+proper register with the others. By continuing the process of addition
+gradually I soon got the whole class to sing as I wished.
+
+At this first lesson the proper production of "oo" (vowel) should be
+obtained. I deal with the vowels as they arise, never observing a lack
+of clearness and purity without endeavouring to correct it. The
+foregoing exercises can next be used for teaching the intervals of the
+diatonic scale, for instance:--
+
+[Illustration: KEY F. {|d1:--| s:--|| s:--| d1:--||]
+
+calling the notes by their names, doh soh. Here, again, the proper vowel
+production must be sought for, and obtained. The difficulties will be
+varied in this respect with the locality. Often I have met with
+doh-_oo_. This, as well as ray-_ee_, and other faults that need not be
+specified, can be corrected at once. The beautiful intonation we had at
+Swanley I attribute in a large measure to the care bestowed on the
+production of vowel sounds. There must be no division of opinion among
+the singers as to how any particular vowel sound should be emitted. If
+there be not unity in this respect the intonation suffers.
+
+The earlier exercises should be sung in unison, a correct division into
+1st, 2nd, and 3rd trebles being impossible until the boys have acquired
+sufficient confidence to show _what_ they are naturally. I have for a
+long time used with advantage the single chant form for exercises,
+making them myself.
+
+[Illustration: KEY F. {|d1:-|l:t |d1:-||d1:-|t:1 |s:t |d1:-||]
+
+In order to avoid waste of time in learning exercises they should be
+_short_, so that they can be caught up at once.
+
+To get boys to sing in the register below (the Lower Thin) is the next
+step, the exercises now being confined between [Illustration: musical
+notation] and formed in the same way as those in the higher region. The
+difficulty is greater in getting rough boys to use this part of the
+vocal score correctly. The best way I have found to get them to
+discover it, is to sing [Illustration: KEY F. s f m r d]--beginning at
+C1, to koo. The notes are at first weak, and there is a tendency to
+"squork," if I may so term it. These exercises must be sung softly at
+first, and at this stage the schoolmaster can render valuable help if he
+will get his boys to read from their lesson books in this register
+instead of in the one below it.
+
+I have to acknowledge a debt of gratitude to one of our best and most
+painstaking teachers for giving me this hint. The reading will at first
+be weak, and in a monotone, and there being no flexibility, the boys
+will have difficulty in forming the usual cadence at the end of
+sentences, but practice will soon strengthen the weakness, and make this
+register as strong as the one below it. Between the one above and the
+one below, this "middle" one is apt to be overlooked altogether, and I
+have heard some fairly pleasing singing where it has not been recognised
+at all.
+
+The third register (Upper Thick) should now receive attention, and in
+order to find it the pupils should cultivate it upwards with such
+exercises as--
+
+[Illustration: &c.
+
+KEY A[b]. d_1 r_1 d_1 d_1 r_1 m_1 &c.
+
+Koo koo koo koo koo koo]
+
+Within the limits of a short paper, it is impossible to give more fully
+all the needful directions for training the voices to cover up breaks,
+and to change from one register to another.
+
+Suitable tunes should now be selected, so that the aim of the exercises
+may be extended. Remember that it is easiest to _leap_ from one register
+to a higher, a stepwise ascent being an insidious snare. Koo and
+afterwards laa such tunes as:--
+
+[Illustration: KEY C.
+
+{| s:m |d1:s |m1:-.r1|d1:s |l:l |s:d1 |s:f |m:-||
+
+KEY E[b].
+
+{|m:r |f:m |r:-|m:-||l:s |t:d1 |s:-|f:-||
+
+{|m:r |f:m |r:-|l:-||d1:s |m:r |d:-|-:-||]
+
+Many ready-made exercises are to be found in any chant book, which can
+be used to strengthen the voice and build it. For voice exercise I like
+a high reciting note at the beginning, D1, C1, E[b]1, as by this we
+ensure getting the right register for the high notes, which will be a
+matter of doubt for some time if the question of suitability of melody
+be left out of calculation.
+
+I strongly recommend the use of the time names. For some years I was
+prejudiced against them, but after trying them, believe them to be of
+the greatest value.
+
+The teacher should give manual signs for his short exercises. Time is
+wasted unnecessarily if the teacher has to turn and write on the board.
+The objection to working through a book, only using prescribed
+exercises, is chiefly this--no book writer can provide for all the
+permutations and combinations that may arise during the actual work of
+teaching; it is impossible for him to anticipate them. This does not in
+the least detract from the value of the book, which must be the best
+_general_ guide for by far the larger part of our teachers.
+
+I have referred to the teaching of vowel sounds, and would say a word
+about consonants. My practice has been to guard against giving undue
+prominence to any individual letter, and to encourage always a _simple
+unaffected utterance_ in singing. Rolling "r's" is very well, but to
+precede the vowel with a sound not unlike the noise caused by springing
+a police rattle is neither artistic nor pleasing. My custom was to first
+let the pupils sing a vowel, say _aa_, and require it to be held on as
+long as my hand was still. A sharp movement of the hand directed when
+the consonant should appear, as _aa--t_, &c., the appearance and
+disappearance being as close together as possible. It is a difficulty
+with beginners to sing such words as "night," "bright," &c., holding on
+the middle part, or vowel. I demonstrated that the singer has nothing
+left to sing after having too soon disposed of the vowel. I also gave
+exercises in prefixing a consonant to a vowel. Other points of detail
+will arise, such as in the word "sing." The habit here is to make the
+"ng" sound throughout the greater part of the durance of the singing of
+the word. By analysing, and showing by copying the bad model, the
+teacher will convince the pupil that "ng" held on is unpleasant. In
+singing laa, laa, laa, &c., at first pupils lower and raise the jaw.
+This should be at once stopped. But it is impossible to anticipate every
+difficulty that will arise under this head. I have said enough to
+indicate generally my method. I do not propose to enter into the
+question of breathing. One thing I would say--do not try pupils by
+requiring them to sing long notes at first, but do get them at the
+beginning to "phrase" to your pattern. This will from the first get the
+will to control the breath taking.
+
+By all means introduce certificates. By the examination of individuals,
+the teacher will get truer knowledge of his learners' powers, and will
+be enabled to give advice of greater value because of its assured need.
+Let the examination be in public--before the other pupils--and so help
+to beget confidence in the pupil, without which success will be limited.
+The teacher should never do anything to destroy the confidence of his
+pupils, though I am bound to admit that I have not always been free from
+irritability and impatience in my dealings with pupils. The work is
+trying, the nerves of a teacher of singing are throughout highly
+strung, and very little cause is necessary to upset his equilibrium. He
+should therefore be ever on his guard to check any tendency to show
+impatience.
+
+Never get a pupil to sing alone for the sake of showing his defects to
+others. No one can _sing_ who does not possess a sense of his power to
+do so. There should be encouraged an _abandon_ sort of manner. A
+gentleman once said to me, "I see how you make your boys sing; you tell
+them they can do it, and that makes them do it." The rigid watching of
+the beat of the conductor should not be too closely insisted on. No
+machine-like singing should satisfy, even though it be _correct_. The
+correctness of a great painter's production is not everything, and
+neither is it with the singer. There should an atmosphere of the liberty
+of freedom.
+
+At Swanley my work was lessened by the interest that all my colleagues
+took in it. A moral force was constantly brought to bear on the boys,
+which made them work with a will and a determination to excel. Their
+success was the same in other departments of work, though not so
+prominently placed. The music teacher who has in himself the power to
+draw out the latent feeling of his pupils is the one who will best
+succeed. I would draw my remarks to a close with this advice:--Make your
+choir as large as possible. Take all who will come into it, and do not
+go through the form of "trying" voices that have never tried themselves,
+and of which you can form no opinion. For adults this is a necessity,
+but for children it is better to get one or two per cent. of naturally
+defective learners, rather than to turn away all but those showing
+undoubtedly exceptional ability.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE SPECIAL DIFFICULTIES OF AGRICULTURAL DISTRICTS.
+
+
+My object is to help those whose difficulties are greatest; who, so far
+from being able to pick out boys of musical talent and fine voice, are
+obliged to accept the material that offers, often of the poorest musical
+description. The country boy is a more healthy animal than his brother
+of the town, and there is no fault to be found with the natural volume
+of his voice provided he can be taught to place his registers rightly,
+to avoid straining the thick or chest register, to pronounce and phrase
+properly. This is, however, what the Americans call "a large order."
+
+I have been fortunate in collecting information from several
+choirmasters in agricultural districts, who have conquered the
+difficulties of this task. First, I quote Mr. W. Critchley, choirmaster
+and schoolmaster at Hurst, near Reading:--
+
+"The rural choir-boy differs somewhat from his brethren of the town in
+the following particulars. As a rule, he is duller, and slower in his
+perception; he is attentive and docile, but sluggish; he retains what he
+is taught, and therefore, as far as mere knowledge and memory are
+concerned, it 'pays' to take him in hand. His voice is strong, but
+rough, and this undisciplined strength is the cause of most of the
+trouble he gives. Moreover, he is exposed to the weather very largely,
+and this causes him to be more influenced by atmospheric changes than
+the town boy, and prevents, in a great measure, any great delicacy of
+finish from being obtained. So it will be seen that the country
+choir-boy requires special treatment in order to produce good results.
+Sometimes, when a village lies compactly together, a large amount of
+work can be got through similar to that which we find in towns, but
+generally the rural district is wide and scattered, and only a limited
+number of practices can be secured. Under these circumstances, I have
+found the best course to pursue to be somewhat as follows:--First and
+foremost, let the Tonic Sol-fa system be taught, it lightens the work of
+the choirmaster in a wonderful degree, and the boys bring an
+intelligence to their work which is unattainable by any other means. If
+the system has not been taught in the day school of the parish, it
+should be introduced at once; if that is not practicable, the choir-boys
+should be taught at a second practice-night. This second practice is
+required in any case, if anything better than mere 'scratch' singing be
+aimed at. _All_ practices should be begun by voice exercises. On the
+extra night a greater amount of time should be taken up with them, for
+to a country choir-boy, who perhaps in the day is shouting to scare
+birds, they are vital. The lower register of a country boy is, as a
+rule, coarse, so it is important to get him to use his higher register
+as soon as possible. Show him first of all that he has, as it were, _two
+voices_, and point out that he is required, as Mr. Evans observes, to
+use that voice which is most like a girl's. He will be apt for some time
+to use this voice in the upper notes of the music only, and there will
+be a disagreeable transition to the lower register when the music comes
+down on G, or thereabouts. To conquer this, I use exercises which train
+the upper register _downwards_, such as:--
+
+[Illustration: KEYS A to F.
+
+d m s m d r [(.d] [(.t]_1 [(.l]_1]
+
+the object being to strengthen the upper register, and, except where the
+music touches D or C, [Illustration: musical notation] to practically
+'shelve' the lower thick register in the case of treble voices. In
+training upwards I insist on easy singing, no straining. I don't mean
+apathetic singing, for this is especially to be fought against in the
+case of country boys, as there is naturally a want of 'go' about them. I
+mean soft singing, but energetic. I tell the boys to sing like birds,
+and they generally understand from this that they are to use the upper
+register. I do not find much difficulty with them in the way of
+flattening. Except in the case of the younger boys, I often hear them a
+little sharp. The Tonic Sol-fa method trains their _ears_, and I get
+them to listen, and blend their voices; above all, to get rid of apathy.
+And if there should be a tendency with the younger boys to sing flat, I
+generally find that the application of the old rules as to position,
+loud singing, forcing the voice, faulty breathing, and inattention will
+remedy the fault. If it occurs in church, a judicious use of a four-foot
+stop on the organ often keeps up the pitch. I find, if the melody of a
+chant or tune has a great many of the 'thirds' of the chords in it (I
+mean as distinct from the fifth, root, &c.) it is often difficult,
+especially on a foggy morning, to keep it in tune, _e.g_.:--
+
+[Illustration: KEY G.
+
+{| [(.m] |m:r |m:--|| [(.m] |r:d |r:r |m:--||
+
+or,
+
+KEY G.
+
+{| [(.m] |f:m |re:--|| [(.m] |r:d |t_1:r |d:--||
+
+or,
+
+KEY F.
+
+{| [(.m] |f:l |s:--|| [(.s] |d1:m |r:f |m:--||]
+
+This is the case in a marked degree when the reciting tone comes about
+the natural 'break' of the voice. The remedy for this I find to be
+transition into another key, one which I judge to be more congenial to
+the state of the boys' voices. Here is where the usefulness of the Tonic
+Sol-fa system to an organist comes in. A lot of practice in mental
+effects has a surprising result in ear training. Sometimes, however, we
+get a clergyman who intones badly, and then it is quite a struggle to
+keep in tune.
+
+"There are a number of other little points which tell against correct
+singing in a country choir; the generally thick enunciation, the
+provincialism, the difficulty in getting open mouths. I do a lot of
+reading by pattern, and pay attention to initial and final consonants.
+Country boys neglect these more than town boys. I practise without organ
+as much as I can. If an instrument is used, the piano is decidedly the
+best. I find Gregorian singing has a strong tendency to injure purity of
+tone and delicacy of expression. I do as little of it as possible.
+
+"On the second choir practice night I spoke of, it is certainly good to
+take up glee practice, or a simple cantata. It sustains the interest,
+and makes the choir a bond of union in a country village."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Not long ago I found myself by chance worshipping in a remote village in
+East Somerset, Churchill by name. There was, in the parish church, a
+choir of six boys and four probationers, who sang so slowly and sweetly,
+not with the luscious fulness of some boys I have heard, but with such
+uncommonly good style for agricultural boys, that I was much interested.
+These small villages have, from the present point of view, one
+advantage. The day schools are "mixed" (containing boys and girls), and
+the teacher is a lady. Both these influences tend to the softening of
+the boy's voice. Miss Demack, the school-and choir-mistress at
+Churchill, has kindly written a few notes on the subject of her work, in
+which she says:--
+
+"I certainly think that the girls' voices soften the boys'. I admit
+probationers at the early age of six if I find they have any voice, as I
+think the earlier the better. When I took my boys in hand, I found scale
+exercises very useful. I did not teach them any tunes until I had
+somewhat altered their rough voices. Another help was this: I had a girl
+with a particularly good voice, and made the boys imitate her as much as
+possible. This I found answered remarkably well. The boys seemed to
+adopt quite a different tone."
+
+Miss Demack teaches singing in the school and choir by ear only, and
+knows nothing of the Tonic Sol-fa system.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I next give a short paper kindly sent me by Mr. George Parbery,
+choirmaster of the parish church, and master of the National School at
+Fordingbridge, Hants:--
+
+"Dear Sir,--As choirmaster of the parish church here, and as one who
+takes great interest in the subject of singing in schools, I am happy to
+respond to your request, as we are essentially a rural district.
+
+"I have occupied my position now nearly ten years, and am just beginning
+to find the benefit of the Tonic Sol-fa movement amongst my adult
+members of the choir, having now nine adults who have passed through the
+school with a good practical knowledge of the Sol-fa notation.
+
+"When I commenced work here (coming from north of England) I was struck
+with the very disagreeable tone of the boys' and girls' voices. To say
+they sang flat does not convey how flat they sang, nor does it convey
+any idea of the tone, but the same may be heard any night at the
+Salvation Army meetings here. The vicar of the parish told me also upon
+my arrival here, that at a church in Bournemouth a former vicar used to
+import all his boy voices outside of Hampshire. So that you will gather
+that I had not a light task before me to produce a tone satisfactory to
+myself or the inspector. But I may safely say I have for some years
+satisfied myself, and last year our assistant-inspector spoke of the
+very beautiful quality of the boys' voices. I can assure you that it is
+only rarely that I find occasion to complain of the tone. The moment I
+hear the objectionable tone produced, I immediately stop the singing,
+even if in the middle of prayers. Mine is a boys' school, but I teach
+the girls singing with the boys. Now as to how I produced the change:--
+
+"1. I introduced the Tonic Sol-fa notation.
+
+"2. I used to practise very frequently for a few minutes upon the
+modulator, making abundant use of the upper--
+
+[Illustration: KEY C. d1 r1 m1 f1]
+
+"3. I prohibited all shouting on high notes.
+
+"4. Particularly was I severe upon loud singing in lower notes, say,
+
+[Illustration: KEY F. r d t_1 l_1 s_1]
+
+"5. I established a degree of sound, and have it still, what is known
+amongst my scholars as 'singing in a whisper'--_i.e._, to produce
+singing as softly as possible. This idea I picked up in Cheshire from a
+good Tonic Sol-faist.
+
+"6. I have one or two favourite hymns, which I always pitch higher than
+written, and thus compel the boys to use the upper registers. The boys
+know I like these hymns, and I never fail to appreciate them to the boys
+at the end of singing. I also have a favourite marching tune--I don't
+know the name, but I believe it is often set to the hymn, 'When mothers
+of Salem.' This tune is very lofty, and I believe the boys really enjoy
+its loftiness, _but there must be no shouting_. When the boys displease
+me, I tell them they drop their jaw too much, and they instantly know
+what I mean.
+
+"7. I have very little alto singing in school, for the reason that it
+has a tendency to encourage loudness. In my choir I arrange for three or
+four of the oldest boys to sing alto.
+
+"In conclusion, I may say I am thoroughly proud of my boys' singing from
+standard I. up to the top of the school, and I believe my success has
+been chiefly from abundant use of the modulator for scale practice, and
+never allowing loud singing. Proud as I am of my boys, the girls
+certainly excel them, and ten years ago their tone was worse, if
+possible, than the boys. I have no instrument in school, but
+_occasionally_ use a violin."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A correspondent from another agricultural county--I will not give his
+name--favours me with some rules which he has used more or less for
+thirty years. In one school taught by the writer, the inspector said he
+could not distinguish the boys from the girls' voices--truly a high
+compliment. My correspondent names a new hindrance to church music in
+rural places, namely, the clergyman's daughter!--
+
+"Practise the scales up and down to the words 'la' and 'ha,' the latter
+for the purpose of separating the teeth. Commence at the key of C to
+C1, then from D to D1, and so on upwards as high as the voices of the
+boys can reach, never resting satisfied until they cover two octaves
+firmly. In teaching new music, and, generally speaking, in accompanying
+the boys, play the note they are singing and its octave above--on the
+stopped diapason and flute if an organ, or the corresponding stops on a
+harmonium. Let there be no other accompaniment, and on every occasion
+the octave above the note sung. This is very particular. Check one voice
+singing above another. Have no leaders. Stop or subdue all harsh voices,
+and make them listen to, and try to copy the pure notes of the flute;
+let the boys sing well within their strength. If you lack power,
+increase the number of choristers, and subdue the voices. I always
+choose smooth flowing chants, with the reciting note ranging from F to
+C. I do not care to go higher than G above the line in anthems or
+services, but have trained them to start on B[b], 'The Sisters of the
+Sea,' by Jackson.
+
+"I never trouble about altos, they are too difficult to get, and
+indifferent and troublesome when obtained, but in verse parts of
+services or anthems, one of the best boys will supply the deficiency,
+and even take up the lead in a chorus.
+
+"Choirs experience a difficulty which is not included in your list of
+points. I have received £60 per annum as an organist, £50 and a house.
+On another occasion I was offered the choir-mastership of a church
+choral society of 60 members. At this time I was trainer and conductor
+of a choral society of 100 voices with string and wind accompaniment,
+the subject being _The Messiah_. Yet I was not considered competent at
+the church at which I played to put a tune to a hymn, but had to submit
+to the parson's daughter, who was qualified through taking three months'
+lessons from a German. On one occasion this lady went ten times through
+a hymn to please her father in trying to fit a four-lined tune of the
+wrong metre to a six-lined hymn! I offered to go through an eleventh
+time, but he never interfered again. I could give you many instances
+where these ladies themselves are the great drawback of good church
+singing, but on the other hand, I could mention cases where they never
+come near a practice, or interfere from one year's end to the other."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Knowing, as I do, the devoted way in which clergymen's daughters in many
+rural places train the choir, I hesitate to endorse this charge. The
+work needs to be done with tact and consideration. In the vast majority
+of cases these ladies are a great help. I do not approve the plan of
+playing the melody in octaves while it is being learnt, which my
+correspondent advocates. I give his letter as a record of earnest work.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mr. W. W. Pearson, of Elmham, Dereham, Norfolk, writes to me as
+follows:--
+
+"I have had, as you say, a great deal of experience in teaching singing,
+especially in rural districts; but the neighbourhood I have lived in for
+the last twenty years (Norfolk), is a very barren field for musical
+culture--the worst in my experience. The voices of those who _do_ sing
+in this county are, on an average, a minor third lower than those of
+Yorkshire, North Wales, the west of England, and other places where I
+have had experience. They are also, for the most part, _flabby_, wanting
+in resonance and quality. Tenors are very scarce, and even the few who
+can sing in the tenor register, have not got the true tenor quality.
+This may be the effect of the low elevation above the sea-level, and
+the damp humid atmosphere; or it may be partly due to _race_.
+
+"The plan I adopt for getting boys to use their upper registers is a
+very old-fashioned one; but it is very effective. It is to make them
+sing the major diatonic scale, ascending and descending; beginning at a
+low pitch, and gradually raising it by a semitone at a time."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mr. C. Hibberd, of Bemerton, near Salisbury, whom I quote also in the
+chapter on "Flattening," dwells on the difficulties of the rural
+choirmaster. He says:--
+
+"I have rarely come across the soft fluty tone in the country. I once
+met with a boy with it in the choir at Parkstone, near Bournemouth, and
+another here at Bemerton, but in both cases the boys were above the
+average of country boys, and the village was close to a larger town. In
+both cases, also, the boys had good and careful practice over and above
+the ordinary choir practices. At places farther in the country it seems
+an impossibility to get the tone. With only a few boys to pick from, it
+is a difficulty to find boys enough to fill up ordinary vacancies. With
+a great deal of trouble and practice one can get a great part of the
+roughness toned down, and, as a rule, that is all."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Several of my correspondents, it will be noticed, speak with great
+confidence of the use of the Tonic Sol-fa system in rural places. This
+system, useful everywhere, certainly attains its greatest usefulness in
+places where the task of the choirmaster reaches its highest degree of
+difficulty. To those whose only acquaintance with Tonic Sol-fa is a
+casual glance at a printed page of the new notation, it naturally seems
+strange that the use of a musical shorthand can affect the whole
+training of the boy. But behind the letters and punctuation marks, which
+go to make up the Tonic Sol-fa notation, there lies the Tonic Sol-fa
+method--a fixed and many-sided educational system, founded on the truest
+principles of education, carrying on simultaneously the training of the
+ear for tune and time, making progress sure because gradually
+developing the intelligence along with the voice. With Tonic Sol-fa,
+also, is associated a definite system of voice-training. Tonic Sol-fa
+teachers are all more or less of educationists, and have caught by
+observation or study the teacher's art. This is the cause of their
+success.
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+NOTES ON THE PRACTICE OF VARIOUS CHOIRMASTERS IN CATHEDRALS, &c.
+
+
+I SUMMARISE here information obtained, chiefly by observation and
+conversation, from various trainers of boys' voices at cathedrals and
+collegiate churches.
+
+
+CHAPEL ROYAL, ST. JAMES'S.
+
+Some years ago I attended a practice of the boys, under the late Rev.
+Thomas Helmore. It began with slow scales sung to a light pianoforte
+accompaniment. These were followed by rapid runs, the key gradually
+rising until the highest note touched was C above the treble staff. The
+vocable used was "ah." After this came time exercises, solfeggios, the
+pointing out of notes by the boys on and between the fingers of their
+left hands, which represented the staff. Mr. Helmore declared that new
+boys while singing nearly always (1) frown, or (2) hold their heads on
+one side. He was strict about avoiding these faults. In going over the
+psalms for the day, the boys sang mostly one by one, verse after verse.
+This was a searching test for the boy who sang, while all the others
+were actively criticising. The boys practised secular music by way of
+change. Four of them were monitors, four fags, and two probationers. The
+tone was refined and pure, Mr. Helmore himself being a good singer.
+
+
+ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.
+
+Here, owing to the size of the building, a tremendous volume of shrill
+tone has to be cultivated, which in the practice room is sometimes
+overwhelming. The practice I heard began with slow scales sung to "ah"
+(pianoforte accompaniment) ranging over two octaves, C to C2; each key
+between C to C1 was taken, and the scale sung ascending and descending.
+This was loud singing, but not shouting. Then came agility exercises in
+the form of chords, rapid scales, &c., sung still to "ah." This daily
+"tuning-up" lasted ten minutes. Then (incidentally affording rest to the
+boys) came a short lesson on theory. Boys were called up in turn to
+write notes, signs, &c., on the blackboard. Practice now began. The boys
+sing a new piece to words at once, never sol-faing. They seldom try a
+piece more than three times before it is heard at the cathedral. They
+sit during rehearsal, standing at the Gloria Patri. The boys have a
+daily practice of an hour-and-a-half.
+
+
+WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
+
+The refined style of the boys trained by Dr. Bridge is well known. The
+abbey is small enough to allow the graces of singing to be cultivated.
+In the music room there are two rows of desks facing the same way, so
+that Dr. Bridge, sitting at his cottage piano, can cast a side glance
+full upon the boys. Two practices are held daily; one from nine till ten
+a.m. is spent in getting up the service music. The afternoon practice,
+at the close of evensong, is chiefly devoted to theory. A card hanging
+up on the wall shows exactly how the time of the afternoon practice is
+apportioned between the study of intervals, and scales, chanting,
+responses, manuscript exercises, the singing of Concone's solfeggios,
+and the practice of secular music. The excellent phrasing and pure tone
+are partly due to the practice of secular music, which gives elasticity
+and gentleness to the boys' voices. No formal system of voice-training
+is in use. The boys enter at from 9 to 10-1/2, not older. A new boy is
+placed in the middle of the row of choristers, so as to excite his
+imitative faculty to the utmost. Twenty boys is the full number, but
+only twelve of these are full choristers, the others being nominally on
+probation, a plan which serves to keep up the discipline.
+
+
+LINCOLN'S INN CHAPEL.
+
+There are twelve boys here. They come, with a fair knowledge of music,
+at about nine years of age, and receive from Dr. Steggall, or his
+assistants, three lessons of about two hours each every week. On Sunday,
+at the close of the morning service, there is a rehearsal with the men
+of the music for the afternoon, and for the morning of the following
+Sunday. The boys' practices are held in the choir-room, where Dr.
+Steggall, seated at a venerable Broadwood grand, coaches his little men,
+with care and neatness. On Saturdays, when half their lesson is done,
+the boys walk across to the chapel, and go through the Sunday's music
+with the organ. A pupil mounts to the instrument, while Dr. Steggall,
+book in hand, paces the aisle, or retires towards the communion table,
+constantly interrupting the singing to correct faults, or improve
+delivery. Meanwhile, the organ is played quite softly, that the voices
+may stand out clearly. Constant care is taken to prevent clipping of
+words in the most familiar parts of the service.
+
+
+THE TEMPLE CHURCH.
+
+Dr. E. J. Hopkins, himself an ex-choir-boy of the Chapel Royal, realises
+here his ideal of "quality, not quantity." He lays stress on the fact
+that he takes his boys at eight years of age. For a year or more,
+however, they are probationers. They do not wear surplices, although
+they sit close to the choir. They undergo daily drill in musical theory
+and voice-training, but in church they have no responsibility, and do
+little more than listen. When, however, the voice of one of the elder
+boys breaks, a probationer takes his place, and is much better for the
+training. The practices occupy an hour-and-a-half every afternoon. They
+are held in the little choir vestry, near the organ, where there is a
+cottage pianoforte, flanked by a couple of long music desks, at which
+the boys stand as they sing. They are taught in groups, according to the
+stage they have reached, and spend the lesson time in practising scales,
+voice exercises, pieces of music, and studying notation. The voices are
+practised up to A. On Saturdays there is a rehearsal in the church,
+with the organ and the men of the choir.
+
+
+LINCOLN CATHEDRAL.
+
+The choir here, directed by the venerable organist, Mr. J. W. M. Young,
+is noted for its chanting, which all choirmasters ought to hear. Mr.
+Young has made a special study of the Psalms, and changes speed and
+force frequently with the change of attitude in the psalmist. The
+recitation is delivered at the pace of ordinary speech, with
+elocutionary pauses as needed; it is sung neither faster nor slower than
+the cadence. Hence the whole effect is reverent and impressive. Mr.
+Young's published Psalter and Chants (Novello) should be studied, but
+the great excellence of his work can only be appreciated by a visit to
+Lincoln. All compilers of Psalters make rules, but Mr. Young carries
+them out. Mr. Young, who was a choir-boy at Durham more than fifty years
+ago, under Henshaw, tells me that it was no uncommon thing in his day
+for the boys to have three practices--8.30 to 10, 11 to 12, and 6 to 8.
+This in addition to the two daily services. The elder boys had to attend
+all; the younger were excused the evening practice. As far as I know, we
+have no such severe training now. Mr. Young likes to get his boys at
+eight; for two years, although they wear surplices, they do not sing.
+The sixteen boys receive free education, and board, pocket-money, and a
+present of £10 when their voices break. The younger boys are called
+"choristers," and wear surplices. The four senior boys are called
+"Burgersh-chanters," and wear black cassocks of a peculiar shape. In the
+town they are familiarly known as "black boys." The choristers attend a
+day-school with other boys who speak the Lincolnshire dialect; in this
+they suffer, for, as Mr. Young says, purity of vowels and beauty of tone
+go together. One of his maxims is, "use the lips as little as possible
+in singing; do all you can with the tongue. If you use the lips, then
+use them rapidly." The boys practise an hour-and-a-half each day. Mr.
+Young puts a high finish on all his work. Mozart's "Ave Verum" was
+sung on the day of my visit with infinite refinement. At one point the
+boys took a portamento--a grace which very few choirmasters would
+attempt with boys.
+
+[Illustration: A "BLACK BOY" AT LINCOLN CATHEDRAL.
+
+_Photographed by Mr. George Hadley, Lincoln._]
+
+
+CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD.
+
+The boys rehearse in a small but lofty room. There is a double row of
+desks and seats down each side, facing each other. Dr. C. H. Lloyd sits
+at a small pianoforte, placed across one end of the seats, thus
+commanding all the boys with his eye. The "tuning-up" exercises lasted
+ten minutes, and began with this exercise to "ah":--
+
+[Illustration: KEY C. {|d1:t.l|s.f:m.r|d:r.m|f.s:l.t|d1:-|-:-||]
+
+This exercise, begun in C, was carried up gradually to B[b] above. It
+was sung first with a _dim._ going down, and a _cres._ going up, and
+then the opposite. Then came an ascending, followed by a descending
+scale, similarly varied in key and expression. The next exercise was--
+
+[Illustration: KEY C. {|d.m:r.m |d.m:r.m |d.m:r.m |d:--||]
+
+which was transposed gradually upwards, being sung to "ah." Next a
+triplet exercise--
+
+[Illustration: KEY F. d t_1 d r d r to d1 r1 d1 t d1 t]
+
+At the higher part the second trebles sang a third below. Then followed
+the chromatic scale, up and down. Dr. Lloyd is not troubled much with
+flattening; when it occurs the men are more likely to cause it than the
+boys. They habitually sing the Litany, which lasts fifteen minutes,
+unaccompanied, and if they flatten at all, it is not more than a
+semitone. There is an unaccompanied service once a week. I noticed that
+breathing-places were marked in the anthems, and notes likely to give
+trouble were marked with a circle. Dr. Lloyd was by no means tied to the
+pianoforte during rehearsal, and frequently left his seat, and paced up
+and down, beating time while the singing went on. Theoretical questions
+on the pieces in hand were addressed to individual boys. These boys are
+the sons of professional men, and come from all parts of the country.
+There are now three undergraduates at Christ Church, who have been
+choir-boys. In the choir, on the day of my visit, was a boy of
+seventeen, who had sung for nine years; his voice had not yet begun to
+go. The curious custom is observed here of dividing the Psalms (between
+Decani and Cantoris) at the colon, instead of at the verse. It requires
+great readiness, and for those Psalms which are written in parallelisms,
+it is most effective.
+
+
+CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL.
+
+The boys here are divided into ten choristers and fourteen probationers.
+The choristers are on the foundation, and receive a stipend; the
+probationers get their schooling only. The choristers wear trencher caps
+and gowns; the probationers flannel caps, bearing the arms of the
+cathedral. The boys are nearly all from the city; there is no
+boarding-school. The lower floor of the choir-school is used for the
+ordinary instruction, which is conducted by Mr. Plant, an alto in the
+cathedral choir, and the upper floor is used as a music-room. Here the
+boys receive four or five lessons a week from Dr. Longhurst, and the
+probationers have also a lesson by themselves. All the choristers learn
+the violin; this has been the practice for many years. When, at
+festivals, there is a band in the cathedral, the strings are made up
+largely from old choristers, most of whom go into business in the city.
+A system of rotation is adopted; thus, although there are twenty-four
+boys, not more than fourteen sing at any one service, the rest are at
+work at their ordinary lessons. A considerable drainage of boys takes
+place to the King's School, the leading grammar school in Canterbury.
+The choristers often leave to enter this school when their voices are in
+their prime.
+
+Dr. Longhurst takes the boys very young; as soon after seven as
+possible. In choosing a boy, he requires both voice and ear to be good.
+Sometimes a boy excels in the one direction and not in the other; he can
+sing sweetly, but cannot imitate notes struck at random on the
+pianoforte, or else he has a poor voice and a good ear. But both
+endowments are necessary for a chorister. Dr. Longhurst, who was himself
+a boy at Canterbury, had a compass at that time of two-and-a-half
+octaves. As his voice changed he passed from first to second treble,
+then sang alto for seven years, and at last settled to tenor. He does
+not regard boy altos as desirable in cathedrals, but in parish churches,
+where no adult male altos are to be had, they are, no doubt, in place.
+Dr. Longhurst tells me that as a result of forty-eight years'
+experience, he can tell by the look of a boy whether he will make a
+chorister. There is something about the brows and eyes, and general
+contour of the face which guides him. He is never mistaken. Some time
+since a clergyman with whom Dr. Longhurst happened to be staying,
+ridiculed the idea that the musical capability of boys can be judged by
+their looks. He took Dr. Longhurst into the village school, and invited
+him to pick out the boys of the choir as they sat among others at their
+lessons. This Dr. Longhurst did quite correctly. He has no knowledge of
+phrenology, and the faculty has come to him simply as the result of long
+experience.
+
+On the day of my visit I heard the boys practise in their lofty
+music-room. Dr. Longhurst sat at the grand pianoforte, and the boys were
+grouped in fours or fives round four music-stands, on which the large
+folio voice parts, in type or MS., were placed. These desks stood on
+either side of the piano, so that the boys looked towards Dr.
+Longhurst. Not many voice exercises are used, nor is there any talk
+about the registers. Pure tone is required, and the boys have not "to
+reason why." Six or seven of the youngest boys took no part in the
+practice of the service music. When the elder boys had done, the younger
+came forward and sang some solfeggio exercises. As a help in keeping
+time the boys clapped their hands sometimes at the first of the bar, and
+beat the pulses of the music. In the single voice parts, with long
+rests, this is a help. The boys do not sing any secular music. At one
+time they did, but now, with the schooling, the ordinary practices, and
+the violin lessons, there is no time. Flattening does not often occur.
+As a rule, when they intone on G, the G remains to the end. The practice
+of singing the service unaccompanied on Fridays all the year round, and
+on Wednesdays in addition during Lent, must have a bracing effect on the
+choir. I was myself present on a Wednesday in Lent, and could detect no
+falling in pitch. The boys at Canterbury do not appear to receive much
+formal voice-training, and I attribute the excellent quality of their
+singing to two facts. First, Dr. Longhurst has evidently a knack of
+discerning a promising voice; and second, having established a tradition
+of good singing, the boys, entering at an early age, insensibly fall
+into it.
+
+
+DR. BUCK'S BOYS AT NORWICH.
+
+I have gathered from Mr. A. R. Gaul, Mus.B., of Birmingham, some
+particulars of the work of Dr. Buck, organist of Norwich Cathedral, who
+was known forty or fifty years ago all over the country as a trainer of
+boys' voices. Mr. Gaul was a boy at Norwich under Dr. Buck, and
+underwent the Spartan training which produced such notable results. "No
+chest voice above F or G" was his rule, and the flute-like voice, which
+goes by so many names, and is yet so unmistakable when heard, was
+developed in all the choristers. Dr. Buck had an endless number of
+contrivances for teaching his boys right ways. Each of them carried
+about him a pocket looking-glass, and at practice was taught to hold it
+in his hand, and watch his mouth as he sang. One finger on top of the
+other was the gauge for opening the mouth transversely, while nuts were
+held in the cheeks to secure its proper longitudinal opening. To look at
+the boys during this exercise, one might think they had the face-ache!
+However, no joking over these matters was allowed; there was a penny
+fine for forgetting the looking-glass once, and a twopenny fine for
+forgetting it a second time. To prevent the use of too much breath in
+singing, Dr. Buck would take a piece of tissue paper, the size of a
+postage stamp, hang it by a fine thread in front of the mouth, and make
+the boys sing to it without blowing it away. Tongue-drill consisted in
+regular motions of the unruly member, until the boys were able to make
+it lie flat down at the bottom of the mouth, and raise it to the upper
+teeth as required. It was a daily plan to practise certain passages with
+the lips entirely closed, this was done to prevent the objectionable
+quality of voice resulting from any stoppage of the nasal organs. There
+was no sol-faing; various words were used at scale-practice, chosen to
+develop the vowels, while a code of troublesome words and endings of
+words was drawn up, and repeated daily by the boys in the
+speaking-voice, so as to secure clear enunciation. I have more than once
+seen and heard it stated that Dr. Buck used to make his boys sing
+through the nose, with closed mouth, in order to get the higher
+register, but Mr. Gaul does not remember this. Dr. Haydn Keeton informs
+me that they had boy-altos at Norwich in Dr. Buck's time, so that he
+must have had more boys than usual to train.
+
+
+SALISBURY.
+
+A conversation with Mr. C. L. South, the organist and choirmaster, shows
+him to be a careful and able worker. The boys, who are boarded in the
+choir school, come from various parts. They are received at from 8 to 11
+years; not over 11 unless the boy is very good and forward in music. The
+boys are chosen for their voices, but given two boys of equal voices,
+the one who knows most music would be selected. The music practice is an
+hour a day for five days of the week, under Mr. South himself. "I
+recognise," he says, "two registers in boys' voices, chest and head, and
+with careful practice you can get the voices so even that you can hardly
+tell where one ends and the other begins. The great thing, I believe, is
+to make the boys sing softly, and to get their register even
+throughout." Mr. South adds that the imitative power of boys is so
+strong that the younger ones fall into the habits of the elder ones, and
+thus make formal teaching about the registers less necessary. For vocal
+practice he uses Stainer's and Concone's Exercises, also solos like
+"Jesus, Saviour, I am Thine," and "Let the Saviour's outstretched arm"
+(both from Bach's _Passion_), as well as Handel's "Rejoice greatly,"
+besides florid choruses from the _Messiah_. These are more interesting
+than formal studies, and they bring out the same points of breathing,
+phrasing, pronunciation, and expression. He sometimes introduces a song
+of this kind into the service as an anthem. On one occasion, when
+thirteen boys had sung one of the Bach songs in unison, a member of the
+congregation asked the name of the soloist. The voices were so perfectly
+blended that they sounded like one. The full number of boys is eighteen,
+of whom two at least sing solos. Mr. South does not use nor like boy
+altos. The service music is selected on eclectic principles, and covers
+the ground from Gibbons to Villiers Stanford. The boys sometimes give
+concerts, performing such cantatas as Smart's _King Rene's Daughter_,
+and Mendelssohn's "Two-part Songs."
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+NOTES ON THE PRACTICE OF VARIOUS CHOIRMASTERS IN PARISH CHURCHES.
+
+
+In the course of journeys and interviews extending over many years I
+have gathered much experience from choirmasters, and have watched and
+noted their plans. Here follow some of the results of this work. The
+churches described are some of them small, and but little known. This
+fact, however, does not affect the value of the experience. The highest
+degree of credit is due to the choirmaster who obtains good results from
+poor materials, and this book is especially intended to help those who
+have to make the best of ordinary opportunities.
+
+
+LEEDS PARISH CHURCH.
+
+This church has long been noted for its music, which is sung in
+cathedral style. There are about thirty boys, whose voices, even up to
+A, are round and clear, and throughout are big, true, and rich. Notable
+features of the style of the choir under Dr. Creser, are the long _dim_.
+cadences in responses, and the independence which enables the singers to
+go on without the organ, if the expression suggests it. At the rehearsal
+in the parochial room Dr. Creser sits at the grand piano with the boys
+in their cantoris and decani places on each side of him just as in
+church. The boys rehearse five days a week after evensong, and the
+juniors have an additional practice. After Saturday evensong there is a
+full practice with the men. All the boys are trebles. Yorkshire is about
+the only district in England which produces adult male altos. The boys
+are chiefly promoted from district churches. They live at their homes,
+and receive a free education--the seniors in the Leeds middle-class
+school, and the juniors in the parish church school. There is also a
+small salary paid quarterly, and when a boy leaves he receives from £15
+to £25 if an ordinary chorister, and £50 if a good solo boy. Fines are
+imposed by the precentor for misbehaviour or mischievous tricks in
+church or precincts, but not for mistakes in singing. Dr. Creser teaches
+sight-singing on the lines of Curwen's "How to Read Music." The boys use
+the old notation, but have learnt it through Tonic Sol-fa, using the
+course entitled "Crotchets and Quavers." Occasionally the whole
+rehearsal consists of sol-faing. In every difficulty as to key
+relationship the Sol-fa makes matters clear. Dr. Creser was first led to
+use Tonic Sol-fa by noticing how easy it made the minor mode. The junior
+boys are always taught by Dr. Creser. Until the voices settle he would
+on no account delegate them to an assistant. The two chief rules of
+voice-training are to forbid forcing the chest register above
+[Illustration: a music staff with a treble clef and a whole note "E" on
+the first line.] and to begin scales at the top. Flattening takes place
+occasionally, but it is nearly always the fault of the congregation, who
+drag the pitch down. The arrangement of the music-library here is a
+model of order.
+
+
+ST. PETER'S, EATON SQUARE, LONDON.
+
+Here, under the direction of Mr. de Manby Sergison, a very fine Anglican
+service is maintained. There are twenty boys, and a few probationers.
+The boys have an hour's practice every day, and sing the Psalms and a
+hymn at the daily choral service. Formerly a choir boarding-school was
+kept up, but this was abolished, being found to be too expensive. Now
+the boys are selected from schools in and near the parish, and Mr.
+Sergison finds the ordinary London boy equal to all the demands of the
+church. When the choir-school was given up he was able within a month to
+prepare an entirely new set of boys, so proficient that the congregation
+scarcely noticed a difference. The vocal practice of the boys includes
+"Concone's Exercises," and their phrasing in the service music is very
+good. The full choir sings on Sundays and Saints' Days, and their
+rehearsal takes place once a week in the church, Mr. Sergison being at
+the organ. In the chapter on the management of choir-boys I have quoted
+some wise remarks by Mr. Sergison, which explain his success as a
+choirmaster.
+
+
+ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, CHELSEA.
+
+This is a Training College for schoolmasters, which has long been noted
+for its musical services. Mr. Owen Breden, the present organist and
+choirmaster, is the successor of Dr. Hullah, Mr. May, and the Rev. F.
+Helmore. The choir-boys, who number 26, only sing on Sundays. They are
+drawn from the practicing school, which contains 800 boys. They enter
+the choir at nine years of age, and there are always six or eight
+probationers, who attend the practices and are ready to fill vacancies.
+Thus a good style of singing is maintained. People say to Mr. Breden,
+"There is no telling one voice from another, your boys are so much
+alike." At the bi-weekly practice with Mr. Breden the boys have
+voice-training. They sing to _la_ and sol-fa syllables scales gradually
+rising. They are not trained above G, but if a boy has a good G he can
+always go higher. The boys can all read from the Sol-fa modulator, and
+Mr. Breden gives them ear-tests. The alto part is taken entirely by boys
+at St. Mark's. The choir-boys, past and present, perform an operetta in
+costume every Christmas. Anthems like Macfarren's "The Lord is my
+Shepherd," Bennett's "God is a Spirit," Goss's "O Saviour of the world,"
+&c., are sung unaccompanied. In fact, whenever the organ part merely
+duplicates the voices, they take the opportunity at St. Mark's to enjoy
+the pure chording of human voices.
+
+
+ST. MARY'S CHURCH, BERLIN.
+
+My friend, Herr Th. Krause, the organist and choirmaster of this church,
+allowed me to attend a rehearsal of the eighty boys and twenty men who
+form his fine choir. The large number of boys is explained by the fact
+that nearly half of them are altos. The motet of the Lutheran church is
+invariably unaccompanied. It closely resembles in form our anthem, but
+the German Protestants look upon the _a capella_ style, which continues
+the tradition of the Sistine Chapel at Rome, as the purest and highest
+in church music. On no account would they use the organ to accompany a
+motet. This gives rise to elaborate compositions, often like
+Mendelssohn's "Judge me, O God," in eight parts. By treating the boys
+and men as separate choirs, each in four parts, and getting responses
+between them, a variety of tone colour, which is almost orchestral, is
+obtained; and when both choirs unite in solid eight-part harmony, the
+result is imposing. As the Germans are usually not sight-singers, the
+labour involved in learning these motets is immense. The higher register
+of the boys is well trained. They sing up to B flat without effort, and
+with purest tone. The same may be said of the Dom Choir, for which
+Mendelssohn wrote his motets. At my last visit to Leipzig, I carried an
+introduction to Dr. Rust, trainer of the Thomas Church choir, but I was
+there just after Whitsuntide, when the yearly shifting of classes had
+just taken place, and Dr. Rust, who wished me to hear his boys at their
+best, asked me not to come to a rehearsal. Speaking generally, the
+voices of German boys are thinner than those of English boys, more like
+fifes than flutes.
+
+
+ST. CLEMENT DANES, STRAND.
+
+The choirmaster here, Mr. F. J. Knapp, is also master of the parish day
+school. Here he insists on quiet singing, and stops coarseness directly.
+The boys are taught on the Tonic Sol-fa system, which, says Mr. Knapp,
+has alone enabled him to produce his results. Some time ago at St.
+Stephens, Walworth, he was called upon to produce a choir in a week, and
+he did this, by nightly rehearsals, to the satisfaction of everyone.
+Complete oratorios, with band, were frequently given by this choir of
+sol-faists. At St. Clement Danes he had to produce a choir in five days,
+and here again he succeeded by the use of Tonic Sol-fa. "Our
+choir-boys," he says, "can now sing at sight almost anything I put
+before them. We never have more than two or three practices (one only,
+full) for the most difficult anthems we do. There is an anthem every
+Sunday, a choral communion once a month, offertory sentences on
+alternate Sundays, cantatas and oratorios at Festivals." Mr. Knapp
+adopts the useful plan of "tuning-up" his boys before the morning
+service. Flattening, when it occurs, is due, he considers, to damp
+weather, a cold church, &c. But he is rarely troubled with it. The boys'
+voice exercises are taken at the harmonium, first slow notes to
+"koo-ah," or to "oo-ay-ah-ee," or to a sentence containing consonants.
+This exercise is done both ascending and descending, but especially
+descending. He also uses the chromatic scale from B flat up to
+F:--[Illustration: A music staff with a treble clef on the left. Two
+quarter notes: B flat below the staff and F on the top line.] He tells
+the boys nothing about the registers, but watches constantly against
+shouting.
+
+
+SALZUNGEN CHOIR.
+
+This (Protestant) choir of men and boys is well-known in Germany, and
+not only sings at Salzungen, but occasionally makes tours, and gives
+concerts. Herr Mühlfeld, the trainer, tells me that he takes the boys
+from 11 years of age upwards, and that before entering the choir they
+have a fair knowledge of notes, and can sing at sight. The voices are
+examined on entry, low ones being put to sing alto, and high ones being
+put to sing soprano. The boys have two lessons of an hour each per week,
+in which they practise exercises, _choräle_, school songs, and church
+music. Flattening, according to Herr Mühlfeld, is due to (1) bad ear,
+(2) imperfect training, (3) fatigue of the voice. The boys are taught to
+listen to each note that they sing, and to make it blend with the
+instrument or the leading voice. In order to do this they must sing
+softly, and thus hear their neighbours' voices. The 3rd, 6th, 7th, and
+8th tones of the scale are, says Herr Mühlfeld, often sung flat, and
+exercises should be specially given to secure the intonation of these
+sounds. The boys must also learn the intervals, and whenever they appear
+to be tired a pause must be made.
+
+
+UPTON CROSS BOARD SCHOOL.
+
+This is not a church, but a boys' school, from which a good many
+choristers are drawn, and where excellent results have been obtained.
+The boys have often won prizes in choral competitions. Mr. H. A. Donald,
+the headmaster, tells me that he examines the voices of the boys one by
+one in his own room, once a year. Those who can take G and A
+[Illustration: musical notation] sweetly and easily are put down as
+first trebles. Those who can go below C [Illustration: musical notation]
+are altos. The rest are second trebles. He finds that after a year a
+boy's voice will often have changed--a treble become an alto, or vice
+versa. In modulator practice, and as far as possible in pieces of music,
+he keeps the trebles above [Illustration: musical notation]. Below this
+they get coarse. He never gives on the modulator an ascending passage
+which begins below this G. One may leap up, and come down by step, but
+not ascend by step. He uses Mr. Proudman's "Voice-training Exercises"
+(J. Curwen & Sons) for first trebles, and his contralto exercises for
+contraltos. Coarseness he checks at once, and he silences boys whose
+voices are breaking.
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+ALTO BOYS.
+
+
+How is the alto part, in a church choir consisting of males, to be sung?
+In our cathedrals this part has been given, ever since the Restoration,
+to adult men, generally with bass voices singing in their "thin"
+register. For this voice our composers of the English cathedral school
+wrote, carrying the part much lower than they would have done if they
+had been writing for women or boy-singers. For this voice, also, Handel
+wrote, and the listener at the Handel Festival cannot but feel the
+strength and resonance which the large number of men altos give to the
+harmony when the range of the part is low. The voice of the man alto,
+however, was never common, and is becoming less common than it was. It
+occupies a curious position, never having been recognised as a solo
+voice. I have heard of an exceptionally good man alto at Birmingham who
+was accustomed to sing songs at concerts, but this is an isolated case.
+The voice seems to have been generally confined to choral music.
+
+This voice is entirely an English institution, unknown on the continent.
+Historians say that after the Restoration, when it was very difficult to
+obtain choir-boys, adult men learned to sing alto, and even low treble
+parts, in falsetto, in order to make harmony possible.
+
+Let us concede at once that for music of the old cathedral school this
+voice is in place. The churches are, however, getting more and more
+eclectic, and are singing music from oratorios, cantatas, and masses
+that was composed for women altos, and is far too high in compass for
+men. We may admit that because the alto part lies so much upon the break
+into the thick or chest register of boys, it is very difficult to get
+them to sing it well. The dilemma is that in parish churches, especially
+in country places, the adult male alto is not to be had, and the choice
+is between boy altos, and no altos at all.
+
+There is no doubt, moreover, that the trouble of voice-management in boy
+altos can be conquered by watchfulness and care. At the present time
+there are, as the information I have collected shows, a number of very
+good cathedral and church choirs in which the alto part is being
+sustained by boys.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The following is from Mr. James Taylor, organist and choirmaster of New
+College, Oxford:--
+
+"New College, Oxford, _Dec._ 13, 1890.
+
+"Dear Sir,--In reply to your letter, I can confidently recommend boy
+altos in parish or other choirs, provided they are carefully trained. We
+have introduced them into this choir for more than two years, and the
+experiment has fully come up to my expectations. We still retain two men
+altos in our choir, which now consists of the following:--Fourteen
+trebles, four boy altos, two men altos, four tenors, and four basses. I
+find boy altos very effective in _modern_ church music, such as
+Mendelssohn's anthems, &c., where the alto part is written much higher
+than is the case in the old cathedral music.
+
+"Yours very truly,
+
+"JAMES TAYLOR."
+
+Dr. Garrett, organist of St. John's College, Cambridge, writes:--
+
+"5, Park Side, Cambridge, _Dec._ 12, 1890.
+
+"Dear Mr. Curwen,--I have had boy altos only in my choir for some years.
+I introduced them of necessity in the first instance. The stipend of a
+lay clerk was too small to attract any other than a local candidate, and
+no suitable man was to be found. If I could have really first-class
+adult altos in my choir I should not think of using boys' voices. At the
+same time there are some advantages on the side of boys' voices.
+
+"I. Unless the adult alto voice is really pure and good, and its
+possessor a skilled singer, it is too often unbearable.
+
+"II. Under the most favourable conditions it is very rare, according to
+my experience, to find an alto voice retaining its best qualities after
+middle age.
+
+"III. The alto voice is undoubtedly becoming rare.
+
+"On the other side you have to consider:--
+
+"I. The limitation of choice in music, as there is a good deal of
+'cathedral music' in which the alto part is beyond the range of any
+boy's voice.
+
+"II. A certain lack of _brightness_ in the upper part of such trios as
+those in 'By the waters of Babylon' (Boyce) 'The wilderness' (Goss), and
+many like movements.
+
+"As regards the break question, the advantage, in my experience, is
+wholly on the boys' side. A well-trained boy will sing such a solo as 'O
+thou that tellest,' or such a passage as the following without letting
+his break be felt at all:
+
+[Illustration: For Thou hast been my hope, hast been my hope.]
+
+This passage,[B] which is from the anthem, 'Hear my crying,' by Weldon,
+I have heard sung by an adult alto, who broke badly between E flat and
+F. The effect was funny beyond description. In fact, if a boys' break is
+about C or D (3rd space or 4th line), and he [Illustration: musical
+notation] is never allowed to practise above that, there will be no
+question of break arising. My alto boys can get a good round G, and five
+out of the six can go up without break to C. [Illustration: musical
+notation] The advantage of this in chanting the Psalms is obvious. What
+can an adult alto be expected to do in a case where the reciting note is
+close to his break? These are considerations which may fairly be taken
+into account even when the decision is to be made between _possible_
+courses; when there _is_ a choice. In many cases there is none. It must
+be (as you say) boy alto, or no alto. I am quite sure that careful
+training is all that is needed to make boy altos most efficient members
+of a choir. Or rather, I ought to say that careful selection and
+training are both needed. To take a young boy as an alto because he
+happens to have three or four raucous notes from, say, B flat to E flat
+[Illustration: musical notation] while he has a bad break between E flat
+[Illustration: musical notation] and F is, of course, to court failure.
+I prefer taking a boy whose break lies higher, and training his voice
+downwards. If, as a probationer, he can get a fairly good round B
+natural [Illustration: musical notation] or B flat; lower notes can
+certainly be produced as he grows older.]
+
+"Yours very truly,
+
+"GEORGE GARRETT."
+
+[B] I have transposed the passage from the alto clef.--J. S. C.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A remark may be interposed here that from a physiological point of view
+we must expect voices of different pitch in boys, just as in girls,
+women, and men. Boys differ in height, size, and in the pitch of the
+speaking voice, which is a sure guide to the pitch of the singing voice.
+There is thus no physiological ground for supposing all boys to be
+trebles.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The following letter is from the Rev. W. E. Dickson, Precentor of Ely:--
+
+"The College, Ely, _October 30th_, 1890.
+
+"_Dear Sir_,--I have much pleasure in replying to your note. If I
+resolved to do so in a few words I should be obliged to say that seldom
+indeed do I hear boy altos sing with sweet voices and true intonation,
+either in my own country, or in those foreign countries in which I am in
+the habit of taking my holidays.
+
+"But I should like to be allowed to explain that, in my opinion, the
+coarseness (at any rate) of boy-altos in English choirs is due to
+mismanagement by the choirmaster. His usual plan is to turn over to the
+alto part boys who are losing their upper notes by the natural failure
+of their soprano voices. This saves trouble, for such boys probably
+read music well enough, and they are simply told to 'sing alto,' and are
+left to do so without further training, until they can croak out no more
+ugly noises. Surely this is quite a mistake. Am I not right in
+maintaining that a perfect choir should consist of
+
+    FIRST TREBLES TENORS
+
+    SECOND TREBLES BASSES
+
+well balanced as to numbers, and all singing with pure natural quality?
+If I am, then it follows that the second trebles should be precisely
+equal to the firsts in number and strength, and should include boys of
+various ages, as carefully selected and as assiduously trained as the
+others. I cannot but think--and, indeed, I perfectly well know--that
+where this has been done by a skilful teacher, whose heart is in his
+work, boy altos have been made to sing with sweetness and accuracy.
+
+"You will probably agree with me--though this is quite by the way--that
+secular music should be largely used by such a teacher. The part-songs
+of Mendelssohn, for instance, should be trolled out by the two sets of
+boys, who may even interchange their parts at practice with the best
+results. But of course this is said only in reference to choirs of a
+high class.
+
+"I do not deny that even the best teaching and the best management will
+not secure quite the same _timbre_ which you get in choirs with falsetti
+in the alto part. A certain silvery sweetness is obtained from these
+voices to which our English ears have become accustomed, and which we
+should miss if boys, however well-trained, took their places. In the
+Preces, Versicles, Litany, &c., of the English Choral Service, we should
+be conscious of a loss. In cathedrals, too, the complete shelving of
+some or even many compositions, favourites by long association, if not
+by intrinsic merit, would be inevitable. But I am unable to doubt for a
+moment that when the change had been made, and time had been given for
+the new order of things, under a thoroughly competent musician, we
+should not regret it.
+
+"At Ely we have ten men in daily attendance; fourteen on Sundays. We
+keep twenty boys in training. If this vocal body were thus
+distributed:--
+
+    10 FIRST TREBLES    5 TENORS (6 on Sunday)
+
+    10 SECOND TREBLES    5 BASSES (8 on Sunday)
+
+we should certainly be stronger and healthier in tone and quality than
+we are now, with a disproportionate number of trebles, thus:--
+
+    20 TREBLES     3 [4] TENORS
+
+    3 [4] ALTOS     4 [6] BASSES
+
+As to rustic choirs in village churches, I fear the case is hopeless,
+and I myself should be glad to see editions of well-known hymn-tunes and
+chants in three parts only--treble, tenor, and bass. Handel wrote some
+truly grand choruses in three parts in his 'Chandos Anthems.' But his
+tenor part is not for every-day voices!
+
+"Believe me, truly yours,
+
+"W. E. DICKSON."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The following, from Dr. Haydn Keeton, organist of Peterborough
+Cathedral, is against boy altos:--
+
+"Thorpe Road, Peterborough, _December 12th, 1890_.
+
+"Dear Sir,--I have had about eighteen years' experience with alto boys,
+and although I have had some exceedingly good ones, one or two as good
+as it is possible, I think, to have, yet I must say that, in my opinion,
+it is a bad system to substitute boys for men, especially in cathedral
+music. The reason why the change was made here was that about the year
+1872 three of our men altos were failing, and I happened to have three
+boys with good low voices, who took alto well. In consenting to this
+change I had no idea of its being a permanent one, but owing to the
+agricultural depression our Chapter have been quite prevented doing what
+they would like to do with the choir. The general effect of the change
+has been this--that I have been always weak in trebles. We are limited
+to Peterborough for our choristers, and, as a rule, there is not one boy
+in a hundred who knows even his notes when he enters the choir. It
+takes from eighteen months to two years for a boy to learn his work, and
+it is not until a boy is at least twelve that one can turn him into an
+alto. The result is that four of my senior boys have to be turned into
+altos, and I am left with a preponderance of young, inexperienced boys
+as trebles. At the present time I have twelve trebles, eight of whom are
+quite young.
+
+"In addition, see what extra work is involved in teaching the boys to
+sing alto. Some boys do not take to alto very easily, and the extra work
+given to the altos means that quantity taken from the trebles. I am
+unable, in consequence, to give the necessary time to the elementary
+work that one ought to give. We can only get one hour's practice in the
+day, owing to the boys going to school.
+
+"Then, again, as to tone. The tone of a choir with men altos, if they
+are at all fairly good, is so much superior to one with boy altos. In
+cathedral music so many anthems and services have trios for A.T.B. There
+is not one boy in a thousand who can sing the trio in 'O where shall
+wisdom' (Boyce) with a tenor and bass effectively. And how many there
+are similar to that!
+
+"I do not see how boys could work at all in ordinary parish choirs, for
+here there are not the opportunities of teaching boys to read well at
+sight. It is only by daily practice that one can make anything of boys.
+
+"Yours faithfully,
+"H. KEETON."
+
+Dr. Frank Bates, organist of Norwich Cathedral, has favoured me with a
+copy of a paper on the boy's voice, in which he says:--
+
+"The compass of a boy's voice when properly developed is from
+
+[Illustration: C to A B[b] or C]
+
+The chest or lower register extends from
+
+[Illustration: C to C or D]
+
+The head or upper register extends from
+
+[Illustration: C or D to B[b] or C]
+
+No fixed compass can possibly be given to the different registers, as
+the older a boy becomes the lower the change occurs; the head register
+often being used as low down as A."
+
+[Illustration: musical notation]
+
+In a letter to me Dr. Bates says:--
+
+"I quite think that, for ordinary parish church services, the effect of
+boy altos, if properly taught, is all that one can desire."
+
+In reply to my remark that the break comes in so awkwardly for boy
+altos, Dr. Bates says:--
+
+"I fail to understand the reason you quote for the non-usage of boy
+altos. There is no change whatever in a boy's voice, _in its normal
+state_, until [Illustration: musical notation] is reached. If the change
+is made lower down all the brilliancy is taken out of a boy's voice. As
+a boy gets older he uses the upper register much lower down. I have
+known boys at the age of eighteen with lovely top notes but very poor
+chest register. In such cases, when a boy's top register commences at
+[Illustration: G] I can quite understand the difficulty."
+
+There is evidently some conflict of nomenclature here, as the limits of
+the registers as given by Dr. Bates differ considerably from those which
+are usual. I am glad to learn that Dr. Bates is writing a book on "The
+Voices of Boys," which will no doubt clear up the subject. In the paper
+before me he recommends practice of the scales to such syllables as La,
+Fa, Ta, Pa, in order to bring the tone well to the front of the mouth,
+and reinforce it by means of the soft upper palate. He recommends the
+teacher to train the boys to use the upper register by making them sing
+over and over again, _very softly_, the following notes:--
+
+[Illustration: Chest Head Ah....]
+
+Here again the transition seems to me to be taken much too high.
+
+Mr. Frank Sharp, of Dundee, trainer of the celebrated children's choir,
+which has sung the treble and alto parts, both solos and choruses, of
+_Messiah, St. Paul_, and many cantatas, writes to me:--
+
+"In part-singing where there are boy trebles, the adult male alto voice
+has its charms. The contrast in quality between the open tone of the
+boys' voices and the condensed, sometimes squeaky sweetness of the man
+alto does not affect the blending, and helps the distinctness of parts.
+Considering the growing scarcity of this latter voice, why not use boy
+altos? They can be made as effective as ordinary women altos, but they
+are as short-lived and need more attention than the boy trebles. Their
+chief drawback is a tendency to produce tone without the least attention
+to quality or effect save that of noise. Nevertheless, there is nothing
+to hinder boy altos doing all that is necessary, or, indeed, all that
+can be done by the adult male alto. I have trained boys to sing alto in
+_Messiah_, _St. Paul_, and equally trying music, during the past twenty
+years, and anyone else who keeps the girl's alto voice before him as a
+model can do the same. The boy alto voice may be said to have a husk and
+a kernel: the one strident, harsh, and overpowering; the other sweet,
+and, with use, rich and round. The average healthy boy, with his
+exuberant love of noise, will naturally give the husk, but the skilful
+voice-trainer will only accept the kernel, evolved from right register,
+good _timbre_, and proper production. Seeing and hearing a process in
+voice-training is, however, more satisfactory than much writing and the
+reading thereof."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mr. W. W. Pearson, master of a village school in Norfolk, who is
+well-known by his excellent part-songs, writes to me:--
+
+"I succeed very well in getting boys to sing alto because I always use a
+large number of exercises in two parts, making each division of the
+class in turn take the lower part. I do not choose boys for altos on
+account of age. That, in my opinion, has nothing to do with it. I choose
+them by quality of voice. There is no break in the voice of the natural
+alto between]--[Illustration: G and C] I find altos out generally when
+they are novices, by hearing them trying to sing with the others, and
+dropping down an octave in high passages."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The following interesting notes are by Mr. W. Critchley, organist,
+choirmaster, and schoolmaster in the village of Hurst, near Reading:--
+
+"I do not choose the elder boys as altos, as I find that treble boys, as
+a rule, are at their very best just before the change of voice. And
+moreover, when that change begins, the voice is so uncertain in its
+intonation that if the boy were put to sing alto he would be certain to
+drag the others down. At present I have one or two boys with round,
+mellow voices, who are very effective. Unfortunately, most of the alto
+parts in hymn-tunes and chants hover about the place where the break in
+the voice occurs, and it requires a lot of practice to conquer the
+difficulty. As a rule, I get the alto boys to sing in the lower
+register. It is very seldom they get a note which they cannot take in
+this register, so I train it up a little, thus--
+
+[Illustration: KEYS B to F[#].
+
+d_1 t_2 l_2 t_2 d_1 r_1 m_1]
+
+I do not see any other way of getting over the uncertainty in the boy
+alto voice. It is merely a matter of time and trouble."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mr. J. C. E. Taylor, choirmaster of St. Mary's, Penzance, and
+head-master of the National School, says:--
+
+"I have had one or two pure alto voices, and these are the best, but
+very rare. Good voices of trebles unable to take [Illustration: musical
+notation] (D) have often become fair alto voices, and my present solo
+alto boy is one of these. The trios in the anthems are taken by boy
+alto, tenor, and bass. These alto boys are practised from lower G to
+C--[Illustration: musical notation] up and down, minding their _p's_ and
+_f's_. My trebles, as a rule, last until fifteen years of age, and altos
+until sixteen, and even seventeen."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mr. A. Isaac, choirmaster of a church in Liverpool, says:--
+
+"For the last twenty years I have been continuously engaged with male
+voice choirs in connection with churches too poor to pay for adult help,
+and, as you may readily guess, I have never yet had the good fortune to
+secure, for any length, the services of gentlemen who could sing
+falsetto effectively. I have had, therefore, to rely solely upon my boys
+for the alto part. At the present time my choir, which is allowed to be
+up to the mark amongst local Liverpool churches, is made up of 22 boys
+(18 treble and 4 alto) paid, and 14 adults (5 tenors and 9 basses)
+voluntary. There is, I find, no royal road to the alto part. My course
+is as follows. I obtain my boys as soon as they are eleven, by which age
+they have been made fairly familiar at my school with the old notation
+on the movable _do_ plan. Theoretical instruction is continued side by
+side with special voice-training exercises. Occasionally I meet with a
+boy who has a true mezzo-soprano voice, and he is a treasure, but in the
+main my selections are boys with treble voices. As soon as a treble
+shows signs of voice breaking, I let him down into the alto part. The
+transition is not very difficult, for by this time the boy has become a
+fairly good Sol-faist and reader. I have but to adapt the voice-training
+exercises to him in company with his fellows, and I have no reason to
+regret the issue. I take my boys always together, with two-part
+exercises."
+
+Mr. Stocks Hammond, organist and choirmaster of St. Barnabas, Bradford,
+in a published paper on "Boys' Voices," says:--
+
+"During many years of choir training, I have experienced very great
+difficulty in supplying the alto parts with _good_ men's falsetto voices
+(especially in voluntary choirs), and I have therefore been compelled to
+have that part sung by boys, and experience leads me to prefer the boys'
+voices to men's, unless, indeed, they are real alto voices, which are
+seldom to be met with. I have never yet had any great difficulty in
+finding boys' voices capable of sustaining that part, and can always
+fill up any gaps that occur by the following means. Whenever I find a
+treble begins to experience a difficulty in singing the upper notes, and
+that in order to sing them he must strain his voice, immediately he is
+put to sing alto, which he is in most cases able to do for one or two
+years, and during that time he is thus retained as a useful member of
+the choir; for otherwise he would very soon have been lost to it
+entirely, for nothing hastens so much the breaking of the voice as the
+habit of unduly straining it."
+
+Mr. T. H. Collinson, Mus.B., organist of St. Mary's Cathedral,
+Edinburgh, writes to me:--
+
+"Boy altos are a fraud and a deception, as a rule, though occasionally
+one meets with a natural contralto at an early age. Even then he can
+generally be worked up to treble by gentle treatment, developing the
+middle and falsetto registers."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In order to get to the bottom of this subject, I invited correspondence
+in the _Musical Standard_ (until recently the organ of the College of
+Organists), and several interesting letters were the result. Mr. R. T.
+Gibbons, F.C.O., organist of the Grocers' Company's Schools, where
+excellent performances of operettas are given, wrote:--
+
+"As soon as a boy's voice reaches only E[b] he is drafted into the
+altos, and that preserves his voice much longer."
+
+To this statement Mr. Fred. Cambridge, organist of Croydon Parish
+Church, took exception. He said:--
+
+"I do not wish to appear to dogmatise, but I should say 'as soon as a
+boy's voice reaches only E[b],' it is quite time he left off singing
+altogether, _i.e._, if his voice has previously been a treble. I know it
+is the custom in some choirs to make a boy sing alto as soon as his
+voice begins to break. In my opinion, such a course is utterly wrong. It
+is not only injurious to the boy's voice, but very unpleasant for those
+who have to listen to it.
+
+"In a school of 500 boys, there ought to be no difficulty in finding
+sufficient natural altos, without having to rely on broken-voiced
+trebles.
+
+"In my own choir I frequently admit altos at 10 or 11 years of age, with
+the result that I get five or six years' work out of them, and the
+latter part of their time they are available for alto solos.
+
+"I think (and I speak from upwards of 30 years' experience) that if Mr.
+Gibbons will try this plan, he will find it much more satisfactory than
+drafting his trebles into the altos as soon as their voices begin to
+break.
+
+"I do not enter into the question of men _versus_ boy altos, because it
+is my experience that in a voluntary choir, especially in the country, a
+really _good_ adult alto is such a _rara avis_, that one is obliged to
+rely on boys, and if they are carefully chosen and trained, they are, I
+think, quite satisfactory. The only place when one misses the man alto
+voice is in anthems with a verse for A.T.B., such as 'Rejoice in the
+Lord' (Purcell), 'The Wilderness' (Goss), &c."
+
+Mr. C. E. Juleff, organist of Bodmin Parish Church, wrote:--
+
+"Allow me to say that I have found men altos infinitely preferable to
+those of boys. In short, one good man alto I have experienced to be
+equal to half-a-dozen boy altos as regards tone; and in respect to
+phrasing and reading I have found men altos decidedly superior. The two
+gentlemen altos who were in my choir at SS. Michael and All Angels,
+Exeter, were acknowledged by London organists to be 'second to none' in
+the provinces."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On the other hand, Mr. Thomas Ely, F.C.O., of St. John's College,
+Leatherhead, gave a warm testimony to boy altos:--
+
+"I may say that in my choir at this College I have four or five very
+good boy altos. One is exceptionally good, possessing a natural alto
+voice of remarkable richness and beauty. In our services and anthems he
+takes the solo alto parts, and in my opinion he is far superior to a man
+alto, except in such anthems as Wesley's 'Ascribe unto the Lord'
+(expressly written for choirs possessing men altos), in which he cannot
+take some of the lower notes. The compass of his voice is from F to
+E[b]."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In these letters and experiences there are evidently two underlying
+ideas. First, that the boy alto has a naturally low voice; second, that
+the boy alto is a broken-down soprano. For both these notions there is
+some physical foundation, because there is no doubt that the lower notes
+of boys of 12 to 14 are rounder and fuller than those of boys of 9 to
+12. Herr Eglinger, of Basel, to whose mastery of the subject in theory
+and practice I can testify, from personal intercourse, distinctly
+recognises this. He says:--
+
+"It is only when boys and girls approach the period of change, say a
+year or two before the voice begins to break, that a clear chest-voice,
+corresponding to that of women, is perceptible. In boys at this stage,
+the head-voice rapidly declines in volume and height; and what there is
+of middle register is not much, nor of great service much longer. On the
+other hand, the chest-tones acquire a resonance, and in boys a certain
+gruffness, which, mixed with other voices, imparts a peculiar charm to
+the chorus."
+
+Thus although here and there a boy may be found with a naturally low
+voice from the first, the majority of altos will be obtained from older
+boys, who are approaching the period of change. It is, however, of much
+importance to watch these boys, and stop their singing when their voice
+really gives way, because it then becomes uncertain in its intonation,
+and is apt to spoil the tuning of the choir.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The idea that boys must not use the thick or chest register is also a
+mistake. It is the straining of this register, which produces a hard,
+rattling sound, that is objectionable. Boy altos have as much right to
+use the chest register, in its proper place and with proper reserve of
+power, as women altos.
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+SCHOOLS FOR CHORISTERS.
+
+
+Music is now recognised as one of the professions, taking its place by
+the side of Law, Medicine, and Divinity. Parents who have boys to start
+in life look for avenues of entrance to these various occupations. And
+there can be no doubt that to be a chorister-boy is one of the very best
+ways of serving an apprenticeship to music. Hear what the late Sir
+George Macfarren says on the subject:--
+
+"A cathedral choir is the best cradle for a musician our country
+affords. I say this from the conviction, many times confirmed, that, as
+an average, by very far the best practical musicians, those I mean whose
+musical readiness gives them the air of having music as an instinct or
+of second nature, those who are ever prompt with their talent to produce
+or to perform without preparation at the requirement of the moment;
+those whose ears are quick, whose wits are sharp, and whose utmost
+ability is ever at their fingers' ends--are they who have passed their
+art infancy in one of our ecclesiastical arenas for constant practice.
+The very early habit of hearing and performing music stimulates the
+musical sense, and gives musical tendency to all the youthfully supple
+faculties which bear upon the use of this sense. The habit in almost
+first childhood of associating sight with sound, written characters with
+uttered notes, the office of the eye with that of the ear or of the
+voice, which is the ear's agent, does more in favourable cases to
+develop some of the best essentials in an artist, than can be
+accomplished by the unremitting study of after life. I say this
+feelingly: I had not the advantage to which I refer, but I observe its
+influence upon the majority of others whose talent claims my best
+respect."
+
+These words put the case with emphasis and truth. A list of former choir
+boys in the musical profession, if it could be compiled, would afford
+further evidence in this matter. Among composers the list would include
+Arthur Sullivan, Alfred Cellier, John Stainer, and Alfred Gaul; among
+singers, Edward Lloyd and Joseph Maas, while the ranks of the teaching
+profession are largely recruited from this source. "Literature," says
+Mr. Herkomer, "does not help art much. Art is learnt by doing." You
+cannot become a musician by reading the matter up, or listening to
+lectures. Musicianship is imparted more after the style of a moral than
+of an intellectual power--like good breeding rather than like
+arithmetic.
+
+A striking proof of the fact that the chorister boy gravitates easily
+into the musical profession, and makes his mark there, is afforded by
+the history of Rochester Cathedral boys. These include the late Mr.
+Joseph Maas, the tenor singer, and the following organists of
+cathedrals, all of whom are living:--Dr. Armes (Durham), Dr. Crow
+(Ripon), Dr. Bridge (Westminster), Dr. J. C. Bridge (Chester), and Mr.
+Wood (Exeter).
+
+These facts make parents anxious for information as to how to get their
+sons into church and cathedral choirs. Enquiries of this kind are
+constantly reaching me. I have therefore thought it well to add to the
+completeness of this work by collecting information from all available
+sources, and I have to express my thanks to the Rev. Precentors who have
+so readily responded to my circular of appeal.
+
+The result is in some respects disappointing. Choir _boarding_ schools
+are not numerous, and are not increasing in number. The agricultural
+depression has reduced the revenues of cathedrals and colleges, and they
+are likely in the future to seek out cheaper rather than more expensive
+modes of working. A few town churches which place music in the front,
+have started boarding schools, but, as a rule, the choristers live in
+their homes. I have no desire for these boarding schools in the
+abstract. I question if the boys get more musical education by living
+together than they do by coming for it day by day. But the boarding
+school affords the only opportunity for parents who do not live in a
+cathedral town to get their boys educated as choristers. The day schools
+suit the townspeople well enough, and here and there a boy from a
+distance may board with relatives or friends and get into the choir, but
+this is exceptional.
+
+I now give the results of my enquiries.
+
+
+CHOIR BOARDING SCHOOLS.
+
+WORCESTER CATHEDRAL CHOIR SCHOOL.--A preparatory school for the sons of
+professional men. Boys admitted as probationers nine to eleven, on
+passing examination. The ten choristers and eight probationers are
+lodged, boarded, and taught together at the Choir School. Charge £26 per
+annum for probationers, and £16 for choristers, plus 7s. 6d. a quarter
+for washing. Pianoforte lessons 15s. per quarter. Boys can compete, when
+their voices break, for a scholarship at the Cathedral Grammar School.
+Several have done this with success. Apply Rev. H. H. Woodward, M.A.,
+Mus.B.
+
+WESTMINSTER ABBEY CHOIR HOUSE.--Candidates must produce certificate of
+baptism and be at least eight years of age. Expected to possess good
+voice, moderate knowledge of rudiments, to be able to read and write
+fairly, and to pass medical examination. All boys taught vocal music,
+and facilities given for learning instruments. Master of choir house
+responsible for their general education, which includes English
+subjects, French, German, and drawing. Parents must supply clothing, and
+usual appointments, school books, pocket money, travelling expenses, and
+medical attendance. All other fees paid by the Chapter.
+
+EXETER CATHEDRAL CHOIR SCHOOL.--Fourteen choristers are boarded and
+educated for £10 a year, and provided with a suit of clothes each year.
+There are always two probationers in the school from eight to ten years
+of age paying £35 exclusive of usual extras. Vacancies in choristers
+usually filled by probationers, but no pledge given. Possible grants to
+deserving choristers when they leave; school fees sometimes paid for
+six months or so after the voice has failed. Head master and experienced
+matron.
+
+ALL SAINTS, MARGARET STREET, LONDON, W.--Twelve choir boys and two
+accepted boys waiting for vacancies live in west wing of vicarage under
+care of one of the clergy, who gives them lessons each morning, a
+certificated master taking them in the evenings. Afternoon, cricket and
+football in Regent's Park. Whole holiday Saturdays, and those who live
+near enough can go home. Vacations--a week in January and at Easter, and
+34 days in August and September. Each boy separate cubicle in dormitory.
+Boys have meals in dining hall with clergy (but at separate table). Each
+boy pays £12 in first year, £8 in second year, and nothing afterwards.
+Gratuity of £10 when voice breaks. Probationers pay £5 per quarter, and
+do everything except sing in church. No boy received unless parents wish
+him to be brought up in Church of England. Correct ear and brilliant
+voice count more at examination than knowledge of music. Apply Vicar.
+
+CHAPEL ROYAL, ST. JAMES'S PALACE.--The ten choristers reside with
+Master, who is a priest of the Chapel Royal. Free board and education
+and greater part of clothing. Grant of from £30 to £40 on leaving choir
+if conduct good. Latin, French, Mathematics, and usual English subjects.
+
+OXFORD, MAGDALENE COLLEGE SCHOOL.--Sixteen choristers, board and
+education free. Admitted by open competition. The school is not confined
+to choristers; it contains at present 70 boys, many of whom pass on to
+the University.
+
+OXFORD, NEW COLLEGE.--Eight senior and eight junior choristers take part
+in the services. These all receive free education at the College School,
+but provide their own books. They are prepared for Oxford Local
+Examinations, the College paying fees. Twelve choristers are boarded in
+the School House with the master. These are arranged in two divisions
+according to musical ability. The first division boarded free, the
+second division pays about 6s. a week for the 40 weeks of the school
+year. Some fees paid to senior boys and boys of special value as
+soloists. Choristers whose parents reside in Oxford receive from 10s. to
+£5 a year according to merit and seniority. Gratuity or apprentice fee
+not exceeding £40 occasionally given.
+
+FROME, SOMERSET.--St. John Baptist College. Founded by late Rev. W. J.
+E. Bennett 36 years ago. Number of boys usually 15; maintained, clothed,
+and educated on payment of 7s. a week under twelve, and 8s. above. No
+regular holidays. Boys not allowed to leave till they have made their
+first communion.
+
+LINCOLN MINSTER.--Boys boarded and educated at Northgate Schools at
+expense of Chapter. English subjects, French, Latin, German, Drawing,
+Shorthand, Chemistry. All school books found. Parents pay travelling,
+clothing, and washing only. Small allowance of pocket-money. Four weeks'
+holiday in the year.
+
+EASTBOURNE, ST. SAVIOUR'S CHURCH CHOIR SCHOOL.--Established 1878. Boys
+admitted as boarders or day pupils from eight years of age, choristers
+(boarders) pay 32 guineas a year, day choristers 14 guineas.
+Instrumental music, German, and Drawing are extras. Other subjects as
+for Cambridge local exams. Ten weeks' holiday in the year. Scholarships
+of from £5 to £15 a year are awarded to efficient choristers.
+
+RIPON CATHEDRAL CHOIR SCHOOL.--Day boys under 14, £6 per annum; over 14,
+£8. Boarders under 12, £40 per annum; over 12, £45. Laundress, £2. Usual
+subjects, including modern languages and science. Instrumental music
+extra. Four choral scholarships at £30, eight at £25, and six for
+probationers at £20. Pupils prepared for University Local Examinations,
+Preliminary Law, and Medical, &c. Playground, workshop, cricket field,
+library, school magazine.
+
+ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL CHOIR SCHOOL.--Board and education free: parents
+provide clothes, travelling, and pocket money. Good voices and musical
+talent necessary. Easy preliminary examination in Scripture, three R's,
+and Latin. Candidates must be between 8 and 10. Two or three
+examinations are held each year according as there are vacancies. Course
+of study as usual for public schools. Piano and violin extra. Holidays
+at Christmas, Easter, and Summer. Weekly half-holiday. Private field in
+suburbs for games. Rev. W. Russell, Succentor, is head master.
+
+SALISBURY CATHEDRAL.--Boarding school for choristers in the Close.
+Eighteen boys. Parents pay £15 a year. School has also some pupils who
+are not choristers. Usual subjects of secondary school. One ex-chorister
+is now a scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge. The master is a Minor
+Canon. Boys admitted by competition; those from neighbourhood of
+Salisbury preferred. Endowment of nearly £1,000 a year for the choir.
+
+ALL SAINTS, CLIFTON.--Choir school for the choristers of All Saints
+Church, who can be prepared for public schools or commercial life. There
+are twenty choir scholarships, ranging in value from £10 to £25 a year.
+A boy holding a junior scholarship may at any time be elected to one of
+higher value. School fees for choristers 7 to 10 guineas a term.
+Choristers may remain at the school after voice breaks at discretion of
+head-master. Holidays at Summer, Christmas, and Easter. The school is
+open to boys generally, whether choristers or not.
+
+THE VICAR'S CHOIR SCHOOL, HULL.--Intended for the choristers of Holy
+Trinity Church. School fee, £10 10s. per annum. Boarders £40 per annum.
+Ten scholarships of the value of £10 10s., ten value £8 8s., and twenty
+value £5 5s. Amount of scholarship deducted from boarding fee in case of
+those who are admitted into choir. Thirteen weeks' holiday during the
+year.
+
+OXFORD, CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL SCHOOL.--Boys are all sons of clergymen
+or other professional men. Eight choristers educated, boarded, and
+lodged free of expense. Eight probationers, who, if approved, become
+choristers as vacancies occur. Probationary period usually from 2 to
+2-1/2 years. Probationers pay £25 a year. A few extras, and fee of £3
+3s. on election of probationer to choristership. Every boy is, if
+possible, passed through the Oxford Local Examinations. Month's holiday
+in summer, and short leave of absence either at Christmas or Easter, if
+particularly desired. Election by competition after trial of voice and
+ear.
+
+WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL.--Sixteen choristers sing in the services. These
+receive education free, a clothing gratuity of £5 a year, and a leaving
+gratuity of from £5 to £20, according to merit and length of service.
+There are four boarding scholarships, which leave the parents only £5 a
+year to pay. Six of the choristers are foundation boys. Of these, the
+two seniors receive £4 a year, and the two juniors £2 a year, but
+boarding scholarships and foundation money are not given to the same
+boys. There are also four to eight probationers who supply vacancies, if
+on second trial their voices are approved. These receive free education.
+There are sixty boys in the school.
+
+TENBURY, ST. MICHAEL'S COLLEGE.--Founded by the late Rev. Sir Frederick
+Gore-Ouseley in 1856. There are eight choristers, boarded and educated
+free. Also eight probationers, from whom the choristers are selected,
+who pay 40 guineas a year. Commoners, _i.e._, boys who do not hold
+scholarships, and are not probationers, pay 60 guineas a year; two or
+more brothers 55 guineas a year. Preference is given in all elections to
+the sons of clergymen. Thirteen weeks' holiday in the year. Sound
+classical and mathematical education, to fit for scholarships and the
+higher forms at public schools. Healthy situation, in country.
+
+
+EDUCATION ONLY.
+
+BRISTOL CATHEDRAL.--Boys attend Cathedral Grammar School, where there
+are 100 boys.
+
+GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL.--Boys educated and paid up to £10 per annum.
+
+ST. ASAPH.--Boys educated at Grammar School.
+
+WELLS.--Boys educated at Cathedral Grammar School.
+
+YORK.--Boys sent to Archbishop Holgate's School.
+
+TRURO.--Probationers, after serving at least three months, may be
+admitted choristers, and receive small quarterly payment. From these are
+elected the "choir scholars," of whom there are now ten. These receive
+free education and a quarterly gratuity. One boy, with remarkable
+contralto voice, comes from a distance, and is boarded and educated at
+expense of Dean and Chapter. Enlarged number of boarders contemplated.
+
+ST. PETER'S, EATON SQUARE, LONDON, W.--Special day school with master.
+Boys have midday dinner, with tea on practice and late service nights.
+Boarding school formerly existed, but is given up.
+
+DURHAM CATHEDRAL.--No boarding school.
+
+ELY CATHEDRAL.--No boarding school.
+
+BANGOR.--Choristers brought up in National or Grammar School.
+
+TEMPLE CHURCH, LONDON.--Boys attend Stationers' School.
+
+PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL.--Boys educated at King's School.
+
+CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL.--Boys taught at Prebendal School.
+
+INVERNESS CATHEDRAL.--No boarding school.
+
+ARMAGH CATHEDRAL.--A day school for the choir boys.
+
+HAMPTON COURT, CHAPEL ROYAL.--No boarding school.
+
+NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE CATHEDRAL.--No boarding school.
+
+MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL.--A special day school for the choir boys, taught
+by a lay clerk. Eighteen to twenty boys receive education free, and four
+foundation boys receive £20 per annum. The Precentor likes to have the
+boys at nine.
+
+LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL.--Day school taught by a deputy lay clerk, the
+succentor taking Latin, English, and Divinity.
+
+DUBLIN, ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL.--No boarding school.
+
+PERTH CATHEDRAL.--No school.
+
+LINCOLN'S INN.--Choristers educated, but not boarded.
+
+NORWICH CATHEDRAL.--No boarding school.
+
+CARLISLE CATHEDRAL.--No boarding school.
+
+ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL.--Boys live at home, and attend Cathedral School,
+which is not especially for choristers.
+
+LIVERPOOL CATHEDRAL.--No boarding school.
+
+SOUTHWELL MINSTER.--No boarding school.
+
+ST. ALBAN'S CATHEDRAL.--No boarding school.
+
+From these particulars it will be gathered that the prevailing custom is
+for chorister boys to live at home and give their voices in return for
+free education. The various boarding schools described differ much in
+the terms they offer, and it may be said generally that only an
+exceptionally good voice and a personal introduction are likely to
+succeed in those cases where free board and education are given. The
+number of candidates is so large that selection is difficult.
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+CONCERT SONGS FOR BOYS.
+
+
+In this list I have included songs with innocent, hopeful, joyous words
+such as boys may honestly sing. Words dwelling with sadness on the past,
+or speaking of life as bitter, I have excluded. Convivial and amatory
+sentiments have also been ruled out. As to the music, I have excluded
+songs with difficulties of vocalisation. The keys chosen are those best
+suited to treble boys, bringing the melody as nearly as possible between
+F and F{1}, with an occasional G{1}. The list is by no means
+exhaustive, and must be regarded merely as a dip in the ocean of
+ballads. I shall be much obliged to correspondents who will suggest
+suitable additions.
+
+Composer. Title and Key. Publisher.
+
+Abt, Franz ... O little thrush (C) ... R. Cocks
+
+Adams, Stephen ... Song of the sailor boy (E flat) R. Cocks
+
+Adams, Stephen ... The cry of the little ones (E flat).... Boosey
+
+Addison, R. B. ... Violets (F) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Allen, G. B. ... The little drummer (F) ... Ashdown
+
+Almond, E. ... Buttercups and daisies (D) ... Ashdown
+
+Anderton, T. ... The bells of Shandon (D) ... Chappell
+
+André, F. A. ... A British cheer for England's Queen (F) ... Chappell
+
+Bailey, W. J. ... Make-believes (E flat) ... Ashdown
+
+Barker, Geo. ... A health to the outward-bound (B flat) ... Chappell
+
+Barnby, Joseph ... An evening melody (F) ... Morley
+
+Barnby, Joseph ... That haven fair (E flat) ... Morley
+
+Barnett, J. F. ... The Minstrel (G) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Barri, Odoardo ... In the cloisters (B flat) ... Morley
+
+Barri, Odoardo ... The beauteous song (F) ... Cramer
+
+Barri, Odoardo ... The child and the flowers (E flat) ... Ashdown
+
+Behrend, A. H. ... Gentleman Jack (C) ... Patey & Willis
+
+Behrend, A. H. ... The angel's promise (F) ... Boosey
+
+Behrend, A. H. ... The Gift (F) ... Boosey
+
+Behrend, A. H. ... Two children (A) ... Patey & Willis
+
+Bennett, Sterndale ... Dawn, gentle flower ... Novello
+
+Bevan, Fred ... Gladsome tidings (E flat) ... Patey & Willis
+
+Bevan, Fred ... I'll be a soldier, mother (A) ... Patey & Willis
+
+Bevan, Fred ... The Admiral's broom (F minor) ... Enoch
+
+Bishop, R ... Chime again, beautiful bells (B flat) ... R. Cocks
+
+Botterhill, Jessie ... Pack clouds away (C) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Botterhill, Jessie ... The Lark (F) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Buck, Dudley ... When the heart is young ... Boosey
+
+Cherry, J. W. ... Gentle Spring (G) ... Ashdown
+
+Cherubini ... Ave Maria ...
+
+Chesham, E. M. ... Fire (G) ... Cramer
+
+Cobb, G. F. ... Mary, Queen of Scots ... London Music Pub. Co.
+
+Cobb, G. F. ... Versailles ... London Music Pub. Co.
+
+Cobb, G. F. ... Kenilworth ... Metzler
+
+Costa, Michael ... Morning Prayer [_Eli_](alto) ... J. Williams
+
+Cowen, F. H. ... Children's dreams (E minor) ... R. Cocks
+
+Cowen, F. H. ... The Children's Home (D) ... Morley
+
+Cowen, F. H. ... Tears (alto) ...
+
+Cowen, F. H. ... The watchman and the child (F) ... Morley
+
+Coward, J. M. ... The butterfly and the humble bee ... Metzler & Co.
+
+Davis, Miss ... What is that, mother? (A flat) ... Ashdown
+
+Dick, Cotsford ... The Angel's Gift (F) ... Morley
+
+Diehl, Louis ... Dear England (C) ... R. Cocks
+
+Elmore, Frank ... Child and the sunbeams (C) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Farebrother, B. ... Reine d'amour ...
+
+Flood, Edwin ... The gipsy's life (C) ... R. Cocks
+
+Foster, M. B. The mother's grave (E minor) [alto] Stanley Lucas
+
+Frost, C. J. ... Youthful Songs ... Novello
+
+Gabriel, V. Children's voices [alto] ...
+
+Gatty, A. S. ... Three little pigs (A flat) ... R. Cocks
+
+Gibsone, Ignace ... The man-o'-war's man (D) ... Patey & Willis
+
+Gilletto, Paul ... Lead, kindly light (A minor) ... Phillips & Page
+
+Glover, Stephen ... The flower gatherers (E) ... R. Cocks
+
+Gounod, C. ... For ever with the Lord (D) ... Phillips & Page
+
+Gounod, C. ... Glory to Thee, my God (D) ... Phillips & Page
+
+Gounod, C. ... The King of Love (E flat) [alto] ... Phillips & Page
+
+Grazia, E. N. ... Laugh while you may (D) ... Ashdown
+
+Greenhill, J. ... The Canadian herd-boy (F) [alto] ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Gyde, Margaret ... The song of the robin (D) ... Ashdown
+
+Hatton, J. L. ... The cause of England's greatness (F) ... R. Cocks
+
+Hatton, J. L. ... Song should breathe of scents and flowers ... Ashdown
+
+Hatton, J. L. ... Blossoms ... Ashdown
+
+Hawthorne, Alice ... Hearth and home (G) ... R. Cocks
+
+Hecht, E. ... The innocent child (C) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Hobson, M. ... The peaceful Sabbath bell (F) ... Chappell
+
+Horner, B. W. ... In the cloisters (E flat) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Jackson, J. ... Cathedral Memories (E flat) ... Morley
+
+Kjerulf, Halfdan ... Asleep (E) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Lemoine, E. ... The ship-boy's prayer (C min.) [alto] ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Liebe, Louis ... The stripling's armour (C minor) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Löhr, F. N. ... Suffer the little children (F) ... Cramer
+
+Maccabe, F. ... Buttercups and daisies (D) ... Chappell
+
+Mackenzie, H. ... The lion flag of England (G) ... Patey & Willis
+
+Marzials, Theo ... The fairy Jane (B flat) ... Enoch
+
+Mendelssohn ... The Savoyard's Return ... Novello
+
+Moffat, Douglas ... The child's prayer (F) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Moir, F. L. ... Children asleep (F) ... Boosey
+
+Moir, F. L. ... He will forgive (C) ... R. Cocks
+
+Molloy, J. L. ... Home, dearie, home (F) ... Boosey
+
+Molloy, J. L. ... The little match girl (G minor) ... Chappell
+
+Molloy, J. L. ... The sailor's dance ... Boosey
+
+Molloy, J. L. ... Dresden China ... Boosey
+
+Morgan, Franz ... A fairer garden (C) ... Cramer
+
+Offenbach ... Spring, spring _(Babil and Bijou)_ ...
+
+Parker, Henry ... Jerusalem (G) ... Cramer
+
+Pattison, T. Mee ... Blossoms, fair blossoms ... Curwen
+
+Piccolomini, M. ... Dolorosa ... Orsborn
+
+Piccolomini, M. ... Eternal rest ... Orsborn
+
+Piccolomini, M. ... In Manus Tuas (F) ... Morley
+
+Piccolomini, M. ... Ora pro nobis ... Orsborn
+
+Piccolomini, M. ... Salva nos, domine ... Orsborn
+
+Piccolomini, M. ... Sancta Maria ... Orsborn
+
+Piccolomini, M. ... The soldier of the cross ... Orsborn
+
+Piccolomini, M. ... The two choirs ... Orsborn
+
+Pinsuti, Ciro ... Heaven's chorister (C) ... R. Cocks
+
+Pinsuti, Ciro ... The old cathedral (D) ... Morley
+
+Pinsuti, Ciro ... The touch of a vanished hand (G) ... Cramer
+
+Pinsuti, Ciro ... Welcome, pretty primrose ... Ricordi
+
+Randegger, A. ... Save me, O God (B flat) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Randegger, A. ... Joyous Life ...
+
+Rawlings, A. J. ... The distant city [alto] ... Marshall
+
+Robinson, J. ... A Hush Song (F) ... J. Williams
+
+Rodney, Paul ... Alone on the raft (G) ... Enoch
+
+Rodney, Paul ... Calvary (D) ... Enoch
+
+Rodney, Paul ... The bells of St Mary's (D) ... Enoch
+
+Rodney, Paul ... Via Dolorosa (G) ... Enoch
+
+Rodwell, G. H. ... Your boy in blue (F) ... R. Cocks
+
+Roeckel, J. L. ... Captain Dando (E flat) ... Enoch
+
+Roeckel, J. L. ... Crowning the seasons (D) ... R. Cocks
+
+Roeckel, J. L. ... Hark! the dogs do bark! (A) ... Cramer
+
+Richards, Brinley ... Let the hills resound (E flat) ... R. Cocks
+
+Richards, Brinley ... Mother, thou art far away (F) ... R. Cocks
+
+Smallwood, W. ... A song for the land I love (C) ... Chappell
+
+Smart, Henry ... Victoria (B flat) ... R. Cocks
+
+Smart, Henry ... By the blue sea [alto] ... Metzler
+
+Smart, Henry ... Dropping down the troubled river ... Novello
+
+Smart, Henry ... The birds were telling one another (F) ... Ashdown
+
+Somervell, Arthur ... Four songs of Innocence ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Songs for Boys (20 songs, price 6d.) ... ... Boosey
+
+Songs for Young Girls (18 songs, 1s.) ... ... Boosey
+
+Stericker, A. C. ... The Ivy Green (B flat) [alto] ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Street, A. ... The birdie's ball (D) ... R. Cocks
+
+Streleski, Anton ... Violets (G) ... R. Cocks
+
+Sullivan, A. S. ... The chorister (alto) ... Metzler
+
+Sullivan, A. S. ... What does little birdie say ... Ashdown
+
+Sullivan, A. S. ... The Sailor's Grave (E flat) ... Ashdown
+
+Tours, Berthold ... Jesu, lover of my soul (D) ... R. Cocks
+
+Tours, Berthold ... The dog and the shadow (G) ... R. Cocks
+
+Tours, Berthold ... The new kingdom (D) ... Morley
+
+Trotére, H. ... Three men in a boat (C) ... R. Cocks
+
+Wallace, W. V. ... Scenes that are brightest (F) ... Hutchings
+
+Walsh, Marian ... The sailor boy (C) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Watson, M. ... An Englishman's house is his castle (C) ... R. Cocks
+
+Watson, M. ... Little birdie mine (D) ... Ashdown
+
+Watson, M. ... Little Lady Bountiful (F) ... Ashdown
+
+Watson, M. ... Loved and saved (B flat) ... Enoch
+
+Watson, M. ... Our dear old home (D) ... Patey & Willis
+
+Watson, M. ... The Powder-monkey (G) ... Patey & Willis
+
+Watson, M. ... There's a Friend for little children (A) ... Patey & Willis
+
+Watson, M. ... Trafalgar (E flat) ... Patey & Willis
+
+Watson, M. ... Two bells (G) ... Patey & Willis
+
+West, J. E. ... The roseate hues (alto) ... Ashdown
+
+West, W. ... I am a honey-bee (G) ... Ashdown
+
+Wrightson, W. T. ... Be happy, and never despair (G) ... R. Cocks
+
+Wrightson, W. T. ... Cottage and throne (E flat) ... R. Cocks
+
+Old Song ... Sir Guy of Warwick (F) ... Chappell
+
+   "    ... The Minstrel Boy ... Boosey
+
+   "    ... Charlie is my darling ... Boosey
+
+   "    ... Love was once a little boy ... Boosey
+
+....    ... The Skipper and his Boy (F) ... Hutchings
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+
+PAGE
+
+Abuse of the voice, 1
+
+Agricultural districts, 49
+
+Alto boys, 75
+
+Altos, Adult male, 75
+
+
+Balance of parts, 16
+
+Barnes, Rev. W. M., 23
+
+Barnicott, Mr., 15
+
+Bates, Dr. Frank, 81
+
+Behnke, Mr., 14, 17
+
+Berlin, St. Mary's, 71
+
+Boarding Schools, Choir, 92
+
+Breaking of the boy's voice, 3
+
+Breath, Management of the, 6, 67
+
+Breden, Mr. Owen, 71
+
+Bridge, Dr., 60
+
+Brooks, Mr. Walter, 15, 34
+
+
+Cambridge, Mr. F., 87
+
+Canterbury Cathedral, 64
+
+Cathedral choirmasters, 59
+
+Change to man's voice, 3
+
+Chanting, 62
+
+Chapel Royal, St. James's, 59
+
+Chest voice, 24
+
+Choir Guild, 9
+
+Choosing boys, 21
+
+Choristers, Schools for, 90
+
+Churchill, 52
+
+Clement Danes, St., Strand, 72
+
+Clergyman's daughter, The, 55
+
+Cold, Singing during a, 2
+
+Collar-bone breathing, 6
+
+Collinson, Mr. T. H., 17, 86
+
+Concert songs for boys, 99
+
+Consonants, 27
+
+Country boys, 49
+
+Creser, Dr., 69
+
+Critchley, Mr. W., 49, 84
+
+Curwen, John, Register names, 12
+
+
+Day Schools, Choir, 96
+
+Deacon, Mr. H., 27
+
+Demack, Miss, 52
+
+Diaphragm breathing, 6
+
+Dickson, Rev. W. E., 25, 78
+
+Discipline, Preserving, 8
+
+Donald, Mr. H. A., 33, 74
+
+Dunn, Sinclair, Voice exs., 13
+
+
+Edinburgh, St. Mary's, 17, 86
+
+Eglinger, Herr, 15, 35, 88
+
+Ely, Mr. Thomas, 88
+
+Ely, The choir at, 78
+
+"E," The vowel, 17
+
+Evans, Mr., 50
+
+
+Feeble voice, A, 1
+
+Fines, 17
+
+Flattening, 31, 32
+
+
+Garrett, Dr., 76
+
+Gaul, Mr. A. R., 66
+
+Gibbons, Mr. R. T., 86
+
+Gilbert, Mr. Bernard, 3, 16
+
+Girls, Imitating, 50, 53
+
+
+Hammond, Mr. Stocks, 16, 86
+
+Health and singing, 2
+
+Helmore, Rev. F. J., 23
+
+Helmore, Rev. Thomas., 59
+
+Hibberd, Mr. C., 34, 57
+
+Hopkins, Dr. E. J., 61
+
+Husband, Rev. E., 10
+
+
+Indistinctness, 27
+
+Infant School, The, 42
+
+Intoning, 17, 52
+
+Isaac, Mr. A., 85
+
+
+Juleff, Mr. C. E., 87
+
+
+Keeton, Dr. Haydn, 67, 80
+
+Knapp, Mr. F. J., 72
+
+
+Lady teachers, 52
+
+Leeds Parish Church, 69
+
+Lincoln Cathedral, 62
+
+Lincoln's Inn Chapel, 61
+
+Lloyd, Dr. C. H., 63
+
+Longhurst, Dr., 65
+
+Long services, 8
+
+
+Macfarren, Sir George, 90
+
+Mackenzie, Sir Morell, 3
+
+Managing choir boys, 8
+
+Mann, Rev. W., 24
+
+Mark's, St., Chelsea, 71
+
+Martin, Dr. G. C., 2
+
+Mental effects, 32, 34
+
+Mixed schools, 32
+
+Mühlfeld, Herr, 73
+
+
+Norfolk voices, 56
+
+Norwich, Dr. Buck at, 66
+
+
+O'Rell, Max, 8
+
+Oxford, Christ Church, 63
+
+
+Parbery, Mr. George, 53
+
+Parish church choirmasters, 69
+
+Paul's, St., Cathedral, 59
+
+Pearson, Mr. W. W., 33, 56, 84
+
+Peter's, St., Eaton Square, 9, 70
+
+Pianoforte for rehearsal, 32
+
+Prizes for choir boys, 9
+
+Pronunciation in singing, 27, 46
+
+Puberty, Age of, 3
+
+
+Registers, The, 12
+
+Rib breathing, 6
+
+Richardson, Mr. W. H., 35, 40
+
+Roberti, Signor, 36
+
+Roney, Mr. H. B., 9, 16
+
+Rural districts, 49
+
+
+Salisbury Cathedral, 67
+
+Salisbury Diocese, 23
+
+Salzungen Choir, 73
+
+Saxton, Mr. R. H., 3, 19
+
+Schools for choristers, 90
+
+School teacher, The, 41
+
+Sentiment about choir boys, 11
+
+Sergison, Mr. de Manbey, 9, 70
+
+Sharpening, 35
+
+Sharp, Mr. Frank, 83
+
+Sight-singing, 30
+
+Singing by ear, 29
+
+Singing by note, 29
+
+Singing out of tune, 31
+
+Songs for boys, 99
+
+South, Mr. C. L., 67
+
+Stainer, Sir John, 13
+
+Steggall, Dr., 61
+
+Stewart, Rev. C. H., 25
+
+Stone, Alfred, 29
+
+Strakosch, M., 15
+
+Swanley boys, 35, 40
+
+
+Taylor, Mr. James, 76
+
+Taylor, Mr. J. C. E., 20, 85
+
+Temper, Uncontrolled, 10
+
+Temple Church, 61
+
+Thick register, 12, 89
+
+Thin register, 12
+
+Tonic Sol-fa certificates, 9, 20, 29, 47
+
+Tonic Sol-fa system, 30, 50, 51, 53, 57, 70, 73
+
+Training of boys' voices, 40
+
+Tuning boys up, 16, 73
+
+
+Upton Cross School, 74
+
+
+Voice training, 12
+
+
+Weekes, Rev. W. J., 35
+
+Westminster Abbey, 60
+
+Working class boys, 10
+
+
+Yorkshire voices, 14
+
+Young, Mr. J. W. M., 26, 62
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boy's Voice, by J. Spencer Curwen
+
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boy's Voice, by J. Spencer Curwen
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Boy's Voice
+       A Book of Practical Information on The Training of Boys'
+              Voices For Church Choirs, &c.
+
+Author: J. Spencer Curwen
+
+Release Date: April 17, 2010 [EBook #32023]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY'S VOICE ***
+
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+
+Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+<hr class="full" />
+
+<h1>THE BOY'S VOICE.</h1>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 393px;padding-top:10%;padding-bottom:10%;">
+<a href="images/ill_frontis.jpg">
+<img src="images/ill_frontis_th.jpg"
+class="bordered"
+width="389" height="550" alt="CHORISTER BOYS." title="CHORISTER BOYS." />
+</a>
+<span class="caption">CHORISTER BOYS.<br /><br />
+Photographed by Mr George Hadley, Lincoln.</span>
+</div>
+
+<h1>THE BOY'S VOICE</h1>
+
+<h3>A BOOK OF PRACTICAL INFORMATION ON<br />THE TRAINING OF BOYS' VOICES<br />FOR
+CHURCH CHOIRS, &amp;c.</h3>
+
+<p class="c"><b>BY</b></p>
+
+<h2 class="top5">J. SPENCER CURWEN</h2>
+
+<p class="c"><i>Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music; President of
+the Tonic Sol-fa College.</i></p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 175px;">
+<img src="images/ill_logo.png" width="175" height="134" alt="logo" title="logo" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="c"><b>London:</b></p>
+
+<p class="c">J CURWEN &amp; SONS, 8 &amp; 9 WARWICK LANE, E.C.<br />
+NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER AND SONS.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p class="c"><i>Price Two Shillings and Sixpence.</i><br />
+1891</p>
+
+<p class="c top15">LONDON:<br />J. CURWEN AND SONS, MUSIC-PRINTERS,<br />PLAISTOW, E.</p>
+
+<h2>PREFACE.</h2>
+
+<div class="imagecentered"><img src="images/ill_dart.png" alt="dart" width="90" height="16" /></div>
+
+<p>T<span class="smcap">he</span> value of this little book, as the reader will soon discover, depends
+less upon my own work than upon the large number of choirmasters whose
+experience I have been fortunate enough, directly or indirectly, to lay
+under contribution. The conditions of the choir-trainer's work vary, in
+an endless way, according to his surroundings and opportunities. And it
+is just when work becomes difficult that contrivances and hints are most
+fruitfully evolved. Hence I have given in great detail the experiences
+of many correspondents, and some of the most useful suggestions for
+ordinary church choir work will be found to proceed from writers holding
+no great appointment, but seeking quietly and unostentatiously to
+produce good results from poor material.</p>
+
+<p class="top5">In view of a second edition, I shall be pleased to receive letters from
+readers who have further experiences to offer.</p>
+
+<p class="r">J. S. C.</p>
+
+<p><i>June</i>, 1891.<br /></p>
+
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<table summary="toc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
+<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" style="line-height:2em;"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td align="right">Pages</td></tr>
+<tr><td>The Healthfulness of Singing</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_001">1-5</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" style="line-height:2em;"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>Management of the Breath</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_006">6-7</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" style="line-height:2em;"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>The Art of Managing Choir Boys</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_008">8-11</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" style="line-height:2em;"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>Voice Training</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_012">12-22</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" style="line-height:2em;"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>Information on Voice-Training, collected by the Salisbury Diocesan Choral Association</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_023">23-26</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" style="line-height:2em;"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>Pronunciation in Singing</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_027">27-28</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" style="line-height:2em;"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>Singing by Ear and by Note</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_029">29-30</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" style="line-height:2em;"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>Flattening, and Singing out of Tune</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_031">31-39</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" style="line-height:2em;"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>On the Training of Boys' Voices</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_040">40-48</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" style="line-height:2em;"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>The Special Difficulties of Agricultural Districts</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_049">49-58</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" style="line-height:2em;"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>Notes on the Practice of various Choirmasters in Cathedrals, &amp;c.</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_059">59-68</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" style="line-height:2em;"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>Notes on the Practice of various Choirmasters in Parish Churches</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_069">69-74</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" style="line-height:2em;"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>Alto Boys</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_075">75-89</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" style="line-height:2em;"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>Schools for Choristers</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_090">90-98</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" style="line-height:2em;"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>Concert Songs for Boys</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_099">99-103</a></td></tr>
+<tr style="line-height:3em;"><td><a href="#INDEX">INDEX</a></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_001" id="Page_001">{Page 1}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 600px;">
+<a href="images/ill_001.png">
+<img src="images/ill_001.png" width="600" height="222" alt="THE BOY&#39;S VOICE." title="THE BOY&#39;S VOICE." />
+</a>
+</div>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<div class="imagecentered"><img src="images/ill_dart.png" alt="dart" width="90" height="16" /></div>
+
+<h3>THE HEALTHFULNESS OF SINGING.</h3>
+
+<p>T<span class="smcap">he</span> boy's voice, though an immature organ of delicate structure, is
+capable of much work, providing only that its mechanism be rightly used
+and not forced. Some people are unnecessarily nervous about boys; as a
+rule, under competent guidance, they will get nothing but good from
+vocal work. A cathedral organist wrote to me the other day:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Our best solo boy, who has a splendid voice and who sings beautifully,
+has been unwell, and the Dean and Chapter doctor (who has an idea that
+every choir-boy should be as robust as a plough-boy) has just stated
+that the boy is too feeble to remain in the choir. Notwithstanding my
+remonstrances, the Dean and Chapter decided yesterday to uphold the
+doctor. I tried his voice last week, and he sang with full, rich tone up
+to the C above the stave, and that after he had been skating from 9 a.m.
+to 5 p.m. I should have thought that a boy who could skate all day could
+not be in such a 'feeble' state as represented by the medical man. Three
+months ago a boy with a beautiful voice was sent away for the same
+reason. So you see what uphill work it is for me."</p>
+
+<p>It is to be hoped that fastidiousness of this sort is not common. The
+<i>abuse</i> of the voice may lead, of course, to serious results. In the
+<i>New York Medical Record</i> of March 21, 1885,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_002" id="Page_002">{2}</a></span> p. 317, there is a case
+recorded of the bursting of a blood vessel through too energetic
+singing, but this is altogether abnormal, and beyond the scope of our
+enquiry. The voice, properly used, will last as long as any other organ,
+and it benefits by exercise. Mr. D. W. Rootham of Bristol, who now at
+middle age has a strong constitution and a fine baritone voice, tells me
+that as a boy at Cambridge he sang for seven years at five services
+every Sunday. The thing seems incredible, and it is an extreme case,
+though it shows what work the voice, properly managed, will do.</p>
+
+<p>Singing, it should be remembered, promotes health. It does so indirectly
+by causing cheerfulness, a genial flow of spirits, and the soothing of
+the nerves. It does so directly by increasing the action of the lungs.
+So far as these organs are concerned, singing is a more energetic form
+of speech. As we sing we breathe deeply, bring more air into contact
+with the lungs, and thus vitalise and purify the blood, giving stimulus
+to the faculties of digestion and nutrition. A physiologist, in fact,
+can trace the effects of singing from the lungs into the blood, from the
+blood into the processes of nutrition, back again into the blood, into
+the nerves, and finally into the brain, which of all organs is most
+dependent upon healthful and well-oxygenated blood. Dr. Martin (organist
+of St. Paul's Cathedral) has had many years' experience in training
+choir-boys, and he tells me that he has never known a boy to injure his
+voice, or lose it through singing. It is a question of method; if the
+voice be used properly it will stand any amount of work. He has seen
+boys disposed to consumption improve in health after joining the choir.
+The medical man who declared that if there were more singing there would
+be less coughing, expressed in a graphic way the healthful influence of
+vocal practice. Parents and guardians need never hesitate to allow their
+sons and charges to become choir-boys under proper choirmasters. They
+may be sure that nothing but good can come of the exercise.</p>
+
+<p>Two cautions only are needed. The first is, not to sing during a cold.
+When a slight inflammation has attacked the larynx&mdash;that is, when a cold
+has been taken&mdash;the vocal cords are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_003" id="Page_003">{3}</a></span> thickened, and the act of
+vocalisation causes them to rub together, which increases the
+inflammation. If the cold is a bad one&mdash;that is, if the inflammation is
+great&mdash;the singer will be compelled to rest, because the congestive
+swelling of the vocal cords will be so great that they will be unable to
+vibrate sufficiently to produce tone. But whether slight or great, the
+cold demands rest. Otherwise permanent injury may be done to the voice.</p>
+
+<p>The second caution relates to the preservation, not of the boy's voice,
+but of the man's. There is no doubt that it is undesirable for a boy to
+continue to sing after his voice has shown signs of "breaking." What are
+the first signs of this change? Choirmasters notice that the middle
+register becomes weak, without any diminution in the power and quality
+of the upper notes, but that at the same time the thick register grows
+stronger, and the boy can strike middle C with firmness. "The striking
+of middle C," says Mr. G. Bernard Gilbert, "is usually sufficient to
+decide the point." The tradition of teachers is in favour of rest at
+this time, and a well-founded public impression counts for a good deal.
+The fact is that during the time of change not only do the vocal cords
+lengthen, but they are congested. An inflammatory action, like that
+which takes place during a cold, is set up. Hence rest is desirable.
+Nature herself also counsels rest because she reduces the musical value
+of the voice at this time to a low ebb. It becomes husky and of
+uncertain intonation. No doubt cases can be quoted of boys who have sung
+on uninterruptedly and developed into good tenors or basses, but there
+are cases equally strong in which the man's voice has completely failed
+after such a course. Sir Morell Mackenzie is the only medical writer who
+has advocated singing during change of voice, but not even his authority
+can upset the weight of evidence on the other side.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, on the principle of "hear both sides" I quote the
+following from a letter by Mr. E. H. Saxton, choirmaster of St. James's
+church, at Buxton:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Upon the question of resting completely from singing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_004" id="Page_004">{4}</a></span> during the period
+of change of voice, I hold that one must be guided by the circumstances
+of each individual case. I carefully watch each boy when I am expecting
+the change to commence, and it usually shows itself by the upper thin
+register giving way. If I cannot immediately spare the boy from the
+treble part (and good leading boys are not plentiful), I caution him to
+leave high notes alone, never to force them, and as soon as possible I
+relegate him to the alto part, where he often remains useful to me for a
+year or eighteen months. All the time he is singing the alto part I keep
+watch over him, and forbid his singing as soon as there are indications
+that the effort is in the slightest degree painful. Generally I find
+this prohibition to be only necessary for notes above
+<span class="nottion" style="width: 50px;">
+<img src="images/ill_004.png" width="50"
+height="34" alt="middle f" title="middle f" /></span>.
+<span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/004.mid">Listen</a>]</span> Should a vacancy occur in the senior choir (if the boy shows
+signs of his voice developing to either tenor or bass) I get him passed
+from the junior to the senior choir, warning him, however, to be very
+careful of his high notes, and never to force them. My general
+experience leads me to the conclusion that it is a most arbitrary and
+unnecessary rule to lay down that every boy should rest at this time. In
+some cases it is necessary, no doubt, but my opinion is, after twenty
+years' practical experience, that in a large number of cases it is
+cruel, and about as much use with regard to the after-development of the
+voice as it would be to prohibit speaking. Speaking practically&mdash;not
+scientifically&mdash;I hold that the vocal organ is beneficially exercised
+when singing is allowed in moderation, and within the restricted limits
+which every choirmaster ought to know how to apply. I have experienced
+boys who have never rested developing good voices, as well as those who
+have rested. But I have no experience of boys who have never rested
+developing bad voices, though I have of those who did rest. I have three
+boys in one family in my mind now, one of whom had a good alto, the
+other two good soprano voices. The alto and one soprano never rested,
+and developed respectively a good tenor and bass. The other rested
+(through removal to another town), and developed a very indifferent
+bass."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_005" id="Page_005">{5}</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In spite of this weighty and well-argued statement, my own opinion is
+that the preponderance of evidence is in favour of rest. It is certainly
+a new physiological doctrine for a short period of rest to injure or
+prevent the development of any organ. In short, I cannot see how there
+can be any disadvantage in a few months' rest, while from the other
+point of view there can be no musical advantage in the use of an
+unmusical instrument. As soon as the man's voice shows signs of
+settlement its practice should gently begin.</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 200px;">
+<a href="images/ill_005.png">
+<img src="images/ill_005.png" width="200" height="135" alt="image of sunset" title="image of sunset" />
+</a>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_006" id="Page_006">{6}</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<div class="imagecentered"><img src="images/ill_dart.png" alt="dart" width="90" height="16" /></div>
+
+<h3>MANAGEMENT OF THE BREATH.</h3>
+
+<p>B<span class="smcap">reathing</span> in singing is a matter of the utmost importance. The breath is
+the motive power, the primary force, to which the larynx and the
+resonance chamber are but secondary. In speech we can manage with short
+breathing and half-filled lungs, but in sustaining the sounds of song,
+we need to breathe deeply, and to breathe in a right way. Manifestly the
+act of breathing consists of two parts&mdash;(1) the drawing in, and (2) the
+letting out of the breath. When we speak of modes of breathing, however,
+we refer to the drawing in of the breath. There are three ways of doing
+this. First, by lowering the diaphragm, and thus compelling the lungs to
+enlarge and fill the vacant space created. Second, by extending the ribs
+sideways, causing the lungs to expand laterally. Third, by drawing up
+the collar-bone and shoulder blades, causing the upper part of the lungs
+to expand. The third method is bad; the ideal breathing is a combination
+of the first and second. Upon this athletes as well as singers are
+agreed. This is the breathing which we practise unconsciously in sleep,
+or in taking a long sniff at a flower. The musical results of bad
+breathing are flattening and a hurrying of the time; hence the
+importance of the matter. Practice may well begin with a few minutes
+devoted to breathing exercises. Let the boys inhale a long breath
+through the nose; hold it for a time, and then slowly exhale. Again let
+them slowly inhale, hold, and exhale quickly, allowing the sides of the
+chest to collapse. Again, let them, while holding the breath, press it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_007" id="Page_007">{7}</a></span>
+from the lower to the middle, and to the upper part of the chest, and
+<i>vice versa</i>. During this exercise the body should be in the position of
+"stand at ease." The spirometer, a useful but rather expensive little
+instrument, measures accurately lung capacity. These breathing exercises
+may be followed by practice in holding a single tone for a period just
+short of exhaustion.</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width:250px;">
+<a href="images/ill_007.png">
+<img src="images/ill_007.png" width="250" height="126" alt="image" title="image" />
+</a></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_008" id="Page_008">{8}</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<div class="imagecentered"><img src="images/ill_dart.png" alt="dart" width="90" height="16" /></div>
+
+<h3>THE ART OF MANAGING CHOIR BOYS.</h3>
+
+<p>T<span class="smcap">o</span> some choirmasters the management of their boys is a perfectly easy
+matter; to others it is a constant source of trouble. Everything depends
+upon knack. Max O'Rell has some wise maxims on the subject which it may
+be well to quote. "Face the boys," he says, "or you will be nowhere.
+Always be lively. Never show your temper: to let the boys see that they
+can ruffle you is to give them a victory. Allow no chatting. Never
+over-praise clever boys; never snub dull ones. Never expect any thanks.
+If a boy laughs at a mistake made by another boy, ask him for the answer
+immediately, and he will be dumb. If you do not love boys, never become
+a choir [school] master."</p>
+
+<p>Discipline is preserved by giving the boys seats in the same relative
+position at rehearsal and in church. There should be a double row of
+desks in the practice room, provided with a shelf for books, just as in
+the stalls. If the boys have to hold the books and music in their hands
+they stoop, and the singing suffers. Each boy should have a copy of the
+music, and it should bear his number, so that he is personally
+responsible for its good keeping. Punctuality at rehearsal is important.
+Let the choirmaster call for order at the exact time, and let the roll
+be gone over at once. To be unpunctual, or not to register early
+attendance, is to encourage laxity.</p>
+
+<p>There is no doubt that the long services in many churches are trying to
+the choir boys. In some churches the morning service lasts two hours and
+a quarter. It is very hard even for an adult to keep his thoughts from
+wandering, and his eyes from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_009" id="Page_009">{9}</a></span> glancing over the congregation during all
+this time. How much more hard is it, then, for a boy who is by nature a
+fidget, and if healthy, brimming over with activity? Nevertheless boys
+can be trained, if not to control their thoughts, at least to an outward
+reverence and quietude in harmony with the service. Reproof, if it is
+needed, is best administered in private. Boys should be paid, if only a
+small sum; this gives the choirmaster a hold upon them, and enables him
+to impose fines, if necessary. Payment can be increased for those who
+take Tonic Sol-fa or other sight-singing certificates, which of course
+increase their value as choristers. Let it be noted that the voices will
+carry further if the boys hold up their heads. This caution is
+especially needed when they are singing in the kneeling posture.</p>
+
+<p>All that can be done to interest the boys in their work by encouraging
+the social feeling, will be to the advantage of the choir. Their hearts
+are easily won. An excursion, an evening party once a year are great
+attractions. Mr. H. B. Roney, of Chicago, advocates a choir guild, and
+in the choir-room he would have a library, games, puzzles, footballs,
+bats and balls, Indian clubs, and dumb-bells. He would open and warm the
+choir-room an hour before each service and rehearsal. To some extent he
+would let the youngsters govern themselves, and says that the gravity
+with which they will appoint a judge, a jury, sheriff, prisoner, and
+witnesses to try a case of infraction of the choir rules, would bring a
+smile to the face of a graven image. Prizes at Christmas are part of his
+scheme; these should be awarded for such points as punctuality, progress
+in music, reverential demeanour, and general excellence.</p>
+
+<p>According to Mr. Sergison, organist of St. Peter's, Eaton Square,
+London, the choirmaster will have power if he make himself beloved. He
+should enter into the boys' way of looking at things, and remember that
+they have deep feelings. The boys should be arranged in classes, each
+higher class having higher pay, with sundry little privileges. Mr.
+Sergison says that by putting the boys upon their honour, and treating
+them well, he has always maintained strict discipline, and has never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_010" id="Page_010">{10}</a></span>
+yet had to resort to corporal punishment. The Rev. E. Husband, of
+Folkestone, who is an enthusiastic choir-trainer, is strongly of opinion
+that for vocal purposes working-class boys are better than the sons of
+gentlemen. He finds that boys of a lower class have richer and fuller
+voices than those above them in the social scale. I was myself present,
+not long since, at a concert at Eton College, and although I was greatly
+struck with the purity of the tone, its volume was thin and somewhat
+shallow. One reason why working-class boys excel, probably, is that
+plain food and outdoor life keep the body in the best condition, so that
+the children of the poor, so long as they are well-nourished, are
+healthier than the children of the rich. But the working-class boys have
+also this advantage, that they begin life at four years of age in an
+Infant School, where they sing every day, and receive systematic Tonic
+Sol-fa teaching which is continued when they pass into the boys'
+department. Boys who are trained under governesses and at private
+preparatory schools often learn no singing at all. It is to be hoped
+that the diffusion of musical knowledge will make these
+class-comparisons, from a musical point of view, unnecessary. The
+choir-boys of Christ Church, Oxford, are all the sons of professional
+men, but then the choice is a wide one, as they come from all parts of
+the country.</p>
+
+<p>The precentor of a cathedral writes to me on an important branch of our
+subject. I sincerely hope that his picture is not one that is generally
+true:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My own experience would suggest that in connection with the training of
+cathedral choristers the attention of cathedral organists might be very
+advantageously drawn to the very great importance of efficiency in the
+art of teaching&mdash;of imparting knowledge. The instruction given may be as
+good as could well be desired, but the manner of imparting it just as
+bad&mdash;such as would be condemned in any well-conducted Public Elementary
+School. Uncontrolled temper, the cane, boxing of the ears, are matters
+which go far to prove a teacher very seriously incompetent as a teacher.
+A cathedral organist is specially exposed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_011" id="Page_011">{11}</a></span> the temptation to
+hastiness and harshness, owing to the power he possesses. A parent
+values the position of a chorister for his son, and the organist is
+tempted soon to take advantage of the parent's unwillingness to withdraw
+his son. In a parish choir, either voluntary or paid at a very low rate,
+the exhibition of bad temper or discourtesy in manner is quickly
+followed, in all probability, by the loss of the offended chorister.
+Offensive manners on the part of the trainer quickly endanger the
+existence of the choir. Not so in cathedrals, and the cathedral organist
+knows this. 'I cannot think why that boy does not sing in tune; I have
+boxed his ears;' said a cathedral organist once to me quite seriously.
+This proves, I think, how blind even a highly-trained musician may be to
+the need for any art in the mode of imparting instruction. I fear there
+is a vulgar notion (only half defined, most probably) that irascibility
+in the musical trainer is a mark of genius. I write from experience,
+having been upwards of a quarter of a century in cathedrals, and a
+considerable portion of that time precentor."</p>
+
+<p>In conclusion, the custom of throwing a halo of sentiment round
+choir-boys, and petting them, is much to be deprecated. It has become
+the custom to write tales and songs about them, in which they are made
+out to be little angels in disguise. All this is very foolish and
+harmful. Choir-boys, as a rule, are no better and no worse than other
+boys. They respond well to wise treatment, but need to be governed by
+common sense, and to be taught their places. I am myself somewhat to
+blame for illustrating this book with two pictures of choir boys. It is
+really inconsistent.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_012" id="Page_012">{12}</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<div class="imagecentered"><img src="images/ill_dart.png" alt="dart" width="90" height="16" /></div>
+
+<h3>VOICE TRAINING.</h3>
+
+<div class="imagetotheleft" style="width: 156px;">
+<a href="images/ill_012_a.png">
+<img src="images/ill_012_a.png" width="156" height="350" alt="image" title="image" />
+</a>
+</div>
+
+<p>B<span class="smcap">efore</span> commencing to train a voice the choirmaster must make sure that
+it is a voice worth training. He must take the boy alone, test his voice
+by singing scales, and try especially his notes in the treble compass,
+say, <span class="nottion" style="width: 50px;">
+<img src="images/ill_012.png" width="80" height="39" alt="image" title="image" />
+</span> <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/012.mid">Listen</a>]</span> He must test his ear by playing phrases, and asking
+the boy to sing them. He must enquire into his theoretical knowledge, if
+any, and ask if he has had a Tonic Sol-fa or any other systematic
+training. The ear of the choirmaster must decide upon the voice. It is
+said by some that boys' voices partake of one or other of two qualities,
+the flute quality or the oboe quality. They differ, no doubt, in
+<i>timbre</i>, but these two divisions are not clearly marked. The diagram at
+the side gives the compass of the registers in boy trebles and altos.
+The names are those invented by the late John Curwen, and have the
+advantage of describing the physiological action that goes on. Thus in
+the Thick Register, the vocal cords vibrate in their whole thickness; in
+the Thin Register their thin edges alone vibrate; and in the Small
+Register a small aperture only is made, through which the sound comes.
+The registers are practically the same as those of women's voices. They
+may be shown on the staff, thus:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_013" id="Page_013">{13}</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="clear:both;">
+<a href="images/ill_013.png">
+<img src="images/ill_013.png"
+width="450"
+height="135"
+alt="Lower Thick. Upper Thick. Lower Thin. Upper Thin. Small.
+Chest. Middle. Falsetto." title="Lower Thick. Upper Thick. Lower Thin. Upper Thin. Small.
+Chest. Middle. Falsetto." />
+</a><br /><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/013.mid">Listen</a>]</span></div>
+
+<p class="nind">I give below the staff another set of names which are sometimes used,
+but different voice-trainers attach to these different meanings.</p>
+
+<p>It is undesirable to tell the boys anything about the registers. The
+spirit of voice-training at the present time is too analytical. The
+theory of the registers is for the teacher, not for the pupil. Some
+voice-trainers seem to think that it is their business to discover the
+registers, but as far as tone goes it is their business to conceal them.
+Trainers work better through possessing physiological knowledge, but the
+end is a smooth and homogeneous voice, blended and well-built.</p>
+
+<p>Roughly speaking, the boys to be rejected are those who through
+carelessness, excitement, or confirmed habit, force up the thick
+register while singing. And those to be accepted are the boys who have
+sufficient reserve and care to turn into the fluty tone at the proper
+place, whether the music be loud or soft, and whatever be the shape of
+the melodic passage. The right use of the voice is most likely to come
+from boys who, whatever their social status, are well brought up, and
+have been taught to avoid screaming, coarse laughing and bawling, and if
+possible to speak in a clear way.</p>
+
+<p>Voice studies are of two kinds. First come those which promote the
+building and setting of the voice. These are generally sung slowly. When
+the voice is becoming settled exercises for agility may be introduced.
+Of agility exercises most voice-training books contain plenty. There is
+a good selection in Mr. Sinclair Dunn's "The Solo Singer's Vade Mecum"
+(J. Curwen &amp; Sons, price 1s.) and Sir John Stainer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_014" id="Page_014">{14}</a></span> has written a set,
+printed on a card, which is published by Mowbray, Oxford and London,
+price 6d.</p>
+
+<p>When the system of probationers is at work the voice-building exercises
+will not be much needed. The little boys will insensibly fall into right
+habits. They will learn to produce tone as they learnt to speak&mdash;by ear.
+But when a new choir has to be formed, the building exercises are
+necessary. And the first object of these is to make the boy feel the
+thin register and strengthen it by use. For this purpose such phrases as
+these, which leap into the thin register, and quit it by step are the
+best:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered">
+<a href="images/ill_014_a.png">
+<img src="images/ill_014_a.png"
+width="450"
+height="62"
+alt="KEY E&#9837;. d1 t l s d1 t l s m1 r1 d1 t d1" title="KEY E&#9837;. d1 t l s d1 t l s m1 r1 d1 t d1" />
+</a><br /><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/014a.mid">Listen</a>]</span>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="imagecentered">
+<a href="images/ill_014_b.png">
+<img src="images/ill_014_b.png"
+width="450"
+height="65"
+alt="KEY G. s f m r f m r d l s f s m" title="KEY G. s f m r f m r d l s f s m" />
+</a><br /><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/014b.mid">Listen</a>]</span></div>
+
+<p>These exercises should be sung to several vowels, but especially to the
+sound "koo," which will at first immensely amuse the boys, but will
+afterwards be found to throw the tone forward towards the teeth in a way
+that no other sound does.</p>
+
+<p>Pure vowel tone goes with pure and resonant voice. The broad and pure
+vowels of the Yorkshire dialect have, more than anything else, produced
+the Yorkshire voices. Hence the choirmaster must make a determined
+effort to cure provincialisms in so far as they prevent the issue of
+pure vowel sounds from the mouth. The vowels should be sung in their
+vocal order as recommended by Mr. Behnke, oo (as in <i>you</i>), o (as in
+<i>owe</i>), ah (as in <i>Shah</i>), a (as <i>pay</i>), and ee (as in <i>see</i>). These may
+be taken to slow scales, thus:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_015" id="Page_015">{15}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered">
+<a href="images/ill_014_c.png">
+<img src="images/ill_014_c.png"
+width="450"
+height="62"
+alt="notation" title="notation" />
+</a><br /><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/014c.mid">Listen</a>]</span></div>
+
+<p class="nind">Let the choirmaster watch carefully for impure sounds, and call upon
+each boy to sing two measures by himself from time to time.</p>
+
+<p>In singing the boy should stand upright and free. He must not lean or
+bend his body. The mouth must be fairly opened, but not too wide. As the
+voice ascends the mouth opens wider. The lips must lie lightly on the
+teeth, and the tongue should lie at rest, just touching the front teeth.
+If, for the sake of change during a long rehearsal, the boys sit, let it
+be remembered that there are many ways of sitting, and that the upright
+posture hinders the breath less than lolling and a crooked posture.
+Rigidity is the enemy of all good singing. Let the whole body and vocal
+apparatus be relaxed, and pure tone will result. "If I hear a boy
+forcing up his voice," said Herr Eglinger, of Basel, to me, "I ask the
+rest of the class to point him out, and they do it at once." This at
+once cures the transgressor and sharpens the consciences of the other
+boys. As to the vowel on which singers should be trained, there are
+differences of opinion. Maurice Strakosch, the trainer of Patti,
+Nilsson, &amp;c., used "ha," which causes a slight breath to precede the
+articulation. This, he said, gives the voice a natural start. It is
+something like the "koo" of Mrs. Seiler. Learners he required to lower
+their heads while singing, and to show the upper teeth, so as to keep
+the lips out of the way of the tone. Mr. Barnicott, a successful
+choirmaster at Taunton, uses "ka." But as in the actual singing of the
+English language all the vowels are encountered in turn, it would seem
+reasonable that they should all be included in the practice.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Walter Brooks, quoted elsewhere, lays stress upon long-sustained
+notes in the scale of E flat, and up to G. These expand the lower part
+of the lungs, and produce steady, firm tone. They should be sung both
+loud and soft, the boys one by one and together. An admirable plan is to
+keep boys on the alert listening for faults, asking those not singing,
+"Whose fault is that?" Jealousy and conceit, says Mr. Brooks, are
+avoided by giving a solo to three or four boys to sing in unison.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_016" id="Page_016">{16}</a></span> Three
+or four will blend better than two, and after proper rehearsal the tone
+is so like one voice that people say, "What a beautiful voice that boy
+has!"</p>
+
+<p>As to balance of parts, the following table is given by Mr. H. B. Roney
+of Chicago:&mdash;</p>
+
+<table summary="balance of parts" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="7">
+<tr><td>Sopranos &nbsp; &nbsp;</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">17</td><td align="right">25</td><td align="right">37</td><td align="right">50</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Altos</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">5</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">11</td><td align="right">14</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Tenors</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">5</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">11</td><td align="right">14</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Basses</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom:1px solid black;">5</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom:1px solid black;">8</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom:1px solid black;">10</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom:1px solid black;">16</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom:1px solid black;">22</td></tr>
+<tr><td></td><td align="right">25</td><td align="right">35</td><td align="right">50</td><td align="right">75</td><td align="right">100</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>Mr. Stocks Hammond says that during voice exercise the boys should stand
+perfectly erect, with mouth well open, the shoulders being thrown back.
+After exercise in slowly inhaling and exhaling the breath, comes the
+uniting of the registers. This is accomplished by singing up and down
+the scales of C, D, and E to the syllable "ah." Each tone is taken with
+decision, and is followed by a slight pause. The same scales are
+afterwards sung to "oh" and "oo." This exercise should not last longer
+that ten or fifteen minutes. Staccato scales to "ah!" "oh!" and
+chromatic passages are introduced later.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. G. Bernard Gilbert, F.C.O., of West Ham Parish Church, is an
+exceptionally skilled trainer of boys' voices. He meets his boys
+half-an-hour before each of the Sunday Services and "tunes them up," an
+admirable plan, which cannot be too widely imitated. The first thing he
+does in training boys is to teach them to attack and leave sounds with
+precision, neatness, and proper register or quality of voice. He gives
+chief attention to the sounds between <span class="nottion" style="width:80px;">
+<a href="images/ill_016.png"><img src="images/ill_016.png" width="80" height="36" alt="here the author
+expresses a range from the F above middle-C (or F4) to the C above
+middle-C (C5) by inserting a staff" title="here the author
+expresses a range from the F above middle-C (or F4) to the C above
+middle-C (C5) by inserting a staff" /></a></span> <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/016.mid">Listen</a>]</span> and first practises them. If beauty
+of tone is to be obtained, it is of the utmost importance that these
+sounds should be given in the thin register. Mr. Gilbert has cultivated
+this register in his own voice, and is able to give the boys a pattern
+in the right octave, which he thinks of great use. The change from upper
+thick to lower thin takes place between E and F. The boys<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_017" id="Page_017">{17}</a></span> should intone
+in the thin register. Flattening while intoning is almost entirely due
+to boys using the thick register. Mr. Gilbert uses the vowels as
+arranged by Mr. Behnke, oo-o-ah-ai-ee, practised first with a slight
+breath between each, afterwards all in one breath, <i>piano</i> and
+<i>staccato</i>. Consonants preceding these vowels are of little value, as
+they only disguise a wrong action of the glottis, without removing the
+fault. He uses also sustained sounds, and short major or minor arpeggi,
+and last of all scale passages. If due attention be given to the
+intonation of the arpeggio, the scale should not be, as it too often is,
+all out of tune. The arpeggio is its skeleton or framework. Mr. Gilbert
+alternates this work with the singing of intervals and the practice of
+time rhythms. He attaches great value to the vowel "e" in practising
+sustained notes, scales or arpeggi, though other vowels must receive due
+attention. "E" has the advantage of bringing the vocal cords very close
+to together, thereby effecting a greater economy of the breath than is
+possible with the other vowels. He has constantly succeeded in making
+boys produce a pure and beautiful tone to this vowel, especially in that
+part of the voice called the upper thin, when he could not do so with
+the others. Of course "e" can be sung badly, and boys will sometimes
+make a nasal squeak of it, but the correct placing of the tone is
+quickly learnt if the teeth are kept nicely apart. Mr. Gilbert teaches
+the boys when very young the mechanism which governs their voices above
+<span class="nottion" style="width:60px;">
+<a href="images/ill_017.png">
+<img src="images/ill_017.png" width="60" height="39" alt="high f" title="high f" /></a>
+</span>. <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/017.mid">Listen</a>]</span> This is the "small" register. He is careful also
+about pronunciation, recommends that boys should be paid, and that bad
+behaviour, laziness, or irregularity, if they occur, should be punished
+by fines. One of the most marked excellences of Mr. Gilbert's choir is
+its chanting, and the elocutional phrasing of the words of the hymns.
+The rigidity of the time is often broken with impressive effect in
+order, by an elocutional pause, to throw into relief a prominent word or
+idea.</p>
+
+<p class="top5">Mr. T. H. Collinson, Mus.B., organist of St. Mary's Cathedral,
+Edinburgh, has given me some interesting particulars<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_018" id="Page_018">{18}</a></span> of the training
+which his excellent boys undergo. The process of selection is as
+follows:&mdash;(1) Advertisement. (2) Trial of voice, and entry of
+particulars of school, school standard, father's occupation, &amp;c. (3)
+Choice of most promising voices. (4) Inspection of homes, as to
+overcrowding, &amp;c. (5) Appointment of probationers. (6) Full appointment,
+with religious service of admission by the Dean. The parents engage in
+writing to retain the child in the choir school until his voice changes,
+or to the average age of fourteen. The boys are taken at all ages from 9
+to 12-&frac12;.</p>
+
+<p>"Cultivation of tone, blending of registers, and accuracy of pitch are
+specially studied, the principal means being as follows:&mdash;(1)
+Mouth-opening (silently). (2) Breathing exercise. (3) Sustained notes
+<i>piano</i>, each to full length of breath. (4) <i>Piano</i> scales. (5) Simple
+flexibility exercises, <i>e.g.</i>, Sir J. Stainer's card of exercises,
+published by Mowbray. (6) <i>Crescendo</i> and <i>Diminuendo</i>. (7) Behnke's
+resonance vowels, oo-o-ah. (8) Behnke's glottis-stroke exercises,
+oo-o-ah-ai-ee. (9) No accompaniment, except a single note on the
+pianoforte every three or four bars to test pitch. Where badly flat, a
+scolding, and going back to try over again. (10) At early morning
+practice no <i>forte</i> singing is allowed, as a rule.</p>
+
+<p>"By the above means, especially sustained notes and <i>piano</i> scales,
+flatness is easily avoided, and the registers blend perfectly. A curious
+local peculiarity has to be specially treated in the junior boys. The
+Scottish 'u' as in 'gude' (good), 'puir' (poor), 'nü' (new), is
+identical with the French 'u' in 'tu' or 'Hugo,' and the little fellows
+sing an amusing exercise like the following:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="c" style="margin-bottom:0%;">You should do two,</p>
+
+<p class="nind" style="margin-top:0%;">on every note of the scale, with special care to protrude the lips to a
+round whistling shape for the 'oo.' Very oddly they sing a good 'oo' in
+the falsetto register, and a certain solo boy used to sing Handel's 'How
+beautiful are the feet' in its first two phrases in alternate Scotch and
+English, the vinegary 'ü' in the first (low) phrase, and a fine round
+'oo' in the higher phrase, where 'beautiful' begins on E flat.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_019" id="Page_019">{19}</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Raw candidates and ill-taught children generally come minus any
+register at all above <span class="nottion" style="width: 80px;">
+<a href="images/ill_019_a.png">
+<img src="images/ill_019_a.png" width="60" height="35" alt="high d" title="" />
+</a></span>
+<span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/019a.mid">Listen</a>]</span>
+ and grin with surprise on
+being taught to produce sweet upper notes by open-mouth <i>piano</i> 'ah.'</p>
+
+<p>"Colds and petty hoarseness, interfering with the upper notes, are
+terribly common in this climate in the class of boys obtained for the
+choir. A successful soloist at Friday rehearsal may be found incompetent
+by Sunday, so that all solo work is carefully understudied. A few
+minutes each day suffice for the purely technical voice exercises. The
+services are many in number; three on Sunday, two on week-days, and
+occasional extra services at special seasons. The number of boys is kept
+up to say 30, and they are worked in divisions to minimise their duties.
+The boys are educated free, and seniors receive payment. 'I think that
+boys' voices are much like unto boys' legs&mdash;they need daily exercise if
+they are to be worth anything.'"</p>
+
+<p class="top5">Mr. R. H. Saxton, of Buxton, writes:&mdash;"My choir boys are almost
+exclusively drawn from the working class, and the majority of them use
+the thick register for the speaking voice. I take them at nine years of
+age, sometimes younger if they can read fairly well, and my first effort
+is to suppress the thick register altogether in singing. If they were
+encouraged to use it they would most certainly abuse it by carrying it
+far beyond its proper range. Soft singing is the only effective plan I
+know of for removing the tendency to use the thick register. This I
+insist on in modulator voluntaries and time exercises. The time
+exercises are always laa'd on or above <span class="nottion" style="width: 80px;">
+<a href="images/ill_019_b.png">
+<img src="images/ill_019_b.png" width="60" height="34" alt="middle A" title="" />
+</a></span>. <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/019b.mid">Listen</a>]</span> In
+modulator work I at first avoid beginning in the lower keys where the
+thick register would naturally be used. By thus constantly cultivating
+the thin register, never allowing faulty intonation to pass unnoticed,
+and always checking the natural tendency of boys to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_020" id="Page_020">{20}</a></span> sing coarsely;
+together with a free use of ear exercises, in which they are taught to
+recognise tones by their mental effect, I succeed at last in getting
+fairly good tone. It is, however, a work of time and difficulty, on
+account of the daily surroundings of the boys, and the habitually coarse
+way in which they are allowed to sing in school. To avoid flattening, I
+believe the course I have indicated to be the best remedy, as eye, ear,
+and voice are cultivated simultaneously.</p>
+
+<p>"In training the thin register special care must be taken that the Upper
+Thin is brought out at <span class="nottion" style="width: 75px;">
+<a href="images/ill_020.png">
+<img src="images/ill_020.png" width="75" height="46" alt="high d" title="high d" />
+</a></span> <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/020.mid">Listen</a>]</span> and it is often better
+that the C also should be taken in the Upper Thin. A strained Lower Thin
+on C sharp or D will be sure to induce flattening, while if the Upper
+Thin is properly used there is no difficulty whatever in using the high
+D and E within reasonable limits as the reciting note in chanting. When
+the music moves about stepwise in close proximity above and below the
+breaks, we have another cause of flattening. As most of our country
+choirs consist at the best of but partly-trained voices, composers and
+choirmasters should bear this in mind. It must not be supposed that boys
+are the sole cause of flattening. Far from it, they are too often the
+victims of an untuneful tenor or bass.</p>
+
+<p>"From the first moment a boy comes under my care he is encouraged to
+take the Tonic Sol-fa certificates, and few leave the choir without
+having passed the Intermediate. I am of course now speaking of those
+boys who remain with us till they are no longer of use as boys."</p>
+
+<p class="top5">I append an extract from a letter by Mr. J. C. E. Taylor, master of the
+Boys' National School at Penzance, and choirmaster of St. Mary's Church,
+which is interesting as showing the extent to which singing by ear can
+be carried:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The children here, as in most Cornish towns, are fond of music, and
+have a quick ear. I pick my boys from a school of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_021" id="Page_021">{21}</a></span> nearly 400. I choose
+them by the way they <i>read</i> in school. They are generally of Standard
+V., and between ten and eleven years of age. If younger the Psalms
+puzzle them. I try a new boy's voice at the choir practice. If he has a
+sweet tone, and can reach F sharp, however faintly, I accept him, and
+keep him on probation at the practices. About half-a-dozen are so kept,
+and the best lad fills any vacancy occurring in the choir. I have no
+trouble as regards discipline, as a fine, or the knowledge that their
+places can be instantly filled by the probationers, keeps the choristers
+well in their places. At the choir practices I begin with running up and
+down the scales with their voices together, beginning soft, and allowing
+the voices to increase as the scales ascend, and diminish on descending,
+but holding on to the top-most notes whilst I play a chord or two on it.
+Then with a nod of my head they descend. At times one note is given them
+on which to <i>cres.</i> and <i>dim.</i>, for breathing exercise. Not one lad
+knows his notes except as to their rise and fall and values. They depend
+on their ear entirely, even in the most difficult fugues."</p>
+
+<p>At this church anthems and settings of the Canticles are sung every
+Sunday evening. The men are voluntary; the head boys get from 30s. to
+40s. a year, the solo boys receiving 3d. or 6d. as an encouragement
+after rendering a solo or verse part.</p>
+
+<p class="top5">In spite of all that can be written on the subject of voice-training,
+the art is one most difficult to communicate. Some teachers succeed;
+others fail. A remarkable instance of this came under my notice lately.
+The headmaster of a school asked me to pay his boys a visit in order, if
+possible, to discover the reason of the great falling-off in their
+singing. His previous singing-teacher had brought the boys to a high
+pitch of excellence. When he left, the singing was placed under the
+charge of an undermaster, who had for a year or more heard all the
+singing lessons given by his predecessor, who used the same voice
+exercises with the same boys in the same room. Surely, one would have
+thought the results must be the same. But the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_022" id="Page_022">{22}</a></span> singing had deteriorated;
+flattening, and a lifeless manner had overcome the boys. The causes, so
+far as I could discover, were first that the new teacher wanted the
+magnetic, enthusiastic way of the old, and second, that he had not so
+quick an ear for change of register, and allowed the lower mechanism of
+the voice to be forced up higher than its proper limits.</p>
+
+<p class="top5">This chapter focuses a large amount of valuable experience, but amid the
+many hints which are given, two ways of securing right tone stand out
+with marked prominence. They are, soft singing, and the downward
+practice of scales.</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 250px;">
+<a href="images/ill_022.png">
+<img src="images/ill_022.png" width="250" height="161" alt="image" title="image" />
+</a></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_023" id="Page_023">{23}</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<div class="imagecentered"><img src="images/ill_dart.png" alt="dart" width="90" height="16" /></div>
+
+<h3>INFORMATION ON VOICE-TRAINING, COLLECTED BY THE SALISBURY
+DIOCESAN CHORAL ASSOCIATION.</h3>
+
+<p>I <span class="smcap">am</span> indebted to the Rev. W. Miles Barnes, rector of Monkton,
+Dorchester, for the following information, recently obtained by him on
+the subject of voice-training. It appears that for the information of
+choir instructors (some 200 in number) in union with the Salisbury
+Diocesan Choral Association, the advice of precentors and organists of
+cathedrals was lately sought as to the best way of correcting a very
+common fault in the singing of country choirs.</p>
+
+<p>The following questions were proposed:</p>
+
+<table summary="toc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4">
+<tr valign="top"><td>"(I.)</td><td> It is a common practice in country choirs for boys and
+tenors to force the lower register to sing notes which
+should be taken in the higher or head register. The
+notes thus forced are harsh and unmusical in tone, and
+generally flat in pitch. How would you correct this
+fault in boys?"</td></tr>
+<tr valign="top"><td>"(II.)</td><td> What method is employed in &mdash;&mdash; Cathedral for developing
+and strengthening the higher (head) register in
+boys' voices?"</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>The following are extracts from the replies:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="c">Rev. <span class="smcap">F. J. Helmore</span>, Precentor of Canterbury.</p>
+
+<p>I should recommend the practice of the first five notes of the scales of
+A, B<span title="flat sign">&#9837;</span>, B, and C, <i>piano</i>, taken rather slowly, and then of intervals
+from G to D, G to E<span title="flat sign">&#9837;</span>, G to E, A to E, &amp;c. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_024" id="Page_024">{24}</a></span>&amp;c. After that I would try
+them with the complete scales of E, F, F<span title="sharp sign">&#9839;</span>, and G, fast and <i>forte</i>,
+thus:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered">
+<a href="images/ill_024.png">
+<img src="images/ill_024.png"
+style="max-width:95%"
+alt="musical notation" title="musical notation" />
+</a><span class="mdifl"><br />[<a href="music/024.mid">Listen</a>]</span></div>
+
+<p>If no improvement is perceptible, begin again. Practice is the main
+thing, after a boy has got to understand his faults.</p>
+
+<p class="c">Rev. <span class="smcap">W. Mann, M.A.</span>, Precentor of Bristol.</p>
+
+<p>(1.) I think it almost impossible to remedy the evil you complain of
+after the boys have been accustomed to sing upper notes from the chest
+for some time&mdash;say one or two years. Our practice here is to secure boys
+between the ages of 9 and 11, before they have been singing elsewhere,
+or certainly before they have acquired any faulty tricks of forcing the
+voice.</p>
+
+<p>(2.) In training boys' voices never allow them to shout. If they
+commence singing when young they may be taught by scale practice (always
+singing quietly) to bridge over the break which exists between the chest
+and head voice. This is an art, and requires experience.</p>
+
+<p>(3.) Speaking generally, I should say that judicious scale practice is
+the remedy likely to be of most service in the case specified, teaching
+boys, by singing quietly, to glide the chest voice into the upper
+register. I recommend the syllable "la" as generally best for the
+purpose all through the scale. Boys should keep their tongues down, open
+mouths well, sing not through teeth, &amp;c. &amp;c. I find that boys acquire
+the cathedral style of singing (with the well-known flute or bell-like
+tone) chiefly by example. In singing with boys who have already acquired
+it the younger ones catch the style, just as birds are taught to sing by
+trained songsters. The untrained rustic can never naturally produce this
+tone, but much may be done by (1) careful scale practice; (2) strict
+enforcement of a quiet easy style, and rigid prohibition of shouting, or
+forcing the voice; (3) the occasional example of trained singers.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_025" id="Page_025">{25}</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="c">Rev. <span class="smcap">C. Hylton Stewart</span>, Precentor of Chester.</p>
+
+<p>The great thing is not to train boys <i>up</i> through break in the voice,
+but <i>down</i> through it, and so to coach them that the break becomes
+imperceptible. The top notes ought to be practised very softly until a
+good round note is procured. This, however, can seldom be done out of a
+cathedral, as it requires constant attention.</p>
+
+<p class="c">Rev. <span class="smcap">W. E. Dickson</span>, Precentor of Ely.</p>
+
+<p>In this Cathedral, and I suppose in every other, the boys have at least
+one hour of daily practice under the most favourable circumstances of
+quiet music-room and good pianoforte, and an able teacher. The two
+orderly services follow with the regularity of a clock, and in these the
+voices of the boys are balanced and supported by those of adult
+singers&mdash;presumably, good vocalists.</p>
+
+<p>I think you will agree that no practical rules, available by instructors
+of village choirs, can be founded upon arrangements so far beyond their
+reach. To describe any "Method" of developing voices under such
+circumstances would be quite delusive.</p>
+
+<p>A life-long experience in the training of parish choirs would lead me to
+say that the best approach to true voice production is made when a lady
+takes charge of the choir, and has the boys to practise at her own
+house.</p>
+
+<p>To say that all instructors should use unwearied diligence and unfailing
+patience and kindness in the attempt to get soft singing, is only to
+repeat a very trite remark.</p>
+
+<p>In schools, the mistake is often made of singing almost all the
+exercises in the key of C, and commencing all scales with the syllable
+"Do." In trying candidates for admission to the choir, we constantly
+find that they have been accustomed to a scale of 13 notes only (one
+octave) up and down. The scales should begin on all or any of the
+notes&mdash;D<span title="sharp sign">&#9839;</span>, B<span title="natural sign">&#9838;</span>, G<span title="flat sign">&#9837;</span>, &amp;c., and the peculiarities of the
+intervals should be familiarly explained.</p>
+
+<p>A pamphlet might be written. But there is no "Royal road."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_026" id="Page_026">{26}</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="c"><span class="smcap">J. M. W. Young</span>, Esq., Organist of Lincoln.</p>
+
+<p>The precentor has forwarded your note to me. In answer to your question
+asking how to prevent the trebles in country choirs from forcing the
+upper notes, I would suggest that when practising the choir, care should
+be taken that the trebles are never allowed to sing even the <i>middle</i>
+notes <i>loud</i>, only <i>mf</i>, and they should be frequently practised to sing
+<i>piano</i>. If this be attended to, it will, in a great measure, prevent
+the forcing of the voice on the higher notes, which should never be
+practised otherwise than softly.</p>
+
+<p>Country choirs nearly always sing twice as loud as they ought to do,
+consequently the tone becomes harsh and grating, and they invariably
+sing the upper notes out of tune.</p>
+
+<p>I never allow the Cathedral choristers to practise in a loud tone of
+voice, yet their voices are rich and mellow, and there is never any want
+of power when it is required. Any tendency to force the voice is checked
+at once. It will be found very useful to practise the trebles with the
+diatonic scale at a moderately quick pace, taking care to sing it
+<i>smoothly</i> and <i>piano throughout</i>, first to "OO," next to "Oh," and
+finally to "Ah."</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width:392px;">
+<a href="images/ill_026.png">
+<img src="images/ill_026.png"
+width="392"
+height="97"
+alt="image" title="image" />
+</a></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_027" id="Page_027">{27}</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<div class="imagecentered"><img src="images/ill_dart.png" alt="dart" width="90" height="16" /></div>
+
+<h3>PRONUNCIATION IN SINGING.</h3>
+
+<p>I<span class="smcap">t</span> is impossible to emphasise too strongly the importance of clear
+pronunciation in singing. The English, as a rule, pronounce
+indistinctly. "We carry on our talk," says Mr. H. Deacon, "in mere
+<i>smudges</i> of sound," a graphic and true way of putting things. The
+Scotch, Welsh, and Americans pronounce better than we do. Indistinctness
+and bad dialect arise, roughly speaking, from two sources&mdash;impure vowels
+and omitted consonants. The impure vowels are generally due to local
+habits of speech, such as the London dialect, which makes a colourless
+mixture of all the vowels. In some parts of Scotland also the vowels are
+very impure. The voice-training exercises given elsewhere are several of
+them directed towards the production of good vowel tone, but the danger
+is lest the power gained in these should not be applied to the actual
+words encountered in psalm, canticle, anthem, or hymn. A sentence
+containing all the vowels may be chanted repeatedly on a monotone, but
+after all the best exercise consists in constant watchfulness against
+mispronunciation in the ordinary weekly practice.</p>
+
+<p>Man, according to Mr. R. G. White, may be defined as a consonant-using
+animal. He alone of all animals uses consonants. The cries of animals
+and of infants are inarticulate. So is the speech of a drunken man, who
+descends, vocally as well as in other ways, to the level of the beasts.
+This idea has been expressed in another way, by saying that vowels
+express the emotional side of speech, and consonants its intellectual
+side. All these distinctions point to the great importance of a clear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_028" id="Page_028">{28}</a></span>
+enunciation of initial and final consonants, and a clear separation of
+words. A well-known bishop said to a candidate for ordination, "Before
+uttering a second word be sure that you have yourself heard the first."</p>
+
+<p>It is of no use to give a list of common errors, because each part of
+the country has its own bad points of dialect. The choirmaster should
+take his standard of English from the best preacher and reader he has
+the chance to hear, and endeavour to conform his boys to it.</p>
+
+<p>But localisms are not the only faults. Boys are very apt to clip their
+words in chanting, to omit the smaller parts of speech altogether, and
+to invent new and meaningless sounds of their own. The most familiar
+parts of the service need frequent and watchful rehearsal to prevent
+this tendency. Chanting, as a rule, is much too fast, and the eagerness
+of the boys must be restrained in this direction.</p>
+
+<p>In those rare cases where pronunciation and elocutional phrasing reach a
+high pitch of excellence, the music of the service makes a double appeal
+to the heart. It bears not only the charm of sweet sounds, but the
+eloquence of noble words.</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 250px;">
+<a href="images/ill_028.png">
+<img src="images/ill_028.png" width="250" height="179" alt="image" title="image" />
+</a></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_029" id="Page_029">{29}</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<div class="imagecentered"><img src="images/ill_dart.png" alt="dart" width="90" height="16" /></div>
+
+<h3>SINGING BY EAR AND BY NOTE.</h3>
+
+<p>M<span class="smcap">any</span> choirmasters maintain that, considering the short musical life of
+the choir-boy, it is not worth while to teach him to sing by note. The
+quickness of boys' ears for music, they say, is astonishing, while their
+memories are equally good. Between the two faculties&mdash;ear and memory&mdash;we
+are told that all things necessary are supplied. The boys, it is said,
+don't like theory, and it saves time and patience not to have to teach
+it to them.</p>
+
+<p>I am altogether at issue with this view. I believe theory can be made
+interesting to boys, especially if the Tonic Sol-fa system is used, and
+that if they are taught sight-singing the choirmaster saves himself a
+vast amount of trouble. The after musical doings of the boys should also
+be considered, and whether they become tenors and basses, or take to an
+instrument, the power to read music will be a happiness through their
+whole lives.</p>
+
+<p>The leading anthems, services, and psalters are now published in the
+Tonic Sol-fa notation, so that boys who have learnt to sing from the
+letters at school may quickly be put to sing their parts in the church
+choir. The late Alfred Stone, of Bristol, who used the Tonic Sol-fa
+notation for his choir boys, found it a great time-saver. So quickly was
+the service music got through at the weekly practice that there was
+nearly an hour to spare for singing glees and getting up cantatas. Mr.
+Stone arranged his boys in two grades. The upper grade all held a Tonic
+Sol-fa certificate, and they received higher pay than the lower grade.
+The result of this arrangement was that the lower boys got the upper
+ones to teach them Tonic Sol-fa in their playtime, and thus saved the
+choirmaster a great deal of trouble.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_030" id="Page_030">{30}</a></span></p>
+
+<p>A serious disadvantage of the ordinary way of learning to sing from the
+staff notation is that practice usually begins in, and is for several
+months confined to key C. For boys' voices this is the most trying of
+all the keys&mdash;the one most likely to lead to bad habits in the use of
+the registers. The keys for boys to begin in are G and F, where you can
+get a cadence upon the tonic in the thin register. A German choirmaster,
+whose choir is greatly celebrated, has sent me a little book of
+exercises which he uses, and I find that, as in most English
+publications of a similar kind, there are pages of exercises in key C,
+before any other key is attempted. In Tonic Sol-fa all keys are equally
+available from the first.</p>
+
+<p>I have had a wide experience of boys taught on all systems, both in this
+country and abroad. I have been present, by the courtesy of
+choirmasters, at rehearsals in all parts of the country. And I have
+noticed that boys taught by ear, or taught the staff notation by the
+fixed <i>do</i>, make mistakes which boys trained by Tonic Sol-fa and singing
+from it, or applying their knowledge of it to the staff notation, could
+not make. The class of mistake I refer to is that which confuses the
+place of the semitones in the scale. A sight-singing manual which I
+picked up the other day says that the whole matter of singing at sight
+lies in knowing where the semitones come. And from one point of view
+this is true, but to the Tonic Sol-faist the semitones always come in
+the same places, <i>i.e</i>., between <i>me</i> and <i>fah</i>, and between <i>te</i> and
+<i>doh</i>. He has only one scale to learn, and as to modulation, that is
+accomplished for him by his notation, while the time marks, separating
+and defining the beats or pulses of the music, make rhythm vividly
+clear.</p>
+
+<p>If choirmasters wish to save themselves trouble, and get confident
+attack and good intonation from their boys, they should teach them the
+Tonic Sol-fa notation, and let them sing from it always. The staff
+notation they can easily learn later on.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_031" id="Page_031">{31}</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+<div class="imagecentered"><img src="images/ill_dart.png" alt="dart" width="90" height="16" /></div>
+
+<h3>FLATTENING, AND SINGING OUT OF TUNE.</h3>
+
+<p>T<span class="smcap">he</span> trainer of adult voices has constantly before him the problem of
+making his pupils sing in tune. With boys this matter is less of a
+trouble, for this reason. Many adults have fine voices which, if their
+intonation can be improved, will do great things. Others have incurably
+bad voices, but possessing the ambition and the means for studying
+singing, they come under the hands of the professor. In the case of
+boys, however, there is a preliminary process of selection by which the
+teacher rejects at the outset any defective ears and voices. The trainer
+of boys chooses his pupils; adult students of singing, as a rule, choose
+their teacher.</p>
+
+<p>Even, however, when a good set of boys has been chosen and trained,
+every choirmaster is troubled from time to time by the evils which I
+have named at the head of this paper.</p>
+
+<p>What are their causes? Probably no cause is so fruitful as a misuse of
+the registers of the voice, a straining upwards of the lower register
+beyond its proper limits. This may be placed in the front as a perpetual
+cause of bad intonation and loss of pitch. This straining is usually
+accompanied with loud singing, but boys who have formed this bad habit
+will not at once sustain the pitch if told to sing softly. Their voices,
+under these circumstances, will at first prove weak and husky, and will
+flatten as much with soft singing as they did with loud. A slow process
+of voice training can alone set them right. But as boys' voices last so
+short a time this treatment is not worth the trouble. Boys who have
+fallen into thoroughly bad habits should therefore be dismissed, and a
+fresh selection made.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_032" id="Page_032">{32}</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Some choirmasters imagine that practice with the organ or the pianoforte
+will cure flattening and uncertainty. This, however, is not the case.
+Probably the effort to keep up the pitch which singers make when
+unaccompanied keeps their minds and throats tense and active, while the
+consciousness that the instrument is supporting them makes them
+careless. An instrument reveals loss of pitch, but does not cure it. No
+good choirmaster rehearses with the organ. A pianoforte, lightly
+touched, is commonly used, but the teacher should frequently leave his
+seat, and accustom the choir to go on alone.</p>
+
+<p>It is a mistake to suppose that boys flatten because the music is too
+high. This is very rarely the case. They are more likely to flatten
+because it is too low. Boys attack high notes with greater ease than
+women.</p>
+
+<p>Nervousness will cause a singer who has sung in perfect tune at home to
+sing sharp or flat at a concert. But nervousness does not greatly
+trouble boys.</p>
+
+<p>Carelessness will sometimes cause these troubles. The way to cure this
+is to increase the interest of the rehearsal, to make the boys feel
+bright, happy, and comfortable.</p>
+
+<p>To mark the breathing places is a good way of preventing flattening,
+which is often caused by exhausted lungs.</p>
+
+<p>Singing is a mental as well as a physical act, and unless the boy has a
+clear conception in his mind of the sound of the note he wants, the
+intonation will be uncertain. Here comes in the Tonic Sol-fa system with
+its "Mental Effects," which give a recognisable character to each note
+of the scale, and guide the voice and ear.</p>
+
+<p>Bad voice production, throaty and rigid, must always go with flattening
+and wavering pitch. The act of singing should be without effort; the
+muscles of head, neck, and throat should be relaxed. A boy inclined to
+these faults should be told to smile while singing. The tone will then
+become natural.</p>
+
+<p>But in spite of all these hints, flattening occurs from time to time in
+the best trained choirs, and seems to defy the skill of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_033" id="Page_033">{33}</a></span> the
+choirmaster. All agree that a half empty church, a cold church, an
+ill-ventilated church promotes flattening, and it may be added that
+certain chants and tunes so hover about the region of the break that
+they invite false intonation.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. H. A. Donald, headmaster of the Upton Cross Board School, tells me
+that he has not much flattening, but that when it comes it seems to be
+beyond control. The discipline of his school is excellent, but on a
+given day there will come, as it were, a mood over the boys which makes
+it impossible for them, try as they will, to avoid sinking. Sometimes,
+but not always, this will happen in warm weather. He has more than once
+abandoned the singing lesson, and taken up some other study because of
+it. One day recently the boys were most attentive, and their vexation
+and disappointment with the flattening was evident. Another day it does
+not trouble them in the least. This is a school where voice-training is
+exceptionally well looked after.</p>
+
+<p>Several correspondents have favoured me with experience on this point,
+and I now proceed to quote their letters. Mr. W. W. Pearson, of Elmham,
+writes:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Ordinary flat singing is the result of want of practice and experience.
+Chronic flat singing is incurable, as it is due to a defective ear. A
+new lot of choir boys will be liable to sing flat, and to lower their
+pitch at any time for the first year or so; but after they have been in
+training for a considerable time, I never find that there is any
+inclination to sing flat. The notes most liable to be sung flat are the
+third and sixth of the scale, or any high note that requires courage and
+increased effort. One of these, having been sung flat, is taken by the
+singers as a new departure, and being used as a standard, the pitch is
+lowered, and all succeeding notes are flat.</p>
+
+<p>"When I first formed my present choir I was very much plagued with flat
+singing, but I am seldom troubled in that way now, and I think the
+reason is that a large proportion of the members have been under
+training for a long time.</p>
+
+<p>"I used to find flattening prevail more in muggy, damp, or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_034" id="Page_034">{34}</a></span> cold
+weather, and in heated rooms. I never allowed the choir to go on in this
+way, but stopped them at once, making them begin again after singing the
+scale of the key a few times. This, of course, refers to practice. In
+church I used to play the organ louder when I heard the pitch going
+down; or I would put on a powerful solo stop for the melody, and
+slightly prolong the final note of a cadence, in order that when the
+choir ceased singing they might hear the difference. When flattening
+occurred in the concert room I used to stop the accompaniment, which is,
+I think, about all that can be done under those circumstances. When the
+choir have been hopelessly bad in a hot practice room I have cured them
+by bringing them out into a cold room adjoining."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. C. Hibberd, of Bemerton, Salisbury, writes:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"To prevent flattening I give great attention to the posture, seeing
+that the boys do not stand carelessly. A careless posture, I think,
+betokens a careless mind. I am careful not to overtire the children.
+They sit immediately one piece is finished, and stand immediately I
+sound the first chord of the next piece. I always start the practice
+with a few simple voice exercises. When training the choir of a place
+far away in the country, I spent more time than usual in giving ear
+exercises (dictation), as well as voice-training exercises. I pay great
+attention to 'mental effect,' and endeavour to let each boy or girl have
+a Tonic Sol-fa copy of the music. The syllables recall the mental effect
+to the mind. There should be no uncertainty as to either time or tune,
+and both words and notes should be attacked or struck with confidence. I
+always practise scales downwards, and have as little to do with the
+harmonium as possible at practice. Boy altos I rarely come across. I
+tried them once, but found they aided in flattening. We have two men
+altos here, who sing in a falsetto voice. The boys here have a name for
+singing well in tune, and they are very willing to do anything to keep
+up their character."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Walter Brooks, in a paper in the <i>Monthly Musical Record</i>, expresses
+the opinion that the 3rd and 7th of the major<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_035" id="Page_035">{35}</a></span> scale are often sung
+flat. To cure this, each boy must tune up separately, then all should be
+tried together. Minor passages are often sung flat. Loss of pitch during
+service may, he says, be remedied, not by loud organ stops, but by
+playing the boys' part an octave higher. Sharp singing, which often
+arises from naturally defective or badly-trained ears, is cured best by
+checking those who can only sing loudly, and by insisting on <i>piano</i>
+singing. To put on more organ power makes the loud sharp singing worse.</p>
+
+<p>Herr Eglinger, of Basel, whose qualifications I have referred to
+elsewhere, considers that flattening is generally due to fatigue. The
+membranes which produce the voice are not yet strong, and they relax,
+producing flattening. He works on the principle that children are
+quickly tired, and quickly rested, and gives the singing in small doses.
+Unfortunately, in church work the length of the dose is not a matter of
+choice. He notices, what others have noticed, that when the voices are
+divided into three parts, it is the middle part that flattens most; this
+is because it plays about the break. To choirmasters whose boys flatten,
+Herr Eglinger says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Give rest; require a proper use of the registers; get sharp and exact
+pronunciation, especially of the consonants; and keep up with a strong
+hand the attention and interest of the choir."</p>
+
+<p>I close this chapter by printing a short paper on the subject kindly
+written for me by Mr. W. H. Richardson, formerly trainer of the
+celebrated Swanley Orphans' Choir, which gave concerts in all parts of
+the country. Mr. Richardson, while he was at Swanley, obtained results
+of the most remarkable excellence. At Swanley there was no selection of
+voices: all were made to sing, and all were individually trained, as
+well as collectively. "My conviction," says Mr. Richardson, "is that
+there are no more defective voices than there are eyes and ears." The
+Rev. W. J. Weekes, late Precentor of Rochester Cathedral, said of the
+Swanley boys:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The smaller boys were first tested&mdash;some thirty or forty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_036" id="Page_036">{36}</a></span> little
+fellows, some of them new arrivals. Here the tone, though of course not
+strong, was pure and sweet, such as would have done credit to cathedral
+boys after a couple of years' training, and they 'jumped' their
+intervals most clearly, lighting as full and fairly on the correct note
+as a bird does on a bough. Thence we moved into the larger schoolroom,
+where were assembled some hundred older boys, and such a body of sound,
+so full and pure, so free from throatiness, and so true in intonation as
+these hundred throats emitted, I certainly never heard from boys' voices
+before."</p>
+
+<p>In 1885 I took the late Signor Roberti, teacher of singing in the Normal
+College at Turin, and an Italian composer of eminence, to hear the
+Swanley boys, and he afterwards wrote to Mr. Richardson:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I do not exaggerate in any way by saying that I found there a true
+perfection in tune and in rhythm, but above all, in what concerns the
+pure and correct emission of voices, the careful and judicious training
+of which confers much honour upon you, and I would be happy to see it
+even partly imitated by the teachers of the so-called Land of Song."</p>
+
+<p>These facts are enough to prove the weight that attaches to Mr.
+Richardson's utterances:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My experience has been that flattening will give the teacher very
+little trouble after the pupils have been drilled with voice-training
+exercises, but until the voices are built and strengthened, he will have
+unpleasant surprises of all kinds. If he would have a reliable choir he
+must begin, continue, and end with regular voice training based on an
+undeniably good system. From the very outset the pupil should be taught
+to fear flat singing as a demon. With my boys I was for ever laying down
+the self-evident truth, 'People can endure your singing if it be
+tuneful, even though all other points of excellence are low, but no one
+can put up with your singing out of tune, except as martyrs.' The cause
+of flattening is always lack of culture. In the choirs I have trained it
+has ceased to trouble me after a few months. The habit of letting the
+pitch drop<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_037" id="Page_037">{37}</a></span> fosters itself in a remarkable manner, until at last the ear
+of the performer is perfectly satisfied with the production of a
+monstrosity. In proof of this I would mention a case which has come
+painfully under my own notice. A number of boys known to me have been in
+the daily habit of singing the tune:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered">
+<a href="images/ill_037_a.png">
+<img src="images/ill_037_a.png"
+width="450"
+height="71"
+alt="notation" title="notation" /></a><br />
+<span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/037a.mid">Listen</a>]</span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="nind">and as they have only had a 'go as you please system' to hold them in,
+they now commence flattening at once with a <i>crescendo</i> which culminates
+in the second line, and creates the effect:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered">
+<a href="images/ill_037_b.png">
+<img src="images/ill_037_b.png"
+width="450"
+height="72"
+alt="notation" title="notation" />
+</a><br />
+<span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/037b.mid">Listen</a>]</span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="nind">The original quite gone, they quite satisfied! The cause of continued
+flat singing is allowing the <i>bad habit</i>. I am not, of course, dealing
+with exceptional cases of natural inaptitude. These are rare, and I say
+this after having had some years of experience in testing individual
+voices. I could now with very little difficulty name the few pupils I
+had at Swanley who were naturally unable to sing tunefully, and I doubt
+not that nearly all my old scholars could do the same. They were in
+reality exceptions, numbering, during the whole of the time I was with
+them, not more than half-a-dozen.</p>
+
+<p>"There is one stage in the voice training where the teacher finds his
+pupils (boys I am speaking of, my experience with adults not having been
+so extensive) habitually <i>sharpen</i>. In my own neighbourhood a teacher
+who has commenced to properly train his boys to sing, in a conversation
+he had with me told me of this, to him, unexpected difficulty. To get
+good intonation in part-singing, I found the singing of chords a great
+help. The class should be divided rapidly, and one note of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_038" id="Page_038">{38}</a></span> chord
+assigned to each section. Then it should be sung softly. This should be
+repeated with other chords, and followed by easy phrases. Voices do not
+at once blend, and until they do the singing should be never loud. I
+look upon the earlier work as tentative&mdash;a feeling for the beauty of
+perfection of pitch, tunefulness, and intonation. A practice to be
+condemned is that of learning the parts of a tune separately, and then
+bringing them together. There are, of course, places where it is
+absolutely necessary to give special attention to exceptional passages,
+but it is a mistake to teach each part as though it were an independent
+tune&mdash;to give the direction, which I have often heard, 'Now sing your
+part, and never mind what the others are doing,' or 'Don't you listen to
+any other part.' This system is answerable for the most offending cases
+of want of tunefulness, in which one part will sing on with the greatest
+of satisfaction in a key a semitone from that in which the part above or
+below is moving. The ear should be prepared by a symphony, or by
+thinking of the key before a piece is commenced. My own practice has
+been to wait after giving the key-note for the pupils to do this. I have
+recently come across a method of allowing the pupils to find the tonic
+of a song about to be sung, which in nine cases out of ten will make the
+opening as 'restless' as the sea waves. The teacher strikes the C fork,
+and the tonic being F, all the pupils sing C', B, A, G, F&mdash;doh. The C',
+B, A, G, F is, I think, as likely to unsettle the ear as anything that
+could be imagined. The teacher should give the key-note. He may teach
+his pupils to use the fork if he will, but <i>not</i> in a way so exquisitely
+calculated to unsettle the ear when it should be strongly decided.</p>
+
+<p>"With regard to Registers, I do not know whether the nomenclature I
+employed with my Swanley choir will be commended by you, but as it was
+successful I will describe it. The registers we called, perhaps
+inelegantly, 'Top,' 'Middle,' and 'Bottom,' these terms being handier
+than Upper Thin, Lower Thin, and Upper Thick. The earliest exercises
+were in the Top Register&mdash;that is, the Upper Thin. Boys<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_039" id="Page_039">{39}</a></span> untrained are,
+taken in bulk, unconscious of the Thin Register. Having got them to
+sing, say C to koo, I have followed it by singing to the same syllable
+the tune:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered">
+<a href="images/ill_039_a.png">
+<img src="images/ill_039_a.png"
+width="450"
+height="72"
+alt="notation" title="notation" />
+</a><br />
+<span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/039a.mid">Listen</a>]</span></div>
+
+<p class="nind">('Now the day is over,'&mdash;<i>A. &amp; M.</i>), and the delight has been intense
+when the pupils have thus discovered how clearly and sweetly they could
+sing. When this is done great possibilities seem to open, and the pupil
+is on the road to perfection. B<span title="flat sign">&#9837;</span> and E<span title="flat sign">&#9837;</span> I found most convenient for
+change. The Small Register must have been used, as my lads sang up to
+C<sup>2</sup> with the greatest ease and finish, though one of our foremost
+teachers, in a conference I had with him on the subject, said he would
+stake his reputation that the small register was not employed by them.
+It received no name in our practices after that authoritative statement,
+and ever afterwards I was in dread of being called over the coals for
+allowing the Top register to get too high.</p>
+
+<p>"Boy altos can be made to sing without flattening, though they
+invariably give more trouble than trebles on account of their
+willingness to let the lower register overlap the one above&mdash;to force
+upward. They should practise with the trebles such exercises as:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered">
+<a href="images/ill_039_b.png">
+<img src="images/ill_039_b.png"
+width="350"
+height="81"
+alt="notation" title="notation" />
+</a><br />
+<span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/039b.mid">Listen</a>]</span></div>
+
+<p class="nind">so as to strengthen this part of the voice, which may be termed their
+flattening field."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_040" id="Page_040">{40}</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+<div class="imagecentered"><img src="images/ill_dart.png" alt="dart" width="90" height="16" /></div>
+
+<h3>ON THE TRAINING OF BOYS' VOICES.</h3>
+
+<p class="c">By <span class="smcap">W. H. Richardson</span>, Formerly Conductor of the Swanley Orphanage
+Choir.{*}</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">{*} Mr. Richardson has responded to my request for hints with such
+fulness and weight that I devote a separate chapter to his essay. In
+writing, he has specially had in view the difficulties of choir trainers
+in rural districts.</p>
+
+<p>A<span class="smcap">ll</span> that a writer on the training of voices can do is to lay down
+general lines, and give comprehensive suggestions. The teacher, to make
+any use of them must be indeed a <i>teacher</i>, not a mere mechanically
+automatic individual of only sufficient calibre to take the directions
+of a writer, and give them again. He should be both enthusiastic in his
+work, and willing to spend his strength in patience if he would have a
+choir of boys to sing <i>reliably</i> well. It is of the greatest importance
+that work should be set out on right lines, and that a thoughtfully
+prepared scheme should be arranged before commencing. I would here give
+my experience of two choirs I had at different times in agricultural
+districts, and in one of them I was well satisfied with the progress we
+made, while in the other my work was completely thrown away. The reason
+for the failure in the second instance (which I foresaw from the outset)
+will be gathered from the following account of our plan of campaign. The
+choir was a village one which met for rehearsal once a week. The
+organist attended and presided at a harmonium, and, <i>nolens volens</i>, I
+had at the beginning of each practice to take the choir through the
+whole of the next Sunday's services. The boys' voices were, at the
+beginning of my connection, uncivilised,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_041" id="Page_041">{41}</a></span> and at the end of
+it&mdash;fortunately the question of ways and means not allowing the interval
+to extend beyond a few months&mdash;were as barbarous as at the commencement.
+There was absolutely no chance of making a name through these
+youngsters; and as to voice culture! How could it be possible to attempt
+it after labouring through such a programme as Canticles, Hymns, Psalms,
+Kyrie, and Amens?</p>
+
+<p>I determined never to take office again unless I could have my own way
+in fixing the time-table of work. My success in the other case was owing
+greatly to the fact that I had one night a week entirely devoted to
+musical training and voice culture. This did not preclude us from
+relieving the drudgery of work by the singing of songs and hymns, <i>but</i>
+it allowed me the use of an unfettered judgment in the <i>choice</i> of what
+should be attempted. A teacher is heavily handicapped if after getting
+his boys for the first time to sing in the upper thin register, he is to
+follow his delicate work by singing half-a-dozen verses to a tune which
+will in the very first verse undo all that he has done, simply because
+its melodic progression encourages forcing. Experienced teachers will
+appreciate what I say on this point. Take such a tune as:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered">
+<a href="images/ill_041.png">
+<img src="images/ill_041.png"
+width="450"
+height="79"
+alt="notation" title="notation" /></a>
+<br />
+<span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/041.mid">Listen</a>]</span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="nind">&mdash;a tune which inevitably causes a wrong use of the registers by
+inexperienced boys. The tunes selected should further the work of the
+exercises, not undo it, and with diligence the teacher can find suitable
+tunes and chants for this purpose. My advice to all teachers is that
+before commencing work they should insist upon conditions that do not
+preclude success, and that they should not spend their labour in
+wearying drudgery with the full consciousness that to attain it is
+impossible.</p>
+
+<p>One suggestion I would make is that the choirmaster, if he be not, as is
+often the case in villages, also schoolmaster, would do well to enlist
+the services of the school teachers in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_042" id="Page_042">{42}</a></span> village. It is not often
+practicable to have more than one&mdash;or two at the most&mdash;meetings of a
+choir during the week, and the length of the lesson must be, in
+consequence, at least an hour. For voice training in the earlier stages
+six lessons a week of fifteen minutes each are preferable to one of an
+hour and a half, and therefore I would urge the <i>necessity</i> of getting
+hold of the sympathies of the school teacher, and putting him on right
+lines to work out the choirmaster's ideas, if the offices be not united.</p>
+
+<p>Voice work should be begun in the infant school. At Swanley it was my
+practice to give, I believe, daily lessons in the Infant Department, and
+the remarks made by visitors will bear out what I am about to say as to
+the possibility of getting young children to sing, and sing like little
+angels. I was always as pleased to exhibit my infants' vocal powers as
+to show those of my more advanced boys, and success was, comparatively
+speaking, more easily gained with them than with older boys, for
+inasmuch as the difficulty of registers and breaks does not exist as
+such with these tiny ones, and unless our plans be artificial or formed
+of caprice, this is what should be expected.</p>
+
+<p>In the infant school the teacher can take hold of the good that is
+innate, and mould it; in the higher school he has to spend hours and
+hours eradicating the bad habits which shouting and untamed license have
+allowed to grow. By all means begin with the infants, and let their
+songs and nursery rhymes be written so as to "give them a chance."</p>
+
+<p>But I am asked to say something that may be helpful to the choirmaster
+having to train the vocal organs of boys who are beyond infantile
+methods. I will therefore suppose myself for the first time before an
+ordinary country group of lads with all the vocal faults that now appear
+indigenous to the locality. I should first get them to find the Upper
+Thin Register, and my plan is to confine the work to this region
+<span class="nottion" style="width:80px;">
+<a href="images/ill_042.png"><img src="images/ill_042.png" width="80" height="36" alt="notation" title="notation" /></a>
+</span> <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/042.mid">Listen</a>]</span> and get<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_043" id="Page_043">{43}</a></span> the boys to sing "koo" to D, E, or F, making my
+own "Exercises," which are suggested by present circumstances:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered">
+<img src="images/ill_043_a.png"
+width="450"
+height="82"
+alt="Koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo" title="Koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo"
+/><br />
+<span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/043a.mid">Listen</a>]</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="imagecentered">
+<a href="images/ill_043_b.png">
+<img src="images/ill_043_b.png"
+width="450"
+height="86"
+alt="Koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo" title="Koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo"
+/></a><br />
+<span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/043b.mid">Listen</a>]</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="imagecentered">
+<a href="images/ill_043_c.png"><img src="images/ill_043_c.png"
+width="450"
+height="81"
+alt="Koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo" title="Koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo"
+/></a>
+<br />
+<span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/043c.mid">Listen</a>]</span>
+</div>
+<div class="imagecentered">
+<a href="images/ill_043_d.png">
+<img src="images/ill_043_d.png"
+width="450"
+height="77"
+alt="Koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo" title="Koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo"
+/></a><br />
+<span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/043d.mid">Listen</a>]</span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="nind">As at this stage the boys know nothing of the diatonic scale, I let them
+imitate. The exercises <i>may</i> be played on a pianoforte, if the teacher
+cannot sing them, though in the latter case it is preferable that he
+should adopt the plan of selecting his best pupils for the models.</p>
+
+<p>I once had to commence with some uncultured boys, and knowing the
+difficulty of getting them to make a start, took with me a few of my own
+trained lads, who sang the exercises first, after which I added one or
+two of the beginners to them, and sympathetically they soon sang in the
+proper register with the others. By continuing the process of addition
+gradually I soon got the whole class to sing as I wished.</p>
+
+<p>At this first lesson the proper production of "oo" (vowel) should be
+obtained. I deal with the vowels as they arise,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_044" id="Page_044">{44}</a></span> never observing a lack
+of clearness and purity without endeavouring to correct it. The
+foregoing exercises can next be used for teaching the intervals of the
+diatonic scale, for instance:&mdash; <span class="nottion125"><a href="images/ill_044_a.png"><img src="images/ill_044_a.png"
+width="400"
+height="70"
+alt="notation" title="notation" />
+</a></span> <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/044a.mid">Listen</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p class="nind">calling the notes by their names, doh soh. Here, again, the proper vowel
+production must be sought for, and obtained. The difficulties will be
+varied in this respect with the locality. Often I have met with
+doh-<i>oo</i>. This, as well as ray-<i>ee</i>, and other faults that need not be
+specified, can be corrected at once. The beautiful intonation we had at
+Swanley I attribute in a large measure to the care bestowed on the
+production of vowel sounds. There must be no division of opinion among
+the singers as to how any particular vowel sound should be emitted. If
+there be not unity in this respect the intonation suffers.</p>
+
+<p>The earlier exercises should be sung in unison, a correct division into
+1st, 2nd, and 3rd trebles being impossible until the boys have acquired
+sufficient confidence to show <i>what</i> they are naturally. I have for a
+long time used with advantage the single chant form for exercises,
+making them myself.</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered">
+<a href="images/ill_044_b.png">
+<img src="images/ill_044_b.png"
+width="450"
+height="91"
+alt="notation" title="notation" /><br />
+</a><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/044b.mid">Listen</a>]</span></div>
+
+<p class="nind">In order to avoid waste of time in learning exercises they should be
+<i>short</i>, so that they can be caught up at once.</p>
+
+<p>To get boys to sing in the register below (the Lower Thin) is the next
+step, the exercises now being confined between <span class="nottion" style="width:100px;">
+<a href="images/ill_044_c.png"><img src="images/ill_044_c.png" width="100" height="39" alt="notation" title="notation" />
+</a></span> <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/044c.mid">Listen</a>]</span> and formed
+in the same way as those in the higher region. The difficulty is greater
+in getting rough boys to use this part of the vocal score correctly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_045" id="Page_045">{45}</a></span>
+The best way I have found to get them to discover it, is to sing
+<span class="nottiontop" style="width: 175px;">
+<a href="images/ill_045_a.png"><img src="images/ill_045_a.png" width="175" height="54" alt="KEY F. s f m r d" title="KEY F. s f m r d" />
+</a></span><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/045a.mid">Listen</a>]</span>&mdash;beginning at C<sup>1</sup>, to koo. The notes
+are at first weak, and there is a tendency to "squork," if I may so term
+it. These exercises must be sung softly at first, and at this stage the
+schoolmaster can render valuable help if he will get his boys to read
+from their lesson books in this register instead of in the one below it.</p>
+
+<p>I have to acknowledge a debt of gratitude to one of our best and most
+painstaking teachers for giving me this hint. The reading will at first
+be weak, and in a monotone, and there being no flexibility, the boys
+will have difficulty in forming the usual cadence at the end of
+sentences, but practice will soon strengthen the weakness, and make this
+register as strong as the one below it. Between the one above and the
+one below, this "middle" one is apt to be overlooked altogether, and I
+have heard some fairly pleasing singing where it has not been recognised
+at all.</p>
+
+<p>The third register (Upper Thick) should now receive attention, and in
+order to find it the pupils should cultivate it upwards with such
+exercises as&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered">
+<a href="images/ill_045_b.png">
+<img src="images/ill_045_b.png"
+width="350"
+height="92"
+alt="notation" title="notation" />
+</a><br /><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/045b.mid">Listen</a>]</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Within the limits of a short paper, it is impossible to give more fully
+all the needful directions for training the voices to cover up breaks,
+and to change from one register to another.</p>
+
+<p>Suitable tunes should now be selected, so that the aim of the exercises
+may be extended. Remember that it is easiest to <i>leap</i> from one register
+to a higher, a stepwise ascent being an insidious snare. Koo and
+afterwards laa such tunes as:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_046" id="Page_046">{46}</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered">
+<a href="images/ill_046_a.png">
+<img src="images/ill_046_a.png"
+width="450"
+height="87"
+alt="notation" title="notation" />
+</a><br /><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/046a.mid">Listen</a>]</span></div>
+
+<p class="c">or,</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered">
+<a href="images/ill_046_b.png">
+<img src="images/ill_046_b.png"
+width="450"
+height="85"
+alt="notation" title="notation" /></a><br /><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/046b.mid">Listen</a>]</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="imagecentered">
+<a href="images/ill_046_c.png">
+<img src="images/ill_046_c.png"
+width="450"
+height="74"
+alt="notation" title="notation" /></a><br /><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/046c.mid">Listen</a>]</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Many ready-made exercises are to be found in any chant book, which can
+be used to strengthen the voice and build it. For voice exercise I like
+a high reciting note at the beginning, D<sup>1</sup>, C<sup>1</sup>, E<span title="flat sign">&#9837;</span><sup>1</sup>, as by this we
+ensure getting the right register for the high notes, which will be a
+matter of doubt for some time if the question of suitability of melody
+be left out of calculation.</p>
+
+<p>I strongly recommend the use of the time names. For some years I was
+prejudiced against them, but after trying them, believe them to be of
+the greatest value.</p>
+
+<p>The teacher should give manual signs for his short exercises. Time is
+wasted unnecessarily if the teacher has to turn and write on the board.
+The objection to working through a book, only using prescribed
+exercises, is chiefly this&mdash;no book writer can provide for all the
+permutations and combinations that may arise during the actual work of
+teaching; it is impossible for him to anticipate them. This does not in
+the least detract from the value of the book, which must be the best
+<i>general</i> guide for by far the larger part of our teachers.</p>
+
+<p>I have referred to the teaching of vowel sounds, and would say a word
+about consonants. My practice has been to guard against giving undue
+prominence to any individual letter,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_047" id="Page_047">{47}</a></span> and to encourage always a <i>simple
+unaffected utterance</i> in singing. Rolling "r's" is very well, but to
+precede the vowel with a sound not unlike the noise caused by springing
+a police rattle is neither artistic nor pleasing. My custom was to first
+let the pupils sing a vowel, say <i>aa</i>, and require it to be held on as
+long as my hand was still. A sharp movement of the hand directed when
+the consonant should appear, as <i>aa&mdash;t</i>, &amp;c., the appearance and
+disappearance being as close together as possible. It is a difficulty
+with beginners to sing such words as "night," "bright," &amp;c., holding on
+the middle part, or vowel. I demonstrated that the singer has nothing
+left to sing after having too soon disposed of the vowel. I also gave
+exercises in prefixing a consonant to a vowel. Other points of detail
+will arise, such as in the word "sing." The habit here is to make the
+"ng" sound throughout the greater part of the durance of the singing of
+the word. By analysing, and showing by copying the bad model, the
+teacher will convince the pupil that "ng" held on is unpleasant. In
+singing laa, laa, laa, &amp;c., at first pupils lower and raise the jaw.
+This should be at once stopped. But it is impossible to anticipate every
+difficulty that will arise under this head. I have said enough to
+indicate generally my method. I do not propose to enter into the
+question of breathing. One thing I would say&mdash;do not try pupils by
+requiring them to sing long notes at first, but do get them at the
+beginning to "phrase" to your pattern. This will from the first get the
+will to control the breath taking.</p>
+
+<p>By all means introduce certificates. By the examination of individuals,
+the teacher will get truer knowledge of his learners' powers, and will
+be enabled to give advice of greater value because of its assured need.
+Let the examination be in public&mdash;before the other pupils&mdash;and so help
+to beget confidence in the pupil, without which success will be limited.
+The teacher should never do anything to destroy the confidence of his
+pupils, though I am bound to admit that I have not always been free from
+irritability and impatience in my dealings with pupils. The work is
+trying, the nerves of a teacher of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_048" id="Page_048">{48}</a></span> singing are throughout highly
+strung, and very little cause is necessary to upset his equilibrium. He
+should therefore be ever on his guard to check any tendency to show
+impatience.</p>
+
+<p>Never get a pupil to sing alone for the sake of showing his defects to
+others. No one can <i>sing</i> who does not possess a sense of his power to
+do so. There should be encouraged an <i>abandon</i> sort of manner. A
+gentleman once said to me, "I see how you make your boys sing; you tell
+them they can do it, and that makes them do it." The rigid watching of
+the beat of the conductor should not be too closely insisted on. No
+machine-like singing should satisfy, even though it be <i>correct</i>. The
+correctness of a great painter's production is not everything, and
+neither is it with the singer. There should an atmosphere of the liberty
+of freedom.</p>
+
+<p>At Swanley my work was lessened by the interest that all my colleagues
+took in it. A moral force was constantly brought to bear on the boys,
+which made them work with a will and a determination to excel. Their
+success was the same in other departments of work, though not so
+prominently placed. The music teacher who has in himself the power to
+draw out the latent feeling of his pupils is the one who will best
+succeed. I would draw my remarks to a close with this advice:&mdash;Make your
+choir as large as possible. Take all who will come into it, and do not
+go through the form of "trying" voices that have never tried themselves,
+and of which you can form no opinion. For adults this is a necessity,
+but for children it is better to get one or two per cent. of naturally
+defective learners, rather than to turn away all but those showing
+undoubtedly exceptional ability.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_049" id="Page_049">{49}</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+<div class="imagecentered"><img src="images/ill_dart.png" alt="dart" width="90" height="16" /></div>
+
+<h3>THE SPECIAL DIFFICULTIES OF AGRICULTURAL DISTRICTS.</h3>
+
+<p>M<span class="smcap">y</span> object is to help those whose difficulties are greatest; who, so far
+from being able to pick out boys of musical talent and fine voice, are
+obliged to accept the material that offers, often of the poorest musical
+description. The country boy is a more healthy animal than his brother
+of the town, and there is no fault to be found with the natural volume
+of his voice provided he can be taught to place his registers rightly,
+to avoid straining the thick or chest register, to pronounce and phrase
+properly. This is, however, what the Americans call "a large order."</p>
+
+<p>I have been fortunate in collecting information from several
+choirmasters in agricultural districts, who have conquered the
+difficulties of this task. First, I quote Mr. W. Critchley, choirmaster
+and schoolmaster at Hurst, near Reading:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The rural choir-boy differs somewhat from his brethren of the town in
+the following particulars. As a rule, he is duller, and slower in his
+perception; he is attentive and docile, but sluggish; he retains what he
+is taught, and therefore, as far as mere knowledge and memory are
+concerned, it 'pays' to take him in hand. His voice is strong, but
+rough, and this undisciplined strength is the cause of most of the
+trouble he gives. Moreover, he is exposed to the weather very largely,
+and this causes him to be more influenced by atmospheric changes than
+the town boy, and prevents, in a great measure, any great delicacy of
+finish from being obtained. So it will be seen that the country
+choir-boy requires special treatment in order to produce good<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_050" id="Page_050">{50}</a></span> results.
+Sometimes, when a village lies compactly together, a large amount of
+work can be got through similar to that which we find in towns, but
+generally the rural district is wide and scattered, and only a limited
+number of practices can be secured. Under these circumstances, I have
+found the best course to pursue to be somewhat as follows:&mdash;First and
+foremost, let the Tonic Sol-fa system be taught, it lightens the work of
+the choirmaster in a wonderful degree, and the boys bring an
+intelligence to their work which is unattainable by any other means. If
+the system has not been taught in the day school of the parish, it
+should be introduced at once; if that is not practicable, the choir-boys
+should be taught at a second practice-night. This second practice is
+required in any case, if anything better than mere 'scratch' singing be
+aimed at. <i>All</i> practices should be begun by voice exercises. On the
+extra night a greater amount of time should be taken up with them, for
+to a country choir-boy, who perhaps in the day is shouting to scare
+birds, they are vital. The lower register of a country boy is, as a
+rule, coarse, so it is important to get him to use his higher register
+as soon as possible. Show him first of all that he has, as it were, <i>two
+voices</i>, and point out that he is required, as Mr. Evans observes, to
+use that voice which is most like a girl's. He will be apt for some time
+to use this voice in the upper notes of the music only, and there will
+be a disagreeable transition to the lower register when the music comes
+down on G, or thereabouts. To conquer this, I use exercises which train
+the upper register <i>downwards</i>, such as:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered">
+<a href="images/ill_050_a.png">
+<img src="images/ill_050_a.png" width="410" height="85" alt="KEYS A to F. notation" title="KEYS A to F. notation" />
+</a><br /><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/050a.mid">Listen</a>]</span></div>
+
+<p class="nind">the object being to strengthen the upper register, and, except where the
+music touches D or C, <span class="nottion" style="width: 82px;">
+<img src="images/ill_050_b.png" width="82" height="46" alt="notation" title="notation" />
+</span> <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/050b.mid">Listen</a>]</span> to practically 'shelve' the lower
+thick register in the case of treble voices. In training upwards I
+insist<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_051" id="Page_051">{51}</a></span> on easy singing, no straining. I don't mean apathetic singing,
+for this is especially to be fought against in the case of country boys,
+as there is naturally a want of 'go' about them. I mean soft singing,
+but energetic. I tell the boys to sing like birds, and they generally
+understand from this that they are to use the upper register. I do not
+find much difficulty with them in the way of flattening. Except in the
+case of the younger boys, I often hear them a little sharp. The Tonic
+Sol-fa method trains their <i>ears</i>, and I get them to listen, and blend
+their voices; above all, to get rid of apathy. And if there should be a
+tendency with the younger boys to sing flat, I generally find that the
+application of the old rules as to position, loud singing, forcing the
+voice, faulty breathing, and inattention will remedy the fault. If it
+occurs in church, a judicious use of a four-foot stop on the organ often
+keeps up the pitch. I find, if the melody of a chant or tune has a great
+many of the 'thirds' of the chords in it (I mean as distinct from the
+fifth, root, &amp;c.) it is often difficult, especially on a foggy morning,
+to keep it in tune, <i>e.g</i>.:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 446px;">
+<img src="images/ill_051_a.png" width="446" height="95" alt="" title="" />
+
+<br /><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/051a.mid">Listen</a>]</span></div>
+
+<p class="c">or,</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 449px;">
+<img src="images/ill_051_b.png" width="449" height="106" alt="" title="" />
+<br /><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/051b.mid">Listen</a>]</span></div>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 447px;">
+<img src="images/ill_051_c.png" width="447" height="96" alt="" title="" />
+<br /><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/051c.mid">Listen</a>]</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_052" id="Page_052">{52}</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="nind">This is the case in a marked degree when the reciting tone comes about
+the natural 'break' of the voice. The remedy for this I find to be
+transition into another key, one which I judge to be more congenial to
+the state of the boys' voices. Here is where the usefulness of the Tonic
+Sol-fa system to an organist comes in. A lot of practice in mental
+effects has a surprising result in ear training. Sometimes, however, we
+get a clergyman who intones badly, and then it is quite a struggle to
+keep in tune.</p>
+
+<p>"There are a number of other little points which tell against correct
+singing in a country choir; the generally thick enunciation, the
+provincialism, the difficulty in getting open mouths. I do a lot of
+reading by pattern, and pay attention to initial and final consonants.
+Country boys neglect these more than town boys. I practise without organ
+as much as I can. If an instrument is used, the piano is decidedly the
+best. I find Gregorian singing has a strong tendency to injure purity of
+tone and delicacy of expression. I do as little of it as possible.</p>
+
+<p>"On the second choir practice night I spoke of, it is certainly good to
+take up glee practice, or a simple cantata. It sustains the interest,
+and makes the choir a bond of union in a country village."</p>
+
+<p class="top5">Not long ago I found myself by chance worshipping in a remote village in
+East Somerset, Churchill by name. There was, in the parish church, a
+choir of six boys and four probationers, who sang so slowly and sweetly,
+not with the luscious fulness of some boys I have heard, but with such
+uncommonly good style for agricultural boys, that I was much interested.
+These small villages have, from the present point of view, one
+advantage. The day schools are "mixed" (containing boys and girls), and
+the teacher is a lady. Both these influences tend to the softening of
+the boy's voice. Miss Demack, the school-and choir-mistress at
+Churchill, has kindly written a few notes on the subject of her work, in
+which she says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly think that the girls' voices soften the boys'.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_053" id="Page_053">{53}</a></span> I admit
+probationers at the early age of six if I find they have any voice, as I
+think the earlier the better. When I took my boys in hand, I found scale
+exercises very useful. I did not teach them any tunes until I had
+somewhat altered their rough voices. Another help was this: I had a girl
+with a particularly good voice, and made the boys imitate her as much as
+possible. This I found answered remarkably well. The boys seemed to
+adopt quite a different tone."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Demack teaches singing in the school and choir by ear only, and
+knows nothing of the Tonic Sol-fa system.</p>
+
+<p class="top5">I next give a short paper kindly sent me by Mr. George Parbery,
+choirmaster of the parish church, and master of the National School at
+Fordingbridge, Hants:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Dear Sir,&mdash;As choirmaster of the parish church here, and as one who
+takes great interest in the subject of singing in schools, I am happy to
+respond to your request, as we are essentially a rural district.</p>
+
+<p>"I have occupied my position now nearly ten years, and am just beginning
+to find the benefit of the Tonic Sol-fa movement amongst my adult
+members of the choir, having now nine adults who have passed through the
+school with a good practical knowledge of the Sol-fa notation.</p>
+
+<p>"When I commenced work here (coming from north of England) I was struck
+with the very disagreeable tone of the boys' and girls' voices. To say
+they sang flat does not convey how flat they sang, nor does it convey
+any idea of the tone, but the same may be heard any night at the
+Salvation Army meetings here. The vicar of the parish told me also upon
+my arrival here, that at a church in Bournemouth a former vicar used to
+import all his boy voices outside of Hampshire. So that you will gather
+that I had not a light task before me to produce a tone satisfactory to
+myself or the inspector. But I may safely say I have for some years
+satisfied myself, and last year our assistant-inspector spoke of the
+very beautiful quality of the boys' voices. I can assure you that it is
+only rarely that I find occasion to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_054" id="Page_054">{54}</a></span> complain of the tone. The moment I
+hear the objectionable tone produced, I immediately stop the singing,
+even if in the middle of prayers. Mine is a boys' school, but I teach
+the girls singing with the boys. Now as to how I produced the change:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"1. I introduced the Tonic Sol-fa notation.</p>
+
+<div class="imagetotheright" style="width:150px;">
+&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/054a.mid">Listen</a>]</span>
+<a href="images/ill_054_a.png">
+<img src="images/ill_054_a.png" width="150" height="55" alt="notation" title="notation" />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>"2. I used to practise very frequently for a few minutes upon the
+modulator, making abundant use of the upper&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"3. I prohibited all shouting on high notes.</p>
+
+<p>"4. Particularly was I severe upon loud singing in lower notes, say,</p>
+
+<div class="imagetotheright" style="width:200px;">
+&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
+&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/054b.mid">Listen</a>]</span>
+<a href="images/ill_054_b.png">
+<img src="images/ill_054_b.png" width="200" height="62" alt="notation" title="notation" />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>"5. I established a degree of sound, and have it still, what is known
+amongst my scholars as 'singing in a whisper'&mdash;<i>i.e.</i>, to produce
+singing as softly as possible. This idea I picked up in Cheshire from a
+good Tonic Sol-faist.</p>
+
+<p>"6. I have one or two favourite hymns, which I always pitch higher than
+written, and thus compel the boys to use the upper registers. The boys
+know I like these hymns, and I never fail to appreciate them to the boys
+at the end of singing. I also have a favourite marching tune&mdash;I don't
+know the name, but I believe it is often set to the hymn, 'When mothers
+of Salem.' This tune is very lofty, and I believe the boys really enjoy
+its loftiness, <i>but there must be no shouting</i>. When the boys displease
+me, I tell them they drop their jaw too much, and they instantly know
+what I mean.</p>
+
+<p>"7. I have very little alto singing in school, for the reason that it
+has a tendency to encourage loudness. In my choir I arrange for three or
+four of the oldest boys to sing alto.</p>
+
+<p>"In conclusion, I may say I am thoroughly proud of my boys' singing from
+standard I. up to the top of the school, and I believe my success has
+been chiefly from abundant use of the modulator for scale practice, and
+never allowing loud singing. Proud as I am of my boys, the girls
+certainly excel them, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_055" id="Page_055">{55}</a></span> ten years ago their tone was worse, if
+possible, than the boys. I have no instrument in school, but
+<i>occasionally</i> use a violin."</p>
+
+<p class="top5">A correspondent from another agricultural county&mdash;I will not give his
+name&mdash;favours me with some rules which he has used more or less for
+thirty years. In one school taught by the writer, the inspector said he
+could not distinguish the boys from the girls' voices&mdash;truly a high
+compliment. My correspondent names a new hindrance to church music in
+rural places, namely, the clergyman's daughter!&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Practise the scales up and down to the words 'la' and 'ha,' the latter
+for the purpose of separating the teeth. Commence at the key of C to
+C<sup>1</sup>, then from D to D<sup>1</sup>, and so on upwards as high as the voices of the
+boys can reach, never resting satisfied until they cover two octaves
+firmly. In teaching new music, and, generally speaking, in accompanying
+the boys, play the note they are singing and its octave above&mdash;on the
+stopped diapason and flute if an organ, or the corresponding stops on a
+harmonium. Let there be no other accompaniment, and on every occasion
+the octave above the note sung. This is very particular. Check one voice
+singing above another. Have no leaders. Stop or subdue all harsh voices,
+and make them listen to, and try to copy the pure notes of the flute;
+let the boys sing well within their strength. If you lack power,
+increase the number of choristers, and subdue the voices. I always
+choose smooth flowing chants, with the reciting note ranging from F to
+C. I do not care to go higher than G above the line in anthems or
+services, but have trained them to start on B<span title="flat sign">&#9837;</span>, 'The Sisters of the
+Sea,' by Jackson.</p>
+
+<p>"I never trouble about altos, they are too difficult to get, and
+indifferent and troublesome when obtained, but in verse parts of
+services or anthems, one of the best boys will supply the deficiency,
+and even take up the lead in a chorus.</p>
+
+<p>"Choirs experience a difficulty which is not included in your list of
+points. I have received £60 per annum as an organist, £50 and a house.
+On another occasion I was offered the choir-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_056" id="Page_056">{56}</a></span>mastership of a church
+choral society of 60 members. At this time I was trainer and conductor
+of a choral society of 100 voices with string and wind accompaniment,
+the subject being <i>The Messiah</i>. Yet I was not considered competent at
+the church at which I played to put a tune to a hymn, but had to submit
+to the parson's daughter, who was qualified through taking three months'
+lessons from a German. On one occasion this lady went ten times through
+a hymn to please her father in trying to fit a four-lined tune of the
+wrong metre to a six-lined hymn! I offered to go through an eleventh
+time, but he never interfered again. I could give you many instances
+where these ladies themselves are the great drawback of good church
+singing, but on the other hand, I could mention cases where they never
+come near a practice, or interfere from one year's end to the other."</p>
+
+<p class="top5">Knowing, as I do, the devoted way in which clergymen's daughters in many
+rural places train the choir, I hesitate to endorse this charge. The
+work needs to be done with tact and consideration. In the vast majority
+of cases these ladies are a great help. I do not approve the plan of
+playing the melody in octaves while it is being learnt, which my
+correspondent advocates. I give his letter as a record of earnest work.</p>
+
+<p class="top5">Mr. W. W. Pearson, of Elmham, Dereham, Norfolk, writes to me as
+follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I have had, as you say, a great deal of experience in teaching singing,
+especially in rural districts; but the neighbourhood I have lived in for
+the last twenty years (Norfolk), is a very barren field for musical
+culture&mdash;the worst in my experience. The voices of those who <i>do</i> sing
+in this county are, on an average, a minor third lower than those of
+Yorkshire, North Wales, the west of England, and other places where I
+have had experience. They are also, for the most part, <i>flabby</i>, wanting
+in resonance and quality. Tenors are very scarce, and even the few who
+can sing in the tenor register, have not got the true tenor quality.
+This may be the effect of the low<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_057" id="Page_057">{57}</a></span> elevation above the sea-level, and
+the damp humid atmosphere; or it may be partly due to <i>race</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"The plan I adopt for getting boys to use their upper registers is a
+very old-fashioned one; but it is very effective. It is to make them
+sing the major diatonic scale, ascending and descending; beginning at a
+low pitch, and gradually raising it by a semitone at a time."</p>
+
+<p class="top5">Mr. C. Hibberd, of Bemerton, near Salisbury, whom I quote also in the
+chapter on "Flattening," dwells on the difficulties of the rural
+choirmaster. He says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I have rarely come across the soft fluty tone in the country. I once
+met with a boy with it in the choir at Parkstone, near Bournemouth, and
+another here at Bemerton, but in both cases the boys were above the
+average of country boys, and the village was close to a larger town. In
+both cases, also, the boys had good and careful practice over and above
+the ordinary choir practices. At places farther in the country it seems
+an impossibility to get the tone. With only a few boys to pick from, it
+is a difficulty to find boys enough to fill up ordinary vacancies. With
+a great deal of trouble and practice one can get a great part of the
+roughness toned down, and, as a rule, that is all."</p>
+
+<p class="top5">Several of my correspondents, it will be noticed, speak with great
+confidence of the use of the Tonic Sol-fa system in rural places. This
+system, useful everywhere, certainly attains its greatest usefulness in
+places where the task of the choirmaster reaches its highest degree of
+difficulty. To those whose only acquaintance with Tonic Sol-fa is a
+casual glance at a printed page of the new notation, it naturally seems
+strange that the use of a musical shorthand can affect the whole
+training of the boy. But behind the letters and punctuation marks, which
+go to make up the Tonic Sol-fa notation, there lies the Tonic Sol-fa
+method&mdash;a fixed and many-sided educational system, founded on the truest
+principles of education, carrying on simultaneously the training of the
+ear for tune and time, making progress sure<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_058" id="Page_058">{58}</a></span> because gradually
+developing the intelligence along with the voice. With Tonic Sol-fa,
+also, is associated a definite system of voice-training. Tonic Sol-fa
+teachers are all more or less of educationists, and have caught by
+observation or study the teacher's art. This is the cause of their
+success.</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 266px;">
+<a href="images/ill_058.png">
+<img src="images/ill_058.png" width="266" height="183" alt="image of sunset" title="image of sunset" />
+</a></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_059" id="Page_059">{59}</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+
+<div class="imagecentered"><img src="images/ill_dart.png" alt="dart" width="90" height="16" /></div>
+
+<h3>NOTES ON THE PRACTICE OF VARIOUS CHOIRMASTERS IN CATHEDRALS, &amp;c.</h3>
+
+<p>I S<span class="smcap">ummarise</span> here information obtained, chiefly by observation and
+conversation, from various trainers of boys' voices at cathedrals and
+collegiate churches.</p>
+
+<p class="c"><span class="smcap">CHAPEL ROYAL, ST. JAMES'S</span>.</p>
+
+<p>Some years ago I attended a practice of the boys, under the late Rev.
+Thomas Helmore. It began with slow scales sung to a light pianoforte
+accompaniment. These were followed by rapid runs, the key gradually
+rising until the highest note touched was C above the treble staff. The
+vocable used was "ah." After this came time exercises, solfeggios, the
+pointing out of notes by the boys on and between the fingers of their
+left hands, which represented the staff. Mr. Helmore declared that new
+boys while singing nearly always (1) frown, or (2) hold their heads on
+one side. He was strict about avoiding these faults. In going over the
+psalms for the day, the boys sang mostly one by one, verse after verse.
+This was a searching test for the boy who sang, while all the others
+were actively criticising. The boys practised secular music by way of
+change. Four of them were monitors, four fags, and two probationers. The
+tone was refined and pure, Mr. Helmore himself being a good singer.</p>
+
+<p class="c"><span class="smcap">ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL</span>.</p>
+
+<p>Here, owing to the size of the building, a tremendous volume of shrill
+tone has to be cultivated, which in the practice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_060" id="Page_060">{60}</a></span> room is sometimes
+overwhelming. The practice I heard began with slow scales sung to "ah"
+(pianoforte accompaniment) ranging over two octaves, C to C<sup>2</sup>; each key
+between C to C<sup>1</sup> was taken, and the scale sung ascending and descending.
+This was loud singing, but not shouting. Then came agility exercises in
+the form of chords, rapid scales, &amp;c., sung still to "ah." This daily
+"tuning-up" lasted ten minutes. Then (incidentally affording rest to the
+boys) came a short lesson on theory. Boys were called up in turn to
+write notes, signs, &amp;c., on the blackboard. Practice now began. The boys
+sing a new piece to words at once, never sol-faing. They seldom try a
+piece more than three times before it is heard at the cathedral. They
+sit during rehearsal, standing at the Gloria Patri. The boys have a
+daily practice of an hour-and-a-half.</p>
+
+<p class="c"><span class="smcap">WESTMINSTER ABBEY</span>.</p>
+
+<p>The refined style of the boys trained by Dr. Bridge is well known. The
+abbey is small enough to allow the graces of singing to be cultivated.
+In the music room there are two rows of desks facing the same way, so
+that Dr. Bridge, sitting at his cottage piano, can cast a side glance
+full upon the boys. Two practices are held daily; one from nine till ten
+a.m. is spent in getting up the service music. The afternoon practice,
+at the close of evensong, is chiefly devoted to theory. A card hanging
+up on the wall shows exactly how the time of the afternoon practice is
+apportioned between the study of intervals, and scales, chanting,
+responses, manuscript exercises, the singing of Concone's solfeggios,
+and the practice of secular music. The excellent phrasing and pure tone
+are partly due to the practice of secular music, which gives elasticity
+and gentleness to the boys' voices. No formal system of voice-training
+is in use. The boys enter at from 9 to 10-&frac12;, not older. A new boy is
+placed in the middle of the row of choristers, so as to excite his
+imitative faculty to the utmost. Twenty boys is the full number, but
+only twelve of these are full choristers, the others being nominally on
+probation, a plan which serves to keep up the discipline.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_061" id="Page_061">{61}</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="c"><span class="smcap">LINCOLN'S INN CHAPEL</span>.</p>
+
+<p>There are twelve boys here. They come, with a fair knowledge of music,
+at about nine years of age, and receive from Dr. Steggall, or his
+assistants, three lessons of about two hours each every week. On Sunday,
+at the close of the morning service, there is a rehearsal with the men
+of the music for the afternoon, and for the morning of the following
+Sunday. The boys' practices are held in the choir-room, where Dr.
+Steggall, seated at a venerable Broadwood grand, coaches his little men,
+with care and neatness. On Saturdays, when half their lesson is done,
+the boys walk across to the chapel, and go through the Sunday's music
+with the organ. A pupil mounts to the instrument, while Dr. Steggall,
+book in hand, paces the aisle, or retires towards the communion table,
+constantly interrupting the singing to correct faults, or improve
+delivery. Meanwhile, the organ is played quite softly, that the voices
+may stand out clearly. Constant care is taken to prevent clipping of
+words in the most familiar parts of the service.</p>
+
+<p class="c"><span class="smcap">THE TEMPLE CHURCH</span>.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. E. J. Hopkins, himself an ex-choir-boy of the Chapel Royal, realises
+here his ideal of "quality, not quantity." He lays stress on the fact
+that he takes his boys at eight years of age. For a year or more,
+however, they are probationers. They do not wear surplices, although
+they sit close to the choir. They undergo daily drill in musical theory
+and voice-training, but in church they have no responsibility, and do
+little more than listen. When, however, the voice of one of the elder
+boys breaks, a probationer takes his place, and is much better for the
+training. The practices occupy an hour-and-a-half every afternoon. They
+are held in the little choir vestry, near the organ, where there is a
+cottage pianoforte, flanked by a couple of long music desks, at which
+the boys stand as they sing. They are taught in groups, according to the
+stage they have reached, and spend the lesson time in practising scales,
+voice exercises, pieces of music, and studying notation. The voices are
+practised up to A. On<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_062" id="Page_062">{62}</a></span> Saturdays there is a rehearsal in the church,
+with the organ and the men of the choir.</p>
+
+<p class="c"><span class="smcap">LINCOLN CATHEDRAL</span>.</p>
+
+<p>The choir here, directed by the venerable organist, Mr. J. W. M. Young,
+is noted for its chanting, which all choirmasters ought to hear. Mr.
+Young has made a special study of the Psalms, and changes speed and
+force frequently with the change of attitude in the psalmist. The
+recitation is delivered at the pace of ordinary speech, with
+elocutionary pauses as needed; it is sung neither faster nor slower than
+the cadence. Hence the whole effect is reverent and impressive. Mr.
+Young's published Psalter and Chants (Novello) should be studied, but
+the great excellence of his work can only be appreciated by a visit to
+Lincoln. All compilers of Psalters make rules, but Mr. Young carries
+them out. Mr. Young, who was a choir-boy at Durham more than fifty years
+ago, under Henshaw, tells me that it was no uncommon thing in his day
+for the boys to have three practices&mdash;8.30 to 10, 11 to 12, and 6 to 8.
+This in addition to the two daily services. The elder boys had to attend
+all; the younger were excused the evening practice. As far as I know, we
+have no such severe training now. Mr. Young likes to get his boys at
+eight; for two years, although they wear surplices, they do not sing.
+The sixteen boys receive free education, and board, pocket-money, and a
+present of £10 when their voices break. The younger boys are called
+"choristers," and wear surplices. The four senior boys are called
+"Burgersh-chanters," and wear black cassocks of a peculiar shape. In the
+town they are familiarly known as "black boys." The choristers attend a
+day-school with other boys who speak the Lincolnshire dialect; in this
+they suffer, for, as Mr. Young says, purity of vowels and beauty of tone
+go together. One of his maxims is, "use the lips as little as possible
+in singing; do all you can with the tongue. If you use the lips, then
+use them rapidly." The boys practise an hour-and-a-half each day. Mr.
+Young puts a high finish on all his work. Mozart's "Ave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_063" id="Page_063">{63}</a></span> Verum" was
+sung on the day of my visit with infinite refinement. At one point the
+boys took a portamento&mdash;a grace which very few choirmasters would
+attempt with boys.</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 389px;padding:5%;">
+<a href="images/ill_062.png">
+<img src="images/ill_062.png"
+class="bordered" width="390" height="550" alt="A &quot;BLACK BOY&quot; AT LINCOLN CATHEDRAL.
+Photographed by Mr. George Hadley, Lincoln." title="A &quot;BLACK BOY&quot; AT LINCOLN CATHEDRAL.
+Photographed by Mr. George Hadley, Lincoln." /></a>
+<span class="caption"><i>A &quot;BLACK BOY&quot; AT LINCOLN CATHEDRAL.</i><br /><i>Photographed by Mr. George Hadley, Lincoln.</i></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="c"><span class="smcap">CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD</span>.</p>
+
+<p>The boys rehearse in a small but lofty room. There is a double row of
+desks and seats down each side, facing each other. Dr. C. H. Lloyd sits
+at a small pianoforte, placed across one end of the seats, thus
+commanding all the boys with his eye. The "tuning-up" exercises lasted
+ten minutes, and began with this exercise to "ah":&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 446px;">
+<a href="images/ill_063_a.png">
+<img src="images/ill_063_a.png" width="446" height="99" alt="KEY C. {|d1:t.l|s.f:m.r|d:r.m|f.s:l.t|d1:-|-:-||" title="KEY C. {|d1:t.l|s.f:m.r|d:r.m|f.s:l.t|d1:-|-:-||" />
+</a><br /><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/063a.mid">Listen</a>]</span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="nind">This exercise, begun in C, was carried up gradually to B<span title="flat sign">&#9837;</span> above. It
+was sung first with a <i>dim.</i> going down, and a <i>cres.</i> going up, and
+then the opposite. Then came an ascending, followed by a descending
+scale, similarly varied in key and expression. The next exercise was&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 448px;">
+<a href="images/ill_063_b.png">
+<img src="images/ill_063_b.png" width="448" height="86" alt="KEY C. {|d.m:r.m |d.m:r.m |d.m:r.m |d:&mdash;||" title="KEY C. {|d.m:r.m |d.m:r.m |d.m:r.m |d:&mdash;||" />
+</a><br /><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/063b.mid">Listen</a>]</span></div>
+
+<p class="nind">which was transposed gradually upwards, being sung to "ah." Next a
+triplet exercise&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 422px;">
+<a href="images/ill_063_c.png">
+<img src="images/ill_063_c.png" width="422" height="72" alt="KEY F. d t_1 d r d r to d1 r1 d1 t d1 t" title="KEY F. d t_1 d r d r to d1 r1 d1 t d1 t" />
+</a><br /><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/063c.mid">Listen</a>]</span>
+&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
+&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
+&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
+<span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/063d.mid">Listen</a>]</span></div>
+
+<p class="nind">At the higher part the second trebles sang a third below. Then followed
+the chromatic scale, up and down. Dr. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_064" id="Page_064">{64}</a></span>Lloyd is not troubled much with
+flattening; when it occurs the men are more likely to cause it than the
+boys. They habitually sing the Litany, which lasts fifteen minutes,
+unaccompanied, and if they flatten at all, it is not more than a
+semitone. There is an unaccompanied service once a week. I noticed that
+breathing-places were marked in the anthems, and notes likely to give
+trouble were marked with a circle. Dr. Lloyd was by no means tied to the
+pianoforte during rehearsal, and frequently left his seat, and paced up
+and down, beating time while the singing went on. Theoretical questions
+on the pieces in hand were addressed to individual boys. These boys are
+the sons of professional men, and come from all parts of the country.
+There are now three undergraduates at Christ Church, who have been
+choir-boys. In the choir, on the day of my visit, was a boy of
+seventeen, who had sung for nine years; his voice had not yet begun to
+go. The curious custom is observed here of dividing the Psalms (between
+Decani and Cantoris) at the colon, instead of at the verse. It requires
+great readiness, and for those Psalms which are written in parallelisms,
+it is most effective.</p>
+
+<p class="c"><span class="smcap">CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL</span>.</p>
+
+<p>The boys here are divided into ten choristers and fourteen probationers.
+The choristers are on the foundation, and receive a stipend; the
+probationers get their schooling only. The choristers wear trencher caps
+and gowns; the probationers flannel caps, bearing the arms of the
+cathedral. The boys are nearly all from the city; there is no
+boarding-school. The lower floor of the choir-school is used for the
+ordinary instruction, which is conducted by Mr. Plant, an alto in the
+cathedral choir, and the upper floor is used as a music-room. Here the
+boys receive four or five lessons a week from Dr. Longhurst, and the
+probationers have also a lesson by themselves. All the choristers learn
+the violin; this has been the practice for many years. When, at
+festivals, there is a band in the cathedral, the strings are made up
+largely from old choristers, most of whom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_065" id="Page_065">{65}</a></span> go into business in the city.
+A system of rotation is adopted; thus, although there are twenty-four
+boys, not more than fourteen sing at any one service, the rest are at
+work at their ordinary lessons. A considerable drainage of boys takes
+place to the King's School, the leading grammar school in Canterbury.
+The choristers often leave to enter this school when their voices are in
+their prime.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Longhurst takes the boys very young; as soon after seven as
+possible. In choosing a boy, he requires both voice and ear to be good.
+Sometimes a boy excels in the one direction and not in the other; he can
+sing sweetly, but cannot imitate notes struck at random on the
+pianoforte, or else he has a poor voice and a good ear. But both
+endowments are necessary for a chorister. Dr. Longhurst, who was himself
+a boy at Canterbury, had a compass at that time of two-and-a-half
+octaves. As his voice changed he passed from first to second treble,
+then sang alto for seven years, and at last settled to tenor. He does
+not regard boy altos as desirable in cathedrals, but in parish churches,
+where no adult male altos are to be had, they are, no doubt, in place.
+Dr. Longhurst tells me that as a result of forty-eight years'
+experience, he can tell by the look of a boy whether he will make a
+chorister. There is something about the brows and eyes, and general
+contour of the face which guides him. He is never mistaken. Some time
+since a clergyman with whom Dr. Longhurst happened to be staying,
+ridiculed the idea that the musical capability of boys can be judged by
+their looks. He took Dr. Longhurst into the village school, and invited
+him to pick out the boys of the choir as they sat among others at their
+lessons. This Dr. Longhurst did quite correctly. He has no knowledge of
+phrenology, and the faculty has come to him simply as the result of long
+experience.</p>
+
+<p>On the day of my visit I heard the boys practise in their lofty
+music-room. Dr. Longhurst sat at the grand pianoforte, and the boys were
+grouped in fours or fives round four music-stands, on which the large
+folio voice parts, in type or MS., were placed. These desks stood on
+either side of the piano, so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_066" id="Page_066">{66}</a></span> that the boys looked towards Dr.
+Longhurst. Not many voice exercises are used, nor is there any talk
+about the registers. Pure tone is required, and the boys have not "to
+reason why." Six or seven of the youngest boys took no part in the
+practice of the service music. When the elder boys had done, the younger
+came forward and sang some solfeggio exercises. As a help in keeping
+time the boys clapped their hands sometimes at the first of the bar, and
+beat the pulses of the music. In the single voice parts, with long
+rests, this is a help. The boys do not sing any secular music. At one
+time they did, but now, with the schooling, the ordinary practices, and
+the violin lessons, there is no time. Flattening does not often occur.
+As a rule, when they intone on G, the G remains to the end. The practice
+of singing the service unaccompanied on Fridays all the year round, and
+on Wednesdays in addition during Lent, must have a bracing effect on the
+choir. I was myself present on a Wednesday in Lent, and could detect no
+falling in pitch. The boys at Canterbury do not appear to receive much
+formal voice-training, and I attribute the excellent quality of their
+singing to two facts. First, Dr. Longhurst has evidently a knack of
+discerning a promising voice; and second, having established a tradition
+of good singing, the boys, entering at an early age, insensibly fall
+into it.</p>
+
+<p class="c"><span class="smcap">DR. BUCK'S BOYS AT NORWICH</span>.</p>
+
+<p>I have gathered from Mr. A. R. Gaul, Mus.B., of Birmingham, some
+particulars of the work of Dr. Buck, organist of Norwich Cathedral, who
+was known forty or fifty years ago all over the country as a trainer of
+boys' voices. Mr. Gaul was a boy at Norwich under Dr. Buck, and
+underwent the Spartan training which produced such notable results. "No
+chest voice above F or G" was his rule, and the flute-like voice, which
+goes by so many names, and is yet so unmistakable when heard, was
+developed in all the choristers. Dr. Buck had an endless number of
+contrivances for teaching his boys right ways. Each of them carried
+about him a pocket looking-glass, and at practice was taught to hold it
+in his hand, and watch his mouth as he sang.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_067" id="Page_067">{67}</a></span> One finger on top of the
+other was the gauge for opening the mouth transversely, while nuts were
+held in the cheeks to secure its proper longitudinal opening. To look at
+the boys during this exercise, one might think they had the face-ache!
+However, no joking over these matters was allowed; there was a penny
+fine for forgetting the looking-glass once, and a twopenny fine for
+forgetting it a second time. To prevent the use of too much breath in
+singing, Dr. Buck would take a piece of tissue paper, the size of a
+postage stamp, hang it by a fine thread in front of the mouth, and make
+the boys sing to it without blowing it away. Tongue-drill consisted in
+regular motions of the unruly member, until the boys were able to make
+it lie flat down at the bottom of the mouth, and raise it to the upper
+teeth as required. It was a daily plan to practise certain passages with
+the lips entirely closed, this was done to prevent the objectionable
+quality of voice resulting from any stoppage of the nasal organs. There
+was no sol-faing; various words were used at scale-practice, chosen to
+develop the vowels, while a code of troublesome words and endings of
+words was drawn up, and repeated daily by the boys in the
+speaking-voice, so as to secure clear enunciation. I have more than once
+seen and heard it stated that Dr. Buck used to make his boys sing
+through the nose, with closed mouth, in order to get the higher
+register, but Mr. Gaul does not remember this. Dr. Haydn Keeton informs
+me that they had boy-altos at Norwich in Dr. Buck's time, so that he
+must have had more boys than usual to train.</p>
+
+<p class="c"><span class="smcap">SALISBURY</span>.</p>
+
+<p>A conversation with Mr. C. L. South, the organist and choirmaster, shows
+him to be a careful and able worker. The boys, who are boarded in the
+choir school, come from various parts. They are received at from 8 to 11
+years; not over 11 unless the boy is very good and forward in music. The
+boys are chosen for their voices, but given two boys of equal voices,
+the one who knows most music would be selected. The music practice is an
+hour a day for five days of the week, under<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_068" id="Page_068">{68}</a></span> Mr. South himself. "I
+recognise," he says, "two registers in boys' voices, chest and head, and
+with careful practice you can get the voices so even that you can hardly
+tell where one ends and the other begins. The great thing, I believe, is
+to make the boys sing softly, and to get their register even
+throughout." Mr. South adds that the imitative power of boys is so
+strong that the younger ones fall into the habits of the elder ones, and
+thus make formal teaching about the registers less necessary. For vocal
+practice he uses Stainer's and Concone's Exercises, also solos like
+"Jesus, Saviour, I am Thine," and "Let the Saviour's outstretched arm"
+(both from Bach's <i>Passion</i>), as well as Handel's "Rejoice greatly,"
+besides florid choruses from the <i>Messiah</i>. These are more interesting
+than formal studies, and they bring out the same points of breathing,
+phrasing, pronunciation, and expression. He sometimes introduces a song
+of this kind into the service as an anthem. On one occasion, when
+thirteen boys had sung one of the Bach songs in unison, a member of the
+congregation asked the name of the soloist. The voices were so perfectly
+blended that they sounded like one. The full number of boys is eighteen,
+of whom two at least sing solos. Mr. South does not use nor like boy
+altos. The service music is selected on eclectic principles, and covers
+the ground from Gibbons to Villiers Stanford. The boys sometimes give
+concerts, performing such cantatas as Smart's <i>King Rene's Daughter</i>,
+and Mendelssohn's "Two-part Songs."</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 200px;">
+<a href="images/ill_068.png">
+<img src="images/ill_068.png" width="200" height="202" alt="decoration" title="decoration" />
+</a></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_069" id="Page_069">{69}</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+
+<div class="imagecentered"><img src="images/ill_dart.png" alt="dart" width="90" height="16" /></div>
+
+<h3>NOTES ON THE PRACTICE OF VARIOUS CHOIRMASTERS IN PARISH CHURCHES.</h3>
+
+<p>I<span class="smcap">n</span> the course of journeys and interviews extending over many years I
+have gathered much experience from choirmasters, and have watched and
+noted their plans. Here follow some of the results of this work. The
+churches described are some of them small, and but little known. This
+fact, however, does not affect the value of the experience. The highest
+degree of credit is due to the choirmaster who obtains good results from
+poor materials, and this book is especially intended to help those who
+have to make the best of ordinary opportunities.</p>
+
+<p class="c"><span class="smcap">LEEDS PARISH CHURCH</span>.</p>
+
+<p>This church has long been noted for its music, which is sung in
+cathedral style. There are about thirty boys, whose voices, even up to
+A, are round and clear, and throughout are big, true, and rich. Notable
+features of the style of the choir under Dr. Creser, are the long <i>dim</i>.
+cadences in responses, and the independence which enables the singers to
+go on without the organ, if the expression suggests it. At the rehearsal
+in the parochial room Dr. Creser sits at the grand piano with the boys
+in their cantoris and decani places on each side of him just as in
+church. The boys rehearse five days a week after evensong, and the
+juniors have an additional practice. After Saturday evensong there is a
+full practice with the men. All the boys are trebles. Yorkshire is about
+the only district in England which produces adult male altos. The boys
+are chiefly promoted from district churches. They live at their homes,
+and receive<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_070" id="Page_070">{70}</a></span> a free education&mdash;the seniors in the Leeds middle-class
+school, and the juniors in the parish church school. There is also a
+small salary paid quarterly, and when a boy leaves he receives from £15
+to £25 if an ordinary chorister, and £50 if a good solo boy. Fines are
+imposed by the precentor for misbehaviour or mischievous tricks in
+church or precincts, but not for mistakes in singing. Dr. Creser teaches
+sight-singing on the lines of Curwen's "How to Read Music." The boys use
+the old notation, but have learnt it through Tonic Sol-fa, using the
+course entitled "Crotchets and Quavers." Occasionally the whole
+rehearsal consists of sol-faing. In every difficulty as to key
+relationship the Sol-fa makes matters clear. Dr. Creser was first led to
+use Tonic Sol-fa by noticing how easy it made the minor mode. The junior
+boys are always taught by Dr. Creser. Until the voices settle he would
+on no account delegate them to an assistant. The two chief rules of
+voice-training are to forbid forcing the chest register above
+<span class="nottion125" style="width: 66px;">
+<a href="images/ill_070.png"><img src="images/ill_070.png"
+width="66" height="48" alt="a music staff with a treble clef and a whole note &quot;E&quot; on
+the first line." title="a music staff with a treble clef and a whole note &quot;E&quot; on
+the first line." /></a></span> <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/070.mid">Listen</a>]</span> and to begin scales at the top. Flattening takes place
+occasionally, but it is nearly always the fault of the congregation, who
+drag the pitch down. The arrangement of the music-library here is a
+model of order.</p>
+
+<p class="c"><span class="smcap">ST. PETER'S, EATON SQUARE, LONDON</span>.</p>
+
+<p>Here, under the direction of Mr. de Manby Sergison, a very fine Anglican
+service is maintained. There are twenty boys, and a few probationers.
+The boys have an hour's practice every day, and sing the Psalms and a
+hymn at the daily choral service. Formerly a choir boarding-school was
+kept up, but this was abolished, being found to be too expensive. Now
+the boys are selected from schools in and near the parish, and Mr.
+Sergison finds the ordinary London boy equal to all the demands of the
+church. When the choir-school was given up he was able within a month to
+prepare an entirely new set of boys, so proficient that the congregation
+scarcely noticed a difference. The vocal practice of the boys includes
+"Concone's Exercises," and their phrasing in the service music is very
+good. The full<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_071" id="Page_071">{71}</a></span> choir sings on Sundays and Saints' Days, and their
+rehearsal takes place once a week in the church, Mr. Sergison being at
+the organ. In the chapter on the management of choir-boys I have quoted
+some wise remarks by Mr. Sergison, which explain his success as a
+choirmaster.</p>
+
+<p class="c"><span class="smcap">ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, CHELSEA</span>.</p>
+
+<p>This is a Training College for schoolmasters, which has long been noted
+for its musical services. Mr. Owen Breden, the present organist and
+choirmaster, is the successor of Dr. Hullah, Mr. May, and the Rev. F.
+Helmore. The choir-boys, who number 26, only sing on Sundays. They are
+drawn from the practicing school, which contains 800 boys. They enter
+the choir at nine years of age, and there are always six or eight
+probationers, who attend the practices and are ready to fill vacancies.
+Thus a good style of singing is maintained. People say to Mr. Breden,
+"There is no telling one voice from another, your boys are so much
+alike." At the bi-weekly practice with Mr. Breden the boys have
+voice-training. They sing to <i>la</i> and sol-fa syllables scales gradually
+rising. They are not trained above G, but if a boy has a good G he can
+always go higher. The boys can all read from the Sol-fa modulator, and
+Mr. Breden gives them ear-tests. The alto part is taken entirely by boys
+at St. Mark's. The choir-boys, past and present, perform an operetta in
+costume every Christmas. Anthems like Macfarren's "The Lord is my
+Shepherd," Bennett's "God is a Spirit," Goss's "O Saviour of the world,"
+&amp;c., are sung unaccompanied. In fact, whenever the organ part merely
+duplicates the voices, they take the opportunity at St. Mark's to enjoy
+the pure chording of human voices.</p>
+
+<p class="c"><span class="smcap">ST. MARY'S CHURCH, BERLIN</span>.</p>
+
+<p>My friend, Herr Th. Krause, the organist and choirmaster of this church,
+allowed me to attend a rehearsal of the eighty boys and twenty men who
+form his fine choir. The large number of boys is explained by the fact
+that nearly half of them are altos.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_072" id="Page_072">{72}</a></span> The motet of the Lutheran church is
+invariably unaccompanied. It closely resembles in form our anthem, but
+the German Protestants look upon the <i>a capella</i> style, which continues
+the tradition of the Sistine Chapel at Rome, as the purest and highest
+in church music. On no account would they use the organ to accompany a
+motet. This gives rise to elaborate compositions, often like
+Mendelssohn's "Judge me, O God," in eight parts. By treating the boys
+and men as separate choirs, each in four parts, and getting responses
+between them, a variety of tone colour, which is almost orchestral, is
+obtained; and when both choirs unite in solid eight-part harmony, the
+result is imposing. As the Germans are usually not sight-singers, the
+labour involved in learning these motets is immense. The higher register
+of the boys is well trained. They sing up to B flat without effort, and
+with purest tone. The same may be said of the Dom Choir, for which
+Mendelssohn wrote his motets. At my last visit to Leipzig, I carried an
+introduction to Dr. Rust, trainer of the Thomas Church choir, but I was
+there just after Whitsuntide, when the yearly shifting of classes had
+just taken place, and Dr. Rust, who wished me to hear his boys at their
+best, asked me not to come to a rehearsal. Speaking generally, the
+voices of German boys are thinner than those of English boys, more like
+fifes than flutes.</p>
+
+<p class="c"><span class="smcap">ST. CLEMENT DANES, STRAND</span>.</p>
+
+<p>The choirmaster here, Mr. F. J. Knapp, is also master of the parish day
+school. Here he insists on quiet singing, and stops coarseness directly.
+The boys are taught on the Tonic Sol-fa system, which, says Mr. Knapp,
+has alone enabled him to produce his results. Some time ago at St.
+Stephens, Walworth, he was called upon to produce a choir in a week, and
+he did this, by nightly rehearsals, to the satisfaction of everyone.
+Complete oratorios, with band, were frequently given by this choir of
+sol-faists. At St. Clement Danes he had to produce a choir in five days,
+and here again he succeeded by the use of Tonic Sol-fa. "Our
+choir-boys," he says, "can now sing at sight almost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_073" id="Page_073">{73}</a></span> anything I put
+before them. We never have more than two or three practices (one only,
+full) for the most difficult anthems we do. There is an anthem every
+Sunday, a choral communion once a month, offertory sentences on
+alternate Sundays, cantatas and oratorios at Festivals." Mr. Knapp
+adopts the useful plan of "tuning-up" his boys before the morning
+service. Flattening, when it occurs, is due, he considers, to damp
+weather, a cold church, &amp;c. But he is rarely troubled with it. The boys'
+voice exercises are taken at the harmonium, first slow notes to
+"koo-ah," or to "oo-ay-ah-ee," or to a sentence containing consonants.
+This exercise is done both ascending and descending, but especially
+descending. He also uses the chromatic scale from B flat up to
+F:&mdash;<span class="nottion125" style="width: 86px;">
+<img src="images/ill_073.png" width="86" height="52"
+alt="A music staff with a treble clef on the left. Two
+quarter notes: B flat below the staff and F on the top line." title="A music staff with a treble clef on the left. Two
+quarter notes: B flat below the staff and F on the top line." />
+</span> <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/073.mid">Listen</a>]</span> He tells
+the boys nothing about the registers, but watches constantly against
+shouting.</p>
+
+<p class="c"><span class="smcap">SALZUNGEN CHOIR</span>.</p>
+
+<p>This (Protestant) choir of men and boys is well-known in Germany, and
+not only sings at Salzungen, but occasionally makes tours, and gives
+concerts. Herr Mühlfeld, the trainer, tells me that he takes the boys
+from 11 years of age upwards, and that before entering the choir they
+have a fair knowledge of notes, and can sing at sight. The voices are
+examined on entry, low ones being put to sing alto, and high ones being
+put to sing soprano. The boys have two lessons of an hour each per week,
+in which they practise exercises, <i>choräle</i>, school songs, and church
+music. Flattening, according to Herr Mühlfeld, is due to (1) bad ear,
+(2) imperfect training, (3) fatigue of the voice. The boys are taught to
+listen to each note that they sing, and to make it blend with the
+instrument or the leading voice. In order to do this they must sing
+softly, and thus hear their neighbours' voices. The 3rd, 6th, 7th, and
+8th tones of the scale are, says Herr Mühlfeld, often sung flat, and
+exercises should be specially given to secure the intonation of these
+sounds. The boys must also learn the intervals, and whenever they appear
+to be tired a pause must be made.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_074" id="Page_074">{74}</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="c"><span class="smcap">UPTON CROSS BOARD SCHOOL</span>.</p>
+
+<p>This is not a church, but a boys' school, from which a good many
+choristers are drawn, and where excellent results have been obtained.
+The boys have often won prizes in choral competitions. Mr. H. A. Donald,
+the headmaster, tells me that he examines the voices of the boys one by
+one in his own room, once a year. Those who can take G and A
+<span class="nottion125" style="width: 66px;">
+<img src="images/ill_074_a.png" width="66" height="51" alt="" title="" />
+</span> <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/074a.mid">Listen</a>]</span> sweetly and easily are put down as first trebles. Those
+who can go below C <span class="nottion125" style="width: 90px;">
+<img src="images/ill_074_b.png" width="90" height="51" alt="" title="" />
+</span> <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/074b.mid">Listen</a>]</span> are altos. The rest are second
+trebles. He finds that after a year a boy's voice will often have
+changed&mdash;a treble become an alto, or vice versa. In modulator practice,
+and as far as possible in pieces of music, he keeps the trebles above
+<span class="nottion125" style="width: 62px;">
+<img src="images/ill_074_c.png" width="62" height="47" alt="" title="" />
+</span>. <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/074c.mid">Listen</a>]</span> Below this they get coarse. He never gives on the
+modulator an ascending passage which begins below this G. One may leap
+up, and come down by step, but not ascend by step. He uses Mr.
+Proudman's "Voice-training Exercises" (J. Curwen &amp; Sons) for first
+trebles, and his contralto exercises for contraltos. Coarseness he
+checks at once, and he silences boys whose voices are breaking.</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width:200px;">
+<a href="images/ill_074_d.png">
+<img src="images/ill_074_d.png" width="200" height="197" alt="decoration" title="decoration" />
+</a></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_075" id="Page_075">{75}</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+
+<div class="imagecentered"><img src="images/ill_dart.png" alt="dart" width="90" height="16" /></div>
+
+<h3>ALTO BOYS.</h3>
+
+<p>H<span class="smcap">ow</span> is the alto part, in a church choir consisting of males, to be sung?
+In our cathedrals this part has been given, ever since the Restoration,
+to adult men, generally with bass voices singing in their "thin"
+register. For this voice our composers of the English cathedral school
+wrote, carrying the part much lower than they would have done if they
+had been writing for women or boy-singers. For this voice, also, Handel
+wrote, and the listener at the Handel Festival cannot but feel the
+strength and resonance which the large number of men altos give to the
+harmony when the range of the part is low. The voice of the man alto,
+however, was never common, and is becoming less common than it was. It
+occupies a curious position, never having been recognised as a solo
+voice. I have heard of an exceptionally good man alto at Birmingham who
+was accustomed to sing songs at concerts, but this is an isolated case.
+The voice seems to have been generally confined to choral music.</p>
+
+<p>This voice is entirely an English institution, unknown on the continent.
+Historians say that after the Restoration, when it was very difficult to
+obtain choir-boys, adult men learned to sing alto, and even low treble
+parts, in falsetto, in order to make harmony possible.</p>
+
+<p>Let us concede at once that for music of the old cathedral school this
+voice is in place. The churches are, however, getting more and more
+eclectic, and are singing music from oratorios, cantatas, and masses
+that was composed for women altos, and is far too high in compass for
+men. We may admit that because the alto part lies so much upon the break
+into the thick or chest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_076" id="Page_076">{76}</a></span> register of boys, it is very difficult to get
+them to sing it well. The dilemma is that in parish churches, especially
+in country places, the adult male alto is not to be had, and the choice
+is between boy altos, and no altos at all.</p>
+
+<p>There is no doubt, moreover, that the trouble of voice-management in boy
+altos can be conquered by watchfulness and care. At the present time
+there are, as the information I have collected shows, a number of very
+good cathedral and church choirs in which the alto part is being
+sustained by boys.</p>
+
+<p class="top5">The following is from Mr. James Taylor, organist and choirmaster of New
+College, Oxford:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="r">"New College, Oxford, <i>Dec.</i> 13, 1890.</p>
+
+<p>"Dear Sir,&mdash;In reply to your letter, I can confidently recommend boy
+altos in parish or other choirs, provided they are carefully trained. We
+have introduced them into this choir for more than two years, and the
+experiment has fully come up to my expectations. We still retain two men
+altos in our choir, which now consists of the following:&mdash;Fourteen
+trebles, four boy altos, two men altos, four tenors, and four basses. I
+find boy altos very effective in <i>modern</i> church music, such as
+Mendelssohn's anthems, &amp;c., where the alto part is written much higher
+than is the case in the old cathedral music.</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left:50%;">"Yours very truly,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left:60%;">"<span class="smcap">James Taylor.</span>"</span></p>
+
+<p class="top5">Dr. Garrett, organist of St. John's College, Cambridge, writes:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="r">"5, Park Side, Cambridge, <i>Dec.</i> 12, 1890.</p>
+
+<p>"Dear Mr. Curwen,&mdash;I have had boy altos only in my choir for some years.
+I introduced them of necessity in the first instance. The stipend of a
+lay clerk was too small to attract any other than a local candidate, and
+no suitable man was to be found. If I could have really first-class
+adult altos in my choir I should not think of using boys' voices. At the
+same time there are some advantages on the side of boys' voices.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_077" id="Page_077">{77}</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I. Unless the adult alto voice is really pure and good, and its
+possessor a skilled singer, it is too often unbearable.</p>
+
+<p>"II. Under the most favourable conditions it is very rare, according to
+my experience, to find an alto voice retaining its best qualities after
+middle age.</p>
+
+<p>"III. The alto voice is undoubtedly becoming rare.</p>
+
+<p>"On the other side you have to consider:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I. The limitation of choice in music, as there is a good deal of
+'cathedral music' in which the alto part is beyond the range of any
+boy's voice.</p>
+
+<p>"II. A certain lack of <i>brightness</i> in the upper part of such trios as
+those in 'By the waters of Babylon' (Boyce) 'The wilderness' (Goss), and
+many like movements.</p>
+
+<p>"As regards the break question, the advantage, in my experience, is
+wholly on the boys' side. A well-trained boy will sing such a solo as 'O
+thou that tellest,' or such a passage as the following without letting
+his break be felt at all:</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 450px;">
+<a href="images/ill_077_a.png">
+<img src="images/ill_077_a.png" width="450" height="50" alt="For Thou hast been my hope, hast been my hope." title="For Thou hast been my hope, hast been my hope." />
+</a><br /><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/077a.mid">Listen</a>]</span></div>
+
+<p>This <a name="passage" id="passage"></a>passage,<a href="#transposed">{*}</a> which is from the anthem, 'Hear my crying,' by Weldon,
+I have heard sung by an adult alto, who broke badly between E flat and
+F. The effect was funny beyond description. In fact, if a boys' break is
+about C or D (3rd space or 4th line), and he <span class="nottion125" style="width: 80px;">
+<a href="images/ill_077_b.png"><img src="images/ill_077_b.png" width="80" height="67" alt="notation" title="notation" />
+</a></span> <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/077b.mid">Listen</a>]</span> is never
+allowed to practise above that, there will be no question of break
+arising. My alto boys can get a good round G, and five out of the six
+can go up without break to C. <span class="nottion125" style="width:80px;">
+<a href="images/ill_077_c.png"><img src="images/ill_077_c.png" width="80" height="57" alt="notation" title="notation" />
+</a></span> <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/077c.mid">Listen</a>]</span> The advantage of this in
+chanting the Psalms is obvious. What can an adult alto be expected to do
+in a case where the reciting note is close to his break? These are
+considerations which may fairly be taken into account even when the
+decision is to be made between <i>possible</i> courses; when there <i>is</i> a
+choice. In<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_078" id="Page_078">{78}</a></span> many cases there is none. It must be (as you say) boy alto,
+or no alto. I am quite sure that careful training is all that is needed
+to make boy altos most efficient members of a choir. Or rather, I ought
+to say that careful selection and training are both needed. To take a
+young boy as an alto because he happens to have three or four raucous
+notes from, say, B flat to E flat <span class="nottion125" style="width: 447px;">
+<a href="images/ill_078_a.png"><img src="images/ill_078_a.png" width="100" height="55" alt="notation" title="notation" />
+</a></span> <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/078a.mid">Listen</a>]</span> while he has a bad
+break between E flat <span class="nottion125" style="width: 150px;">
+<a href="images/ill_078_b.png"><img src="images/ill_078_b.png" width="125" height="46" alt="notation" title="notation" />
+</a></span> <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/078b.mid">Listen</a>]</span> and F is, of course, to court
+failure. I prefer taking a boy whose break lies higher, and training his
+voice downwards. If, as a probationer, he can get a fairly good round B
+natural <span class="nottion125" style="width: 90px;">
+<a href="images/ill_078_c.png"><img src="images/ill_078_c.png" width="90" height="57" alt="notation" title="notation" />
+</a></span> <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/078c.mid">Listen</a>]</span> or B flat; lower notes can certainly be produced
+as he grows older.]</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 50%;">"Yours very truly,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left:60%;"><span class="smcap">"George Garrett."</span></span></p>
+
+<p class="footnote"><a href="#passage">{*}</a> I have <a name="transposed" id="transposed"></a>transposed the passage from the alto clef.&mdash;J. S. C.</p>
+
+<p class="top5">A remark may be interposed here that from a physiological point of view
+we must expect voices of different pitch in boys, just as in girls,
+women, and men. Boys differ in height, size, and in the pitch of the
+speaking voice, which is a sure guide to the pitch of the singing voice.
+There is thus no physiological ground for supposing all boys to be
+trebles.</p>
+
+<p class="top5">The following letter is from the Rev. W. E. Dickson, Precentor of Ely:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"The College, Ely, <i>October 30th</i>, 1890.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Dear Sir</i>,&mdash;I have much pleasure in replying to your note. If I
+resolved to do so in a few words I should be obliged to say that seldom
+indeed do I hear boy altos sing with sweet voices and true intonation,
+either in my own country, or in those foreign countries in which I am in
+the habit of taking my holidays.</p>
+
+<p>"But I should like to be allowed to explain that, in my opinion, the
+coarseness (at any rate) of boy-altos in English choirs is due to
+mismanagement by the choirmaster. His usual plan is to turn over to the
+alto part boys who are losing their upper notes by the natural failure
+of their soprano voices.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_079" id="Page_079">{79}</a></span> This saves trouble, for such boys probably
+read music well enough, and they are simply told to 'sing alto,' and are
+left to do so without further training, until they can croak out no more
+ugly noises. Surely this is quite a mistake. Am I not right in
+maintaining that a perfect choir should consist of</p>
+
+<table summary="choir contents" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0">
+<tr><td><span class="smcap">First Trebles</span></td><td><span class="smcap">Tenors</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="smcap">Second Trebles</span> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</td><td><span class="smcap">Basses</span></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class="nind">well balanced as to numbers, and all singing with pure natural quality?
+If I am, then it follows that the second trebles should be precisely
+equal to the firsts in number and strength, and should include boys of
+various ages, as carefully selected and as assiduously trained as the
+others. I cannot but think&mdash;and, indeed, I perfectly well know&mdash;that
+where this has been done by a skilful teacher, whose heart is in his
+work, boy altos have been made to sing with sweetness and accuracy.</p>
+
+<p>"You will probably agree with me&mdash;though this is quite by the way&mdash;that
+secular music should be largely used by such a teacher. The part-songs
+of Mendelssohn, for instance, should be trolled out by the two sets of
+boys, who may even interchange their parts at practice with the best
+results. But of course this is said only in reference to choirs of a
+high class.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not deny that even the best teaching and the best management will
+not secure quite the same <i>timbre</i> which you get in choirs with falsetti
+in the alto part. A certain silvery sweetness is obtained from these
+voices to which our English ears have become accustomed, and which we
+should miss if boys, however well-trained, took their places. In the
+Preces, Versicles, Litany, &amp;c., of the English Choral Service, we should
+be conscious of a loss. In cathedrals, too, the complete shelving of
+some or even many compositions, favourites by long association, if not
+by intrinsic merit, would be inevitable. But I am unable to doubt for a
+moment that when the change had been made, and time had been given for
+the new order of things, under a thoroughly competent musician, we
+should not regret it.</p>
+
+<p>"At Ely we have ten men in daily attendance; fourteen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_080" id="Page_080">{80}</a></span> on Sundays. We
+keep twenty boys in training. If this vocal body were thus
+distributed:&mdash;</p>
+
+<table summary="choir contents" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0">
+<tr><td>10</td><td><span class="smcap">First Trebles</span></td><td>5</td><td><span class="smcap">Tenors</span> (6 on Sunday)</td></tr>
+<tr><td>10</td><td><span class="smcap">Second Trebles &nbsp; </span></td><td>5</td><td><span class="smcap">Basses</span> (8 on Sunday)</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class="nind">we should certainly be stronger and healthier in tone and quality than
+we are now, with a disproportionate number of trebles, thus:&mdash;</p>
+
+<table summary="choir contents" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0">
+<tr><td>20 <span class="smcap">Trebles &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</span></td><td>3</td><td>[4] <span class="smcap">Tenors</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td>3 [4] <span class="smcap">Altos</span></td><td>4</td><td>[6] <span class="smcap">Basses</span></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>As to rustic choirs in village churches, I fear the case is hopeless,
+and I myself should be glad to see editions of well-known hymn-tunes and
+chants in three parts only&mdash;treble, tenor, and bass. Handel wrote some
+truly grand choruses in three parts in his 'Chandos Anthems.' But his
+tenor part is not for every-day voices!</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left:50%;">"Believe me, truly yours,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left:60%;">"<span class="smcap">W. E. Dickson."</span></span></p>
+
+<p class="top5">The following, from Dr. Haydn Keeton, organist of Peterborough
+Cathedral, is against boy altos:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="r">"Thorpe Road, Peterborough, <i>December 12th, 1890</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"Dear Sir,&mdash;I have had about eighteen years' experience with alto boys,
+and although I have had some exceedingly good ones, one or two as good
+as it is possible, I think, to have, yet I must say that, in my opinion,
+it is a bad system to substitute boys for men, especially in cathedral
+music. The reason why the change was made here was that about the year
+1872 three of our men altos were failing, and I happened to have three
+boys with good low voices, who took alto well. In consenting to this
+change I had no idea of its being a permanent one, but owing to the
+agricultural depression our Chapter have been quite prevented doing what
+they would like to do with the choir. The general effect of the change
+has been this&mdash;that I have been always weak in trebles. We are limited
+to Peterborough for our choristers, and, as a rule, there is not one boy
+in a hundred who knows even his notes when he enters the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_081" id="Page_081">{81}</a></span> choir. It
+takes from eighteen months to two years for a boy to learn his work, and
+it is not until a boy is at least twelve that one can turn him into an
+alto. The result is that four of my senior boys have to be turned into
+altos, and I am left with a preponderance of young, inexperienced boys
+as trebles. At the present time I have twelve trebles, eight of whom are
+quite young.</p>
+
+<p>"In addition, see what extra work is involved in teaching the boys to
+sing alto. Some boys do not take to alto very easily, and the extra work
+given to the altos means that quantity taken from the trebles. I am
+unable, in consequence, to give the necessary time to the elementary
+work that one ought to give. We can only get one hour's practice in the
+day, owing to the boys going to school.</p>
+
+<p>"Then, again, as to tone. The tone of a choir with men altos, if they
+are at all fairly good, is so much superior to one with boy altos. In
+cathedral music so many anthems and services have trios for A.T.B. There
+is not one boy in a thousand who can sing the trio in 'O where shall
+wisdom' (Boyce) with a tenor and bass effectively. And how many there
+are similar to that!</p>
+
+<p>"I do not see how boys could work at all in ordinary parish choirs, for
+here there are not the opportunities of teaching boys to read well at
+sight. It is only by daily practice that one can make anything of boys.</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left:50%;">"Yours faithfully,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left:60%;"><span class="smcap">"H. Keeton."</span></span></p>
+
+<p class="top5">Dr. Frank Bates, organist of Norwich Cathedral, has favoured me with a
+copy of a paper on the boy's voice, in which he says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The compass of a boy's voice when properly developed is from</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 375px;">
+<a href="images/ill_081.png"><img src="images/ill_081.png"
+width="300" height="63" alt="C to A B&#9837; or C" title="" />
+</a><br /><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/081.mid">Listen</a>]</span></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_082" id="Page_082">{82}</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="nind">The chest or lower register extends from</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 300px;">
+<a href="images/ill_082_a.png">
+<img src="images/ill_082_a.png" width="300" height="62" alt="C to C or D" title="C to C or D" />
+</a><br /><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/082a.mid">Listen</a>]</span></div>
+
+<p class="nind">The head or upper register extends from</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 300px;">
+<a href="images/ill_082_b.png">
+<img src="images/ill_082_b.png" width="300" height="75" alt="C or D to B&#9837; or C" title="C or D to B&#9837; or C" />
+</a><br /><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/082b.mid">Listen</a>]</span></div>
+
+<div class="imagetotheright" style="width: 80px;">
+<a href="images/ill_082_c.png">
+<img src="images/ill_082_c.png" width="80" height="49" alt="notation" title="notation" />
+</a><br /> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/082c.mid">Listen</a>]</span></div>
+
+<p class="nind">No fixed compass can possibly be given to the different registers, as
+the older a boy becomes the lower the change occurs; the head register
+often being used as low down as A."</p>
+
+<p>In a letter to me Dr. Bates says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I quite think that, for ordinary parish church services, the effect of
+boy altos, if properly taught, is all that one can desire."</p>
+
+<p>In reply to my remark that the break comes in so awkwardly for boy
+altos, Dr. Bates says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I fail to understand the reason you quote for the non-usage of boy
+altos. There is no change whatever in a boy's voice, <i>in its normal
+state</i>, until <span class="nottion125" style="width: 100px;">
+<a href="images/ill_082_d.png"><img src="images/ill_082_d.png" width="100" height="65" alt="D or C" title="D or C" />
+</a></span> <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/082d.mid">Listen</a>]</span>
+is reached. If the change is made lower
+down all the brilliancy is taken out of a boy's voice. As a boy gets
+older he uses the upper register much lower down. I have known boys at
+the age of eighteen with lovely top notes but very poor chest register.
+In such cases, when a boy's top register commences at <span class="imagetotheright" style="width: 80px;">
+<a href="images/ill_082_e.png"><img src="images/ill_082_e.png" width="80" height="52" alt="G" title="G" />
+</a> &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/082e.mid">Listen</a>]</span></span> I can quite understand the difficulty."</p>
+
+<p>There is evidently some conflict of nomenclature here, as the limits of
+the registers as given by Dr. Bates differ considerably from those which
+are usual. I am glad to learn that Dr. Bates is writing a book on "The
+Voices of Boys," which will no doubt clear up the subject. In the paper
+before me he recommends practice of the scales to such syllables as La,
+Fa,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_083" id="Page_083">{83}</a></span> Ta, Pa, in order to bring the tone well to the front of the mouth,
+and reinforce it by means of the soft upper palate. He recommends the
+teacher to train the boys to use the upper register by making them sing
+over and over again, <i>very softly</i>, the following notes:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 350px;">
+<a href="images/ill_083.png">
+<img src="images/ill_083.png" width="350" height="69" alt="Chest Head Ah...." title="Chest Head Ah...." />
+</a><br /><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/083.mid">Listen</a>]</span></div>
+
+<p class="nind">Here again the transition seems to me to be taken much too high.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Frank Sharp, of Dundee, trainer of the celebrated children's choir,
+which has sung the treble and alto parts, both solos and choruses, of
+<i>Messiah, St. Paul</i>, and many cantatas, writes to me:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"In part-singing where there are boy trebles, the adult male alto voice
+has its charms. The contrast in quality between the open tone of the
+boys' voices and the condensed, sometimes squeaky sweetness of the man
+alto does not affect the blending, and helps the distinctness of parts.
+Considering the growing scarcity of this latter voice, why not use boy
+altos? They can be made as effective as ordinary women altos, but they
+are as short-lived and need more attention than the boy trebles. Their
+chief drawback is a tendency to produce tone without the least attention
+to quality or effect save that of noise. Nevertheless, there is nothing
+to hinder boy altos doing all that is necessary, or, indeed, all that
+can be done by the adult male alto. I have trained boys to sing alto in
+<i>Messiah</i>, <i>St. Paul</i>, and equally trying music, during the past twenty
+years, and anyone else who keeps the girl's alto voice before him as a
+model can do the same. The boy alto voice may be said to have a husk and
+a kernel: the one strident, harsh, and overpowering; the other sweet,
+and, with use, rich and round. The average healthy boy, with his
+exuberant love of noise, will naturally give the husk, but the skilful
+voice-trainer will only accept the kernel, evolved from right register,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_084" id="Page_084">{84}</a></span>
+good <i>timbre</i>, and proper production. Seeing and hearing a process in
+voice-training is, however, more satisfactory than much writing and the
+reading thereof."</p>
+
+<p class="top5">Mr. W. W. Pearson, master of a village school in Norfolk, who is
+well-known by his excellent part-songs, writes to me:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I succeed very well in getting boys to sing alto because I always use a
+large number of exercises in two parts, making each division of the
+class in turn take the lower part. I do not choose boys for altos on
+account of age. That, in my opinion, has nothing to do with it. I choose
+them by quality of voice.
+
+There is no break in the voice of the natural
+alto between&mdash;<span class="nottion125" style="width: 100px;">
+<a href="images/ill_084_a.png">
+<img src="images/ill_084_a.png"
+width="100" height="61" alt="G and C" title="G and C" /></a></span>
+<span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/084a.mid">Listen</a>]</span> I find altos out generally when
+they are novices, by hearing them trying to sing with the others, and
+dropping down an octave in high passages."</p>
+
+<p class="top5">The following interesting notes are by Mr. W. Critchley, organist,
+choirmaster, and schoolmaster in the village of Hurst, near Reading:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I do not choose the elder boys as altos, as I find that treble boys, as
+a rule, are at their very best just before the change of voice. And
+moreover, when that change begins, the voice is so uncertain in its
+intonation that if the boy were put to sing alto he would be certain to
+drag the others down. At present I have one or two boys with round,
+mellow voices, who are very effective. Unfortunately, most of the alto
+parts in hymn-tunes and chants hover about the place where the break in
+the voice occurs, and it requires a lot of practice to conquer the
+difficulty. As a rule, I get the alto boys to sing in the lower
+register. It is very seldom they get a note which they cannot take in
+this register, so I train it up a little, thus&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 450px;">
+<a href="images/ill_084_b.png">
+<img src="images/ill_084_b.png" width="450" height="104" alt="KEYS B to F&#9839;.
+d_1 t_2 l_2 t_2 d_1 r_1 m_1" title="KEYS B to F&#9839;.
+d_1 t_2 l_2 t_2 d_1 r_1 m_1" />
+</a><br />
+<span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/084b.mid">Listen</a>]</span></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_085" id="Page_085">{85}</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I do not see any other way of getting over the uncertainty in the boy
+alto voice. It is merely a matter of time and trouble."</p>
+
+<p class="top5">Mr. J. C. E. Taylor, choirmaster of St. Mary's, Penzance, and
+head-master of the National School, says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="imagetotheleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<a href="images/ill_085_a.png">
+<img src="images/ill_085_a.png" width="70" height="69" alt="notation" title="notation" />
+</a><br /><span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/085a.mid">Listen</a>]</span></div>
+
+<p>"I have had one or two pure alto voices, and these are the best, but
+very rare. Good voices of trebles unable to take
+
+ (D) have
+often become fair alto voices, and my present solo alto boy is one of
+these. The trios in the anthems are taken by boy alto, tenor, and bass.
+These alto boys are practised from lower G to C&mdash;
+
+<span class="nottion125" style="width: 100px;">
+<img src="images/ill_085_b.png" width="100" height="63" alt="notation" title="notation" />
+</span> <span class="mdifl">[<a href="music/085b.mid">Listen</a>]</span> up and
+down, minding their <i>p's</i> and <i>f's</i>. My trebles, as a rule, last until
+fifteen years of age, and altos until sixteen, and even seventeen."</p>
+
+<p class="top5">Mr. A. Isaac, choirmaster of a church in Liverpool, says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"For the last twenty years I have been continuously engaged with male
+voice choirs in connection with churches too poor to pay for adult help,
+and, as you may readily guess, I have never yet had the good fortune to
+secure, for any length, the services of gentlemen who could sing
+falsetto effectively. I have had, therefore, to rely solely upon my boys
+for the alto part. At the present time my choir, which is allowed to be
+up to the mark amongst local Liverpool churches, is made up of 22 boys
+(18 treble and 4 alto) paid, and 14 adults (5 tenors and 9 basses)
+voluntary. There is, I find, no royal road to the alto part. My course
+is as follows. I obtain my boys as soon as they are eleven, by which age
+they have been made fairly familiar at my school with the old notation
+on the movable <i>do</i> plan. Theoretical instruction is continued side by
+side with special voice-training exercises. Occasionally I meet with a
+boy who has a true mezzo-soprano voice, and he is a treasure, but in the
+main my selections are boys with treble voices. As soon as a treble
+shows signs of voice breaking, I let him down into the alto part. The
+transition is not very difficult, for by this time the boy has become a
+fairly good Sol-faist and reader. I have but to adapt the voice-training
+exercises to him in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_086" id="Page_086">{86}</a></span> company with his fellows, and I have no reason to
+regret the issue. I take my boys always together, with two-part
+exercises."</p>
+
+<p class="top5">Mr. Stocks Hammond, organist and choirmaster of St. Barnabas, Bradford,
+in a published paper on "Boys' Voices," says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"During many years of choir training, I have experienced very great
+difficulty in supplying the alto parts with <i>good</i> men's falsetto voices
+(especially in voluntary choirs), and I have therefore been compelled to
+have that part sung by boys, and experience leads me to prefer the boys'
+voices to men's, unless, indeed, they are real alto voices, which are
+seldom to be met with. I have never yet had any great difficulty in
+finding boys' voices capable of sustaining that part, and can always
+fill up any gaps that occur by the following means. Whenever I find a
+treble begins to experience a difficulty in singing the upper notes, and
+that in order to sing them he must strain his voice, immediately he is
+put to sing alto, which he is in most cases able to do for one or two
+years, and during that time he is thus retained as a useful member of
+the choir; for otherwise he would very soon have been lost to it
+entirely, for nothing hastens so much the breaking of the voice as the
+habit of unduly straining it."</p>
+
+<p class="top5">Mr. T. H. Collinson, Mus.B., organist of St. Mary's Cathedral,
+Edinburgh, writes to me:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Boy altos are a fraud and a deception, as a rule, though occasionally
+one meets with a natural contralto at an early age. Even then he can
+generally be worked up to treble by gentle treatment, developing the
+middle and falsetto registers."</p>
+
+<p class="top5">In order to get to the bottom of this subject, I invited correspondence
+in the <i>Musical Standard</i> (until recently the organ of the College of
+Organists), and several interesting letters were the result. Mr. R. T.
+Gibbons, F.C.O., organist of the Grocers' Company's Schools, where
+excellent performances of operettas are given, wrote:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_087" id="Page_087">{87}</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"As soon as a boy's voice reaches only E<span title="flat sign">&#9837;</span> he is drafted into the
+altos, and that preserves his voice much longer."</p>
+
+<p class="top5">To this statement Mr. Fred. Cambridge, organist of Croydon Parish
+Church, took exception. He said:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I do not wish to appear to dogmatise, but I should say 'as soon as a
+boy's voice reaches only E<span title="flat sign">&#9837;</span>,' it is quite time he left off singing
+altogether, <i>i.e.</i>, if his voice has previously been a treble. I know it
+is the custom in some choirs to make a boy sing alto as soon as his
+voice begins to break. In my opinion, such a course is utterly wrong. It
+is not only injurious to the boy's voice, but very unpleasant for those
+who have to listen to it.</p>
+
+<p>"In a school of 500 boys, there ought to be no difficulty in finding
+sufficient natural altos, without having to rely on broken-voiced
+trebles.</p>
+
+<p>"In my own choir I frequently admit altos at 10 or 11 years of age, with
+the result that I get five or six years' work out of them, and the
+latter part of their time they are available for alto solos.</p>
+
+<p>"I think (and I speak from upwards of 30 years' experience) that if Mr.
+Gibbons will try this plan, he will find it much more satisfactory than
+drafting his trebles into the altos as soon as their voices begin to
+break.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not enter into the question of men <i>versus</i> boy altos, because it
+is my experience that in a voluntary choir, especially in the country, a
+really <i>good</i> adult alto is such a <i>rara avis</i>, that one is obliged to
+rely on boys, and if they are carefully chosen and trained, they are, I
+think, quite satisfactory. The only place when one misses the man alto
+voice is in anthems with a verse for A.T.B., such as 'Rejoice in the
+Lord' (Purcell), 'The Wilderness' (Goss), &amp;c."</p>
+
+<p class="top5">Mr. C. E. Juleff, organist of Bodmin Parish Church, wrote:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Allow me to say that I have found men altos infinitely preferable to
+those of boys. In short, one good man alto I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_088" id="Page_088">{88}</a></span> have experienced to be
+equal to half-a-dozen boy altos as regards tone; and in respect to
+phrasing and reading I have found men altos decidedly superior. The two
+gentlemen altos who were in my choir at SS. Michael and All Angels,
+Exeter, were acknowledged by London organists to be 'second to none' in
+the provinces."</p>
+
+<p class="top5">On the other hand, Mr. Thomas Ely, F.C.O., of St. John's College,
+Leatherhead, gave a warm testimony to boy altos:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I may say that in my choir at this College I have four or five very
+good boy altos. One is exceptionally good, possessing a natural alto
+voice of remarkable richness and beauty. In our services and anthems he
+takes the solo alto parts, and in my opinion he is far superior to a man
+alto, except in such anthems as Wesley's 'Ascribe unto the Lord'
+(expressly written for choirs possessing men altos), in which he cannot
+take some of the lower notes. The compass of his voice is from F to
+E<span title="flat sign">&#9837;</span>."</p>
+
+<p class="top5">In these letters and experiences there are evidently two underlying
+ideas. First, that the boy alto has a naturally low voice; second, that
+the boy alto is a broken-down soprano. For both these notions there is
+some physical foundation, because there is no doubt that the lower notes
+of boys of 12 to 14 are rounder and fuller than those of boys of 9 to
+12. Herr Eglinger, of Basel, to whose mastery of the subject in theory
+and practice I can testify, from personal intercourse, distinctly
+recognises this. He says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"It is only when boys and girls approach the period of change, say a
+year or two before the voice begins to break, that a clear chest-voice,
+corresponding to that of women, is perceptible. In boys at this stage,
+the head-voice rapidly declines in volume and height; and what there is
+of middle register is not much, nor of great service much longer. On the
+other hand, the chest-tones acquire a resonance, and in boys a certain
+gruffness, which, mixed with other voices, imparts a peculiar charm to
+the chorus."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_089" id="Page_089">{89}</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Thus although here and there a boy may be found with a naturally low
+voice from the first, the majority of altos will be obtained from older
+boys, who are approaching the period of change. It is, however, of much
+importance to watch these boys, and stop their singing when their voice
+really gives way, because it then becomes uncertain in its intonation,
+and is apt to spoil the tuning of the choir.</p>
+
+<p class="top5">The idea that boys must not use the thick or chest register is also a
+mistake. It is the straining of this register, which produces a hard,
+rattling sound, that is objectionable. Boy altos have as much right to
+use the chest register, in its proper place and with proper reserve of
+power, as women altos.</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 158px;">
+<a href="images/ill_089.png">
+<img src="images/ill_089.png" width="158" height="156" alt="decoration" title="decoration" />
+</a></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_090" id="Page_090">{90}</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+
+<div class="imagecentered"><img src="images/ill_dart.png" alt="dart" width="90" height="16" /></div>
+
+<h3>SCHOOLS FOR CHORISTERS.</h3>
+
+<p>M<span class="smcap">usic</span> is now recognised as one of the professions, taking its place by
+the side of Law, Medicine, and Divinity. Parents who have boys to start
+in life look for avenues of entrance to these various occupations. And
+there can be no doubt that to be a chorister-boy is one of the very best
+ways of serving an apprenticeship to music. Hear what the late Sir
+George Macfarren says on the subject:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"A cathedral choir is the best cradle for a musician our country
+affords. I say this from the conviction, many times confirmed, that, as
+an average, by very far the best practical musicians, those I mean whose
+musical readiness gives them the air of having music as an instinct or
+of second nature, those who are ever prompt with their talent to produce
+or to perform without preparation at the requirement of the moment;
+those whose ears are quick, whose wits are sharp, and whose utmost
+ability is ever at their fingers' ends&mdash;are they who have passed their
+art infancy in one of our ecclesiastical arenas for constant practice.
+The very early habit of hearing and performing music stimulates the
+musical sense, and gives musical tendency to all the youthfully supple
+faculties which bear upon the use of this sense. The habit in almost
+first childhood of associating sight with sound, written characters with
+uttered notes, the office of the eye with that of the ear or of the
+voice, which is the ear's agent, does more in favourable cases to
+develop some of the best essentials in an artist, than can be
+accomplished by the unremitting study of after life. I say this
+feelingly: I had not the advantage to which I refer, but I observe its
+influence upon the majority of others whose talent claims my best
+respect."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_091" id="Page_091">{91}</a></span></p>
+
+<p>These words put the case with emphasis and truth. A list of former choir
+boys in the musical profession, if it could be compiled, would afford
+further evidence in this matter. Among composers the list would include
+Arthur Sullivan, Alfred Cellier, John Stainer, and Alfred Gaul; among
+singers, Edward Lloyd and Joseph Maas, while the ranks of the teaching
+profession are largely recruited from this source. "Literature," says
+Mr. Herkomer, "does not help art much. Art is learnt by doing." You
+cannot become a musician by reading the matter up, or listening to
+lectures. Musicianship is imparted more after the style of a moral than
+of an intellectual power&mdash;like good breeding rather than like
+arithmetic.</p>
+
+<p>A striking proof of the fact that the chorister boy gravitates easily
+into the musical profession, and makes his mark there, is afforded by
+the history of Rochester Cathedral boys. These include the late Mr.
+Joseph Maas, the tenor singer, and the following organists of
+cathedrals, all of whom are living:&mdash;Dr. Armes (Durham), Dr. Crow
+(Ripon), Dr. Bridge (Westminster), Dr. J. C. Bridge (Chester), and Mr.
+Wood (Exeter).</p>
+
+<p>These facts make parents anxious for information as to how to get their
+sons into church and cathedral choirs. Enquiries of this kind are
+constantly reaching me. I have therefore thought it well to add to the
+completeness of this work by collecting information from all available
+sources, and I have to express my thanks to the Rev. Precentors who have
+so readily responded to my circular of appeal.</p>
+
+<p>The result is in some respects disappointing. Choir <i>boarding</i> schools
+are not numerous, and are not increasing in number. The agricultural
+depression has reduced the revenues of cathedrals and colleges, and they
+are likely in the future to seek out cheaper rather than more expensive
+modes of working. A few town churches which place music in the front,
+have started boarding schools, but, as a rule, the choristers live in
+their homes. I have no desire for these boarding schools in the
+abstract. I question if the boys get more musical education by living
+together than they do by coming for it day by day. But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_092" id="Page_092">{92}</a></span> the boarding
+school affords the only opportunity for parents who do not live in a
+cathedral town to get their boys educated as choristers. The day schools
+suit the townspeople well enough, and here and there a boy from a
+distance may board with relatives or friends and get into the choir, but
+this is exceptional.</p>
+
+<p>I now give the results of my enquiries.</p>
+
+<p class="c">CHOIR BOARDING SCHOOLS.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Worcester Cathedral Choir School.</span>&mdash;A preparatory school for the sons of
+professional men. Boys admitted as probationers nine to eleven, on
+passing examination. The ten choristers and eight probationers are
+lodged, boarded, and taught together at the Choir School. Charge £26 per
+annum for probationers, and £16 for choristers, plus 7s. 6d. a quarter
+for washing. Pianoforte lessons 15s. per quarter. Boys can compete, when
+their voices break, for a scholarship at the Cathedral Grammar School.
+Several have done this with success. Apply Rev. H. H. Woodward, M.A.,
+Mus.B.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Westminster Abbey Choir House.</span>&mdash;Candidates must produce certificate of
+baptism and be at least eight years of age. Expected to possess good
+voice, moderate knowledge of rudiments, to be able to read and write
+fairly, and to pass medical examination. All boys taught vocal music,
+and facilities given for learning instruments. Master of choir house
+responsible for their general education, which includes English
+subjects, French, German, and drawing. Parents must supply clothing, and
+usual appointments, school books, pocket money, travelling expenses, and
+medical attendance. All other fees paid by the Chapter.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Exeter Cathedral Choir School.</span>&mdash;Fourteen choristers are boarded and
+educated for £10 a year, and provided with a suit of clothes each year.
+There are always two probationers in the school from eight to ten years
+of age paying £35 exclusive of usual extras. Vacancies in choristers
+usually filled by probationers, but no pledge given. Possible grants to
+deserving<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_093" id="Page_093">{93}</a></span> choristers when they leave; school fees sometimes paid for
+six months or so after the voice has failed. Head master and experienced
+matron.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">All Saints, Margaret Street, London, W.</span>&mdash;Twelve choir boys and two
+accepted boys waiting for vacancies live in west wing of vicarage under
+care of one of the clergy, who gives them lessons each morning, a
+certificated master taking them in the evenings. Afternoon, cricket and
+football in Regent's Park. Whole holiday Saturdays, and those who live
+near enough can go home. Vacations&mdash;a week in January and at Easter, and
+34 days in August and September. Each boy separate cubicle in dormitory.
+Boys have meals in dining hall with clergy (but at separate table). Each
+boy pays £12 in first year, £8 in second year, and nothing afterwards.
+Gratuity of £10 when voice breaks. Probationers pay £5 per quarter, and
+do everything except sing in church. No boy received unless parents wish
+him to be brought up in Church of England. Correct ear and brilliant
+voice count more at examination than knowledge of music. Apply Vicar.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace.</span>&mdash;The ten choristers reside with
+Master, who is a priest of the Chapel Royal. Free board and education
+and greater part of clothing. Grant of from £30 to £40 on leaving choir
+if conduct good. Latin, French, Mathematics, and usual English subjects.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Oxford, Magdalene College School.</span>&mdash;Sixteen choristers, board and
+education free. Admitted by open competition. The school is not confined
+to choristers; it contains at present 70 boys, many of whom pass on to
+the University.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Oxford, New College.</span>&mdash;Eight senior and eight junior choristers take part
+in the services. These all receive free education at the College School,
+but provide their own books. They are prepared for Oxford Local
+Examinations, the College paying fees. Twelve choristers are boarded in
+the School House with the master. These are arranged in two divisions
+according to musical ability. The first division boarded free, the
+second division pays about 6s. a week for the 40 weeks of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_094" id="Page_094">{94}</a></span> school
+year. Some fees paid to senior boys and boys of special value as
+soloists. Choristers whose parents reside in Oxford receive from 10s. to
+£5 a year according to merit and seniority. Gratuity or apprentice fee
+not exceeding £40 occasionally given.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Frome, Somerset.</span>&mdash;St. John Baptist College. Founded by late Rev. W. J.
+E. Bennett 36 years ago. Number of boys usually 15; maintained, clothed,
+and educated on payment of 7s. a week under twelve, and 8s. above. No
+regular holidays. Boys not allowed to leave till they have made their
+first communion.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Lincoln Minster.</span>&mdash;Boys boarded and educated at Northgate Schools at
+expense of Chapter. English subjects, French, Latin, German, Drawing,
+Shorthand, Chemistry. All school books found. Parents pay travelling,
+clothing, and washing only. Small allowance of pocket-money. Four weeks'
+holiday in the year.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Eastbourne, St. Saviour's Church Choir School.</span>&mdash;Established 1878. Boys
+admitted as boarders or day pupils from eight years of age, choristers
+(boarders) pay 32 guineas a year, day choristers 14 guineas.
+Instrumental music, German, and Drawing are extras. Other subjects as
+for Cambridge local exams. Ten weeks' holiday in the year. Scholarships
+of from £5 to £15 a year are awarded to efficient choristers.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Ripon Cathedral Choir School.</span>&mdash;Day boys under 14, £6 per annum; over 14,
+£8. Boarders under 12, £40 per annum; over 12, £45. Laundress, £2. Usual
+subjects, including modern languages and science. Instrumental music
+extra. Four choral scholarships at £30, eight at £25, and six for
+probationers at £20. Pupils prepared for University Local Examinations,
+Preliminary Law, and Medical, &amp;c. Playground, workshop, cricket field,
+library, school magazine.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">St. Paul's Cathedral Choir School.</span>&mdash;Board and education free: parents
+provide clothes, travelling, and pocket money. Good voices and musical
+talent necessary. Easy preliminary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_095" id="Page_095">{95}</a></span> examination in Scripture, three R's,
+and Latin. Candidates must be between 8 and 10. Two or three
+examinations are held each year according as there are vacancies. Course
+of study as usual for public schools. Piano and violin extra. Holidays
+at Christmas, Easter, and Summer. Weekly half-holiday. Private field in
+suburbs for games. Rev. W. Russell, Succentor, is head master.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Salisbury Cathedral.</span>&mdash;Boarding school for choristers in the Close.
+Eighteen boys. Parents pay £15 a year. School has also some pupils who
+are not choristers. Usual subjects of secondary school. One ex-chorister
+is now a scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge. The master is a Minor
+Canon. Boys admitted by competition; those from neighbourhood of
+Salisbury preferred. Endowment of nearly £1,000 a year for the choir.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">All Saints, Clifton.</span>&mdash;Choir school for the choristers of All Saints
+Church, who can be prepared for public schools or commercial life. There
+are twenty choir scholarships, ranging in value from £10 to £25 a year.
+A boy holding a junior scholarship may at any time be elected to one of
+higher value. School fees for choristers 7 to 10 guineas a term.
+Choristers may remain at the school after voice breaks at discretion of
+head-master. Holidays at Summer, Christmas, and Easter. The school is
+open to boys generally, whether choristers or not.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The Vicar's Choir School, Hull.</span>&mdash;Intended for the choristers of Holy
+Trinity Church. School fee, £10 10s. per annum. Boarders £40 per annum.
+Ten scholarships of the value of £10 10s., ten value £8 8s., and twenty
+value £5 5s. Amount of scholarship deducted from boarding fee in case of
+those who are admitted into choir. Thirteen weeks' holiday during the
+year.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Oxford, Christ Church Cathedral School.</span>&mdash;Boys are all sons of clergymen
+or other professional men. Eight choristers educated, boarded, and
+lodged free of expense. Eight probationers, who, if approved, become
+choristers as vacancies occur. Probationary period usually from 2 to
+2-&frac12; years.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_096" id="Page_096">{96}</a></span> Probationers pay £25 a year. A few extras, and fee of £3
+3s. on election of probationer to choristership. Every boy is, if
+possible, passed through the Oxford Local Examinations. Month's holiday
+in summer, and short leave of absence either at Christmas or Easter, if
+particularly desired. Election by competition after trial of voice and
+ear.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Winchester Cathedral.</span>&mdash;Sixteen choristers sing in the services. These
+receive education free, a clothing gratuity of £5 a year, and a leaving
+gratuity of from £5 to £20, according to merit and length of service.
+There are four boarding scholarships, which leave the parents only £5 a
+year to pay. Six of the choristers are foundation boys. Of these, the
+two seniors receive £4 a year, and the two juniors £2 a year, but
+boarding scholarships and foundation money are not given to the same
+boys. There are also four to eight probationers who supply vacancies, if
+on second trial their voices are approved. These receive free education.
+There are sixty boys in the school.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Tenbury, St. Michael's College.</span>&mdash;Founded by the late Rev. Sir Frederick
+Gore-Ouseley in 1856. There are eight choristers, boarded and educated
+free. Also eight probationers, from whom the choristers are selected,
+who pay 40 guineas a year. Commoners, <i>i.e.</i>, boys who do not hold
+scholarships, and are not probationers, pay 60 guineas a year; two or
+more brothers 55 guineas a year. Preference is given in all elections to
+the sons of clergymen. Thirteen weeks' holiday in the year. Sound
+classical and mathematical education, to fit for scholarships and the
+higher forms at public schools. Healthy situation, in country.</p>
+
+<p class="c">EDUCATION ONLY.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Bristol Cathedral.</span>&mdash;Boys attend Cathedral Grammar School, where there
+are 100 boys.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Gloucester Cathedral.</span>&mdash;Boys educated and paid up to £10 per annum.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">St. Asaph.</span>&mdash;Boys educated at Grammar School.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Wells.</span>&mdash;Boys educated at Cathedral Grammar School.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_097" id="Page_097">{97}</a></span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">York.</span>&mdash;Boys sent to Archbishop Holgate's School.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Truro.</span>&mdash;Probationers, after serving at least three months, may be
+admitted choristers, and receive small quarterly payment. From these are
+elected the "choir scholars," of whom there are now ten. These receive
+free education and a quarterly gratuity. One boy, with remarkable
+contralto voice, comes from a distance, and is boarded and educated at
+expense of Dean and Chapter. Enlarged number of boarders contemplated.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">St. Peter's, Eaton Square, London, W.</span>&mdash;Special day school with master.
+Boys have midday dinner, with tea on practice and late service nights.
+Boarding school formerly existed, but is given up.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Durham Cathedral.</span>&mdash;No boarding school.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Ely Cathedral.</span>&mdash;No boarding school.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Bangor.</span>&mdash;Choristers brought up in National or Grammar School.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Temple Church, London.</span>&mdash;Boys attend Stationers' School.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Peterborough Cathedral.</span>&mdash;Boys educated at King's School.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Chichester Cathedral.</span>&mdash;Boys taught at Prebendal School.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Inverness Cathedral.</span>&mdash;No boarding school.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Armagh Cathedral.</span>&mdash;A day school for the choir boys.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Hampton Court, Chapel Royal.</span>&mdash;No boarding school.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Newcastle-on-Tyne Cathedral.</span>&mdash;No boarding school.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Manchester Cathedral.</span>&mdash;A special day school for the choir boys, taught
+by a lay clerk. Eighteen to twenty boys receive education free, and four
+foundation boys receive £20 per annum. The Precentor likes to have the
+boys at nine.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Lichfield Cathedral.</span>&mdash;Day school taught by a deputy lay clerk, the
+succentor taking Latin, English, and Divinity.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Dublin, St. Patrick's Cathedral.</span>&mdash;No boarding school.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Perth Cathedral.</span>&mdash;No school.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Lincoln's Inn.</span>&mdash;Choristers educated, but not boarded.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Norwich Cathedral.</span>&mdash;No boarding school.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Carlisle Cathedral.</span>&mdash;No boarding school.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Rochester Cathedral.</span>&mdash;Boys live at home, and attend Cathedral School,
+which is not especially for choristers.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_098" id="Page_098">{98}</a></span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Liverpool Cathedral.</span>&mdash;No boarding school.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Southwell Minster.</span>&mdash;No boarding school.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">St. Alban's Cathedral.</span>&mdash;No boarding school.</p>
+
+<p>From these particulars it will be gathered that the prevailing custom is
+for chorister boys to live at home and give their voices in return for
+free education. The various boarding schools described differ much in
+the terms they offer, and it may be said generally that only an
+exceptionally good voice and a personal introduction are likely to
+succeed in those cases where free board and education are given. The
+number of candidates is so large that selection is difficult.</p>
+
+<div class="imagecentered" style="width: 200px;">
+<a href="images/ill_098.png">
+<img src="images/ill_098.png" width="200" height="199" alt="decoration" title="decoration" />
+</a>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_099" id="Page_099">{99}</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+
+<div class="imagecentered"><img src="images/ill_dart.png" alt="dart" width="90" height="16" /></div>
+
+<h3>CONCERT SONGS FOR BOYS.</h3>
+
+<p>I<span class="smcap">n</span> this list I have included songs with innocent, hopeful, joyous words
+such as boys may honestly sing. Words dwelling with sadness on the past,
+or speaking of life as bitter, I have excluded. Convivial and amatory
+sentiments have also been ruled out. As to the music, I have excluded
+songs with difficulties of vocalisation. The keys chosen are those best
+suited to treble boys, bringing the melody as nearly as possible between
+F and F<sup>1</sup>, with an occasional G<sup>1</sup>. The list is by no means
+exhaustive, and must be regarded merely as a dip in the ocean of
+ballads. I shall be much obliged to correspondents who will suggest
+suitable additions.</p>
+
+<table summary="songs" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="2" style="font-size:85%;">
+<tr valign="middle" style="font-weight:bold;"><td>Composer.</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td align="center">Title and Key.</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td align="right">Publisher.</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Abt, Franz</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">O little thrush (C)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Adams, Stephen</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Song of the sailor boy (E flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Adams, Stephen</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The cry of the little ones (E flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Boosey</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Addison, R. B.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Violets (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Stanley Lucas</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Allen, G. B.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The little drummer (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Ashdown</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Almond, E.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Buttercups and daisies (D)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Ashdown</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Anderton, T.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The bells of Shandon (D)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Chappell</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>André, F. A.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">A British cheer for England's Queen (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Chappell</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Bailey, W. J.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Make-believes (E flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Ashdown</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Barker, Geo.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">A health to the outward-bound (B flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Chappell</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Barnby, Joseph</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">An evening melody (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Morley</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Barnby, Joseph</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">That haven fair (E flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Morley</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Barnett, J. F.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The Minstrel (G)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Stanley Lucas<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">{100}</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Barri, Odoardo</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">In the cloisters (B flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Morley</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Barri, Odoardo</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The beauteous song (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Cramer</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Barri, Odoardo</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The child and the flowers (E flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Ashdown</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Behrend, A. H.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Gentleman Jack (C)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Patey &amp; Willis</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Behrend, A. H.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The angel's promise (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Boosey</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Behrend, A. H.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The Gift (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Boosey</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Behrend, A. H.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Two children (A)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Patey &amp; Willis</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Bennett, Sterndale</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Dawn, gentle flower</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Novello</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Bevan, Fred</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Gladsome tidings (E flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Patey &amp; Willis</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Bevan, Fred</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">I'll be a soldier, mother (A)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Patey &amp; Willis</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Bevan, Fred</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The Admiral's broom (F minor)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Enoch</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Bishop, R</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Chime again, beautiful bells (B flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Botterhill, Jessie</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Pack clouds away (C)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Stanley Lucas</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Botterhill, Jessie</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The Lark (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Stanley Lucas</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Buck, Dudley</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">When the heart is young</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Boosey</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Cherry, J. W.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Gentle Spring (G)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Ashdown</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Cherubini</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Ave Maria</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">...</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Chesham, E. M.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Fire (G)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Cramer</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Cobb, G. F.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Mary, Queen of Scots</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">London Music Pub. Co.</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Cobb, G. F.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Versailles</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">London Music Pub. Co.</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Cobb, G. F.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Kenilworth</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Metzler</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Costa, Michael</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Morning Prayer [<i>Eli</i>](alto)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">J. Williams</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Cowen, F. H.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Children's dreams (E minor)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Cowen, F. H.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The Children's Home (D)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Morley</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Cowen, F. H.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Tears (alto)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">...</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Cowen, F. H.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The watchman and the child (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Morley</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Coward, J. M.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The butterfly and the humble bee</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Metzler &amp; Co.</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Davis, Miss</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">What is that, mother? (A flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Ashdown</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Dick, Cotsford</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The Angel's Gift (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Morley</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Diehl, Louis</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Dear England (C)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Elmore, Frank</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Child and the sunbeams (C)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Stanley Lucas</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Farebrother, B.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Reine d'amour</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">...</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Flood, Edwin</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The gipsy's life (C)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Foster, M. B.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The mother's grave (E minor)</td><td align="center">[alto]</td><td align="right">Stanley Lucas</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Frost, C. J.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Youthful Songs</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Novello<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">{101}</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Gabriel, V.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Children's voices [alto]</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">...</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Gatty, A. S.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Three little pigs (A flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Gibsone, Ignace</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The man-o'-war's man (D)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Patey &amp; Willis</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Gilletto, Paul</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Lead, kindly light (A minor)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Phillips &amp; Page</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Glover, Stephen</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The flower gatherers (E)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Gounod, C.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">For ever with the Lord (D)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Phillips &amp; Page</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Gounod, C.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Glory to Thee, my God (D)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Phillips &amp; Page</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Gounod, C.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The King of Love (E flat) [alto]</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Phillips &amp; Page</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Grazia, E. N.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Laugh while you may (D)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Ashdown</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Greenhill, J.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The Canadian herd-boy (F) [alto]</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Stanley Lucas</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Gyde, Margaret</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The song of the robin (D)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Ashdown</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Hatton, J. L.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The cause of England's greatness (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Hatton, J. L.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Song should breathe of scents and flowers</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Ashdown</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Hatton, J. L.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Blossoms</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Ashdown</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Hawthorne, Alice</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Hearth and home (G)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Hecht, E.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The innocent child (C)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Stanley Lucas</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Hobson, M.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The peaceful Sabbath bell (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Chappell</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Horner, B. W.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">In the cloisters (E flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Stanley Lucas</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Jackson, J.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Cathedral Memories (E flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Morley</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Kjerulf, Halfdan</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Asleep (E)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Stanley Lucas</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Lemoine, E.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The ship-boy's prayer (C min.) [alto]</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Stanley Lucas</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Liebe, Louis</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The stripling's armour (C minor)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Stanley Lucas</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Löhr, F. N.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Suffer the little children (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Cramer</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Maccabe, F.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Buttercups and daisies (D)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Chappell</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Mackenzie, H.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The lion flag of England (G)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Patey &amp; Willis</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Marzials, Theo</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The fairy Jane (B flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Enoch</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Mendelssohn</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The Savoyard's Return</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Novello</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Moffat, Douglas</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The child's prayer (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Stanley Lucas</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Moir, F. L.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Children asleep (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Boosey</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Moir, F. L.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">He will forgive (C)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Molloy, J. L.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Home, dearie, home (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Boosey</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Molloy, J. L.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The little match girl (G minor)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Chappell</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Molloy, J. L.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The sailor's dance</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Boosey</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Molloy, J. L.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Dresden China</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Boosey</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Morgan, Franz</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">A fairer garden (C)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Cramer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">{102}</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Offenbach</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Spring, spring <i>(Babil and Bijou)</i></td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">...</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Parker, Henry</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Jerusalem (G)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Cramer</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Pattison, T. Mee</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Blossoms, fair blossoms</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Curwen</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Piccolomini, M.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Dolorosa</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Orsborn</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Piccolomini, M.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Eternal rest</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Orsborn</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Piccolomini, M.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">In Manus Tuas (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Morley</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Piccolomini, M.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Ora pro nobis</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Orsborn</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Piccolomini, M.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Salva nos, domine</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Orsborn</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Piccolomini, M.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Sancta Maria</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Orsborn</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Piccolomini, M.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The soldier of the cross</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Orsborn</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Piccolomini, M.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The two choirs</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Orsborn</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Pinsuti, Ciro</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Heaven's chorister (C)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Pinsuti, Ciro</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The old cathedral (D)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Morley</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Pinsuti, Ciro</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The touch of a vanished hand (G)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Cramer</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Pinsuti, Ciro</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Welcome, pretty primrose</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Ricordi</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Randegger, A.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Save me, O God (B flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Stanley Lucas</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Randegger, A.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Joyous Life</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">...</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Rawlings, A. J.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The distant city [alto]</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Marshall</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Robinson, J.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">A Hush Song (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">J. Williams</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Rodney, Paul</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Alone on the raft (G)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Enoch</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Rodney, Paul</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Calvary (D)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Enoch</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Rodney, Paul</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The bells of St Mary's (D)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Enoch</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Rodney, Paul</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Via Dolorosa (G)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Enoch</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Rodwell, G. H.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Your boy in blue (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Roeckel, J. L.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Captain Dando (E flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Enoch</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Roeckel, J. L.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Crowning the seasons (D)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Roeckel, J. L.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Hark! the dogs do bark! (A)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Cramer</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Richards, Brinley</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Let the hills resound (E flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Richards, Brinley</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Mother, thou art far away (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Smallwood, W.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">A song for the land I love (C)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Chappell</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Smart, Henry</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Victoria (B flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Smart, Henry</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">By the blue sea [alto]</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Metzler</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Smart, Henry</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Dropping down the troubled river</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Novello</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Smart, Henry</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The birds were telling one another (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Ashdown</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Somervell, Arthur</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Four songs of Innocence</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Stanley Lucas<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">{103}</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Songs for Boys (20 songs, price 6d.)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Boosey</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Songs for Young Girls (18 songs, 1s.)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Boosey</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Stericker, A. C.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The Ivy Green (B flat) [alto]</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Stanley Lucas</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Street, A.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The birdie's ball (D)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Streleski, Anton</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Violets (G)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Sullivan, A. S.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The chorister (alto)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Metzler</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Sullivan, A. S.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">What does little birdie say</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Ashdown</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Sullivan, A. S.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The Sailor's Grave (E flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Ashdown</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Tours, Berthold</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Jesu, lover of my soul (D)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Tours, Berthold</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The dog and the shadow (G)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Tours, Berthold</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The new kingdom (D)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Morley</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Trotére, H.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Three men in a boat (C)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Wallace, W. V.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Scenes that are brightest (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Hutchings</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Walsh, Marian</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The sailor boy (C)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Stanley Lucas</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Watson, M.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">An Englishman's house is his castle (C)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Watson, M.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Little birdie mine (D)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Ashdown</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Watson, M.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Little Lady Bountiful (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Ashdown</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Watson, M.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Loved and saved (B flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Enoch</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Watson, M.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Our dear old home (D)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Patey &amp; Willis</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Watson, M.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The Powder-monkey (G)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Patey &amp; Willis</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Watson, M.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">There's a Friend for little children (A)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Patey &amp; Willis</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Watson, M.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Trafalgar (E flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Patey &amp; Willis</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Watson, M.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Two bells (G)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Patey &amp; Willis</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>West, J. E.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The roseate hues (alto)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Ashdown</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>West, W.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">I am a honey-bee (G)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Ashdown</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Wrightson, W. T.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Be happy, and never despair (G)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Wrightson, W. T.</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Cottage and throne (E flat)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">R. Cocks</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>Old Song</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Sir Guy of Warwick (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Chappell</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>&nbsp; &nbsp;"</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The Minstrel Boy</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Boosey</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>&nbsp; &nbsp;"</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Charlie is my darling</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Boosey</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>&nbsp; &nbsp;"</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">Love was once a little boy</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Boosey</td></tr>
+<tr valign="middle"><td>&nbsp; &nbsp;...</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">The Skipper and his Boy (F)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="right">Hutchings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">{104}</a></span></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr class="full" />
+
+<h3><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX.</h3>
+
+<ul>
+<li>Abuse of the voice, <a href="#Page_001">1</a></li>
+<li>Agricultural districts, <a href="#Page_049">49</a></li>
+<li>Alto boys, <a href="#Page_075">75</a></li>
+<li>Altos, Adult male, <a href="#Page_075">75</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">Balance of parts, <a href="#Page_016">16</a></li>
+<li>Barnes, Rev. W. M., <a href="#Page_023">23</a></li>
+<li>Barnicott, Mr., <a href="#Page_015">15</a></li>
+<li>Bates, Dr. Frank, <a href="#Page_081">81</a></li>
+<li>Behnke, Mr., <a href="#Page_014">14</a>, <a href="#Page_017">17</a></li>
+<li>Berlin, St. Mary's, <a href="#Page_071">71</a></li>
+<li>Boarding Schools, Choir, <a href="#Page_092">92</a></li>
+<li>Breaking of the boy's voice, <a href="#Page_003">3</a></li>
+<li>Breath, Management of the, <a href="#Page_006">6</a>, <a href="#Page_067">67</a></li>
+<li>Breden, Mr. Owen, <a href="#Page_071">71</a></li>
+<li>Bridge, Dr., <a href="#Page_060">60</a></li>
+<li>Brooks, Mr. Walter, <a href="#Page_015">15</a>, <a href="#Page_034">34</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">Cambridge, Mr. F., <a href="#Page_087">87</a></li>
+<li>Canterbury Cathedral, <a href="#Page_064">64</a></li>
+<li>Cathedral choirmasters, <a href="#Page_059">59</a></li>
+<li>Change to man's voice, <a href="#Page_003">3</a></li>
+<li>Chanting, <a href="#Page_062">62</a></li>
+<li>Chapel Royal, St. James's, <a href="#Page_059">59</a></li>
+<li>Chest voice, <a href="#Page_024">24</a></li>
+<li>Choir Guild, <a href="#Page_009">9</a></li>
+<li>Choosing boys, <a href="#Page_021">21</a></li>
+<li>Choristers, Schools for, <a href="#Page_090">90</a></li>
+<li>Churchill, <a href="#Page_052">52</a></li>
+<li>Clement Danes, St., Strand, <a href="#Page_072">72</a></li>
+<li>Clergyman's daughter, The, <a href="#Page_055">55</a></li>
+<li>Cold, Singing during a, <a href="#Page_002">2</a></li>
+<li>Collar-bone breathing, <a href="#Page_006">6</a></li>
+<li>Collinson, Mr. T. H., <a href="#Page_017">17</a>, <a href="#Page_086">86</a></li>
+<li>Concert songs for boys, <a href="#Page_099">99</a></li>
+<li>Consonants, <a href="#Page_027">27</a></li>
+<li>Country boys, <a href="#Page_049">49</a></li>
+<li>Creser, Dr., <a href="#Page_069">69</a></li>
+<li>Critchley, Mr. W., <a href="#Page_049">49</a>, <a href="#Page_084">84</a></li>
+<li>Curwen, John, Register names, <a href="#Page_012">12</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">Day Schools, Choir, <a href="#Page_096">96</a></li>
+<li>Deacon, Mr. H., <a href="#Page_027">27</a></li>
+<li>Demack, Miss, <a href="#Page_052">52</a></li>
+<li>Diaphragm breathing, <a href="#Page_006">6</a></li>
+<li>Dickson, Rev. W. E., <a href="#Page_025">25</a>, <a href="#Page_078">78</a></li>
+<li>Discipline, Preserving, <a href="#Page_008">8</a></li>
+<li>Donald, Mr. H. A., <a href="#Page_033">33</a>, <a href="#Page_074">74</a></li>
+<li>Dunn, Sinclair, Voice exs., <a href="#Page_013">13</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">Edinburgh, St. Mary's, <a href="#Page_017">17</a>, <a href="#Page_086">86</a></li>
+<li>Eglinger, Herr, <a href="#Page_015">15</a>, <a href="#Page_035">35</a>, <a href="#Page_088">88</a></li>
+<li>Ely, Mr. Thomas, <a href="#Page_088">88</a></li>
+<li>Ely, The choir at, <a href="#Page_078">78</a></li>
+<li>"E," The vowel, <a href="#Page_017">17</a></li>
+<li>Evans, Mr., <a href="#Page_050">50</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">Feeble voice, A, <a href="#Page_001">1</a></li>
+<li>Fines, <a href="#Page_017">17</a></li>
+<li>Flattening, <a href="#Page_031">31</a>, <a href="#Page_032">32</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">Garrett, Dr., <a href="#Page_076">76</a></li>
+<li>Gaul, Mr. A. R., <a href="#Page_066">66</a></li>
+<li>Gibbons, Mr. R. T., <a href="#Page_086">86</a></li>
+<li>Gilbert, Mr. Bernard, <a href="#Page_003">3</a>, <a href="#Page_016">16</a></li>
+<li>Girls, Imitating, <a href="#Page_050">50</a>, <a href="#Page_053">53</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">Hammond, Mr. Stocks, <a href="#Page_016">16</a>, <a href="#Page_086">86</a></li>
+<li>Health and singing, <a href="#Page_002">2</a></li>
+<li>Helmore, Rev. F. J., <a href="#Page_023">23</a></li>
+<li>Helmore, Rev. Thomas., <a href="#Page_059">59</a></li>
+<li>Hibberd, Mr. C., <a href="#Page_034">34</a>, <a href="#Page_057">57</a></li>
+<li>Hopkins, Dr. E. J., <a href="#Page_061">61</a></li>
+<li>Husband, Rev. E., <a href="#Page_010">10</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">Indistinctness, <a href="#Page_027">27</a></li>
+<li>Infant School, The, <a href="#Page_042">42</a></li>
+<li>Intoning, <a href="#Page_017">17</a>, <a href="#Page_052">52</a></li>
+<li>Isaac, Mr. A., <a href="#Page_085">85</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">Juleff, Mr. C. E., <a href="#Page_087">87</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">Keeton, Dr. Haydn, <a href="#Page_067">67</a>, <a href="#Page_080">80</a></li>
+<li>Knapp, Mr. F. J., <a href="#Page_072">72</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">Lady teachers, <a href="#Page_052">52</a></li>
+<li>Leeds Parish Church, <a href="#Page_069">69</a></li>
+<li>Lincoln Cathedral, <a href="#Page_062">62</a></li>
+<li>Lincoln's Inn Chapel, <a href="#Page_061">61</a></li>
+<li>Lloyd, Dr. C. H., <a href="#Page_063">63</a></li>
+<li>Longhurst, Dr., <a href="#Page_065">65</a></li>
+<li>Long services, <a href="#Page_008">8</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">Macfarren, Sir George, <a href="#Page_090">90</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">{105}</a></span></li>
+<li>Mackenzie, Sir Morell, <a href="#Page_003">3</a></li>
+<li>Managing choir boys, <a href="#Page_008">8</a></li>
+<li>Mann, Rev. W., <a href="#Page_024">24</a></li>
+<li>Mark's, St., Chelsea, <a href="#Page_071">71</a></li>
+<li>Martin, Dr. G. C., <a href="#Page_002">2</a></li>
+<li>Mental effects, <a href="#Page_032">32</a>, <a href="#Page_034">34</a></li>
+<li>Mixed schools, <a href="#Page_032">32</a></li>
+<li>Mühlfeld, Herr, <a href="#Page_073">73</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">Norfolk voices, <a href="#Page_056">56</a></li>
+<li>Norwich, Dr. Buck at, <a href="#Page_066">66</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">O'Rell, Max, <a href="#Page_008">8</a></li>
+<li>Oxford, Christ Church, <a href="#Page_063">63</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">Parbery, Mr. George, <a href="#Page_053">53</a></li>
+<li>Parish church choirmasters, <a href="#Page_069">69</a></li>
+<li>Paul's, St., Cathedral, <a href="#Page_059">59</a></li>
+<li>Pearson, Mr. W. W., <a href="#Page_033">33</a>, <a href="#Page_056">56</a>, <a href="#Page_084">84</a></li>
+<li>Peter's, St., Eaton Square, <a href="#Page_009">9</a>, <a href="#Page_070">70</a></li>
+<li>Pianoforte for rehearsal, <a href="#Page_032">32</a></li>
+<li>Prizes for choir boys, <a href="#Page_009">9</a></li>
+<li>Pronunciation in singing, <a href="#Page_027">27</a>, <a href="#Page_046">46</a></li>
+<li>Puberty, Age of, <a href="#Page_003">3</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">Registers, The, <a href="#Page_012">12</a></li>
+<li>Rib breathing, <a href="#Page_006">6</a></li>
+<li>Richardson, Mr. W. H., <a href="#Page_035">35</a>, <a href="#Page_040">40</a></li>
+<li>Roberti, Signor, <a href="#Page_036">36</a></li>
+<li>Roney, Mr. H. B., <a href="#Page_009">9</a>, <a href="#Page_016">16</a></li>
+<li>Rural districts, <a href="#Page_049">49</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">Salisbury Cathedral, <a href="#Page_067">67</a></li>
+<li>Salisbury Diocese, <a href="#Page_023">23</a></li>
+<li>Salzungen Choir, <a href="#Page_073">73</a></li>
+<li>Saxton, Mr. R. H., <a href="#Page_003">3</a>, <a href="#Page_019">19</a></li>
+<li>Schools for choristers, <a href="#Page_090">90</a></li>
+<li>School teacher, The, <a href="#Page_041">41</a></li>
+<li>Sentiment about choir boys, <a href="#Page_011">11</a></li>
+<li>Sergison, Mr. de Manbey, <a href="#Page_009">9</a>, <a href="#Page_070">70</a></li>
+<li>Sharpening, <a href="#Page_035">35</a></li>
+<li>Sharp, Mr. Frank, <a href="#Page_083">83</a></li>
+<li>Sight-singing, <a href="#Page_030">30</a></li>
+<li>Singing by ear, <a href="#Page_029">29</a></li>
+<li>Singing by note, <a href="#Page_029">29</a></li>
+<li>Singing out of tune, <a href="#Page_031">31</a></li>
+<li>Songs for boys, <a href="#Page_099">99</a></li>
+<li>South, Mr. C. L., <a href="#Page_067">67</a></li>
+<li>Stainer, Sir John, <a href="#Page_013">13</a></li>
+<li>Steggall, Dr., <a href="#Page_061">61</a></li>
+<li>Stewart, Rev. C. H., <a href="#Page_025">25</a></li>
+<li>Stone, Alfred, <a href="#Page_029">29</a></li>
+<li>Strakosch, M., <a href="#Page_015">15</a></li>
+<li>Swanley boys, <a href="#Page_035">35</a>, <a href="#Page_040">40</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">Taylor, Mr. James, <a href="#Page_076">76</a></li>
+<li>Taylor, Mr. J. C. E., <a href="#Page_020">20</a>, <a href="#Page_085">85</a></li>
+<li>Temper, Uncontrolled, <a href="#Page_010">10</a></li>
+<li>Temple Church, <a href="#Page_061">61</a></li>
+<li>Thick register, <a href="#Page_012">12</a>, <a href="#Page_089">89</a></li>
+<li>Thin register, <a href="#Page_012">12</a></li>
+<li>Tonic Sol-fa certificates, <a href="#Page_009">9</a>, <a href="#Page_020">20</a>, <a href="#Page_029">29</a>, <a href="#Page_047">47</a></li>
+<li>Tonic Sol-fa system, <a href="#Page_030">30</a>, <a href="#Page_050">50</a>, <a href="#Page_051">51</a>, <a href="#Page_053">53</a>, <a href="#Page_057">57</a>, <a href="#Page_070">70</a>, <a href="#Page_073">73</a></li>
+<li>Training of boys' voices, <a href="#Page_040">40</a></li>
+<li>Tuning boys up, <a href="#Page_016">16</a>, <a href="#Page_073">73</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">Upton Cross School, <a href="#Page_074">74</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">Voice training, <a href="#Page_012">12</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">Weekes, Rev. W. J., <a href="#Page_035">35</a></li>
+<li>Westminster Abbey, <a href="#Page_060">60</a></li>
+<li>Working class boys, <a href="#Page_010">10</a></li>
+<li class="alpha">Yorkshire voices, <a href="#Page_014">14</a></li>
+<li>Young, Mr. J. W. M., <a href="#Page_026">26</a>, <a href="#Page_062">62</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<hr class="full" />
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boy's Voice, by J. Spencer Curwen
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+</body>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boy's Voice, by J. Spencer Curwen
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Boy's Voice
+       A Book of Practical Information on The Training of Boys'
+       Voices For Church Choirs, &c.
+
+Author: J. Spencer Curwen
+
+Release Date: April 17, 2010 [EBook #32023]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY'S VOICE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE BOY'S VOICE.
+
+[Illustration: _CHORISTER BOYS_.
+
+_Photographed by Mr George Hadley, Lincoln_.]
+
+
+
+
+THE BOY'S VOICE
+
+A BOOK OF PRACTICAL INFORMATION ON THE TRAINING OF BOYS' VOICES FOR
+CHURCH CHOIRS, &c.
+
+BY
+
+J. SPENCER CURWEN _Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music; President of
+the Tonic Sol-fa College._
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+London:
+
+J CURWEN & SONS, 8 & 9 WARWICK LANE, E.C.
+
+NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER AND SONS.
+
+_Price Two Shillings and Sixpence._
+
+=1891=
+
+LONDON: J. CURWEN AND SONS, MUSIC-PRINTERS, PLAISTOW, E.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The value of this little book, as the reader will soon discover, depends
+less upon my own work than upon the large number of choirmasters whose
+experience I have been fortunate enough, directly or indirectly, to lay
+under contribution. The conditions of the choir-trainer's work vary, in
+an endless way, according to his surroundings and opportunities. And it
+is just when work becomes difficult that contrivances and hints are most
+fruitfully evolved. Hence I have given in great detail the experiences
+of many correspondents, and some of the most useful suggestions for
+ordinary church choir work will be found to proceed from writers holding
+no great appointment, but seeking quietly and unostentatiously to
+produce good results from poor material.
+
+In view of a second edition, I shall be pleased to receive letters from
+readers who have further experiences to offer.
+
+J. S. C.
+
+_June_, 1891.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+CHAPTER I.                                    PAGES
+The Healthfulness of Singing                    1-5
+
+CHAPTER II.
+Management of the Breath                        6-7
+
+CHAPTER III.
+The Art of Managing Choir Boys                 8-11
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+Voice Training                                12-22
+
+CHAPTER V.
+Information on Voice-Training, collected
+by the Salisbury Diocesan Choral Association  23-26
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+Pronunciation in Singing                      27-28
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+Singing by Ear and by Note                    29-30
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+Flattening, and Singing out of Tune           31-39
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+On the Training of Boys' Voices               40-48
+
+CHAPTER X.
+The Special Difficulties of Agricultural
+Districts                                     49-58
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+Notes on the Practice of various Choirmasters
+in Cathedrals, &c.                            59-68
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+Notes on the Practice of various Choirmasters
+in Parish Churches                            69-74
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+Alto Boys                                     75-89
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+Schools for Choristers                        90-98
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+Concert Songs for Boys                       99-103
+
+[Illustration: THE BOY'S VOICE.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE HEALTHFULNESS OF SINGING.
+
+
+The boy's voice, though an immature organ of delicate structure, is
+capable of much work, providing only that its mechanism be rightly used
+and not forced. Some people are unnecessarily nervous about boys; as a
+rule, under competent guidance, they will get nothing but good from
+vocal work. A cathedral organist wrote to me the other day:--
+
+"Our best solo boy, who has a splendid voice and who sings beautifully,
+has been unwell, and the Dean and Chapter doctor (who has an idea that
+every choir-boy should be as robust as a plough-boy) has just stated
+that the boy is too feeble to remain in the choir. Notwithstanding my
+remonstrances, the Dean and Chapter decided yesterday to uphold the
+doctor. I tried his voice last week, and he sang with full, rich tone up
+to the C above the stave, and that after he had been skating from 9 a.m.
+to 5 p.m. I should have thought that a boy who could skate all day could
+not be in such a 'feeble' state as represented by the medical man. Three
+months ago a boy with a beautiful voice was sent away for the same
+reason. So you see what uphill work it is for me."
+
+It is to be hoped that fastidiousness of this sort is not common. The
+_abuse_ of the voice may lead, of course, to serious results. In the
+_New York Medical Record_ of March 21, 1885, p. 317, there is a case
+recorded of the bursting of a blood vessel through too energetic
+singing, but this is altogether abnormal, and beyond the scope of our
+enquiry. The voice, properly used, will last as long as any other organ,
+and it benefits by exercise. Mr. D. W. Rootham of Bristol, who now at
+middle age has a strong constitution and a fine baritone voice, tells me
+that as a boy at Cambridge he sang for seven years at five services
+every Sunday. The thing seems incredible, and it is an extreme case,
+though it shows what work the voice, properly managed, will do.
+
+Singing, it should be remembered, promotes health. It does so indirectly
+by causing cheerfulness, a genial flow of spirits, and the soothing of
+the nerves. It does so directly by increasing the action of the lungs.
+So far as these organs are concerned, singing is a more energetic form
+of speech. As we sing we breathe deeply, bring more air into contact
+with the lungs, and thus vitalise and purify the blood, giving stimulus
+to the faculties of digestion and nutrition. A physiologist, in fact,
+can trace the effects of singing from the lungs into the blood, from the
+blood into the processes of nutrition, back again into the blood, into
+the nerves, and finally into the brain, which of all organs is most
+dependent upon healthful and well-oxygenated blood. Dr. Martin (organist
+of St. Paul's Cathedral) has had many years' experience in training
+choir-boys, and he tells me that he has never known a boy to injure his
+voice, or lose it through singing. It is a question of method; if the
+voice be used properly it will stand any amount of work. He has seen
+boys disposed to consumption improve in health after joining the choir.
+The medical man who declared that if there were more singing there would
+be less coughing, expressed in a graphic way the healthful influence of
+vocal practice. Parents and guardians need never hesitate to allow their
+sons and charges to become choir-boys under proper choirmasters. They
+may be sure that nothing but good can come of the exercise.
+
+Two cautions only are needed. The first is, not to sing during a cold.
+When a slight inflammation has attacked the larynx--that is, when a cold
+has been taken--the vocal cords are thickened, and the act of
+vocalisation causes them to rub together, which increases the
+inflammation. If the cold is a bad one--that is, if the inflammation is
+great--the singer will be compelled to rest, because the congestive
+swelling of the vocal cords will be so great that they will be unable to
+vibrate sufficiently to produce tone. But whether slight or great, the
+cold demands rest. Otherwise permanent injury may be done to the voice.
+
+The second caution relates to the preservation, not of the boy's voice,
+but of the man's. There is no doubt that it is undesirable for a boy to
+continue to sing after his voice has shown signs of "breaking." What are
+the first signs of this change? Choirmasters notice that the middle
+register becomes weak, without any diminution in the power and quality
+of the upper notes, but that at the same time the thick register grows
+stronger, and the boy can strike middle C with firmness. "The striking
+of middle C," says Mr. G. Bernard Gilbert, "is usually sufficient to
+decide the point." The tradition of teachers is in favour of rest at
+this time, and a well-founded public impression counts for a good deal.
+The fact is that during the time of change not only do the vocal cords
+lengthen, but they are congested. An inflammatory action, like that
+which takes place during a cold, is set up. Hence rest is desirable.
+Nature herself also counsels rest because she reduces the musical value
+of the voice at this time to a low ebb. It becomes husky and of
+uncertain intonation. No doubt cases can be quoted of boys who have sung
+on uninterruptedly and developed into good tenors or basses, but there
+are cases equally strong in which the man's voice has completely failed
+after such a course. Sir Morell Mackenzie is the only medical writer who
+has advocated singing during change of voice, but not even his authority
+can upset the weight of evidence on the other side.
+
+Nevertheless, on the principle of "hear both sides" I quote the
+following from a letter by Mr. E. H. Saxton, choirmaster of St. James's
+church, at Buxton:--
+
+"Upon the question of resting completely from singing during the period
+of change of voice, I hold that one must be guided by the circumstances
+of each individual case. I carefully watch each boy when I am expecting
+the change to commence, and it usually shows itself by the upper thin
+register giving way. If I cannot immediately spare the boy from the
+treble part (and good leading boys are not plentiful), I caution him to
+leave high notes alone, never to force them, and as soon as possible I
+relegate him to the alto part, where he often remains useful to me for a
+year or eighteen months. All the time he is singing the alto part I keep
+watch over him, and forbid his singing as soon as there are indications
+that the effort is in the slightest degree painful. Generally I find
+this prohibition to be only necessary for notes above [Illustration:
+middle f] Should a vacancy occur in the senior choir (if the boy shows
+signs of his voice developing to either tenor or bass) I get him passed
+from the junior to the senior choir, warning him, however, to be very
+careful of his high notes, and never to force them. My general
+experience leads me to the conclusion that it is a most arbitrary and
+unnecessary rule to lay down that every boy should rest at this time. In
+some cases it is necessary, no doubt, but my opinion is, after twenty
+years' practical experience, that in a large number of cases it is
+cruel, and about as much use with regard to the after-development of the
+voice as it would be to prohibit speaking. Speaking practically--not
+scientifically--I hold that the vocal organ is beneficially exercised
+when singing is allowed in moderation, and within the restricted limits
+which every choirmaster ought to know how to apply. I have experienced
+boys who have never rested developing good voices, as well as those who
+have rested. But I have no experience of boys who have never rested
+developing bad voices, though I have of those who did rest. I have three
+boys in one family in my mind now, one of whom had a good alto, the
+other two good soprano voices. The alto and one soprano never rested,
+and developed respectively a good tenor and bass. The other rested
+(through removal to another town), and developed a very indifferent
+bass."
+
+In spite of this weighty and well-argued statement, my own opinion is
+that the preponderance of evidence is in favour of rest. It is certainly
+a new physiological doctrine for a short period of rest to injure or
+prevent the development of any organ. In short, I cannot see how there
+can be any disadvantage in a few months' rest, while from the other
+point of view there can be no musical advantage in the use of an
+unmusical instrument. As soon as the man's voice shows signs of
+settlement its practice should gently begin.
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+MANAGEMENT OF THE BREATH.
+
+
+Breathing in singing is a matter of the utmost importance. The breath is
+the motive power, the primary force, to which the larynx and the
+resonance chamber are but secondary. In speech we can manage with short
+breathing and half-filled lungs, but in sustaining the sounds of song,
+we need to breathe deeply, and to breathe in a right way. Manifestly the
+act of breathing consists of two parts--(1) the drawing in, and (2) the
+letting out of the breath. When we speak of modes of breathing, however,
+we refer to the drawing in of the breath. There are three ways of doing
+this. First, by lowering the diaphragm, and thus compelling the lungs to
+enlarge and fill the vacant space created. Second, by extending the ribs
+sideways, causing the lungs to expand laterally. Third, by drawing up
+the collar-bone and shoulder blades, causing the upper part of the lungs
+to expand. The third method is bad; the ideal breathing is a combination
+of the first and second. Upon this athletes as well as singers are
+agreed. This is the breathing which we practise unconsciously in sleep,
+or in taking a long sniff at a flower. The musical results of bad
+breathing are flattening and a hurrying of the time; hence the
+importance of the matter. Practice may well begin with a few minutes
+devoted to breathing exercises. Let the boys inhale a long breath
+through the nose; hold it for a time, and then slowly exhale. Again let
+them slowly inhale, hold, and exhale quickly, allowing the sides of the
+chest to collapse. Again, let them, while holding the breath, press it
+from the lower to the middle, and to the upper part of the chest, and
+_vice versa_. During this exercise the body should be in the position of
+"stand at ease." The spirometer, a useful but rather expensive little
+instrument, measures accurately lung capacity. These breathing exercises
+may be followed by practice in holding a single tone for a period just
+short of exhaustion.
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE ART OF MANAGING CHOIR BOYS.
+
+
+To some choirmasters the management of their boys is a perfectly easy
+matter; to others it is a constant source of trouble. Everything depends
+upon knack. Max O'Rell has some wise maxims on the subject which it may
+be well to quote. "Face the boys," he says, "or you will be nowhere.
+Always be lively. Never show your temper: to let the boys see that they
+can ruffle you is to give them a victory. Allow no chatting. Never
+over-praise clever boys; never snub dull ones. Never expect any thanks.
+If a boy laughs at a mistake made by another boy, ask him for the answer
+immediately, and he will be dumb. If you do not love boys, never become
+a choir [school] master."
+
+Discipline is preserved by giving the boys seats in the same relative
+position at rehearsal and in church. There should be a double row of
+desks in the practice room, provided with a shelf for books, just as in
+the stalls. If the boys have to hold the books and music in their hands
+they stoop, and the singing suffers. Each boy should have a copy of the
+music, and it should bear his number, so that he is personally
+responsible for its good keeping. Punctuality at rehearsal is important.
+Let the choirmaster call for order at the exact time, and let the roll
+be gone over at once. To be unpunctual, or not to register early
+attendance, is to encourage laxity.
+
+There is no doubt that the long services in many churches are trying to
+the choir boys. In some churches the morning service lasts two hours and
+a quarter. It is very hard even for an adult to keep his thoughts from
+wandering, and his eyes from glancing over the congregation during all
+this time. How much more hard is it, then, for a boy who is by nature a
+fidget, and if healthy, brimming over with activity? Nevertheless boys
+can be trained, if not to control their thoughts, at least to an outward
+reverence and quietude in harmony with the service. Reproof, if it is
+needed, is best administered in private. Boys should be paid, if only a
+small sum; this gives the choirmaster a hold upon them, and enables him
+to impose fines, if necessary. Payment can be increased for those who
+take Tonic Sol-fa or other sight-singing certificates, which of course
+increase their value as choristers. Let it be noted that the voices will
+carry further if the boys hold up their heads. This caution is
+especially needed when they are singing in the kneeling posture.
+
+All that can be done to interest the boys in their work by encouraging
+the social feeling, will be to the advantage of the choir. Their hearts
+are easily won. An excursion, an evening party once a year are great
+attractions. Mr. H. B. Roney, of Chicago, advocates a choir guild, and
+in the choir-room he would have a library, games, puzzles, footballs,
+bats and balls, Indian clubs, and dumb-bells. He would open and warm the
+choir-room an hour before each service and rehearsal. To some extent he
+would let the youngsters govern themselves, and says that the gravity
+with which they will appoint a judge, a jury, sheriff, prisoner, and
+witnesses to try a case of infraction of the choir rules, would bring a
+smile to the face of a graven image. Prizes at Christmas are part of his
+scheme; these should be awarded for such points as punctuality, progress
+in music, reverential demeanour, and general excellence.
+
+According to Mr. Sergison, organist of St. Peter's, Eaton Square,
+London, the choirmaster will have power if he make himself beloved. He
+should enter into the boys' way of looking at things, and remember that
+they have deep feelings. The boys should be arranged in classes, each
+higher class having higher pay, with sundry little privileges. Mr.
+Sergison says that by putting the boys upon their honour, and treating
+them well, he has always maintained strict discipline, and has never
+yet had to resort to corporal punishment. The Rev. E. Husband, of
+Folkestone, who is an enthusiastic choir-trainer, is strongly of opinion
+that for vocal purposes working-class boys are better than the sons of
+gentlemen. He finds that boys of a lower class have richer and fuller
+voices than those above them in the social scale. I was myself present,
+not long since, at a concert at Eton College, and although I was greatly
+struck with the purity of the tone, its volume was thin and somewhat
+shallow. One reason why working-class boys excel, probably, is that
+plain food and outdoor life keep the body in the best condition, so that
+the children of the poor, so long as they are well-nourished, are
+healthier than the children of the rich. But the working-class boys have
+also this advantage, that they begin life at four years of age in an
+Infant School, where they sing every day, and receive systematic Tonic
+Sol-fa teaching which is continued when they pass into the boys'
+department. Boys who are trained under governesses and at private
+preparatory schools often learn no singing at all. It is to be hoped
+that the diffusion of musical knowledge will make these
+class-comparisons, from a musical point of view, unnecessary. The
+choir-boys of Christ Church, Oxford, are all the sons of professional
+men, but then the choice is a wide one, as they come from all parts of
+the country.
+
+The precentor of a cathedral writes to me on an important branch of our
+subject. I sincerely hope that his picture is not one that is generally
+true:--
+
+"My own experience would suggest that in connection with the training of
+cathedral choristers the attention of cathedral organists might be very
+advantageously drawn to the very great importance of efficiency in the
+art of teaching--of imparting knowledge. The instruction given may be as
+good as could well be desired, but the manner of imparting it just as
+bad--such as would be condemned in any well-conducted Public Elementary
+School. Uncontrolled temper, the cane, boxing of the ears, are matters
+which go far to prove a teacher very seriously incompetent as a teacher.
+A cathedral organist is specially exposed to the temptation to
+hastiness and harshness, owing to the power he possesses. A parent
+values the position of a chorister for his son, and the organist is
+tempted soon to take advantage of the parent's unwillingness to withdraw
+his son. In a parish choir, either voluntary or paid at a very low rate,
+the exhibition of bad temper or discourtesy in manner is quickly
+followed, in all probability, by the loss of the offended chorister.
+Offensive manners on the part of the trainer quickly endanger the
+existence of the choir. Not so in cathedrals, and the cathedral organist
+knows this. 'I cannot think why that boy does not sing in tune; I have
+boxed his ears;' said a cathedral organist once to me quite seriously.
+This proves, I think, how blind even a highly-trained musician may be to
+the need for any art in the mode of imparting instruction. I fear there
+is a vulgar notion (only half defined, most probably) that irascibility
+in the musical trainer is a mark of genius. I write from experience,
+having been upwards of a quarter of a century in cathedrals, and a
+considerable portion of that time precentor."
+
+In conclusion, the custom of throwing a halo of sentiment round
+choir-boys, and petting them, is much to be deprecated. It has become
+the custom to write tales and songs about them, in which they are made
+out to be little angels in disguise. All this is very foolish and
+harmful. Choir-boys, as a rule, are no better and no worse than other
+boys. They respond well to wise treatment, but need to be governed by
+common sense, and to be taught their places. I am myself somewhat to
+blame for illustrating this book with two pictures of choir boys. It is
+really inconsistent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+VOICE TRAINING.
+
+
+                  { C2
+                  { B1
+    Small         { A1
+                  { G1
+                  {F1
+    Upper Thin.   {E1
+                 { {D1
+                 {C1
+    Lower Thin.  {B
+                 {A
+                 {G
+                 { {F
+    Upper Thick.  {E
+                  {D
+                  { C
+    Lower Thick.  { B_1
+                  { A_1
+                  { G_1
+
+Before commencing to train a voice the choirmaster must make sure that
+it is a voice worth training. He must take the boy alone, test his voice
+by singing scales, and try especially his notes in the treble compass,
+say, [Illustration: musical notation] He must test his ear by playing
+phrases, and asking the boy to sing them. He must enquire into his
+theoretical knowledge, if any, and ask if he has had a Tonic Sol-fa or
+any other systematic training. The ear of the choirmaster must decide
+upon the voice. It is said by some that boys' voices partake of one or
+other of two qualities, the flute quality or the oboe quality. They
+differ, no doubt, in _timbre_, but these two divisions are not clearly
+marked. The diagram at the side gives the compass of the registers in
+boy trebles and altos. The names are those invented by the late John
+Curwen, and have the advantage of describing the physiological action
+that goes on. Thus in the Thick Register, the vocal cords vibrate in
+their whole thickness; in the Thin Register their thin edges alone
+vibrate; and in the Small Register a small aperture only is made,
+through which the sound comes. The registers are practically the same as
+those of women's voices. They may be shown on the staff, thus:--
+
+[Illustration: Lower Thick. Upper Thick. Lower Thin. Upper Thin. Small.
+
+Chest. Middle. Falsetto.]
+
+I give below the staff another set of names which are sometimes used,
+but different voice-trainers attach to these different meanings.
+
+It is undesirable to tell the boys anything about the registers. The
+spirit of voice-training at the present time is too analytical. The
+theory of the registers is for the teacher, not for the pupil. Some
+voice-trainers seem to think that it is their business to discover the
+registers, but as far as tone goes it is their business to conceal them.
+Trainers work better through possessing physiological knowledge, but the
+end is a smooth and homogeneous voice, blended and well-built.
+
+Roughly speaking, the boys to be rejected are those who through
+carelessness, excitement, or confirmed habit, force up the thick
+register while singing. And those to be accepted are the boys who have
+sufficient reserve and care to turn into the fluty tone at the proper
+place, whether the music be loud or soft, and whatever be the shape of
+the melodic passage. The right use of the voice is most likely to come
+from boys who, whatever their social status, are well brought up, and
+have been taught to avoid screaming, coarse laughing and bawling, and if
+possible to speak in a clear way.
+
+Voice studies are of two kinds. First come those which promote the
+building and setting of the voice. These are generally sung slowly. When
+the voice is becoming settled exercises for agility may be introduced.
+Of agility exercises most voice-training books contain plenty. There is
+a good selection in Mr. Sinclair Dunn's "The Solo Singer's Vade Mecum"
+(J. Curwen & Sons, price 1s.) and Sir John Stainer has written a set,
+printed on a card, which is published by Mowbray, Oxford and London,
+price 6d.
+
+When the system of probationers is at work the voice-building exercises
+will not be much needed. The little boys will insensibly fall into right
+habits. They will learn to produce tone as they learnt to speak--by ear.
+But when a new choir has to be formed, the building exercises are
+necessary. And the first object of these is to make the boy feel the
+thin register and strengthen it by use. For this purpose such phrases as
+these, which leap into the thin register, and quit it by step are the
+best:--
+
+[Illustration: KEY =E=[b]. d1 t l s d1 t l s m1 r1 d1 t d1]
+
+[Illustration: KEY =G=. s f m r f m r d l s f s m]
+
+These exercises should be sung to several vowels, but especially to the
+sound "koo," which will at first immensely amuse the boys, but will
+afterwards be found to throw the tone forward towards the teeth in a way
+that no other sound does.
+
+Pure vowel tone goes with pure and resonant voice. The broad and pure
+vowels of the Yorkshire dialect have, more than anything else, produced
+the Yorkshire voices. Hence the choirmaster must make a determined
+effort to cure provincialisms in so far as they prevent the issue of
+pure vowel sounds from the mouth. The vowels should be sung in their
+vocal order as recommended by Mr. Behnke, oo (as in _you_), o (as in
+_owe_), ah (as in _Shah_), a (as _pay_), and ee (as in _see_). These may
+be taken to slow scales, thus:--
+
+[Illustration: oo-o-ah-a-ee oo-o-ah-a-ee, &c.]
+
+Let the choirmaster watch carefully for impure sounds, and call upon
+each boy to sing two measures by himself from time to time.
+
+In singing the boy should stand upright and free. He must not lean or
+bend his body. The mouth must be fairly opened, but not too wide. As the
+voice ascends the mouth opens wider. The lips must lie lightly on the
+teeth, and the tongue should lie at rest, just touching the front teeth.
+If, for the sake of change during a long rehearsal, the boys sit, let it
+be remembered that there are many ways of sitting, and that the upright
+posture hinders the breath less than lolling and a crooked posture.
+Rigidity is the enemy of all good singing. Let the whole body and vocal
+apparatus be relaxed, and pure tone will result. "If I hear a boy
+forcing up his voice," said Herr Eglinger, of Basel, to me, "I ask the
+rest of the class to point him out, and they do it at once." This at
+once cures the transgressor and sharpens the consciences of the other
+boys. As to the vowel on which singers should be trained, there are
+differences of opinion. Maurice Strakosch, the trainer of Patti,
+Nilsson, &c., used "ha," which causes a slight breath to precede the
+articulation. This, he said, gives the voice a natural start. It is
+something like the "koo" of Mrs. Seiler. Learners he required to lower
+their heads while singing, and to show the upper teeth, so as to keep
+the lips out of the way of the tone. Mr. Barnicott, a successful
+choirmaster at Taunton, uses "ka." But as in the actual singing of the
+English language all the vowels are encountered in turn, it would seem
+reasonable that they should all be included in the practice.
+
+Mr. Walter Brooks, quoted elsewhere, lays stress upon long-sustained
+notes in the scale of E flat, and up to G. These expand the lower part
+of the lungs, and produce steady, firm tone. They should be sung both
+loud and soft, the boys one by one and together. An admirable plan is to
+keep boys on the alert listening for faults, asking those not singing,
+"Whose fault is that?" Jealousy and conceit, says Mr. Brooks, are
+avoided by giving a solo to three or four boys to sing in unison. Three
+or four will blend better than two, and after proper rehearsal the tone
+is so like one voice that people say, "What a beautiful voice that boy
+has!"
+
+As to balance of parts, the following table is given by Mr. H. B. Roney
+of Chicago:--
+
+    Sopranos    12    17    25    37    50
+    Altos        4     5     7    11    14
+    Tenors       4     5     8    11    14
+    Basses       5     8    10    16    22
+                --    --    --    --    --
+                25    35    50    75   100
+
+Mr. Stocks Hammond says that during voice exercise the boys should stand
+perfectly erect, with mouth well open, the shoulders being thrown back.
+After exercise in slowly inhaling and exhaling the breath, comes the
+uniting of the registers. This is accomplished by singing up and down
+the scales of C, D, and E to the syllable "ah." Each tone is taken with
+decision, and is followed by a slight pause. The same scales are
+afterwards sung to "oh" and "oo." This exercise should not last longer
+that ten or fifteen minutes. Staccato scales to "ah!" "oh!" and
+chromatic passages are introduced later.
+
+Mr. G. Bernard Gilbert, F.C.O., of West Ham Parish Church, is an
+exceptionally skilled trainer of boys' voices. He meets his boys
+half-an-hour before each of the Sunday Services and "tunes them up," an
+admirable plan, which cannot be too widely imitated. The first thing he
+does in training boys is to teach them to attack and leave sounds with
+precision, neatness, and proper register or quality of voice. He gives
+chief attention to the sounds between [Illustration: here the author
+expresses a range from the F above middle-C (or F4) to the C above
+middle-C (C5) by inserting a staff] and first practises them. If beauty
+of tone is to be obtained, it is of the utmost importance that these
+sounds should be given in the thin register. Mr. Gilbert has cultivated
+this register in his own voice, and is able to give the boys a pattern
+in the right octave, which he thinks of great use. The change from upper
+thick to lower thin takes place between E and F. The boys should intone
+in the thin register. Flattening while intoning is almost entirely due
+to boys using the thick register. Mr. Gilbert uses the vowels as
+arranged by Mr. Behnke, oo-o-ah-ai-ee, practised first with a slight
+breath between each, afterwards all in one breath, _piano_ and
+_staccato_. Consonants preceding these vowels are of little value, as
+they only disguise a wrong action of the glottis, without removing the
+fault. He uses also sustained sounds, and short major or minor arpeggi,
+and last of all scale passages. If due attention be given to the
+intonation of the arpeggio, the scale should not be, as it too often is,
+all out of tune. The arpeggio is its skeleton or framework. Mr. Gilbert
+alternates this work with the singing of intervals and the practice of
+time rhythms. He attaches great value to the vowel "e" in practising
+sustained notes, scales or arpeggi, though other vowels must receive due
+attention. "E" has the advantage of bringing the vocal cords very close
+to together, thereby effecting a greater economy of the breath than is
+possible with the other vowels. He has constantly succeeded in making
+boys produce a pure and beautiful tone to this vowel, especially in that
+part of the voice called the upper thin, when he could not do so with
+the others. Of course "e" can be sung badly, and boys will sometimes
+make a nasal squeak of it, but the correct placing of the tone is
+quickly learnt if the teeth are kept nicely apart. Mr. Gilbert teaches
+the boys when very young the mechanism which governs their voices above
+[Illustration: high f] This is the "small" register. He is careful also
+about pronunciation, recommends that boys should be paid, and that bad
+behaviour, laziness, or irregularity, if they occur, should be punished
+by fines. One of the most marked excellences of Mr. Gilbert's choir is
+its chanting, and the elocutional phrasing of the words of the hymns.
+The rigidity of the time is often broken with impressive effect in
+order, by an elocutional pause, to throw into relief a prominent word or
+idea.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mr. T. H. Collinson, Mus.B., organist of St. Mary's Cathedral,
+Edinburgh, has given me some interesting particulars of the training
+which his excellent boys undergo. The process of selection is as
+follows:--(1) Advertisement. (2) Trial of voice, and entry of
+particulars of school, school standard, father's occupation, &c. (3)
+Choice of most promising voices. (4) Inspection of homes, as to
+overcrowding, &c. (5) Appointment of probationers. (6) Full appointment,
+with religious service of admission by the Dean. The parents engage in
+writing to retain the child in the choir school until his voice changes,
+or to the average age of fourteen. The boys are taken at all ages from 9
+to 12-1/2.
+
+"Cultivation of tone, blending of registers, and accuracy of pitch are
+specially studied, the principal means being as follows:--(1)
+Mouth-opening (silently). (2) Breathing exercise. (3) Sustained notes
+_piano_, each to full length of breath. (4) _Piano_ scales. (5) Simple
+flexibility exercises, _e.g._, Sir J. Stainer's card of exercises,
+published by Mowbray. (6) _Crescendo_ and _Diminuendo_. (7) Behnke's
+resonance vowels, oo-o-ah. (8) Behnke's glottis-stroke exercises,
+oo-o-ah-ai-ee. (9) No accompaniment, except a single note on the
+pianoforte every three or four bars to test pitch. Where badly flat, a
+scolding, and going back to try over again. (10) At early morning
+practice no _forte_ singing is allowed, as a rule.
+
+"By the above means, especially sustained notes and _piano_ scales,
+flatness is easily avoided, and the registers blend perfectly. A curious
+local peculiarity has to be specially treated in the junior boys. The
+Scottish 'u' as in 'gude' (good), 'puir' (poor), 'nue' (new), is
+identical with the French 'u' in 'tu' or 'Hugo,' and the little fellows
+sing an amusing exercise like the following:--
+
+    You should do two,
+
+on every note of the scale, with special care to protrude the lips to a
+round whistling shape for the 'oo.' Very oddly they sing a good 'oo' in
+the falsetto register, and a certain solo boy used to sing Handel's 'How
+beautiful are the feet' in its first two phrases in alternate Scotch and
+English, the vinegary 'ue' in the first (low) phrase, and a fine round
+'oo' in the higher phrase, where 'beautiful' begins on E flat.
+
+"Raw candidates and ill-taught children generally come minus any
+register at all above [Illustration: high d] and grin with surprise on
+being taught to produce sweet upper notes by open-mouth _piano_ 'ah.'
+
+"Colds and petty hoarseness, interfering with the upper notes, are
+terribly common in this climate in the class of boys obtained for the
+choir. A successful soloist at Friday rehearsal may be found incompetent
+by Sunday, so that all solo work is carefully understudied. A few
+minutes each day suffice for the purely technical voice exercises. The
+services are many in number; three on Sunday, two on week-days, and
+occasional extra services at special seasons. The number of boys is kept
+up to say 30, and they are worked in divisions to minimise their duties.
+The boys are educated free, and seniors receive payment. 'I think that
+boys' voices are much like unto boys' legs--they need daily exercise if
+they are to be worth anything.'"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mr. R. H. Saxton, of Buxton, writes:--"My choir boys are almost
+exclusively drawn from the working class, and the majority of them use
+the thick register for the speaking voice. I take them at nine years of
+age, sometimes younger if they can read fairly well, and my first effort
+is to suppress the thick register altogether in singing. If they were
+encouraged to use it they would most certainly abuse it by carrying it
+far beyond its proper range. Soft singing is the only effective plan I
+know of for removing the tendency to use the thick register. This I
+insist on in modulator voluntaries and time exercises. The time
+exercises are always laa'd on or above [Illustration: middle A]. In
+modulator work I at first avoid beginning in the lower keys where the
+thick register would naturally be used. By thus constantly cultivating
+the thin register, never allowing faulty intonation to pass unnoticed,
+and always checking the natural tendency of boys to sing coarsely;
+together with a free use of ear exercises, in which they are taught to
+recognise tones by their mental effect, I succeed at last in getting
+fairly good tone. It is, however, a work of time and difficulty, on
+account of the daily surroundings of the boys, and the habitually coarse
+way in which they are allowed to sing in school. To avoid flattening, I
+believe the course I have indicated to be the best remedy, as eye, ear,
+and voice are cultivated simultaneously.
+
+"In training the thin register special care must be taken that the Upper
+Thin is brought out at [Illustration: high d] and it is often better
+that the C also should be taken in the Upper Thin. A strained Lower Thin
+on C sharp or D will be sure to induce flattening, while if the Upper
+Thin is properly used there is no difficulty whatever in using the high
+D and E within reasonable limits as the reciting note in chanting. When
+the music moves about stepwise in close proximity above and below the
+breaks, we have another cause of flattening. As most of our country
+choirs consist at the best of but partly-trained voices, composers and
+choirmasters should bear this in mind. It must not be supposed that boys
+are the sole cause of flattening. Far from it, they are too often the
+victims of an untuneful tenor or bass.
+
+"From the first moment a boy comes under my care he is encouraged to
+take the Tonic Sol-fa certificates, and few leave the choir without
+having passed the Intermediate. I am of course now speaking of those
+boys who remain with us till they are no longer of use as boys."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I append an extract from a letter by Mr. J. C. E. Taylor, master of the
+Boys' National School at Penzance, and choirmaster of St. Mary's Church,
+which is interesting as showing the extent to which singing by ear can
+be carried:--
+
+"The children here, as in most Cornish towns, are fond of music, and
+have a quick ear. I pick my boys from a school of nearly 400. I choose
+them by the way they _read_ in school. They are generally of Standard
+V., and between ten and eleven years of age. If younger the Psalms
+puzzle them. I try a new boy's voice at the choir practice. If he has a
+sweet tone, and can reach F sharp, however faintly, I accept him, and
+keep him on probation at the practices. About half-a-dozen are so kept,
+and the best lad fills any vacancy occurring in the choir. I have no
+trouble as regards discipline, as a fine, or the knowledge that their
+places can be instantly filled by the probationers, keeps the choristers
+well in their places. At the choir practices I begin with running up and
+down the scales with their voices together, beginning soft, and allowing
+the voices to increase as the scales ascend, and diminish on descending,
+but holding on to the top-most notes whilst I play a chord or two on it.
+Then with a nod of my head they descend. At times one note is given them
+on which to _cres._ and _dim._, for breathing exercise. Not one lad
+knows his notes except as to their rise and fall and values. They depend
+on their ear entirely, even in the most difficult fugues."
+
+At this church anthems and settings of the Canticles are sung every
+Sunday evening. The men are voluntary; the head boys get from 30s. to
+40s. a year, the solo boys receiving 3d. or 6d. as an encouragement
+after rendering a solo or verse part.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In spite of all that can be written on the subject of voice-training,
+the art is one most difficult to communicate. Some teachers succeed;
+others fail. A remarkable instance of this came under my notice lately.
+The headmaster of a school asked me to pay his boys a visit in order, if
+possible, to discover the reason of the great falling-off in their
+singing. His previous singing-teacher had brought the boys to a high
+pitch of excellence. When he left, the singing was placed under the
+charge of an undermaster, who had for a year or more heard all the
+singing lessons given by his predecessor, who used the same voice
+exercises with the same boys in the same room. Surely, one would have
+thought the results must be the same. But the singing had deteriorated;
+flattening, and a lifeless manner had overcome the boys. The causes, so
+far as I could discover, were first that the new teacher wanted the
+magnetic, enthusiastic way of the old, and second, that he had not so
+quick an ear for change of register, and allowed the lower mechanism of
+the voice to be forced up higher than its proper limits.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+This chapter focuses a large amount of valuable experience, but amid the
+many hints which are given, two ways of securing right tone stand out
+with marked prominence. They are, soft singing, and the downward
+practice of scales.
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+INFORMATION ON VOICE-TRAINING, COLLECTED BY THE SALISBURY DIOCESAN
+CHORAL ASSOCIATION.
+
+
+I am indebted to the Rev. W. Miles Barnes, rector of Monkton,
+Dorchester, for the following information, recently obtained by him on
+the subject of voice-training. It appears that for the information of
+choir instructors (some 200 in number) in union with the Salisbury
+Diocesan Choral Association, the advice of precentors and organists of
+cathedrals was lately sought as to the best way of correcting a very
+common fault in the singing of country choirs.
+
+The following questions were proposed:
+
+"(I.) It is a common practice in country choirs for boys and
+tenors to force the lower register to sing notes which
+should be taken in the higher or head register. The
+notes thus forced are harsh and unmusical in tone, and
+generally flat in pitch. How would you correct this
+fault in boys?"
+
+"(II.) What method is employed in ---- Cathedral for developing
+and strengthening the higher (head) register in
+boys' voices?"
+
+The following are extracts from the replies:--
+
+    Rev. F. J. HELMORE, Precentor of Canterbury.
+
+I should recommend the practice of the first five notes of the scales of
+A, B[b], B, and C, _piano_, taken rather slowly, and then of intervals
+from G to D, G to E[b], G to E, A to E, &c. &c. After that I would try
+them with the complete scales of E, F, F[#], and G, fast and _forte_,
+thus:--
+
+[Illustration: musical notation]
+
+If no improvement is perceptible, begin again. Practice is the main
+thing, after a boy has got to understand his faults.
+
+    Rev. W. MANN, M.A., Precentor of Bristol.
+
+(1.) I think it almost impossible to remedy the evil you complain of
+after the boys have been accustomed to sing upper notes from the chest
+for some time--say one or two years. Our practice here is to secure boys
+between the ages of 9 and 11, before they have been singing elsewhere,
+or certainly before they have acquired any faulty tricks of forcing the
+voice.
+
+(2.) In training boys' voices never allow them to shout. If they
+commence singing when young they may be taught by scale practice (always
+singing quietly) to bridge over the break which exists between the chest
+and head voice. This is an art, and requires experience.
+
+(3.) Speaking generally, I should say that judicious scale practice is
+the remedy likely to be of most service in the case specified, teaching
+boys, by singing quietly, to glide the chest voice into the upper
+register. I recommend the syllable "la" as generally best for the
+purpose all through the scale. Boys should keep their tongues down, open
+mouths well, sing not through teeth, &c. &c. I find that boys acquire
+the cathedral style of singing (with the well-known flute or bell-like
+tone) chiefly by example. In singing with boys who have already acquired
+it the younger ones catch the style, just as birds are taught to sing by
+trained songsters. The untrained rustic can never naturally produce this
+tone, but much may be done by (1) careful scale practice; (2) strict
+enforcement of a quiet easy style, and rigid prohibition of shouting, or
+forcing the voice; (3) the occasional example of trained singers.
+
+    Rev. C. HYLTON STEWART, Precentor of Chester.
+
+The great thing is not to train boys _up_ through break in the voice,
+but _down_ through it, and so to coach them that the break becomes
+imperceptible. The top notes ought to be practised very softly until a
+good round note is procured. This, however, can seldom be done out of a
+cathedral, as it requires constant attention.
+
+    Rev. W. E. DICKSON, Precentor of Ely.
+
+In this Cathedral, and I suppose in every other, the boys have at least
+one hour of daily practice under the most favourable circumstances of
+quiet music-room and good pianoforte, and an able teacher. The two
+orderly services follow with the regularity of a clock, and in these the
+voices of the boys are balanced and supported by those of adult
+singers--presumably, good vocalists.
+
+I think you will agree that no practical rules, available by instructors
+of village choirs, can be founded upon arrangements so far beyond their
+reach. To describe any "Method" of developing voices under such
+circumstances would be quite delusive.
+
+A life-long experience in the training of parish choirs would lead me to
+say that the best approach to true voice production is made when a lady
+takes charge of the choir, and has the boys to practise at her own
+house.
+
+To say that all instructors should use unwearied diligence and unfailing
+patience and kindness in the attempt to get soft singing, is only to
+repeat a very trite remark.
+
+In schools, the mistake is often made of singing almost all the
+exercises in the key of C, and commencing all scales with the syllable
+"Do." In trying candidates for admission to the choir, we constantly
+find that they have been accustomed to a scale of 13 notes only (one
+octave) up and down. The scales should begin on all or any of the
+notes--D[#], B[Symbol: natural], G[b], &c., and the peculiarities of the
+intervals should be familiarly explained.
+
+A pamphlet might be written. But there is no "Royal road."
+
+    J. M. W. YOUNG, Esq., Organist of Lincoln.
+
+The precentor has forwarded your note to me. In answer to your question
+asking how to prevent the trebles in country choirs from forcing the
+upper notes, I would suggest that when practising the choir, care should
+be taken that the trebles are never allowed to sing even the _middle_
+notes _loud_, only _mf_, and they should be frequently practised to sing
+_piano_. If this be attended to, it will, in a great measure, prevent
+the forcing of the voice on the higher notes, which should never be
+practised otherwise than softly.
+
+Country choirs nearly always sing twice as loud as they ought to do,
+consequently the tone becomes harsh and grating, and they invariably
+sing the upper notes out of tune.
+
+I never allow the Cathedral choristers to practise in a loud tone of
+voice, yet their voices are rich and mellow, and there is never any want
+of power when it is required. Any tendency to force the voice is checked
+at once. It will be found very useful to practise the trebles with the
+diatonic scale at a moderately quick pace, taking care to sing it
+_smoothly_ and _piano throughout_, first to "OO," next to "Oh," and
+finally to "Ah."
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+PRONUNCIATION IN SINGING.
+
+
+It is impossible to emphasise too strongly the importance of clear
+pronunciation in singing. The English, as a rule, pronounce
+indistinctly. "We carry on our talk," says Mr. H. Deacon, "in mere
+_smudges_ of sound," a graphic and true way of putting things. The
+Scotch, Welsh, and Americans pronounce better than we do. Indistinctness
+and bad dialect arise, roughly speaking, from two sources--impure vowels
+and omitted consonants. The impure vowels are generally due to local
+habits of speech, such as the London dialect, which makes a colourless
+mixture of all the vowels. In some parts of Scotland also the vowels are
+very impure. The voice-training exercises given elsewhere are several of
+them directed towards the production of good vowel tone, but the danger
+is lest the power gained in these should not be applied to the actual
+words encountered in psalm, canticle, anthem, or hymn. A sentence
+containing all the vowels may be chanted repeatedly on a monotone, but
+after all the best exercise consists in constant watchfulness against
+mispronunciation in the ordinary weekly practice.
+
+Man, according to Mr. R. G. White, may be defined as a consonant-using
+animal. He alone of all animals uses consonants. The cries of animals
+and of infants are inarticulate. So is the speech of a drunken man, who
+descends, vocally as well as in other ways, to the level of the beasts.
+This idea has been expressed in another way, by saying that vowels
+express the emotional side of speech, and consonants its intellectual
+side. All these distinctions point to the great importance of a clear
+enunciation of initial and final consonants, and a clear separation of
+words. A well-known bishop said to a candidate for ordination, "Before
+uttering a second word be sure that you have yourself heard the first."
+
+It is of no use to give a list of common errors, because each part of
+the country has its own bad points of dialect. The choirmaster should
+take his standard of English from the best preacher and reader he has
+the chance to hear, and endeavour to conform his boys to it.
+
+But localisms are not the only faults. Boys are very apt to clip their
+words in chanting, to omit the smaller parts of speech altogether, and
+to invent new and meaningless sounds of their own. The most familiar
+parts of the service need frequent and watchful rehearsal to prevent
+this tendency. Chanting, as a rule, is much too fast, and the eagerness
+of the boys must be restrained in this direction.
+
+In those rare cases where pronunciation and elocutional phrasing reach a
+high pitch of excellence, the music of the service makes a double appeal
+to the heart. It bears not only the charm of sweet sounds, but the
+eloquence of noble words.
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+SINGING BY EAR AND BY NOTE.
+
+
+Many choirmasters maintain that, considering the short musical life of
+the choir-boy, it is not worth while to teach him to sing by note. The
+quickness of boys' ears for music, they say, is astonishing, while their
+memories are equally good. Between the two faculties--ear and memory--we
+are told that all things necessary are supplied. The boys, it is said,
+don't like theory, and it saves time and patience not to have to teach
+it to them.
+
+I am altogether at issue with this view. I believe theory can be made
+interesting to boys, especially if the Tonic Sol-fa system is used, and
+that if they are taught sight-singing the choirmaster saves himself a
+vast amount of trouble. The after musical doings of the boys should also
+be considered, and whether they become tenors and basses, or take to an
+instrument, the power to read music will be a happiness through their
+whole lives.
+
+The leading anthems, services, and psalters are now published in the
+Tonic Sol-fa notation, so that boys who have learnt to sing from the
+letters at school may quickly be put to sing their parts in the church
+choir. The late Alfred Stone, of Bristol, who used the Tonic Sol-fa
+notation for his choir boys, found it a great time-saver. So quickly was
+the service music got through at the weekly practice that there was
+nearly an hour to spare for singing glees and getting up cantatas. Mr.
+Stone arranged his boys in two grades. The upper grade all held a Tonic
+Sol-fa certificate, and they received higher pay than the lower grade.
+The result of this arrangement was that the lower boys got the upper
+ones to teach them Tonic Sol-fa in their playtime, and thus saved the
+choirmaster a great deal of trouble.
+
+A serious disadvantage of the ordinary way of learning to sing from the
+staff notation is that practice usually begins in, and is for several
+months confined to key C. For boys' voices this is the most trying of
+all the keys--the one most likely to lead to bad habits in the use of
+the registers. The keys for boys to begin in are G and F, where you can
+get a cadence upon the tonic in the thin register. A German choirmaster,
+whose choir is greatly celebrated, has sent me a little book of
+exercises which he uses, and I find that, as in most English
+publications of a similar kind, there are pages of exercises in key C,
+before any other key is attempted. In Tonic Sol-fa all keys are equally
+available from the first.
+
+I have had a wide experience of boys taught on all systems, both in this
+country and abroad. I have been present, by the courtesy of
+choirmasters, at rehearsals in all parts of the country. And I have
+noticed that boys taught by ear, or taught the staff notation by the
+fixed _do_, make mistakes which boys trained by Tonic Sol-fa and singing
+from it, or applying their knowledge of it to the staff notation, could
+not make. The class of mistake I refer to is that which confuses the
+place of the semitones in the scale. A sight-singing manual which I
+picked up the other day says that the whole matter of singing at sight
+lies in knowing where the semitones come. And from one point of view
+this is true, but to the Tonic Sol-faist the semitones always come in
+the same places, _i.e_., between _me_ and _fah_, and between _te_ and
+_doh_. He has only one scale to learn, and as to modulation, that is
+accomplished for him by his notation, while the time marks, separating
+and defining the beats or pulses of the music, make rhythm vividly
+clear.
+
+If choirmasters wish to save themselves trouble, and get confident
+attack and good intonation from their boys, they should teach them the
+Tonic Sol-fa notation, and let them sing from it always. The staff
+notation they can easily learn later on.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+FLATTENING, AND SINGING OUT OF TUNE.
+
+
+The trainer of adult voices has constantly before him the problem of
+making his pupils sing in tune. With boys this matter is less of a
+trouble, for this reason. Many adults have fine voices which, if their
+intonation can be improved, will do great things. Others have incurably
+bad voices, but possessing the ambition and the means for studying
+singing, they come under the hands of the professor. In the case of
+boys, however, there is a preliminary process of selection by which the
+teacher rejects at the outset any defective ears and voices. The trainer
+of boys chooses his pupils; adult students of singing, as a rule, choose
+their teacher.
+
+Even, however, when a good set of boys has been chosen and trained,
+every choirmaster is troubled from time to time by the evils which I
+have named at the head of this paper.
+
+What are their causes? Probably no cause is so fruitful as a misuse of
+the registers of the voice, a straining upwards of the lower register
+beyond its proper limits. This may be placed in the front as a perpetual
+cause of bad intonation and loss of pitch. This straining is usually
+accompanied with loud singing, but boys who have formed this bad habit
+will not at once sustain the pitch if told to sing softly. Their voices,
+under these circumstances, will at first prove weak and husky, and will
+flatten as much with soft singing as they did with loud. A slow process
+of voice training can alone set them right. But as boys' voices last so
+short a time this treatment is not worth the trouble. Boys who have
+fallen into thoroughly bad habits should therefore be dismissed, and a
+fresh selection made.
+
+Some choirmasters imagine that practice with the organ or the pianoforte
+will cure flattening and uncertainty. This, however, is not the case.
+Probably the effort to keep up the pitch which singers make when
+unaccompanied keeps their minds and throats tense and active, while the
+consciousness that the instrument is supporting them makes them
+careless. An instrument reveals loss of pitch, but does not cure it. No
+good choirmaster rehearses with the organ. A pianoforte, lightly
+touched, is commonly used, but the teacher should frequently leave his
+seat, and accustom the choir to go on alone.
+
+It is a mistake to suppose that boys flatten because the music is too
+high. This is very rarely the case. They are more likely to flatten
+because it is too low. Boys attack high notes with greater ease than
+women.
+
+Nervousness will cause a singer who has sung in perfect tune at home to
+sing sharp or flat at a concert. But nervousness does not greatly
+trouble boys.
+
+Carelessness will sometimes cause these troubles. The way to cure this
+is to increase the interest of the rehearsal, to make the boys feel
+bright, happy, and comfortable.
+
+To mark the breathing places is a good way of preventing flattening,
+which is often caused by exhausted lungs.
+
+Singing is a mental as well as a physical act, and unless the boy has a
+clear conception in his mind of the sound of the note he wants, the
+intonation will be uncertain. Here comes in the Tonic Sol-fa system with
+its "Mental Effects," which give a recognisable character to each note
+of the scale, and guide the voice and ear.
+
+Bad voice production, throaty and rigid, must always go with flattening
+and wavering pitch. The act of singing should be without effort; the
+muscles of head, neck, and throat should be relaxed. A boy inclined to
+these faults should be told to smile while singing. The tone will then
+become natural.
+
+But in spite of all these hints, flattening occurs from time to time in
+the best trained choirs, and seems to defy the skill of the
+choirmaster. All agree that a half empty church, a cold church, an
+ill-ventilated church promotes flattening, and it may be added that
+certain chants and tunes so hover about the region of the break that
+they invite false intonation.
+
+Mr. H. A. Donald, headmaster of the Upton Cross Board School, tells me
+that he has not much flattening, but that when it comes it seems to be
+beyond control. The discipline of his school is excellent, but on a
+given day there will come, as it were, a mood over the boys which makes
+it impossible for them, try as they will, to avoid sinking. Sometimes,
+but not always, this will happen in warm weather. He has more than once
+abandoned the singing lesson, and taken up some other study because of
+it. One day recently the boys were most attentive, and their vexation
+and disappointment with the flattening was evident. Another day it does
+not trouble them in the least. This is a school where voice-training is
+exceptionally well looked after.
+
+Several correspondents have favoured me with experience on this point,
+and I now proceed to quote their letters. Mr. W. W. Pearson, of Elmham,
+writes:--
+
+"Ordinary flat singing is the result of want of practice and experience.
+Chronic flat singing is incurable, as it is due to a defective ear. A
+new lot of choir boys will be liable to sing flat, and to lower their
+pitch at any time for the first year or so; but after they have been in
+training for a considerable time, I never find that there is any
+inclination to sing flat. The notes most liable to be sung flat are the
+third and sixth of the scale, or any high note that requires courage and
+increased effort. One of these, having been sung flat, is taken by the
+singers as a new departure, and being used as a standard, the pitch is
+lowered, and all succeeding notes are flat.
+
+"When I first formed my present choir I was very much plagued with flat
+singing, but I am seldom troubled in that way now, and I think the
+reason is that a large proportion of the members have been under
+training for a long time.
+
+"I used to find flattening prevail more in muggy, damp, or cold
+weather, and in heated rooms. I never allowed the choir to go on in this
+way, but stopped them at once, making them begin again after singing the
+scale of the key a few times. This, of course, refers to practice. In
+church I used to play the organ louder when I heard the pitch going
+down; or I would put on a powerful solo stop for the melody, and
+slightly prolong the final note of a cadence, in order that when the
+choir ceased singing they might hear the difference. When flattening
+occurred in the concert room I used to stop the accompaniment, which is,
+I think, about all that can be done under those circumstances. When the
+choir have been hopelessly bad in a hot practice room I have cured them
+by bringing them out into a cold room adjoining."
+
+Mr. C. Hibberd, of Bemerton, Salisbury, writes:--
+
+"To prevent flattening I give great attention to the posture, seeing
+that the boys do not stand carelessly. A careless posture, I think,
+betokens a careless mind. I am careful not to overtire the children.
+They sit immediately one piece is finished, and stand immediately I
+sound the first chord of the next piece. I always start the practice
+with a few simple voice exercises. When training the choir of a place
+far away in the country, I spent more time than usual in giving ear
+exercises (dictation), as well as voice-training exercises. I pay great
+attention to 'mental effect,' and endeavour to let each boy or girl have
+a Tonic Sol-fa copy of the music. The syllables recall the mental effect
+to the mind. There should be no uncertainty as to either time or tune,
+and both words and notes should be attacked or struck with confidence. I
+always practise scales downwards, and have as little to do with the
+harmonium as possible at practice. Boy altos I rarely come across. I
+tried them once, but found they aided in flattening. We have two men
+altos here, who sing in a falsetto voice. The boys here have a name for
+singing well in tune, and they are very willing to do anything to keep
+up their character."
+
+Mr. Walter Brooks, in a paper in the _Monthly Musical Record_, expresses
+the opinion that the 3rd and 7th of the major scale are often sung
+flat. To cure this, each boy must tune up separately, then all should be
+tried together. Minor passages are often sung flat. Loss of pitch during
+service may, he says, be remedied, not by loud organ stops, but by
+playing the boys' part an octave higher. Sharp singing, which often
+arises from naturally defective or badly-trained ears, is cured best by
+checking those who can only sing loudly, and by insisting on _piano_
+singing. To put on more organ power makes the loud sharp singing worse.
+
+Herr Eglinger, of Basel, whose qualifications I have referred to
+elsewhere, considers that flattening is generally due to fatigue. The
+membranes which produce the voice are not yet strong, and they relax,
+producing flattening. He works on the principle that children are
+quickly tired, and quickly rested, and gives the singing in small doses.
+Unfortunately, in church work the length of the dose is not a matter of
+choice. He notices, what others have noticed, that when the voices are
+divided into three parts, it is the middle part that flattens most; this
+is because it plays about the break. To choirmasters whose boys flatten,
+Herr Eglinger says:--
+
+"Give rest; require a proper use of the registers; get sharp and exact
+pronunciation, especially of the consonants; and keep up with a strong
+hand the attention and interest of the choir."
+
+I close this chapter by printing a short paper on the subject kindly
+written for me by Mr. W. H. Richardson, formerly trainer of the
+celebrated Swanley Orphans' Choir, which gave concerts in all parts of
+the country. Mr. Richardson, while he was at Swanley, obtained results
+of the most remarkable excellence. At Swanley there was no selection of
+voices: all were made to sing, and all were individually trained, as
+well as collectively. "My conviction," says Mr. Richardson, "is that
+there are no more defective voices than there are eyes and ears." The
+Rev. W. J. Weekes, late Precentor of Rochester Cathedral, said of the
+Swanley boys:--
+
+"The smaller boys were first tested--some thirty or forty little
+fellows, some of them new arrivals. Here the tone, though of course not
+strong, was pure and sweet, such as would have done credit to cathedral
+boys after a couple of years' training, and they 'jumped' their
+intervals most clearly, lighting as full and fairly on the correct note
+as a bird does on a bough. Thence we moved into the larger schoolroom,
+where were assembled some hundred older boys, and such a body of sound,
+so full and pure, so free from throatiness, and so true in intonation as
+these hundred throats emitted, I certainly never heard from boys' voices
+before."
+
+In 1885 I took the late Signor Roberti, teacher of singing in the Normal
+College at Turin, and an Italian composer of eminence, to hear the
+Swanley boys, and he afterwards wrote to Mr. Richardson:--
+
+"I do not exaggerate in any way by saying that I found there a true
+perfection in tune and in rhythm, but above all, in what concerns the
+pure and correct emission of voices, the careful and judicious training
+of which confers much honour upon you, and I would be happy to see it
+even partly imitated by the teachers of the so-called Land of Song."
+
+These facts are enough to prove the weight that attaches to Mr.
+Richardson's utterances:--
+
+"My experience has been that flattening will give the teacher very
+little trouble after the pupils have been drilled with voice-training
+exercises, but until the voices are built and strengthened, he will have
+unpleasant surprises of all kinds. If he would have a reliable choir he
+must begin, continue, and end with regular voice training based on an
+undeniably good system. From the very outset the pupil should be taught
+to fear flat singing as a demon. With my boys I was for ever laying down
+the self-evident truth, 'People can endure your singing if it be
+tuneful, even though all other points of excellence are low, but no one
+can put up with your singing out of tune, except as martyrs.' The cause
+of flattening is always lack of culture. In the choirs I have trained it
+has ceased to trouble me after a few months. The habit of letting the
+pitch drop fosters itself in a remarkable manner, until at last the ear
+of the performer is perfectly satisfied with the production of a
+monstrosity. In proof of this I would mention a case which has come
+painfully under my own notice. A number of boys known to me have been in
+the daily habit of singing the tune:--
+
+[Illustration: key E[b].:d | m:f:r | d:-:m | s:-:l | s:-:s | d1:-:t |
+l:-s | &c.]
+
+and as they have only had a 'go as you please system' to hold them in,
+they now commence flattening at once with a _crescendo_ which culminates
+in the second line, and creates the effect:--
+
+[Illustration::d | m:f:r |d:-:m |s:-:l | s:-:s | 1d1:-:t |l:-:s|| &c.]
+
+The original quite gone, they quite satisfied! The cause of continued
+flat singing is allowing the _bad habit_. I am not, of course, dealing
+with exceptional cases of natural inaptitude. These are rare, and I say
+this after having had some years of experience in testing individual
+voices. I could now with very little difficulty name the few pupils I
+had at Swanley who were naturally unable to sing tunefully, and I doubt
+not that nearly all my old scholars could do the same. They were in
+reality exceptions, numbering, during the whole of the time I was with
+them, not more than half-a-dozen.
+
+"There is one stage in the voice training where the teacher finds his
+pupils (boys I am speaking of, my experience with adults not having been
+so extensive) habitually _sharpen_. In my own neighbourhood a teacher
+who has commenced to properly train his boys to sing, in a conversation
+he had with me told me of this, to him, unexpected difficulty. To get
+good intonation in part-singing, I found the singing of chords a great
+help. The class should be divided rapidly, and one note of the chord
+assigned to each section. Then it should be sung softly. This should be
+repeated with other chords, and followed by easy phrases. Voices do not
+at once blend, and until they do the singing should be never loud. I
+look upon the earlier work as tentative--a feeling for the beauty of
+perfection of pitch, tunefulness, and intonation. A practice to be
+condemned is that of learning the parts of a tune separately, and then
+bringing them together. There are, of course, places where it is
+absolutely necessary to give special attention to exceptional passages,
+but it is a mistake to teach each part as though it were an independent
+tune--to give the direction, which I have often heard, 'Now sing your
+part, and never mind what the others are doing,' or 'Don't you listen to
+any other part.' This system is answerable for the most offending cases
+of want of tunefulness, in which one part will sing on with the greatest
+of satisfaction in a key a semitone from that in which the part above or
+below is moving. The ear should be prepared by a symphony, or by
+thinking of the key before a piece is commenced. My own practice has
+been to wait after giving the key-note for the pupils to do this. I have
+recently come across a method of allowing the pupils to find the tonic
+of a song about to be sung, which in nine cases out of ten will make the
+opening as 'restless' as the sea waves. The teacher strikes the C fork,
+and the tonic being F, all the pupils sing C', B, A, G, F--doh. The C',
+B, A, G, F is, I think, as likely to unsettle the ear as anything that
+could be imagined. The teacher should give the key-note. He may teach
+his pupils to use the fork if he will, but _not_ in a way so exquisitely
+calculated to unsettle the ear when it should be strongly decided.
+
+"With regard to Registers, I do not know whether the nomenclature I
+employed with my Swanley choir will be commended by you, but as it was
+successful I will describe it. The registers we called, perhaps
+inelegantly, 'Top,' 'Middle,' and 'Bottom,' these terms being handier
+than Upper Thin, Lower Thin, and Upper Thick. The earliest exercises
+were in the Top Register--that is, the Upper Thin. Boys untrained are,
+taken in bulk, unconscious of the Thin Register. Having got them to
+sing, say C to koo, I have followed it by singing to the same syllable
+the tune:--
+
+[Illustration: KEY A[b] | m:m |f:f |s:--|m:--|| &c.]
+
+('Now the day is over,'--_A. & M._), and the delight has been intense
+when the pupils have thus discovered how clearly and sweetly they could
+sing. When this is done great possibilities seem to open, and the pupil
+is on the road to perfection. B[b] and E[b] I found most convenient for
+change. The Small Register must have been used, as my lads sang up to
+C2 with the greatest ease and finish, though one of our foremost
+teachers, in a conference I had with him on the subject, said he would
+stake his reputation that the small register was not employed by them.
+It received no name in our practices after that authoritative statement,
+and ever afterwards I was in dread of being called over the coals for
+allowing the Top register to get too high.
+
+"Boy altos can be made to sing without flattening, though they
+invariably give more trouble than trebles on account of their
+willingness to let the lower register overlap the one above--to force
+upward. They should practise with the trebles such exercises as:--
+
+[Illustration: KEY E[b] s f m r d]
+
+so as to strengthen this part of the voice, which may be termed their
+flattening field."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+ON THE TRAINING OF BOYS' VOICES.
+
+By W. H. RICHARDSON, Formerly Conductor of the Swanley Orphanage
+Choir.[A]
+
+
+[A] Mr. Richardson has responded to my request for hints with such
+fulness and weight that I devote a separate chapter to his essay. In
+writing, he has specially had in view the difficulties of choir trainers
+in rural districts.
+
+All that a writer on the training of voices can do is to lay down
+general lines, and give comprehensive suggestions. The teacher, to make
+any use of them must be indeed a _teacher_, not a mere mechanically
+automatic individual of only sufficient calibre to take the directions
+of a writer, and give them again. He should be both enthusiastic in his
+work, and willing to spend his strength in patience if he would have a
+choir of boys to sing _reliably_ well. It is of the greatest importance
+that work should be set out on right lines, and that a thoughtfully
+prepared scheme should be arranged before commencing. I would here give
+my experience of two choirs I had at different times in agricultural
+districts, and in one of them I was well satisfied with the progress we
+made, while in the other my work was completely thrown away. The reason
+for the failure in the second instance (which I foresaw from the outset)
+will be gathered from the following account of our plan of campaign. The
+choir was a village one which met for rehearsal once a week. The
+organist attended and presided at a harmonium, and, _nolens volens_, I
+had at the beginning of each practice to take the choir through the
+whole of the next Sunday's services. The boys' voices were, at the
+beginning of my connection, uncivilised, and at the end of
+it--fortunately the question of ways and means not allowing the interval
+to extend beyond a few months--were as barbarous as at the commencement.
+There was absolutely no chance of making a name through these
+youngsters; and as to voice culture! How could it be possible to attempt
+it after labouring through such a programme as Canticles, Hymns, Psalms,
+Kyrie, and Amens?
+
+I determined never to take office again unless I could have my own way
+in fixing the time-table of work. My success in the other case was owing
+greatly to the fact that I had one night a week entirely devoted to
+musical training and voice culture. This did not preclude us from
+relieving the drudgery of work by the singing of songs and hymns, _but_
+it allowed me the use of an unfettered judgment in the _choice_ of what
+should be attempted. A teacher is heavily handicapped if after getting
+his boys for the first time to sing in the upper thin register, he is to
+follow his delicate work by singing half-a-dozen verses to a tune which
+will in the very first verse undo all that he has done, simply because
+its melodic progression encourages forcing. Experienced teachers will
+appreciate what I say on this point. Take such a tune as:--
+
+[Illustration: &c.
+
+KEY E[b]. {|m:f |s:l |t:d1 |s:f || &c.]
+
+--a tune which inevitably causes a wrong use of the registers by
+inexperienced boys. The tunes selected should further the work of the
+exercises, not undo it, and with diligence the teacher can find suitable
+tunes and chants for this purpose. My advice to all teachers is that
+before commencing work they should insist upon conditions that do not
+preclude success, and that they should not spend their labour in
+wearying drudgery with the full consciousness that to attain it is
+impossible.
+
+One suggestion I would make is that the choirmaster, if he be not, as is
+often the case in villages, also schoolmaster, would do well to enlist
+the services of the school teachers in the village. It is not often
+practicable to have more than one--or two at the most--meetings of a
+choir during the week, and the length of the lesson must be, in
+consequence, at least an hour. For voice training in the earlier stages
+six lessons a week of fifteen minutes each are preferable to one of an
+hour and a half, and therefore I would urge the _necessity_ of getting
+hold of the sympathies of the school teacher, and putting him on right
+lines to work out the choirmaster's ideas, if the offices be not united.
+
+Voice work should be begun in the infant school. At Swanley it was my
+practice to give, I believe, daily lessons in the Infant Department, and
+the remarks made by visitors will bear out what I am about to say as to
+the possibility of getting young children to sing, and sing like little
+angels. I was always as pleased to exhibit my infants' vocal powers as
+to show those of my more advanced boys, and success was, comparatively
+speaking, more easily gained with them than with older boys, for
+inasmuch as the difficulty of registers and breaks does not exist as
+such with these tiny ones, and unless our plans be artificial or formed
+of caprice, this is what should be expected.
+
+In the infant school the teacher can take hold of the good that is
+innate, and mould it; in the higher school he has to spend hours and
+hours eradicating the bad habits which shouting and untamed license have
+allowed to grow. By all means begin with the infants, and let their
+songs and nursery rhymes be written so as to "give them a chance."
+
+But I am asked to say something that may be helpful to the choirmaster
+having to train the vocal organs of boys who are beyond infantile
+methods. I will therefore suppose myself for the first time before an
+ordinary country group of lads with all the vocal faults that now appear
+indigenous to the locality. I should first get them to find the Upper
+Thin Register, and my plan is to confine the work to this region
+[Illustration: musical notation] and get the boys to sing "koo" to D,
+E, or F, making my own "Exercises," which are suggested by present
+circumstances:--
+
+[Illustration: Koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo
+
+KEY D[b]. d1 m1 m1 d1 m1 r1 d1 d1 r1 m1
+
+Koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo
+
+KEY D. d1 r1 d1 l t d1 d1 t r1 d1
+
+Koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo
+
+KEY E[b]. d1 r1 t d1 r1 d1 l s d1
+
+Koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo
+
+KEY B[b]. s f m r d s m s s s]
+
+As at this stage the boys know nothing of the diatonic scale, I let them
+imitate. The exercises _may_ be played on a pianoforte, if the teacher
+cannot sing them, though in the latter case it is preferable that he
+should adopt the plan of selecting his best pupils for the models.
+
+I once had to commence with some uncultured boys, and knowing the
+difficulty of getting them to make a start, took with me a few of my own
+trained lads, who sang the exercises first, after which I added one or
+two of the beginners to them, and sympathetically they soon sang in the
+proper register with the others. By continuing the process of addition
+gradually I soon got the whole class to sing as I wished.
+
+At this first lesson the proper production of "oo" (vowel) should be
+obtained. I deal with the vowels as they arise, never observing a lack
+of clearness and purity without endeavouring to correct it. The
+foregoing exercises can next be used for teaching the intervals of the
+diatonic scale, for instance:--
+
+[Illustration: KEY F. {|d1:--| s:--|| s:--| d1:--||]
+
+calling the notes by their names, doh soh. Here, again, the proper vowel
+production must be sought for, and obtained. The difficulties will be
+varied in this respect with the locality. Often I have met with
+doh-_oo_. This, as well as ray-_ee_, and other faults that need not be
+specified, can be corrected at once. The beautiful intonation we had at
+Swanley I attribute in a large measure to the care bestowed on the
+production of vowel sounds. There must be no division of opinion among
+the singers as to how any particular vowel sound should be emitted. If
+there be not unity in this respect the intonation suffers.
+
+The earlier exercises should be sung in unison, a correct division into
+1st, 2nd, and 3rd trebles being impossible until the boys have acquired
+sufficient confidence to show _what_ they are naturally. I have for a
+long time used with advantage the single chant form for exercises,
+making them myself.
+
+[Illustration: KEY F. {|d1:-|l:t |d1:-||d1:-|t:1 |s:t |d1:-||]
+
+In order to avoid waste of time in learning exercises they should be
+_short_, so that they can be caught up at once.
+
+To get boys to sing in the register below (the Lower Thin) is the next
+step, the exercises now being confined between [Illustration: musical
+notation] and formed in the same way as those in the higher region. The
+difficulty is greater in getting rough boys to use this part of the
+vocal score correctly. The best way I have found to get them to
+discover it, is to sing [Illustration: KEY F. s f m r d]--beginning at
+C1, to koo. The notes are at first weak, and there is a tendency to
+"squork," if I may so term it. These exercises must be sung softly at
+first, and at this stage the schoolmaster can render valuable help if he
+will get his boys to read from their lesson books in this register
+instead of in the one below it.
+
+I have to acknowledge a debt of gratitude to one of our best and most
+painstaking teachers for giving me this hint. The reading will at first
+be weak, and in a monotone, and there being no flexibility, the boys
+will have difficulty in forming the usual cadence at the end of
+sentences, but practice will soon strengthen the weakness, and make this
+register as strong as the one below it. Between the one above and the
+one below, this "middle" one is apt to be overlooked altogether, and I
+have heard some fairly pleasing singing where it has not been recognised
+at all.
+
+The third register (Upper Thick) should now receive attention, and in
+order to find it the pupils should cultivate it upwards with such
+exercises as--
+
+[Illustration: &c.
+
+KEY A[b]. d_1 r_1 d_1 d_1 r_1 m_1 &c.
+
+Koo koo koo koo koo koo]
+
+Within the limits of a short paper, it is impossible to give more fully
+all the needful directions for training the voices to cover up breaks,
+and to change from one register to another.
+
+Suitable tunes should now be selected, so that the aim of the exercises
+may be extended. Remember that it is easiest to _leap_ from one register
+to a higher, a stepwise ascent being an insidious snare. Koo and
+afterwards laa such tunes as:--
+
+[Illustration: KEY C.
+
+{| s:m |d1:s |m1:-.r1|d1:s |l:l |s:d1 |s:f |m:-||
+
+KEY E[b].
+
+{|m:r |f:m |r:-|m:-||l:s |t:d1 |s:-|f:-||
+
+{|m:r |f:m |r:-|l:-||d1:s |m:r |d:-|-:-||]
+
+Many ready-made exercises are to be found in any chant book, which can
+be used to strengthen the voice and build it. For voice exercise I like
+a high reciting note at the beginning, D1, C1, E[b]1, as by this we
+ensure getting the right register for the high notes, which will be a
+matter of doubt for some time if the question of suitability of melody
+be left out of calculation.
+
+I strongly recommend the use of the time names. For some years I was
+prejudiced against them, but after trying them, believe them to be of
+the greatest value.
+
+The teacher should give manual signs for his short exercises. Time is
+wasted unnecessarily if the teacher has to turn and write on the board.
+The objection to working through a book, only using prescribed
+exercises, is chiefly this--no book writer can provide for all the
+permutations and combinations that may arise during the actual work of
+teaching; it is impossible for him to anticipate them. This does not in
+the least detract from the value of the book, which must be the best
+_general_ guide for by far the larger part of our teachers.
+
+I have referred to the teaching of vowel sounds, and would say a word
+about consonants. My practice has been to guard against giving undue
+prominence to any individual letter, and to encourage always a _simple
+unaffected utterance_ in singing. Rolling "r's" is very well, but to
+precede the vowel with a sound not unlike the noise caused by springing
+a police rattle is neither artistic nor pleasing. My custom was to first
+let the pupils sing a vowel, say _aa_, and require it to be held on as
+long as my hand was still. A sharp movement of the hand directed when
+the consonant should appear, as _aa--t_, &c., the appearance and
+disappearance being as close together as possible. It is a difficulty
+with beginners to sing such words as "night," "bright," &c., holding on
+the middle part, or vowel. I demonstrated that the singer has nothing
+left to sing after having too soon disposed of the vowel. I also gave
+exercises in prefixing a consonant to a vowel. Other points of detail
+will arise, such as in the word "sing." The habit here is to make the
+"ng" sound throughout the greater part of the durance of the singing of
+the word. By analysing, and showing by copying the bad model, the
+teacher will convince the pupil that "ng" held on is unpleasant. In
+singing laa, laa, laa, &c., at first pupils lower and raise the jaw.
+This should be at once stopped. But it is impossible to anticipate every
+difficulty that will arise under this head. I have said enough to
+indicate generally my method. I do not propose to enter into the
+question of breathing. One thing I would say--do not try pupils by
+requiring them to sing long notes at first, but do get them at the
+beginning to "phrase" to your pattern. This will from the first get the
+will to control the breath taking.
+
+By all means introduce certificates. By the examination of individuals,
+the teacher will get truer knowledge of his learners' powers, and will
+be enabled to give advice of greater value because of its assured need.
+Let the examination be in public--before the other pupils--and so help
+to beget confidence in the pupil, without which success will be limited.
+The teacher should never do anything to destroy the confidence of his
+pupils, though I am bound to admit that I have not always been free from
+irritability and impatience in my dealings with pupils. The work is
+trying, the nerves of a teacher of singing are throughout highly
+strung, and very little cause is necessary to upset his equilibrium. He
+should therefore be ever on his guard to check any tendency to show
+impatience.
+
+Never get a pupil to sing alone for the sake of showing his defects to
+others. No one can _sing_ who does not possess a sense of his power to
+do so. There should be encouraged an _abandon_ sort of manner. A
+gentleman once said to me, "I see how you make your boys sing; you tell
+them they can do it, and that makes them do it." The rigid watching of
+the beat of the conductor should not be too closely insisted on. No
+machine-like singing should satisfy, even though it be _correct_. The
+correctness of a great painter's production is not everything, and
+neither is it with the singer. There should an atmosphere of the liberty
+of freedom.
+
+At Swanley my work was lessened by the interest that all my colleagues
+took in it. A moral force was constantly brought to bear on the boys,
+which made them work with a will and a determination to excel. Their
+success was the same in other departments of work, though not so
+prominently placed. The music teacher who has in himself the power to
+draw out the latent feeling of his pupils is the one who will best
+succeed. I would draw my remarks to a close with this advice:--Make your
+choir as large as possible. Take all who will come into it, and do not
+go through the form of "trying" voices that have never tried themselves,
+and of which you can form no opinion. For adults this is a necessity,
+but for children it is better to get one or two per cent. of naturally
+defective learners, rather than to turn away all but those showing
+undoubtedly exceptional ability.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE SPECIAL DIFFICULTIES OF AGRICULTURAL DISTRICTS.
+
+
+My object is to help those whose difficulties are greatest; who, so far
+from being able to pick out boys of musical talent and fine voice, are
+obliged to accept the material that offers, often of the poorest musical
+description. The country boy is a more healthy animal than his brother
+of the town, and there is no fault to be found with the natural volume
+of his voice provided he can be taught to place his registers rightly,
+to avoid straining the thick or chest register, to pronounce and phrase
+properly. This is, however, what the Americans call "a large order."
+
+I have been fortunate in collecting information from several
+choirmasters in agricultural districts, who have conquered the
+difficulties of this task. First, I quote Mr. W. Critchley, choirmaster
+and schoolmaster at Hurst, near Reading:--
+
+"The rural choir-boy differs somewhat from his brethren of the town in
+the following particulars. As a rule, he is duller, and slower in his
+perception; he is attentive and docile, but sluggish; he retains what he
+is taught, and therefore, as far as mere knowledge and memory are
+concerned, it 'pays' to take him in hand. His voice is strong, but
+rough, and this undisciplined strength is the cause of most of the
+trouble he gives. Moreover, he is exposed to the weather very largely,
+and this causes him to be more influenced by atmospheric changes than
+the town boy, and prevents, in a great measure, any great delicacy of
+finish from being obtained. So it will be seen that the country
+choir-boy requires special treatment in order to produce good results.
+Sometimes, when a village lies compactly together, a large amount of
+work can be got through similar to that which we find in towns, but
+generally the rural district is wide and scattered, and only a limited
+number of practices can be secured. Under these circumstances, I have
+found the best course to pursue to be somewhat as follows:--First and
+foremost, let the Tonic Sol-fa system be taught, it lightens the work of
+the choirmaster in a wonderful degree, and the boys bring an
+intelligence to their work which is unattainable by any other means. If
+the system has not been taught in the day school of the parish, it
+should be introduced at once; if that is not practicable, the choir-boys
+should be taught at a second practice-night. This second practice is
+required in any case, if anything better than mere 'scratch' singing be
+aimed at. _All_ practices should be begun by voice exercises. On the
+extra night a greater amount of time should be taken up with them, for
+to a country choir-boy, who perhaps in the day is shouting to scare
+birds, they are vital. The lower register of a country boy is, as a
+rule, coarse, so it is important to get him to use his higher register
+as soon as possible. Show him first of all that he has, as it were, _two
+voices_, and point out that he is required, as Mr. Evans observes, to
+use that voice which is most like a girl's. He will be apt for some time
+to use this voice in the upper notes of the music only, and there will
+be a disagreeable transition to the lower register when the music comes
+down on G, or thereabouts. To conquer this, I use exercises which train
+the upper register _downwards_, such as:--
+
+[Illustration: KEYS A to F.
+
+d m s m d r [(.d] [(.t]_1 [(.l]_1]
+
+the object being to strengthen the upper register, and, except where the
+music touches D or C, [Illustration: musical notation] to practically
+'shelve' the lower thick register in the case of treble voices. In
+training upwards I insist on easy singing, no straining. I don't mean
+apathetic singing, for this is especially to be fought against in the
+case of country boys, as there is naturally a want of 'go' about them. I
+mean soft singing, but energetic. I tell the boys to sing like birds,
+and they generally understand from this that they are to use the upper
+register. I do not find much difficulty with them in the way of
+flattening. Except in the case of the younger boys, I often hear them a
+little sharp. The Tonic Sol-fa method trains their _ears_, and I get
+them to listen, and blend their voices; above all, to get rid of apathy.
+And if there should be a tendency with the younger boys to sing flat, I
+generally find that the application of the old rules as to position,
+loud singing, forcing the voice, faulty breathing, and inattention will
+remedy the fault. If it occurs in church, a judicious use of a four-foot
+stop on the organ often keeps up the pitch. I find, if the melody of a
+chant or tune has a great many of the 'thirds' of the chords in it (I
+mean as distinct from the fifth, root, &c.) it is often difficult,
+especially on a foggy morning, to keep it in tune, _e.g_.:--
+
+[Illustration: KEY G.
+
+{| [(.m] |m:r |m:--|| [(.m] |r:d |r:r |m:--||
+
+or,
+
+KEY G.
+
+{| [(.m] |f:m |re:--|| [(.m] |r:d |t_1:r |d:--||
+
+or,
+
+KEY F.
+
+{| [(.m] |f:l |s:--|| [(.s] |d1:m |r:f |m:--||]
+
+This is the case in a marked degree when the reciting tone comes about
+the natural 'break' of the voice. The remedy for this I find to be
+transition into another key, one which I judge to be more congenial to
+the state of the boys' voices. Here is where the usefulness of the Tonic
+Sol-fa system to an organist comes in. A lot of practice in mental
+effects has a surprising result in ear training. Sometimes, however, we
+get a clergyman who intones badly, and then it is quite a struggle to
+keep in tune.
+
+"There are a number of other little points which tell against correct
+singing in a country choir; the generally thick enunciation, the
+provincialism, the difficulty in getting open mouths. I do a lot of
+reading by pattern, and pay attention to initial and final consonants.
+Country boys neglect these more than town boys. I practise without organ
+as much as I can. If an instrument is used, the piano is decidedly the
+best. I find Gregorian singing has a strong tendency to injure purity of
+tone and delicacy of expression. I do as little of it as possible.
+
+"On the second choir practice night I spoke of, it is certainly good to
+take up glee practice, or a simple cantata. It sustains the interest,
+and makes the choir a bond of union in a country village."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Not long ago I found myself by chance worshipping in a remote village in
+East Somerset, Churchill by name. There was, in the parish church, a
+choir of six boys and four probationers, who sang so slowly and sweetly,
+not with the luscious fulness of some boys I have heard, but with such
+uncommonly good style for agricultural boys, that I was much interested.
+These small villages have, from the present point of view, one
+advantage. The day schools are "mixed" (containing boys and girls), and
+the teacher is a lady. Both these influences tend to the softening of
+the boy's voice. Miss Demack, the school-and choir-mistress at
+Churchill, has kindly written a few notes on the subject of her work, in
+which she says:--
+
+"I certainly think that the girls' voices soften the boys'. I admit
+probationers at the early age of six if I find they have any voice, as I
+think the earlier the better. When I took my boys in hand, I found scale
+exercises very useful. I did not teach them any tunes until I had
+somewhat altered their rough voices. Another help was this: I had a girl
+with a particularly good voice, and made the boys imitate her as much as
+possible. This I found answered remarkably well. The boys seemed to
+adopt quite a different tone."
+
+Miss Demack teaches singing in the school and choir by ear only, and
+knows nothing of the Tonic Sol-fa system.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I next give a short paper kindly sent me by Mr. George Parbery,
+choirmaster of the parish church, and master of the National School at
+Fordingbridge, Hants:--
+
+"Dear Sir,--As choirmaster of the parish church here, and as one who
+takes great interest in the subject of singing in schools, I am happy to
+respond to your request, as we are essentially a rural district.
+
+"I have occupied my position now nearly ten years, and am just beginning
+to find the benefit of the Tonic Sol-fa movement amongst my adult
+members of the choir, having now nine adults who have passed through the
+school with a good practical knowledge of the Sol-fa notation.
+
+"When I commenced work here (coming from north of England) I was struck
+with the very disagreeable tone of the boys' and girls' voices. To say
+they sang flat does not convey how flat they sang, nor does it convey
+any idea of the tone, but the same may be heard any night at the
+Salvation Army meetings here. The vicar of the parish told me also upon
+my arrival here, that at a church in Bournemouth a former vicar used to
+import all his boy voices outside of Hampshire. So that you will gather
+that I had not a light task before me to produce a tone satisfactory to
+myself or the inspector. But I may safely say I have for some years
+satisfied myself, and last year our assistant-inspector spoke of the
+very beautiful quality of the boys' voices. I can assure you that it is
+only rarely that I find occasion to complain of the tone. The moment I
+hear the objectionable tone produced, I immediately stop the singing,
+even if in the middle of prayers. Mine is a boys' school, but I teach
+the girls singing with the boys. Now as to how I produced the change:--
+
+"1. I introduced the Tonic Sol-fa notation.
+
+"2. I used to practise very frequently for a few minutes upon the
+modulator, making abundant use of the upper--
+
+[Illustration: KEY C. d1 r1 m1 f1]
+
+"3. I prohibited all shouting on high notes.
+
+"4. Particularly was I severe upon loud singing in lower notes, say,
+
+[Illustration: KEY F. r d t_1 l_1 s_1]
+
+"5. I established a degree of sound, and have it still, what is known
+amongst my scholars as 'singing in a whisper'--_i.e._, to produce
+singing as softly as possible. This idea I picked up in Cheshire from a
+good Tonic Sol-faist.
+
+"6. I have one or two favourite hymns, which I always pitch higher than
+written, and thus compel the boys to use the upper registers. The boys
+know I like these hymns, and I never fail to appreciate them to the boys
+at the end of singing. I also have a favourite marching tune--I don't
+know the name, but I believe it is often set to the hymn, 'When mothers
+of Salem.' This tune is very lofty, and I believe the boys really enjoy
+its loftiness, _but there must be no shouting_. When the boys displease
+me, I tell them they drop their jaw too much, and they instantly know
+what I mean.
+
+"7. I have very little alto singing in school, for the reason that it
+has a tendency to encourage loudness. In my choir I arrange for three or
+four of the oldest boys to sing alto.
+
+"In conclusion, I may say I am thoroughly proud of my boys' singing from
+standard I. up to the top of the school, and I believe my success has
+been chiefly from abundant use of the modulator for scale practice, and
+never allowing loud singing. Proud as I am of my boys, the girls
+certainly excel them, and ten years ago their tone was worse, if
+possible, than the boys. I have no instrument in school, but
+_occasionally_ use a violin."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A correspondent from another agricultural county--I will not give his
+name--favours me with some rules which he has used more or less for
+thirty years. In one school taught by the writer, the inspector said he
+could not distinguish the boys from the girls' voices--truly a high
+compliment. My correspondent names a new hindrance to church music in
+rural places, namely, the clergyman's daughter!--
+
+"Practise the scales up and down to the words 'la' and 'ha,' the latter
+for the purpose of separating the teeth. Commence at the key of C to
+C1, then from D to D1, and so on upwards as high as the voices of the
+boys can reach, never resting satisfied until they cover two octaves
+firmly. In teaching new music, and, generally speaking, in accompanying
+the boys, play the note they are singing and its octave above--on the
+stopped diapason and flute if an organ, or the corresponding stops on a
+harmonium. Let there be no other accompaniment, and on every occasion
+the octave above the note sung. This is very particular. Check one voice
+singing above another. Have no leaders. Stop or subdue all harsh voices,
+and make them listen to, and try to copy the pure notes of the flute;
+let the boys sing well within their strength. If you lack power,
+increase the number of choristers, and subdue the voices. I always
+choose smooth flowing chants, with the reciting note ranging from F to
+C. I do not care to go higher than G above the line in anthems or
+services, but have trained them to start on B[b], 'The Sisters of the
+Sea,' by Jackson.
+
+"I never trouble about altos, they are too difficult to get, and
+indifferent and troublesome when obtained, but in verse parts of
+services or anthems, one of the best boys will supply the deficiency,
+and even take up the lead in a chorus.
+
+"Choirs experience a difficulty which is not included in your list of
+points. I have received L60 per annum as an organist, L50 and a house.
+On another occasion I was offered the choir-mastership of a church
+choral society of 60 members. At this time I was trainer and conductor
+of a choral society of 100 voices with string and wind accompaniment,
+the subject being _The Messiah_. Yet I was not considered competent at
+the church at which I played to put a tune to a hymn, but had to submit
+to the parson's daughter, who was qualified through taking three months'
+lessons from a German. On one occasion this lady went ten times through
+a hymn to please her father in trying to fit a four-lined tune of the
+wrong metre to a six-lined hymn! I offered to go through an eleventh
+time, but he never interfered again. I could give you many instances
+where these ladies themselves are the great drawback of good church
+singing, but on the other hand, I could mention cases where they never
+come near a practice, or interfere from one year's end to the other."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Knowing, as I do, the devoted way in which clergymen's daughters in many
+rural places train the choir, I hesitate to endorse this charge. The
+work needs to be done with tact and consideration. In the vast majority
+of cases these ladies are a great help. I do not approve the plan of
+playing the melody in octaves while it is being learnt, which my
+correspondent advocates. I give his letter as a record of earnest work.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mr. W. W. Pearson, of Elmham, Dereham, Norfolk, writes to me as
+follows:--
+
+"I have had, as you say, a great deal of experience in teaching singing,
+especially in rural districts; but the neighbourhood I have lived in for
+the last twenty years (Norfolk), is a very barren field for musical
+culture--the worst in my experience. The voices of those who _do_ sing
+in this county are, on an average, a minor third lower than those of
+Yorkshire, North Wales, the west of England, and other places where I
+have had experience. They are also, for the most part, _flabby_, wanting
+in resonance and quality. Tenors are very scarce, and even the few who
+can sing in the tenor register, have not got the true tenor quality.
+This may be the effect of the low elevation above the sea-level, and
+the damp humid atmosphere; or it may be partly due to _race_.
+
+"The plan I adopt for getting boys to use their upper registers is a
+very old-fashioned one; but it is very effective. It is to make them
+sing the major diatonic scale, ascending and descending; beginning at a
+low pitch, and gradually raising it by a semitone at a time."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mr. C. Hibberd, of Bemerton, near Salisbury, whom I quote also in the
+chapter on "Flattening," dwells on the difficulties of the rural
+choirmaster. He says:--
+
+"I have rarely come across the soft fluty tone in the country. I once
+met with a boy with it in the choir at Parkstone, near Bournemouth, and
+another here at Bemerton, but in both cases the boys were above the
+average of country boys, and the village was close to a larger town. In
+both cases, also, the boys had good and careful practice over and above
+the ordinary choir practices. At places farther in the country it seems
+an impossibility to get the tone. With only a few boys to pick from, it
+is a difficulty to find boys enough to fill up ordinary vacancies. With
+a great deal of trouble and practice one can get a great part of the
+roughness toned down, and, as a rule, that is all."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Several of my correspondents, it will be noticed, speak with great
+confidence of the use of the Tonic Sol-fa system in rural places. This
+system, useful everywhere, certainly attains its greatest usefulness in
+places where the task of the choirmaster reaches its highest degree of
+difficulty. To those whose only acquaintance with Tonic Sol-fa is a
+casual glance at a printed page of the new notation, it naturally seems
+strange that the use of a musical shorthand can affect the whole
+training of the boy. But behind the letters and punctuation marks, which
+go to make up the Tonic Sol-fa notation, there lies the Tonic Sol-fa
+method--a fixed and many-sided educational system, founded on the truest
+principles of education, carrying on simultaneously the training of the
+ear for tune and time, making progress sure because gradually
+developing the intelligence along with the voice. With Tonic Sol-fa,
+also, is associated a definite system of voice-training. Tonic Sol-fa
+teachers are all more or less of educationists, and have caught by
+observation or study the teacher's art. This is the cause of their
+success.
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+NOTES ON THE PRACTICE OF VARIOUS CHOIRMASTERS IN CATHEDRALS, &c.
+
+
+I SUMMARISE here information obtained, chiefly by observation and
+conversation, from various trainers of boys' voices at cathedrals and
+collegiate churches.
+
+
+CHAPEL ROYAL, ST. JAMES'S.
+
+Some years ago I attended a practice of the boys, under the late Rev.
+Thomas Helmore. It began with slow scales sung to a light pianoforte
+accompaniment. These were followed by rapid runs, the key gradually
+rising until the highest note touched was C above the treble staff. The
+vocable used was "ah." After this came time exercises, solfeggios, the
+pointing out of notes by the boys on and between the fingers of their
+left hands, which represented the staff. Mr. Helmore declared that new
+boys while singing nearly always (1) frown, or (2) hold their heads on
+one side. He was strict about avoiding these faults. In going over the
+psalms for the day, the boys sang mostly one by one, verse after verse.
+This was a searching test for the boy who sang, while all the others
+were actively criticising. The boys practised secular music by way of
+change. Four of them were monitors, four fags, and two probationers. The
+tone was refined and pure, Mr. Helmore himself being a good singer.
+
+
+ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.
+
+Here, owing to the size of the building, a tremendous volume of shrill
+tone has to be cultivated, which in the practice room is sometimes
+overwhelming. The practice I heard began with slow scales sung to "ah"
+(pianoforte accompaniment) ranging over two octaves, C to C2; each key
+between C to C1 was taken, and the scale sung ascending and descending.
+This was loud singing, but not shouting. Then came agility exercises in
+the form of chords, rapid scales, &c., sung still to "ah." This daily
+"tuning-up" lasted ten minutes. Then (incidentally affording rest to the
+boys) came a short lesson on theory. Boys were called up in turn to
+write notes, signs, &c., on the blackboard. Practice now began. The boys
+sing a new piece to words at once, never sol-faing. They seldom try a
+piece more than three times before it is heard at the cathedral. They
+sit during rehearsal, standing at the Gloria Patri. The boys have a
+daily practice of an hour-and-a-half.
+
+
+WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
+
+The refined style of the boys trained by Dr. Bridge is well known. The
+abbey is small enough to allow the graces of singing to be cultivated.
+In the music room there are two rows of desks facing the same way, so
+that Dr. Bridge, sitting at his cottage piano, can cast a side glance
+full upon the boys. Two practices are held daily; one from nine till ten
+a.m. is spent in getting up the service music. The afternoon practice,
+at the close of evensong, is chiefly devoted to theory. A card hanging
+up on the wall shows exactly how the time of the afternoon practice is
+apportioned between the study of intervals, and scales, chanting,
+responses, manuscript exercises, the singing of Concone's solfeggios,
+and the practice of secular music. The excellent phrasing and pure tone
+are partly due to the practice of secular music, which gives elasticity
+and gentleness to the boys' voices. No formal system of voice-training
+is in use. The boys enter at from 9 to 10-1/2, not older. A new boy is
+placed in the middle of the row of choristers, so as to excite his
+imitative faculty to the utmost. Twenty boys is the full number, but
+only twelve of these are full choristers, the others being nominally on
+probation, a plan which serves to keep up the discipline.
+
+
+LINCOLN'S INN CHAPEL.
+
+There are twelve boys here. They come, with a fair knowledge of music,
+at about nine years of age, and receive from Dr. Steggall, or his
+assistants, three lessons of about two hours each every week. On Sunday,
+at the close of the morning service, there is a rehearsal with the men
+of the music for the afternoon, and for the morning of the following
+Sunday. The boys' practices are held in the choir-room, where Dr.
+Steggall, seated at a venerable Broadwood grand, coaches his little men,
+with care and neatness. On Saturdays, when half their lesson is done,
+the boys walk across to the chapel, and go through the Sunday's music
+with the organ. A pupil mounts to the instrument, while Dr. Steggall,
+book in hand, paces the aisle, or retires towards the communion table,
+constantly interrupting the singing to correct faults, or improve
+delivery. Meanwhile, the organ is played quite softly, that the voices
+may stand out clearly. Constant care is taken to prevent clipping of
+words in the most familiar parts of the service.
+
+
+THE TEMPLE CHURCH.
+
+Dr. E. J. Hopkins, himself an ex-choir-boy of the Chapel Royal, realises
+here his ideal of "quality, not quantity." He lays stress on the fact
+that he takes his boys at eight years of age. For a year or more,
+however, they are probationers. They do not wear surplices, although
+they sit close to the choir. They undergo daily drill in musical theory
+and voice-training, but in church they have no responsibility, and do
+little more than listen. When, however, the voice of one of the elder
+boys breaks, a probationer takes his place, and is much better for the
+training. The practices occupy an hour-and-a-half every afternoon. They
+are held in the little choir vestry, near the organ, where there is a
+cottage pianoforte, flanked by a couple of long music desks, at which
+the boys stand as they sing. They are taught in groups, according to the
+stage they have reached, and spend the lesson time in practising scales,
+voice exercises, pieces of music, and studying notation. The voices are
+practised up to A. On Saturdays there is a rehearsal in the church,
+with the organ and the men of the choir.
+
+
+LINCOLN CATHEDRAL.
+
+The choir here, directed by the venerable organist, Mr. J. W. M. Young,
+is noted for its chanting, which all choirmasters ought to hear. Mr.
+Young has made a special study of the Psalms, and changes speed and
+force frequently with the change of attitude in the psalmist. The
+recitation is delivered at the pace of ordinary speech, with
+elocutionary pauses as needed; it is sung neither faster nor slower than
+the cadence. Hence the whole effect is reverent and impressive. Mr.
+Young's published Psalter and Chants (Novello) should be studied, but
+the great excellence of his work can only be appreciated by a visit to
+Lincoln. All compilers of Psalters make rules, but Mr. Young carries
+them out. Mr. Young, who was a choir-boy at Durham more than fifty years
+ago, under Henshaw, tells me that it was no uncommon thing in his day
+for the boys to have three practices--8.30 to 10, 11 to 12, and 6 to 8.
+This in addition to the two daily services. The elder boys had to attend
+all; the younger were excused the evening practice. As far as I know, we
+have no such severe training now. Mr. Young likes to get his boys at
+eight; for two years, although they wear surplices, they do not sing.
+The sixteen boys receive free education, and board, pocket-money, and a
+present of L10 when their voices break. The younger boys are called
+"choristers," and wear surplices. The four senior boys are called
+"Burgersh-chanters," and wear black cassocks of a peculiar shape. In the
+town they are familiarly known as "black boys." The choristers attend a
+day-school with other boys who speak the Lincolnshire dialect; in this
+they suffer, for, as Mr. Young says, purity of vowels and beauty of tone
+go together. One of his maxims is, "use the lips as little as possible
+in singing; do all you can with the tongue. If you use the lips, then
+use them rapidly." The boys practise an hour-and-a-half each day. Mr.
+Young puts a high finish on all his work. Mozart's "Ave Verum" was
+sung on the day of my visit with infinite refinement. At one point the
+boys took a portamento--a grace which very few choirmasters would
+attempt with boys.
+
+[Illustration: A "BLACK BOY" AT LINCOLN CATHEDRAL.
+
+_Photographed by Mr. George Hadley, Lincoln._]
+
+
+CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD.
+
+The boys rehearse in a small but lofty room. There is a double row of
+desks and seats down each side, facing each other. Dr. C. H. Lloyd sits
+at a small pianoforte, placed across one end of the seats, thus
+commanding all the boys with his eye. The "tuning-up" exercises lasted
+ten minutes, and began with this exercise to "ah":--
+
+[Illustration: KEY C. {|d1:t.l|s.f:m.r|d:r.m|f.s:l.t|d1:-|-:-||]
+
+This exercise, begun in C, was carried up gradually to B[b] above. It
+was sung first with a _dim._ going down, and a _cres._ going up, and
+then the opposite. Then came an ascending, followed by a descending
+scale, similarly varied in key and expression. The next exercise was--
+
+[Illustration: KEY C. {|d.m:r.m |d.m:r.m |d.m:r.m |d:--||]
+
+which was transposed gradually upwards, being sung to "ah." Next a
+triplet exercise--
+
+[Illustration: KEY F. d t_1 d r d r to d1 r1 d1 t d1 t]
+
+At the higher part the second trebles sang a third below. Then followed
+the chromatic scale, up and down. Dr. Lloyd is not troubled much with
+flattening; when it occurs the men are more likely to cause it than the
+boys. They habitually sing the Litany, which lasts fifteen minutes,
+unaccompanied, and if they flatten at all, it is not more than a
+semitone. There is an unaccompanied service once a week. I noticed that
+breathing-places were marked in the anthems, and notes likely to give
+trouble were marked with a circle. Dr. Lloyd was by no means tied to the
+pianoforte during rehearsal, and frequently left his seat, and paced up
+and down, beating time while the singing went on. Theoretical questions
+on the pieces in hand were addressed to individual boys. These boys are
+the sons of professional men, and come from all parts of the country.
+There are now three undergraduates at Christ Church, who have been
+choir-boys. In the choir, on the day of my visit, was a boy of
+seventeen, who had sung for nine years; his voice had not yet begun to
+go. The curious custom is observed here of dividing the Psalms (between
+Decani and Cantoris) at the colon, instead of at the verse. It requires
+great readiness, and for those Psalms which are written in parallelisms,
+it is most effective.
+
+
+CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL.
+
+The boys here are divided into ten choristers and fourteen probationers.
+The choristers are on the foundation, and receive a stipend; the
+probationers get their schooling only. The choristers wear trencher caps
+and gowns; the probationers flannel caps, bearing the arms of the
+cathedral. The boys are nearly all from the city; there is no
+boarding-school. The lower floor of the choir-school is used for the
+ordinary instruction, which is conducted by Mr. Plant, an alto in the
+cathedral choir, and the upper floor is used as a music-room. Here the
+boys receive four or five lessons a week from Dr. Longhurst, and the
+probationers have also a lesson by themselves. All the choristers learn
+the violin; this has been the practice for many years. When, at
+festivals, there is a band in the cathedral, the strings are made up
+largely from old choristers, most of whom go into business in the city.
+A system of rotation is adopted; thus, although there are twenty-four
+boys, not more than fourteen sing at any one service, the rest are at
+work at their ordinary lessons. A considerable drainage of boys takes
+place to the King's School, the leading grammar school in Canterbury.
+The choristers often leave to enter this school when their voices are in
+their prime.
+
+Dr. Longhurst takes the boys very young; as soon after seven as
+possible. In choosing a boy, he requires both voice and ear to be good.
+Sometimes a boy excels in the one direction and not in the other; he can
+sing sweetly, but cannot imitate notes struck at random on the
+pianoforte, or else he has a poor voice and a good ear. But both
+endowments are necessary for a chorister. Dr. Longhurst, who was himself
+a boy at Canterbury, had a compass at that time of two-and-a-half
+octaves. As his voice changed he passed from first to second treble,
+then sang alto for seven years, and at last settled to tenor. He does
+not regard boy altos as desirable in cathedrals, but in parish churches,
+where no adult male altos are to be had, they are, no doubt, in place.
+Dr. Longhurst tells me that as a result of forty-eight years'
+experience, he can tell by the look of a boy whether he will make a
+chorister. There is something about the brows and eyes, and general
+contour of the face which guides him. He is never mistaken. Some time
+since a clergyman with whom Dr. Longhurst happened to be staying,
+ridiculed the idea that the musical capability of boys can be judged by
+their looks. He took Dr. Longhurst into the village school, and invited
+him to pick out the boys of the choir as they sat among others at their
+lessons. This Dr. Longhurst did quite correctly. He has no knowledge of
+phrenology, and the faculty has come to him simply as the result of long
+experience.
+
+On the day of my visit I heard the boys practise in their lofty
+music-room. Dr. Longhurst sat at the grand pianoforte, and the boys were
+grouped in fours or fives round four music-stands, on which the large
+folio voice parts, in type or MS., were placed. These desks stood on
+either side of the piano, so that the boys looked towards Dr.
+Longhurst. Not many voice exercises are used, nor is there any talk
+about the registers. Pure tone is required, and the boys have not "to
+reason why." Six or seven of the youngest boys took no part in the
+practice of the service music. When the elder boys had done, the younger
+came forward and sang some solfeggio exercises. As a help in keeping
+time the boys clapped their hands sometimes at the first of the bar, and
+beat the pulses of the music. In the single voice parts, with long
+rests, this is a help. The boys do not sing any secular music. At one
+time they did, but now, with the schooling, the ordinary practices, and
+the violin lessons, there is no time. Flattening does not often occur.
+As a rule, when they intone on G, the G remains to the end. The practice
+of singing the service unaccompanied on Fridays all the year round, and
+on Wednesdays in addition during Lent, must have a bracing effect on the
+choir. I was myself present on a Wednesday in Lent, and could detect no
+falling in pitch. The boys at Canterbury do not appear to receive much
+formal voice-training, and I attribute the excellent quality of their
+singing to two facts. First, Dr. Longhurst has evidently a knack of
+discerning a promising voice; and second, having established a tradition
+of good singing, the boys, entering at an early age, insensibly fall
+into it.
+
+
+DR. BUCK'S BOYS AT NORWICH.
+
+I have gathered from Mr. A. R. Gaul, Mus.B., of Birmingham, some
+particulars of the work of Dr. Buck, organist of Norwich Cathedral, who
+was known forty or fifty years ago all over the country as a trainer of
+boys' voices. Mr. Gaul was a boy at Norwich under Dr. Buck, and
+underwent the Spartan training which produced such notable results. "No
+chest voice above F or G" was his rule, and the flute-like voice, which
+goes by so many names, and is yet so unmistakable when heard, was
+developed in all the choristers. Dr. Buck had an endless number of
+contrivances for teaching his boys right ways. Each of them carried
+about him a pocket looking-glass, and at practice was taught to hold it
+in his hand, and watch his mouth as he sang. One finger on top of the
+other was the gauge for opening the mouth transversely, while nuts were
+held in the cheeks to secure its proper longitudinal opening. To look at
+the boys during this exercise, one might think they had the face-ache!
+However, no joking over these matters was allowed; there was a penny
+fine for forgetting the looking-glass once, and a twopenny fine for
+forgetting it a second time. To prevent the use of too much breath in
+singing, Dr. Buck would take a piece of tissue paper, the size of a
+postage stamp, hang it by a fine thread in front of the mouth, and make
+the boys sing to it without blowing it away. Tongue-drill consisted in
+regular motions of the unruly member, until the boys were able to make
+it lie flat down at the bottom of the mouth, and raise it to the upper
+teeth as required. It was a daily plan to practise certain passages with
+the lips entirely closed, this was done to prevent the objectionable
+quality of voice resulting from any stoppage of the nasal organs. There
+was no sol-faing; various words were used at scale-practice, chosen to
+develop the vowels, while a code of troublesome words and endings of
+words was drawn up, and repeated daily by the boys in the
+speaking-voice, so as to secure clear enunciation. I have more than once
+seen and heard it stated that Dr. Buck used to make his boys sing
+through the nose, with closed mouth, in order to get the higher
+register, but Mr. Gaul does not remember this. Dr. Haydn Keeton informs
+me that they had boy-altos at Norwich in Dr. Buck's time, so that he
+must have had more boys than usual to train.
+
+
+SALISBURY.
+
+A conversation with Mr. C. L. South, the organist and choirmaster, shows
+him to be a careful and able worker. The boys, who are boarded in the
+choir school, come from various parts. They are received at from 8 to 11
+years; not over 11 unless the boy is very good and forward in music. The
+boys are chosen for their voices, but given two boys of equal voices,
+the one who knows most music would be selected. The music practice is an
+hour a day for five days of the week, under Mr. South himself. "I
+recognise," he says, "two registers in boys' voices, chest and head, and
+with careful practice you can get the voices so even that you can hardly
+tell where one ends and the other begins. The great thing, I believe, is
+to make the boys sing softly, and to get their register even
+throughout." Mr. South adds that the imitative power of boys is so
+strong that the younger ones fall into the habits of the elder ones, and
+thus make formal teaching about the registers less necessary. For vocal
+practice he uses Stainer's and Concone's Exercises, also solos like
+"Jesus, Saviour, I am Thine," and "Let the Saviour's outstretched arm"
+(both from Bach's _Passion_), as well as Handel's "Rejoice greatly,"
+besides florid choruses from the _Messiah_. These are more interesting
+than formal studies, and they bring out the same points of breathing,
+phrasing, pronunciation, and expression. He sometimes introduces a song
+of this kind into the service as an anthem. On one occasion, when
+thirteen boys had sung one of the Bach songs in unison, a member of the
+congregation asked the name of the soloist. The voices were so perfectly
+blended that they sounded like one. The full number of boys is eighteen,
+of whom two at least sing solos. Mr. South does not use nor like boy
+altos. The service music is selected on eclectic principles, and covers
+the ground from Gibbons to Villiers Stanford. The boys sometimes give
+concerts, performing such cantatas as Smart's _King Rene's Daughter_,
+and Mendelssohn's "Two-part Songs."
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+NOTES ON THE PRACTICE OF VARIOUS CHOIRMASTERS IN PARISH CHURCHES.
+
+
+In the course of journeys and interviews extending over many years I
+have gathered much experience from choirmasters, and have watched and
+noted their plans. Here follow some of the results of this work. The
+churches described are some of them small, and but little known. This
+fact, however, does not affect the value of the experience. The highest
+degree of credit is due to the choirmaster who obtains good results from
+poor materials, and this book is especially intended to help those who
+have to make the best of ordinary opportunities.
+
+
+LEEDS PARISH CHURCH.
+
+This church has long been noted for its music, which is sung in
+cathedral style. There are about thirty boys, whose voices, even up to
+A, are round and clear, and throughout are big, true, and rich. Notable
+features of the style of the choir under Dr. Creser, are the long _dim_.
+cadences in responses, and the independence which enables the singers to
+go on without the organ, if the expression suggests it. At the rehearsal
+in the parochial room Dr. Creser sits at the grand piano with the boys
+in their cantoris and decani places on each side of him just as in
+church. The boys rehearse five days a week after evensong, and the
+juniors have an additional practice. After Saturday evensong there is a
+full practice with the men. All the boys are trebles. Yorkshire is about
+the only district in England which produces adult male altos. The boys
+are chiefly promoted from district churches. They live at their homes,
+and receive a free education--the seniors in the Leeds middle-class
+school, and the juniors in the parish church school. There is also a
+small salary paid quarterly, and when a boy leaves he receives from L15
+to L25 if an ordinary chorister, and L50 if a good solo boy. Fines are
+imposed by the precentor for misbehaviour or mischievous tricks in
+church or precincts, but not for mistakes in singing. Dr. Creser teaches
+sight-singing on the lines of Curwen's "How to Read Music." The boys use
+the old notation, but have learnt it through Tonic Sol-fa, using the
+course entitled "Crotchets and Quavers." Occasionally the whole
+rehearsal consists of sol-faing. In every difficulty as to key
+relationship the Sol-fa makes matters clear. Dr. Creser was first led to
+use Tonic Sol-fa by noticing how easy it made the minor mode. The junior
+boys are always taught by Dr. Creser. Until the voices settle he would
+on no account delegate them to an assistant. The two chief rules of
+voice-training are to forbid forcing the chest register above
+[Illustration: a music staff with a treble clef and a whole note "E" on
+the first line.] and to begin scales at the top. Flattening takes place
+occasionally, but it is nearly always the fault of the congregation, who
+drag the pitch down. The arrangement of the music-library here is a
+model of order.
+
+
+ST. PETER'S, EATON SQUARE, LONDON.
+
+Here, under the direction of Mr. de Manby Sergison, a very fine Anglican
+service is maintained. There are twenty boys, and a few probationers.
+The boys have an hour's practice every day, and sing the Psalms and a
+hymn at the daily choral service. Formerly a choir boarding-school was
+kept up, but this was abolished, being found to be too expensive. Now
+the boys are selected from schools in and near the parish, and Mr.
+Sergison finds the ordinary London boy equal to all the demands of the
+church. When the choir-school was given up he was able within a month to
+prepare an entirely new set of boys, so proficient that the congregation
+scarcely noticed a difference. The vocal practice of the boys includes
+"Concone's Exercises," and their phrasing in the service music is very
+good. The full choir sings on Sundays and Saints' Days, and their
+rehearsal takes place once a week in the church, Mr. Sergison being at
+the organ. In the chapter on the management of choir-boys I have quoted
+some wise remarks by Mr. Sergison, which explain his success as a
+choirmaster.
+
+
+ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, CHELSEA.
+
+This is a Training College for schoolmasters, which has long been noted
+for its musical services. Mr. Owen Breden, the present organist and
+choirmaster, is the successor of Dr. Hullah, Mr. May, and the Rev. F.
+Helmore. The choir-boys, who number 26, only sing on Sundays. They are
+drawn from the practicing school, which contains 800 boys. They enter
+the choir at nine years of age, and there are always six or eight
+probationers, who attend the practices and are ready to fill vacancies.
+Thus a good style of singing is maintained. People say to Mr. Breden,
+"There is no telling one voice from another, your boys are so much
+alike." At the bi-weekly practice with Mr. Breden the boys have
+voice-training. They sing to _la_ and sol-fa syllables scales gradually
+rising. They are not trained above G, but if a boy has a good G he can
+always go higher. The boys can all read from the Sol-fa modulator, and
+Mr. Breden gives them ear-tests. The alto part is taken entirely by boys
+at St. Mark's. The choir-boys, past and present, perform an operetta in
+costume every Christmas. Anthems like Macfarren's "The Lord is my
+Shepherd," Bennett's "God is a Spirit," Goss's "O Saviour of the world,"
+&c., are sung unaccompanied. In fact, whenever the organ part merely
+duplicates the voices, they take the opportunity at St. Mark's to enjoy
+the pure chording of human voices.
+
+
+ST. MARY'S CHURCH, BERLIN.
+
+My friend, Herr Th. Krause, the organist and choirmaster of this church,
+allowed me to attend a rehearsal of the eighty boys and twenty men who
+form his fine choir. The large number of boys is explained by the fact
+that nearly half of them are altos. The motet of the Lutheran church is
+invariably unaccompanied. It closely resembles in form our anthem, but
+the German Protestants look upon the _a capella_ style, which continues
+the tradition of the Sistine Chapel at Rome, as the purest and highest
+in church music. On no account would they use the organ to accompany a
+motet. This gives rise to elaborate compositions, often like
+Mendelssohn's "Judge me, O God," in eight parts. By treating the boys
+and men as separate choirs, each in four parts, and getting responses
+between them, a variety of tone colour, which is almost orchestral, is
+obtained; and when both choirs unite in solid eight-part harmony, the
+result is imposing. As the Germans are usually not sight-singers, the
+labour involved in learning these motets is immense. The higher register
+of the boys is well trained. They sing up to B flat without effort, and
+with purest tone. The same may be said of the Dom Choir, for which
+Mendelssohn wrote his motets. At my last visit to Leipzig, I carried an
+introduction to Dr. Rust, trainer of the Thomas Church choir, but I was
+there just after Whitsuntide, when the yearly shifting of classes had
+just taken place, and Dr. Rust, who wished me to hear his boys at their
+best, asked me not to come to a rehearsal. Speaking generally, the
+voices of German boys are thinner than those of English boys, more like
+fifes than flutes.
+
+
+ST. CLEMENT DANES, STRAND.
+
+The choirmaster here, Mr. F. J. Knapp, is also master of the parish day
+school. Here he insists on quiet singing, and stops coarseness directly.
+The boys are taught on the Tonic Sol-fa system, which, says Mr. Knapp,
+has alone enabled him to produce his results. Some time ago at St.
+Stephens, Walworth, he was called upon to produce a choir in a week, and
+he did this, by nightly rehearsals, to the satisfaction of everyone.
+Complete oratorios, with band, were frequently given by this choir of
+sol-faists. At St. Clement Danes he had to produce a choir in five days,
+and here again he succeeded by the use of Tonic Sol-fa. "Our
+choir-boys," he says, "can now sing at sight almost anything I put
+before them. We never have more than two or three practices (one only,
+full) for the most difficult anthems we do. There is an anthem every
+Sunday, a choral communion once a month, offertory sentences on
+alternate Sundays, cantatas and oratorios at Festivals." Mr. Knapp
+adopts the useful plan of "tuning-up" his boys before the morning
+service. Flattening, when it occurs, is due, he considers, to damp
+weather, a cold church, &c. But he is rarely troubled with it. The boys'
+voice exercises are taken at the harmonium, first slow notes to
+"koo-ah," or to "oo-ay-ah-ee," or to a sentence containing consonants.
+This exercise is done both ascending and descending, but especially
+descending. He also uses the chromatic scale from B flat up to
+F:--[Illustration: A music staff with a treble clef on the left. Two
+quarter notes: B flat below the staff and F on the top line.] He tells
+the boys nothing about the registers, but watches constantly against
+shouting.
+
+
+SALZUNGEN CHOIR.
+
+This (Protestant) choir of men and boys is well-known in Germany, and
+not only sings at Salzungen, but occasionally makes tours, and gives
+concerts. Herr Muehlfeld, the trainer, tells me that he takes the boys
+from 11 years of age upwards, and that before entering the choir they
+have a fair knowledge of notes, and can sing at sight. The voices are
+examined on entry, low ones being put to sing alto, and high ones being
+put to sing soprano. The boys have two lessons of an hour each per week,
+in which they practise exercises, _choraele_, school songs, and church
+music. Flattening, according to Herr Muehlfeld, is due to (1) bad ear,
+(2) imperfect training, (3) fatigue of the voice. The boys are taught to
+listen to each note that they sing, and to make it blend with the
+instrument or the leading voice. In order to do this they must sing
+softly, and thus hear their neighbours' voices. The 3rd, 6th, 7th, and
+8th tones of the scale are, says Herr Muehlfeld, often sung flat, and
+exercises should be specially given to secure the intonation of these
+sounds. The boys must also learn the intervals, and whenever they appear
+to be tired a pause must be made.
+
+
+UPTON CROSS BOARD SCHOOL.
+
+This is not a church, but a boys' school, from which a good many
+choristers are drawn, and where excellent results have been obtained.
+The boys have often won prizes in choral competitions. Mr. H. A. Donald,
+the headmaster, tells me that he examines the voices of the boys one by
+one in his own room, once a year. Those who can take G and A
+[Illustration: musical notation] sweetly and easily are put down as
+first trebles. Those who can go below C [Illustration: musical notation]
+are altos. The rest are second trebles. He finds that after a year a
+boy's voice will often have changed--a treble become an alto, or vice
+versa. In modulator practice, and as far as possible in pieces of music,
+he keeps the trebles above [Illustration: musical notation]. Below this
+they get coarse. He never gives on the modulator an ascending passage
+which begins below this G. One may leap up, and come down by step, but
+not ascend by step. He uses Mr. Proudman's "Voice-training Exercises"
+(J. Curwen & Sons) for first trebles, and his contralto exercises for
+contraltos. Coarseness he checks at once, and he silences boys whose
+voices are breaking.
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+ALTO BOYS.
+
+
+How is the alto part, in a church choir consisting of males, to be sung?
+In our cathedrals this part has been given, ever since the Restoration,
+to adult men, generally with bass voices singing in their "thin"
+register. For this voice our composers of the English cathedral school
+wrote, carrying the part much lower than they would have done if they
+had been writing for women or boy-singers. For this voice, also, Handel
+wrote, and the listener at the Handel Festival cannot but feel the
+strength and resonance which the large number of men altos give to the
+harmony when the range of the part is low. The voice of the man alto,
+however, was never common, and is becoming less common than it was. It
+occupies a curious position, never having been recognised as a solo
+voice. I have heard of an exceptionally good man alto at Birmingham who
+was accustomed to sing songs at concerts, but this is an isolated case.
+The voice seems to have been generally confined to choral music.
+
+This voice is entirely an English institution, unknown on the continent.
+Historians say that after the Restoration, when it was very difficult to
+obtain choir-boys, adult men learned to sing alto, and even low treble
+parts, in falsetto, in order to make harmony possible.
+
+Let us concede at once that for music of the old cathedral school this
+voice is in place. The churches are, however, getting more and more
+eclectic, and are singing music from oratorios, cantatas, and masses
+that was composed for women altos, and is far too high in compass for
+men. We may admit that because the alto part lies so much upon the break
+into the thick or chest register of boys, it is very difficult to get
+them to sing it well. The dilemma is that in parish churches, especially
+in country places, the adult male alto is not to be had, and the choice
+is between boy altos, and no altos at all.
+
+There is no doubt, moreover, that the trouble of voice-management in boy
+altos can be conquered by watchfulness and care. At the present time
+there are, as the information I have collected shows, a number of very
+good cathedral and church choirs in which the alto part is being
+sustained by boys.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The following is from Mr. James Taylor, organist and choirmaster of New
+College, Oxford:--
+
+"New College, Oxford, _Dec._ 13, 1890.
+
+"Dear Sir,--In reply to your letter, I can confidently recommend boy
+altos in parish or other choirs, provided they are carefully trained. We
+have introduced them into this choir for more than two years, and the
+experiment has fully come up to my expectations. We still retain two men
+altos in our choir, which now consists of the following:--Fourteen
+trebles, four boy altos, two men altos, four tenors, and four basses. I
+find boy altos very effective in _modern_ church music, such as
+Mendelssohn's anthems, &c., where the alto part is written much higher
+than is the case in the old cathedral music.
+
+"Yours very truly,
+
+"JAMES TAYLOR."
+
+Dr. Garrett, organist of St. John's College, Cambridge, writes:--
+
+"5, Park Side, Cambridge, _Dec._ 12, 1890.
+
+"Dear Mr. Curwen,--I have had boy altos only in my choir for some years.
+I introduced them of necessity in the first instance. The stipend of a
+lay clerk was too small to attract any other than a local candidate, and
+no suitable man was to be found. If I could have really first-class
+adult altos in my choir I should not think of using boys' voices. At the
+same time there are some advantages on the side of boys' voices.
+
+"I. Unless the adult alto voice is really pure and good, and its
+possessor a skilled singer, it is too often unbearable.
+
+"II. Under the most favourable conditions it is very rare, according to
+my experience, to find an alto voice retaining its best qualities after
+middle age.
+
+"III. The alto voice is undoubtedly becoming rare.
+
+"On the other side you have to consider:--
+
+"I. The limitation of choice in music, as there is a good deal of
+'cathedral music' in which the alto part is beyond the range of any
+boy's voice.
+
+"II. A certain lack of _brightness_ in the upper part of such trios as
+those in 'By the waters of Babylon' (Boyce) 'The wilderness' (Goss), and
+many like movements.
+
+"As regards the break question, the advantage, in my experience, is
+wholly on the boys' side. A well-trained boy will sing such a solo as 'O
+thou that tellest,' or such a passage as the following without letting
+his break be felt at all:
+
+[Illustration: For Thou hast been my hope, hast been my hope.]
+
+This passage,[B] which is from the anthem, 'Hear my crying,' by Weldon,
+I have heard sung by an adult alto, who broke badly between E flat and
+F. The effect was funny beyond description. In fact, if a boys' break is
+about C or D (3rd space or 4th line), and he [Illustration: musical
+notation] is never allowed to practise above that, there will be no
+question of break arising. My alto boys can get a good round G, and five
+out of the six can go up without break to C. [Illustration: musical
+notation] The advantage of this in chanting the Psalms is obvious. What
+can an adult alto be expected to do in a case where the reciting note is
+close to his break? These are considerations which may fairly be taken
+into account even when the decision is to be made between _possible_
+courses; when there _is_ a choice. In many cases there is none. It must
+be (as you say) boy alto, or no alto. I am quite sure that careful
+training is all that is needed to make boy altos most efficient members
+of a choir. Or rather, I ought to say that careful selection and
+training are both needed. To take a young boy as an alto because he
+happens to have three or four raucous notes from, say, B flat to E flat
+[Illustration: musical notation] while he has a bad break between E flat
+[Illustration: musical notation] and F is, of course, to court failure.
+I prefer taking a boy whose break lies higher, and training his voice
+downwards. If, as a probationer, he can get a fairly good round B
+natural [Illustration: musical notation] or B flat; lower notes can
+certainly be produced as he grows older.]
+
+"Yours very truly,
+
+"GEORGE GARRETT."
+
+[B] I have transposed the passage from the alto clef.--J. S. C.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A remark may be interposed here that from a physiological point of view
+we must expect voices of different pitch in boys, just as in girls,
+women, and men. Boys differ in height, size, and in the pitch of the
+speaking voice, which is a sure guide to the pitch of the singing voice.
+There is thus no physiological ground for supposing all boys to be
+trebles.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The following letter is from the Rev. W. E. Dickson, Precentor of Ely:--
+
+"The College, Ely, _October 30th_, 1890.
+
+"_Dear Sir_,--I have much pleasure in replying to your note. If I
+resolved to do so in a few words I should be obliged to say that seldom
+indeed do I hear boy altos sing with sweet voices and true intonation,
+either in my own country, or in those foreign countries in which I am in
+the habit of taking my holidays.
+
+"But I should like to be allowed to explain that, in my opinion, the
+coarseness (at any rate) of boy-altos in English choirs is due to
+mismanagement by the choirmaster. His usual plan is to turn over to the
+alto part boys who are losing their upper notes by the natural failure
+of their soprano voices. This saves trouble, for such boys probably
+read music well enough, and they are simply told to 'sing alto,' and are
+left to do so without further training, until they can croak out no more
+ugly noises. Surely this is quite a mistake. Am I not right in
+maintaining that a perfect choir should consist of
+
+    FIRST TREBLES TENORS
+
+    SECOND TREBLES BASSES
+
+well balanced as to numbers, and all singing with pure natural quality?
+If I am, then it follows that the second trebles should be precisely
+equal to the firsts in number and strength, and should include boys of
+various ages, as carefully selected and as assiduously trained as the
+others. I cannot but think--and, indeed, I perfectly well know--that
+where this has been done by a skilful teacher, whose heart is in his
+work, boy altos have been made to sing with sweetness and accuracy.
+
+"You will probably agree with me--though this is quite by the way--that
+secular music should be largely used by such a teacher. The part-songs
+of Mendelssohn, for instance, should be trolled out by the two sets of
+boys, who may even interchange their parts at practice with the best
+results. But of course this is said only in reference to choirs of a
+high class.
+
+"I do not deny that even the best teaching and the best management will
+not secure quite the same _timbre_ which you get in choirs with falsetti
+in the alto part. A certain silvery sweetness is obtained from these
+voices to which our English ears have become accustomed, and which we
+should miss if boys, however well-trained, took their places. In the
+Preces, Versicles, Litany, &c., of the English Choral Service, we should
+be conscious of a loss. In cathedrals, too, the complete shelving of
+some or even many compositions, favourites by long association, if not
+by intrinsic merit, would be inevitable. But I am unable to doubt for a
+moment that when the change had been made, and time had been given for
+the new order of things, under a thoroughly competent musician, we
+should not regret it.
+
+"At Ely we have ten men in daily attendance; fourteen on Sundays. We
+keep twenty boys in training. If this vocal body were thus
+distributed:--
+
+    10 FIRST TREBLES    5 TENORS (6 on Sunday)
+
+    10 SECOND TREBLES    5 BASSES (8 on Sunday)
+
+we should certainly be stronger and healthier in tone and quality than
+we are now, with a disproportionate number of trebles, thus:--
+
+    20 TREBLES     3 [4] TENORS
+
+    3 [4] ALTOS     4 [6] BASSES
+
+As to rustic choirs in village churches, I fear the case is hopeless,
+and I myself should be glad to see editions of well-known hymn-tunes and
+chants in three parts only--treble, tenor, and bass. Handel wrote some
+truly grand choruses in three parts in his 'Chandos Anthems.' But his
+tenor part is not for every-day voices!
+
+"Believe me, truly yours,
+
+"W. E. DICKSON."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The following, from Dr. Haydn Keeton, organist of Peterborough
+Cathedral, is against boy altos:--
+
+"Thorpe Road, Peterborough, _December 12th, 1890_.
+
+"Dear Sir,--I have had about eighteen years' experience with alto boys,
+and although I have had some exceedingly good ones, one or two as good
+as it is possible, I think, to have, yet I must say that, in my opinion,
+it is a bad system to substitute boys for men, especially in cathedral
+music. The reason why the change was made here was that about the year
+1872 three of our men altos were failing, and I happened to have three
+boys with good low voices, who took alto well. In consenting to this
+change I had no idea of its being a permanent one, but owing to the
+agricultural depression our Chapter have been quite prevented doing what
+they would like to do with the choir. The general effect of the change
+has been this--that I have been always weak in trebles. We are limited
+to Peterborough for our choristers, and, as a rule, there is not one boy
+in a hundred who knows even his notes when he enters the choir. It
+takes from eighteen months to two years for a boy to learn his work, and
+it is not until a boy is at least twelve that one can turn him into an
+alto. The result is that four of my senior boys have to be turned into
+altos, and I am left with a preponderance of young, inexperienced boys
+as trebles. At the present time I have twelve trebles, eight of whom are
+quite young.
+
+"In addition, see what extra work is involved in teaching the boys to
+sing alto. Some boys do not take to alto very easily, and the extra work
+given to the altos means that quantity taken from the trebles. I am
+unable, in consequence, to give the necessary time to the elementary
+work that one ought to give. We can only get one hour's practice in the
+day, owing to the boys going to school.
+
+"Then, again, as to tone. The tone of a choir with men altos, if they
+are at all fairly good, is so much superior to one with boy altos. In
+cathedral music so many anthems and services have trios for A.T.B. There
+is not one boy in a thousand who can sing the trio in 'O where shall
+wisdom' (Boyce) with a tenor and bass effectively. And how many there
+are similar to that!
+
+"I do not see how boys could work at all in ordinary parish choirs, for
+here there are not the opportunities of teaching boys to read well at
+sight. It is only by daily practice that one can make anything of boys.
+
+"Yours faithfully,
+"H. KEETON."
+
+Dr. Frank Bates, organist of Norwich Cathedral, has favoured me with a
+copy of a paper on the boy's voice, in which he says:--
+
+"The compass of a boy's voice when properly developed is from
+
+[Illustration: C to A B[b] or C]
+
+The chest or lower register extends from
+
+[Illustration: C to C or D]
+
+The head or upper register extends from
+
+[Illustration: C or D to B[b] or C]
+
+No fixed compass can possibly be given to the different registers, as
+the older a boy becomes the lower the change occurs; the head register
+often being used as low down as A."
+
+[Illustration: musical notation]
+
+In a letter to me Dr. Bates says:--
+
+"I quite think that, for ordinary parish church services, the effect of
+boy altos, if properly taught, is all that one can desire."
+
+In reply to my remark that the break comes in so awkwardly for boy
+altos, Dr. Bates says:--
+
+"I fail to understand the reason you quote for the non-usage of boy
+altos. There is no change whatever in a boy's voice, _in its normal
+state_, until [Illustration: musical notation] is reached. If the change
+is made lower down all the brilliancy is taken out of a boy's voice. As
+a boy gets older he uses the upper register much lower down. I have
+known boys at the age of eighteen with lovely top notes but very poor
+chest register. In such cases, when a boy's top register commences at
+[Illustration: G] I can quite understand the difficulty."
+
+There is evidently some conflict of nomenclature here, as the limits of
+the registers as given by Dr. Bates differ considerably from those which
+are usual. I am glad to learn that Dr. Bates is writing a book on "The
+Voices of Boys," which will no doubt clear up the subject. In the paper
+before me he recommends practice of the scales to such syllables as La,
+Fa, Ta, Pa, in order to bring the tone well to the front of the mouth,
+and reinforce it by means of the soft upper palate. He recommends the
+teacher to train the boys to use the upper register by making them sing
+over and over again, _very softly_, the following notes:--
+
+[Illustration: Chest Head Ah....]
+
+Here again the transition seems to me to be taken much too high.
+
+Mr. Frank Sharp, of Dundee, trainer of the celebrated children's choir,
+which has sung the treble and alto parts, both solos and choruses, of
+_Messiah, St. Paul_, and many cantatas, writes to me:--
+
+"In part-singing where there are boy trebles, the adult male alto voice
+has its charms. The contrast in quality between the open tone of the
+boys' voices and the condensed, sometimes squeaky sweetness of the man
+alto does not affect the blending, and helps the distinctness of parts.
+Considering the growing scarcity of this latter voice, why not use boy
+altos? They can be made as effective as ordinary women altos, but they
+are as short-lived and need more attention than the boy trebles. Their
+chief drawback is a tendency to produce tone without the least attention
+to quality or effect save that of noise. Nevertheless, there is nothing
+to hinder boy altos doing all that is necessary, or, indeed, all that
+can be done by the adult male alto. I have trained boys to sing alto in
+_Messiah_, _St. Paul_, and equally trying music, during the past twenty
+years, and anyone else who keeps the girl's alto voice before him as a
+model can do the same. The boy alto voice may be said to have a husk and
+a kernel: the one strident, harsh, and overpowering; the other sweet,
+and, with use, rich and round. The average healthy boy, with his
+exuberant love of noise, will naturally give the husk, but the skilful
+voice-trainer will only accept the kernel, evolved from right register,
+good _timbre_, and proper production. Seeing and hearing a process in
+voice-training is, however, more satisfactory than much writing and the
+reading thereof."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mr. W. W. Pearson, master of a village school in Norfolk, who is
+well-known by his excellent part-songs, writes to me:--
+
+"I succeed very well in getting boys to sing alto because I always use a
+large number of exercises in two parts, making each division of the
+class in turn take the lower part. I do not choose boys for altos on
+account of age. That, in my opinion, has nothing to do with it. I choose
+them by quality of voice. There is no break in the voice of the natural
+alto between]--[Illustration: G and C] I find altos out generally when
+they are novices, by hearing them trying to sing with the others, and
+dropping down an octave in high passages."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The following interesting notes are by Mr. W. Critchley, organist,
+choirmaster, and schoolmaster in the village of Hurst, near Reading:--
+
+"I do not choose the elder boys as altos, as I find that treble boys, as
+a rule, are at their very best just before the change of voice. And
+moreover, when that change begins, the voice is so uncertain in its
+intonation that if the boy were put to sing alto he would be certain to
+drag the others down. At present I have one or two boys with round,
+mellow voices, who are very effective. Unfortunately, most of the alto
+parts in hymn-tunes and chants hover about the place where the break in
+the voice occurs, and it requires a lot of practice to conquer the
+difficulty. As a rule, I get the alto boys to sing in the lower
+register. It is very seldom they get a note which they cannot take in
+this register, so I train it up a little, thus--
+
+[Illustration: KEYS B to F[#].
+
+d_1 t_2 l_2 t_2 d_1 r_1 m_1]
+
+I do not see any other way of getting over the uncertainty in the boy
+alto voice. It is merely a matter of time and trouble."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mr. J. C. E. Taylor, choirmaster of St. Mary's, Penzance, and
+head-master of the National School, says:--
+
+"I have had one or two pure alto voices, and these are the best, but
+very rare. Good voices of trebles unable to take [Illustration: musical
+notation] (D) have often become fair alto voices, and my present solo
+alto boy is one of these. The trios in the anthems are taken by boy
+alto, tenor, and bass. These alto boys are practised from lower G to
+C--[Illustration: musical notation] up and down, minding their _p's_ and
+_f's_. My trebles, as a rule, last until fifteen years of age, and altos
+until sixteen, and even seventeen."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mr. A. Isaac, choirmaster of a church in Liverpool, says:--
+
+"For the last twenty years I have been continuously engaged with male
+voice choirs in connection with churches too poor to pay for adult help,
+and, as you may readily guess, I have never yet had the good fortune to
+secure, for any length, the services of gentlemen who could sing
+falsetto effectively. I have had, therefore, to rely solely upon my boys
+for the alto part. At the present time my choir, which is allowed to be
+up to the mark amongst local Liverpool churches, is made up of 22 boys
+(18 treble and 4 alto) paid, and 14 adults (5 tenors and 9 basses)
+voluntary. There is, I find, no royal road to the alto part. My course
+is as follows. I obtain my boys as soon as they are eleven, by which age
+they have been made fairly familiar at my school with the old notation
+on the movable _do_ plan. Theoretical instruction is continued side by
+side with special voice-training exercises. Occasionally I meet with a
+boy who has a true mezzo-soprano voice, and he is a treasure, but in the
+main my selections are boys with treble voices. As soon as a treble
+shows signs of voice breaking, I let him down into the alto part. The
+transition is not very difficult, for by this time the boy has become a
+fairly good Sol-faist and reader. I have but to adapt the voice-training
+exercises to him in company with his fellows, and I have no reason to
+regret the issue. I take my boys always together, with two-part
+exercises."
+
+Mr. Stocks Hammond, organist and choirmaster of St. Barnabas, Bradford,
+in a published paper on "Boys' Voices," says:--
+
+"During many years of choir training, I have experienced very great
+difficulty in supplying the alto parts with _good_ men's falsetto voices
+(especially in voluntary choirs), and I have therefore been compelled to
+have that part sung by boys, and experience leads me to prefer the boys'
+voices to men's, unless, indeed, they are real alto voices, which are
+seldom to be met with. I have never yet had any great difficulty in
+finding boys' voices capable of sustaining that part, and can always
+fill up any gaps that occur by the following means. Whenever I find a
+treble begins to experience a difficulty in singing the upper notes, and
+that in order to sing them he must strain his voice, immediately he is
+put to sing alto, which he is in most cases able to do for one or two
+years, and during that time he is thus retained as a useful member of
+the choir; for otherwise he would very soon have been lost to it
+entirely, for nothing hastens so much the breaking of the voice as the
+habit of unduly straining it."
+
+Mr. T. H. Collinson, Mus.B., organist of St. Mary's Cathedral,
+Edinburgh, writes to me:--
+
+"Boy altos are a fraud and a deception, as a rule, though occasionally
+one meets with a natural contralto at an early age. Even then he can
+generally be worked up to treble by gentle treatment, developing the
+middle and falsetto registers."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In order to get to the bottom of this subject, I invited correspondence
+in the _Musical Standard_ (until recently the organ of the College of
+Organists), and several interesting letters were the result. Mr. R. T.
+Gibbons, F.C.O., organist of the Grocers' Company's Schools, where
+excellent performances of operettas are given, wrote:--
+
+"As soon as a boy's voice reaches only E[b] he is drafted into the
+altos, and that preserves his voice much longer."
+
+To this statement Mr. Fred. Cambridge, organist of Croydon Parish
+Church, took exception. He said:--
+
+"I do not wish to appear to dogmatise, but I should say 'as soon as a
+boy's voice reaches only E[b],' it is quite time he left off singing
+altogether, _i.e._, if his voice has previously been a treble. I know it
+is the custom in some choirs to make a boy sing alto as soon as his
+voice begins to break. In my opinion, such a course is utterly wrong. It
+is not only injurious to the boy's voice, but very unpleasant for those
+who have to listen to it.
+
+"In a school of 500 boys, there ought to be no difficulty in finding
+sufficient natural altos, without having to rely on broken-voiced
+trebles.
+
+"In my own choir I frequently admit altos at 10 or 11 years of age, with
+the result that I get five or six years' work out of them, and the
+latter part of their time they are available for alto solos.
+
+"I think (and I speak from upwards of 30 years' experience) that if Mr.
+Gibbons will try this plan, he will find it much more satisfactory than
+drafting his trebles into the altos as soon as their voices begin to
+break.
+
+"I do not enter into the question of men _versus_ boy altos, because it
+is my experience that in a voluntary choir, especially in the country, a
+really _good_ adult alto is such a _rara avis_, that one is obliged to
+rely on boys, and if they are carefully chosen and trained, they are, I
+think, quite satisfactory. The only place when one misses the man alto
+voice is in anthems with a verse for A.T.B., such as 'Rejoice in the
+Lord' (Purcell), 'The Wilderness' (Goss), &c."
+
+Mr. C. E. Juleff, organist of Bodmin Parish Church, wrote:--
+
+"Allow me to say that I have found men altos infinitely preferable to
+those of boys. In short, one good man alto I have experienced to be
+equal to half-a-dozen boy altos as regards tone; and in respect to
+phrasing and reading I have found men altos decidedly superior. The two
+gentlemen altos who were in my choir at SS. Michael and All Angels,
+Exeter, were acknowledged by London organists to be 'second to none' in
+the provinces."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On the other hand, Mr. Thomas Ely, F.C.O., of St. John's College,
+Leatherhead, gave a warm testimony to boy altos:--
+
+"I may say that in my choir at this College I have four or five very
+good boy altos. One is exceptionally good, possessing a natural alto
+voice of remarkable richness and beauty. In our services and anthems he
+takes the solo alto parts, and in my opinion he is far superior to a man
+alto, except in such anthems as Wesley's 'Ascribe unto the Lord'
+(expressly written for choirs possessing men altos), in which he cannot
+take some of the lower notes. The compass of his voice is from F to
+E[b]."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In these letters and experiences there are evidently two underlying
+ideas. First, that the boy alto has a naturally low voice; second, that
+the boy alto is a broken-down soprano. For both these notions there is
+some physical foundation, because there is no doubt that the lower notes
+of boys of 12 to 14 are rounder and fuller than those of boys of 9 to
+12. Herr Eglinger, of Basel, to whose mastery of the subject in theory
+and practice I can testify, from personal intercourse, distinctly
+recognises this. He says:--
+
+"It is only when boys and girls approach the period of change, say a
+year or two before the voice begins to break, that a clear chest-voice,
+corresponding to that of women, is perceptible. In boys at this stage,
+the head-voice rapidly declines in volume and height; and what there is
+of middle register is not much, nor of great service much longer. On the
+other hand, the chest-tones acquire a resonance, and in boys a certain
+gruffness, which, mixed with other voices, imparts a peculiar charm to
+the chorus."
+
+Thus although here and there a boy may be found with a naturally low
+voice from the first, the majority of altos will be obtained from older
+boys, who are approaching the period of change. It is, however, of much
+importance to watch these boys, and stop their singing when their voice
+really gives way, because it then becomes uncertain in its intonation,
+and is apt to spoil the tuning of the choir.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The idea that boys must not use the thick or chest register is also a
+mistake. It is the straining of this register, which produces a hard,
+rattling sound, that is objectionable. Boy altos have as much right to
+use the chest register, in its proper place and with proper reserve of
+power, as women altos.
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+SCHOOLS FOR CHORISTERS.
+
+
+Music is now recognised as one of the professions, taking its place by
+the side of Law, Medicine, and Divinity. Parents who have boys to start
+in life look for avenues of entrance to these various occupations. And
+there can be no doubt that to be a chorister-boy is one of the very best
+ways of serving an apprenticeship to music. Hear what the late Sir
+George Macfarren says on the subject:--
+
+"A cathedral choir is the best cradle for a musician our country
+affords. I say this from the conviction, many times confirmed, that, as
+an average, by very far the best practical musicians, those I mean whose
+musical readiness gives them the air of having music as an instinct or
+of second nature, those who are ever prompt with their talent to produce
+or to perform without preparation at the requirement of the moment;
+those whose ears are quick, whose wits are sharp, and whose utmost
+ability is ever at their fingers' ends--are they who have passed their
+art infancy in one of our ecclesiastical arenas for constant practice.
+The very early habit of hearing and performing music stimulates the
+musical sense, and gives musical tendency to all the youthfully supple
+faculties which bear upon the use of this sense. The habit in almost
+first childhood of associating sight with sound, written characters with
+uttered notes, the office of the eye with that of the ear or of the
+voice, which is the ear's agent, does more in favourable cases to
+develop some of the best essentials in an artist, than can be
+accomplished by the unremitting study of after life. I say this
+feelingly: I had not the advantage to which I refer, but I observe its
+influence upon the majority of others whose talent claims my best
+respect."
+
+These words put the case with emphasis and truth. A list of former choir
+boys in the musical profession, if it could be compiled, would afford
+further evidence in this matter. Among composers the list would include
+Arthur Sullivan, Alfred Cellier, John Stainer, and Alfred Gaul; among
+singers, Edward Lloyd and Joseph Maas, while the ranks of the teaching
+profession are largely recruited from this source. "Literature," says
+Mr. Herkomer, "does not help art much. Art is learnt by doing." You
+cannot become a musician by reading the matter up, or listening to
+lectures. Musicianship is imparted more after the style of a moral than
+of an intellectual power--like good breeding rather than like
+arithmetic.
+
+A striking proof of the fact that the chorister boy gravitates easily
+into the musical profession, and makes his mark there, is afforded by
+the history of Rochester Cathedral boys. These include the late Mr.
+Joseph Maas, the tenor singer, and the following organists of
+cathedrals, all of whom are living:--Dr. Armes (Durham), Dr. Crow
+(Ripon), Dr. Bridge (Westminster), Dr. J. C. Bridge (Chester), and Mr.
+Wood (Exeter).
+
+These facts make parents anxious for information as to how to get their
+sons into church and cathedral choirs. Enquiries of this kind are
+constantly reaching me. I have therefore thought it well to add to the
+completeness of this work by collecting information from all available
+sources, and I have to express my thanks to the Rev. Precentors who have
+so readily responded to my circular of appeal.
+
+The result is in some respects disappointing. Choir _boarding_ schools
+are not numerous, and are not increasing in number. The agricultural
+depression has reduced the revenues of cathedrals and colleges, and they
+are likely in the future to seek out cheaper rather than more expensive
+modes of working. A few town churches which place music in the front,
+have started boarding schools, but, as a rule, the choristers live in
+their homes. I have no desire for these boarding schools in the
+abstract. I question if the boys get more musical education by living
+together than they do by coming for it day by day. But the boarding
+school affords the only opportunity for parents who do not live in a
+cathedral town to get their boys educated as choristers. The day schools
+suit the townspeople well enough, and here and there a boy from a
+distance may board with relatives or friends and get into the choir, but
+this is exceptional.
+
+I now give the results of my enquiries.
+
+
+CHOIR BOARDING SCHOOLS.
+
+WORCESTER CATHEDRAL CHOIR SCHOOL.--A preparatory school for the sons of
+professional men. Boys admitted as probationers nine to eleven, on
+passing examination. The ten choristers and eight probationers are
+lodged, boarded, and taught together at the Choir School. Charge L26 per
+annum for probationers, and L16 for choristers, plus 7s. 6d. a quarter
+for washing. Pianoforte lessons 15s. per quarter. Boys can compete, when
+their voices break, for a scholarship at the Cathedral Grammar School.
+Several have done this with success. Apply Rev. H. H. Woodward, M.A.,
+Mus.B.
+
+WESTMINSTER ABBEY CHOIR HOUSE.--Candidates must produce certificate of
+baptism and be at least eight years of age. Expected to possess good
+voice, moderate knowledge of rudiments, to be able to read and write
+fairly, and to pass medical examination. All boys taught vocal music,
+and facilities given for learning instruments. Master of choir house
+responsible for their general education, which includes English
+subjects, French, German, and drawing. Parents must supply clothing, and
+usual appointments, school books, pocket money, travelling expenses, and
+medical attendance. All other fees paid by the Chapter.
+
+EXETER CATHEDRAL CHOIR SCHOOL.--Fourteen choristers are boarded and
+educated for L10 a year, and provided with a suit of clothes each year.
+There are always two probationers in the school from eight to ten years
+of age paying L35 exclusive of usual extras. Vacancies in choristers
+usually filled by probationers, but no pledge given. Possible grants to
+deserving choristers when they leave; school fees sometimes paid for
+six months or so after the voice has failed. Head master and experienced
+matron.
+
+ALL SAINTS, MARGARET STREET, LONDON, W.--Twelve choir boys and two
+accepted boys waiting for vacancies live in west wing of vicarage under
+care of one of the clergy, who gives them lessons each morning, a
+certificated master taking them in the evenings. Afternoon, cricket and
+football in Regent's Park. Whole holiday Saturdays, and those who live
+near enough can go home. Vacations--a week in January and at Easter, and
+34 days in August and September. Each boy separate cubicle in dormitory.
+Boys have meals in dining hall with clergy (but at separate table). Each
+boy pays L12 in first year, L8 in second year, and nothing afterwards.
+Gratuity of L10 when voice breaks. Probationers pay L5 per quarter, and
+do everything except sing in church. No boy received unless parents wish
+him to be brought up in Church of England. Correct ear and brilliant
+voice count more at examination than knowledge of music. Apply Vicar.
+
+CHAPEL ROYAL, ST. JAMES'S PALACE.--The ten choristers reside with
+Master, who is a priest of the Chapel Royal. Free board and education
+and greater part of clothing. Grant of from L30 to L40 on leaving choir
+if conduct good. Latin, French, Mathematics, and usual English subjects.
+
+OXFORD, MAGDALENE COLLEGE SCHOOL.--Sixteen choristers, board and
+education free. Admitted by open competition. The school is not confined
+to choristers; it contains at present 70 boys, many of whom pass on to
+the University.
+
+OXFORD, NEW COLLEGE.--Eight senior and eight junior choristers take part
+in the services. These all receive free education at the College School,
+but provide their own books. They are prepared for Oxford Local
+Examinations, the College paying fees. Twelve choristers are boarded in
+the School House with the master. These are arranged in two divisions
+according to musical ability. The first division boarded free, the
+second division pays about 6s. a week for the 40 weeks of the school
+year. Some fees paid to senior boys and boys of special value as
+soloists. Choristers whose parents reside in Oxford receive from 10s. to
+L5 a year according to merit and seniority. Gratuity or apprentice fee
+not exceeding L40 occasionally given.
+
+FROME, SOMERSET.--St. John Baptist College. Founded by late Rev. W. J.
+E. Bennett 36 years ago. Number of boys usually 15; maintained, clothed,
+and educated on payment of 7s. a week under twelve, and 8s. above. No
+regular holidays. Boys not allowed to leave till they have made their
+first communion.
+
+LINCOLN MINSTER.--Boys boarded and educated at Northgate Schools at
+expense of Chapter. English subjects, French, Latin, German, Drawing,
+Shorthand, Chemistry. All school books found. Parents pay travelling,
+clothing, and washing only. Small allowance of pocket-money. Four weeks'
+holiday in the year.
+
+EASTBOURNE, ST. SAVIOUR'S CHURCH CHOIR SCHOOL.--Established 1878. Boys
+admitted as boarders or day pupils from eight years of age, choristers
+(boarders) pay 32 guineas a year, day choristers 14 guineas.
+Instrumental music, German, and Drawing are extras. Other subjects as
+for Cambridge local exams. Ten weeks' holiday in the year. Scholarships
+of from L5 to L15 a year are awarded to efficient choristers.
+
+RIPON CATHEDRAL CHOIR SCHOOL.--Day boys under 14, L6 per annum; over 14,
+L8. Boarders under 12, L40 per annum; over 12, L45. Laundress, L2. Usual
+subjects, including modern languages and science. Instrumental music
+extra. Four choral scholarships at L30, eight at L25, and six for
+probationers at L20. Pupils prepared for University Local Examinations,
+Preliminary Law, and Medical, &c. Playground, workshop, cricket field,
+library, school magazine.
+
+ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL CHOIR SCHOOL.--Board and education free: parents
+provide clothes, travelling, and pocket money. Good voices and musical
+talent necessary. Easy preliminary examination in Scripture, three R's,
+and Latin. Candidates must be between 8 and 10. Two or three
+examinations are held each year according as there are vacancies. Course
+of study as usual for public schools. Piano and violin extra. Holidays
+at Christmas, Easter, and Summer. Weekly half-holiday. Private field in
+suburbs for games. Rev. W. Russell, Succentor, is head master.
+
+SALISBURY CATHEDRAL.--Boarding school for choristers in the Close.
+Eighteen boys. Parents pay L15 a year. School has also some pupils who
+are not choristers. Usual subjects of secondary school. One ex-chorister
+is now a scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge. The master is a Minor
+Canon. Boys admitted by competition; those from neighbourhood of
+Salisbury preferred. Endowment of nearly L1,000 a year for the choir.
+
+ALL SAINTS, CLIFTON.--Choir school for the choristers of All Saints
+Church, who can be prepared for public schools or commercial life. There
+are twenty choir scholarships, ranging in value from L10 to L25 a year.
+A boy holding a junior scholarship may at any time be elected to one of
+higher value. School fees for choristers 7 to 10 guineas a term.
+Choristers may remain at the school after voice breaks at discretion of
+head-master. Holidays at Summer, Christmas, and Easter. The school is
+open to boys generally, whether choristers or not.
+
+THE VICAR'S CHOIR SCHOOL, HULL.--Intended for the choristers of Holy
+Trinity Church. School fee, L10 10s. per annum. Boarders L40 per annum.
+Ten scholarships of the value of L10 10s., ten value L8 8s., and twenty
+value L5 5s. Amount of scholarship deducted from boarding fee in case of
+those who are admitted into choir. Thirteen weeks' holiday during the
+year.
+
+OXFORD, CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL SCHOOL.--Boys are all sons of clergymen
+or other professional men. Eight choristers educated, boarded, and
+lodged free of expense. Eight probationers, who, if approved, become
+choristers as vacancies occur. Probationary period usually from 2 to
+2-1/2 years. Probationers pay L25 a year. A few extras, and fee of L3
+3s. on election of probationer to choristership. Every boy is, if
+possible, passed through the Oxford Local Examinations. Month's holiday
+in summer, and short leave of absence either at Christmas or Easter, if
+particularly desired. Election by competition after trial of voice and
+ear.
+
+WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL.--Sixteen choristers sing in the services. These
+receive education free, a clothing gratuity of L5 a year, and a leaving
+gratuity of from L5 to L20, according to merit and length of service.
+There are four boarding scholarships, which leave the parents only L5 a
+year to pay. Six of the choristers are foundation boys. Of these, the
+two seniors receive L4 a year, and the two juniors L2 a year, but
+boarding scholarships and foundation money are not given to the same
+boys. There are also four to eight probationers who supply vacancies, if
+on second trial their voices are approved. These receive free education.
+There are sixty boys in the school.
+
+TENBURY, ST. MICHAEL'S COLLEGE.--Founded by the late Rev. Sir Frederick
+Gore-Ouseley in 1856. There are eight choristers, boarded and educated
+free. Also eight probationers, from whom the choristers are selected,
+who pay 40 guineas a year. Commoners, _i.e._, boys who do not hold
+scholarships, and are not probationers, pay 60 guineas a year; two or
+more brothers 55 guineas a year. Preference is given in all elections to
+the sons of clergymen. Thirteen weeks' holiday in the year. Sound
+classical and mathematical education, to fit for scholarships and the
+higher forms at public schools. Healthy situation, in country.
+
+
+EDUCATION ONLY.
+
+BRISTOL CATHEDRAL.--Boys attend Cathedral Grammar School, where there
+are 100 boys.
+
+GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL.--Boys educated and paid up to L10 per annum.
+
+ST. ASAPH.--Boys educated at Grammar School.
+
+WELLS.--Boys educated at Cathedral Grammar School.
+
+YORK.--Boys sent to Archbishop Holgate's School.
+
+TRURO.--Probationers, after serving at least three months, may be
+admitted choristers, and receive small quarterly payment. From these are
+elected the "choir scholars," of whom there are now ten. These receive
+free education and a quarterly gratuity. One boy, with remarkable
+contralto voice, comes from a distance, and is boarded and educated at
+expense of Dean and Chapter. Enlarged number of boarders contemplated.
+
+ST. PETER'S, EATON SQUARE, LONDON, W.--Special day school with master.
+Boys have midday dinner, with tea on practice and late service nights.
+Boarding school formerly existed, but is given up.
+
+DURHAM CATHEDRAL.--No boarding school.
+
+ELY CATHEDRAL.--No boarding school.
+
+BANGOR.--Choristers brought up in National or Grammar School.
+
+TEMPLE CHURCH, LONDON.--Boys attend Stationers' School.
+
+PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL.--Boys educated at King's School.
+
+CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL.--Boys taught at Prebendal School.
+
+INVERNESS CATHEDRAL.--No boarding school.
+
+ARMAGH CATHEDRAL.--A day school for the choir boys.
+
+HAMPTON COURT, CHAPEL ROYAL.--No boarding school.
+
+NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE CATHEDRAL.--No boarding school.
+
+MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL.--A special day school for the choir boys, taught
+by a lay clerk. Eighteen to twenty boys receive education free, and four
+foundation boys receive L20 per annum. The Precentor likes to have the
+boys at nine.
+
+LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL.--Day school taught by a deputy lay clerk, the
+succentor taking Latin, English, and Divinity.
+
+DUBLIN, ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL.--No boarding school.
+
+PERTH CATHEDRAL.--No school.
+
+LINCOLN'S INN.--Choristers educated, but not boarded.
+
+NORWICH CATHEDRAL.--No boarding school.
+
+CARLISLE CATHEDRAL.--No boarding school.
+
+ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL.--Boys live at home, and attend Cathedral School,
+which is not especially for choristers.
+
+LIVERPOOL CATHEDRAL.--No boarding school.
+
+SOUTHWELL MINSTER.--No boarding school.
+
+ST. ALBAN'S CATHEDRAL.--No boarding school.
+
+From these particulars it will be gathered that the prevailing custom is
+for chorister boys to live at home and give their voices in return for
+free education. The various boarding schools described differ much in
+the terms they offer, and it may be said generally that only an
+exceptionally good voice and a personal introduction are likely to
+succeed in those cases where free board and education are given. The
+number of candidates is so large that selection is difficult.
+
+[Illustration: Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+CONCERT SONGS FOR BOYS.
+
+
+In this list I have included songs with innocent, hopeful, joyous words
+such as boys may honestly sing. Words dwelling with sadness on the past,
+or speaking of life as bitter, I have excluded. Convivial and amatory
+sentiments have also been ruled out. As to the music, I have excluded
+songs with difficulties of vocalisation. The keys chosen are those best
+suited to treble boys, bringing the melody as nearly as possible between
+F and F{1}, with an occasional G{1}. The list is by no means
+exhaustive, and must be regarded merely as a dip in the ocean of
+ballads. I shall be much obliged to correspondents who will suggest
+suitable additions.
+
+Composer. Title and Key. Publisher.
+
+Abt, Franz ... O little thrush (C) ... R. Cocks
+
+Adams, Stephen ... Song of the sailor boy (E flat) R. Cocks
+
+Adams, Stephen ... The cry of the little ones (E flat).... Boosey
+
+Addison, R. B. ... Violets (F) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Allen, G. B. ... The little drummer (F) ... Ashdown
+
+Almond, E. ... Buttercups and daisies (D) ... Ashdown
+
+Anderton, T. ... The bells of Shandon (D) ... Chappell
+
+Andre, F. A. ... A British cheer for England's Queen (F) ... Chappell
+
+Bailey, W. J. ... Make-believes (E flat) ... Ashdown
+
+Barker, Geo. ... A health to the outward-bound (B flat) ... Chappell
+
+Barnby, Joseph ... An evening melody (F) ... Morley
+
+Barnby, Joseph ... That haven fair (E flat) ... Morley
+
+Barnett, J. F. ... The Minstrel (G) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Barri, Odoardo ... In the cloisters (B flat) ... Morley
+
+Barri, Odoardo ... The beauteous song (F) ... Cramer
+
+Barri, Odoardo ... The child and the flowers (E flat) ... Ashdown
+
+Behrend, A. H. ... Gentleman Jack (C) ... Patey & Willis
+
+Behrend, A. H. ... The angel's promise (F) ... Boosey
+
+Behrend, A. H. ... The Gift (F) ... Boosey
+
+Behrend, A. H. ... Two children (A) ... Patey & Willis
+
+Bennett, Sterndale ... Dawn, gentle flower ... Novello
+
+Bevan, Fred ... Gladsome tidings (E flat) ... Patey & Willis
+
+Bevan, Fred ... I'll be a soldier, mother (A) ... Patey & Willis
+
+Bevan, Fred ... The Admiral's broom (F minor) ... Enoch
+
+Bishop, R ... Chime again, beautiful bells (B flat) ... R. Cocks
+
+Botterhill, Jessie ... Pack clouds away (C) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Botterhill, Jessie ... The Lark (F) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Buck, Dudley ... When the heart is young ... Boosey
+
+Cherry, J. W. ... Gentle Spring (G) ... Ashdown
+
+Cherubini ... Ave Maria ...
+
+Chesham, E. M. ... Fire (G) ... Cramer
+
+Cobb, G. F. ... Mary, Queen of Scots ... London Music Pub. Co.
+
+Cobb, G. F. ... Versailles ... London Music Pub. Co.
+
+Cobb, G. F. ... Kenilworth ... Metzler
+
+Costa, Michael ... Morning Prayer [_Eli_](alto) ... J. Williams
+
+Cowen, F. H. ... Children's dreams (E minor) ... R. Cocks
+
+Cowen, F. H. ... The Children's Home (D) ... Morley
+
+Cowen, F. H. ... Tears (alto) ...
+
+Cowen, F. H. ... The watchman and the child (F) ... Morley
+
+Coward, J. M. ... The butterfly and the humble bee ... Metzler & Co.
+
+Davis, Miss ... What is that, mother? (A flat) ... Ashdown
+
+Dick, Cotsford ... The Angel's Gift (F) ... Morley
+
+Diehl, Louis ... Dear England (C) ... R. Cocks
+
+Elmore, Frank ... Child and the sunbeams (C) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Farebrother, B. ... Reine d'amour ...
+
+Flood, Edwin ... The gipsy's life (C) ... R. Cocks
+
+Foster, M. B. The mother's grave (E minor) [alto] Stanley Lucas
+
+Frost, C. J. ... Youthful Songs ... Novello
+
+Gabriel, V. Children's voices [alto] ...
+
+Gatty, A. S. ... Three little pigs (A flat) ... R. Cocks
+
+Gibsone, Ignace ... The man-o'-war's man (D) ... Patey & Willis
+
+Gilletto, Paul ... Lead, kindly light (A minor) ... Phillips & Page
+
+Glover, Stephen ... The flower gatherers (E) ... R. Cocks
+
+Gounod, C. ... For ever with the Lord (D) ... Phillips & Page
+
+Gounod, C. ... Glory to Thee, my God (D) ... Phillips & Page
+
+Gounod, C. ... The King of Love (E flat) [alto] ... Phillips & Page
+
+Grazia, E. N. ... Laugh while you may (D) ... Ashdown
+
+Greenhill, J. ... The Canadian herd-boy (F) [alto] ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Gyde, Margaret ... The song of the robin (D) ... Ashdown
+
+Hatton, J. L. ... The cause of England's greatness (F) ... R. Cocks
+
+Hatton, J. L. ... Song should breathe of scents and flowers ... Ashdown
+
+Hatton, J. L. ... Blossoms ... Ashdown
+
+Hawthorne, Alice ... Hearth and home (G) ... R. Cocks
+
+Hecht, E. ... The innocent child (C) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Hobson, M. ... The peaceful Sabbath bell (F) ... Chappell
+
+Horner, B. W. ... In the cloisters (E flat) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Jackson, J. ... Cathedral Memories (E flat) ... Morley
+
+Kjerulf, Halfdan ... Asleep (E) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Lemoine, E. ... The ship-boy's prayer (C min.) [alto] ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Liebe, Louis ... The stripling's armour (C minor) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Loehr, F. N. ... Suffer the little children (F) ... Cramer
+
+Maccabe, F. ... Buttercups and daisies (D) ... Chappell
+
+Mackenzie, H. ... The lion flag of England (G) ... Patey & Willis
+
+Marzials, Theo ... The fairy Jane (B flat) ... Enoch
+
+Mendelssohn ... The Savoyard's Return ... Novello
+
+Moffat, Douglas ... The child's prayer (F) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Moir, F. L. ... Children asleep (F) ... Boosey
+
+Moir, F. L. ... He will forgive (C) ... R. Cocks
+
+Molloy, J. L. ... Home, dearie, home (F) ... Boosey
+
+Molloy, J. L. ... The little match girl (G minor) ... Chappell
+
+Molloy, J. L. ... The sailor's dance ... Boosey
+
+Molloy, J. L. ... Dresden China ... Boosey
+
+Morgan, Franz ... A fairer garden (C) ... Cramer
+
+Offenbach ... Spring, spring _(Babil and Bijou)_ ...
+
+Parker, Henry ... Jerusalem (G) ... Cramer
+
+Pattison, T. Mee ... Blossoms, fair blossoms ... Curwen
+
+Piccolomini, M. ... Dolorosa ... Orsborn
+
+Piccolomini, M. ... Eternal rest ... Orsborn
+
+Piccolomini, M. ... In Manus Tuas (F) ... Morley
+
+Piccolomini, M. ... Ora pro nobis ... Orsborn
+
+Piccolomini, M. ... Salva nos, domine ... Orsborn
+
+Piccolomini, M. ... Sancta Maria ... Orsborn
+
+Piccolomini, M. ... The soldier of the cross ... Orsborn
+
+Piccolomini, M. ... The two choirs ... Orsborn
+
+Pinsuti, Ciro ... Heaven's chorister (C) ... R. Cocks
+
+Pinsuti, Ciro ... The old cathedral (D) ... Morley
+
+Pinsuti, Ciro ... The touch of a vanished hand (G) ... Cramer
+
+Pinsuti, Ciro ... Welcome, pretty primrose ... Ricordi
+
+Randegger, A. ... Save me, O God (B flat) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Randegger, A. ... Joyous Life ...
+
+Rawlings, A. J. ... The distant city [alto] ... Marshall
+
+Robinson, J. ... A Hush Song (F) ... J. Williams
+
+Rodney, Paul ... Alone on the raft (G) ... Enoch
+
+Rodney, Paul ... Calvary (D) ... Enoch
+
+Rodney, Paul ... The bells of St Mary's (D) ... Enoch
+
+Rodney, Paul ... Via Dolorosa (G) ... Enoch
+
+Rodwell, G. H. ... Your boy in blue (F) ... R. Cocks
+
+Roeckel, J. L. ... Captain Dando (E flat) ... Enoch
+
+Roeckel, J. L. ... Crowning the seasons (D) ... R. Cocks
+
+Roeckel, J. L. ... Hark! the dogs do bark! (A) ... Cramer
+
+Richards, Brinley ... Let the hills resound (E flat) ... R. Cocks
+
+Richards, Brinley ... Mother, thou art far away (F) ... R. Cocks
+
+Smallwood, W. ... A song for the land I love (C) ... Chappell
+
+Smart, Henry ... Victoria (B flat) ... R. Cocks
+
+Smart, Henry ... By the blue sea [alto] ... Metzler
+
+Smart, Henry ... Dropping down the troubled river ... Novello
+
+Smart, Henry ... The birds were telling one another (F) ... Ashdown
+
+Somervell, Arthur ... Four songs of Innocence ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Songs for Boys (20 songs, price 6d.) ... ... Boosey
+
+Songs for Young Girls (18 songs, 1s.) ... ... Boosey
+
+Stericker, A. C. ... The Ivy Green (B flat) [alto] ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Street, A. ... The birdie's ball (D) ... R. Cocks
+
+Streleski, Anton ... Violets (G) ... R. Cocks
+
+Sullivan, A. S. ... The chorister (alto) ... Metzler
+
+Sullivan, A. S. ... What does little birdie say ... Ashdown
+
+Sullivan, A. S. ... The Sailor's Grave (E flat) ... Ashdown
+
+Tours, Berthold ... Jesu, lover of my soul (D) ... R. Cocks
+
+Tours, Berthold ... The dog and the shadow (G) ... R. Cocks
+
+Tours, Berthold ... The new kingdom (D) ... Morley
+
+Trotere, H. ... Three men in a boat (C) ... R. Cocks
+
+Wallace, W. V. ... Scenes that are brightest (F) ... Hutchings
+
+Walsh, Marian ... The sailor boy (C) ... Stanley Lucas
+
+Watson, M. ... An Englishman's house is his castle (C) ... R. Cocks
+
+Watson, M. ... Little birdie mine (D) ... Ashdown
+
+Watson, M. ... Little Lady Bountiful (F) ... Ashdown
+
+Watson, M. ... Loved and saved (B flat) ... Enoch
+
+Watson, M. ... Our dear old home (D) ... Patey & Willis
+
+Watson, M. ... The Powder-monkey (G) ... Patey & Willis
+
+Watson, M. ... There's a Friend for little children (A) ... Patey & Willis
+
+Watson, M. ... Trafalgar (E flat) ... Patey & Willis
+
+Watson, M. ... Two bells (G) ... Patey & Willis
+
+West, J. E. ... The roseate hues (alto) ... Ashdown
+
+West, W. ... I am a honey-bee (G) ... Ashdown
+
+Wrightson, W. T. ... Be happy, and never despair (G) ... R. Cocks
+
+Wrightson, W. T. ... Cottage and throne (E flat) ... R. Cocks
+
+Old Song ... Sir Guy of Warwick (F) ... Chappell
+
+   "    ... The Minstrel Boy ... Boosey
+
+   "    ... Charlie is my darling ... Boosey
+
+   "    ... Love was once a little boy ... Boosey
+
+....    ... The Skipper and his Boy (F) ... Hutchings
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+
+PAGE
+
+Abuse of the voice, 1
+
+Agricultural districts, 49
+
+Alto boys, 75
+
+Altos, Adult male, 75
+
+
+Balance of parts, 16
+
+Barnes, Rev. W. M., 23
+
+Barnicott, Mr., 15
+
+Bates, Dr. Frank, 81
+
+Behnke, Mr., 14, 17
+
+Berlin, St. Mary's, 71
+
+Boarding Schools, Choir, 92
+
+Breaking of the boy's voice, 3
+
+Breath, Management of the, 6, 67
+
+Breden, Mr. Owen, 71
+
+Bridge, Dr., 60
+
+Brooks, Mr. Walter, 15, 34
+
+
+Cambridge, Mr. F., 87
+
+Canterbury Cathedral, 64
+
+Cathedral choirmasters, 59
+
+Change to man's voice, 3
+
+Chanting, 62
+
+Chapel Royal, St. James's, 59
+
+Chest voice, 24
+
+Choir Guild, 9
+
+Choosing boys, 21
+
+Choristers, Schools for, 90
+
+Churchill, 52
+
+Clement Danes, St., Strand, 72
+
+Clergyman's daughter, The, 55
+
+Cold, Singing during a, 2
+
+Collar-bone breathing, 6
+
+Collinson, Mr. T. H., 17, 86
+
+Concert songs for boys, 99
+
+Consonants, 27
+
+Country boys, 49
+
+Creser, Dr., 69
+
+Critchley, Mr. W., 49, 84
+
+Curwen, John, Register names, 12
+
+
+Day Schools, Choir, 96
+
+Deacon, Mr. H., 27
+
+Demack, Miss, 52
+
+Diaphragm breathing, 6
+
+Dickson, Rev. W. E., 25, 78
+
+Discipline, Preserving, 8
+
+Donald, Mr. H. A., 33, 74
+
+Dunn, Sinclair, Voice exs., 13
+
+
+Edinburgh, St. Mary's, 17, 86
+
+Eglinger, Herr, 15, 35, 88
+
+Ely, Mr. Thomas, 88
+
+Ely, The choir at, 78
+
+"E," The vowel, 17
+
+Evans, Mr., 50
+
+
+Feeble voice, A, 1
+
+Fines, 17
+
+Flattening, 31, 32
+
+
+Garrett, Dr., 76
+
+Gaul, Mr. A. R., 66
+
+Gibbons, Mr. R. T., 86
+
+Gilbert, Mr. Bernard, 3, 16
+
+Girls, Imitating, 50, 53
+
+
+Hammond, Mr. Stocks, 16, 86
+
+Health and singing, 2
+
+Helmore, Rev. F. J., 23
+
+Helmore, Rev. Thomas., 59
+
+Hibberd, Mr. C., 34, 57
+
+Hopkins, Dr. E. J., 61
+
+Husband, Rev. E., 10
+
+
+Indistinctness, 27
+
+Infant School, The, 42
+
+Intoning, 17, 52
+
+Isaac, Mr. A., 85
+
+
+Juleff, Mr. C. E., 87
+
+
+Keeton, Dr. Haydn, 67, 80
+
+Knapp, Mr. F. J., 72
+
+
+Lady teachers, 52
+
+Leeds Parish Church, 69
+
+Lincoln Cathedral, 62
+
+Lincoln's Inn Chapel, 61
+
+Lloyd, Dr. C. H., 63
+
+Longhurst, Dr., 65
+
+Long services, 8
+
+
+Macfarren, Sir George, 90
+
+Mackenzie, Sir Morell, 3
+
+Managing choir boys, 8
+
+Mann, Rev. W., 24
+
+Mark's, St., Chelsea, 71
+
+Martin, Dr. G. C., 2
+
+Mental effects, 32, 34
+
+Mixed schools, 32
+
+Muehlfeld, Herr, 73
+
+
+Norfolk voices, 56
+
+Norwich, Dr. Buck at, 66
+
+
+O'Rell, Max, 8
+
+Oxford, Christ Church, 63
+
+
+Parbery, Mr. George, 53
+
+Parish church choirmasters, 69
+
+Paul's, St., Cathedral, 59
+
+Pearson, Mr. W. W., 33, 56, 84
+
+Peter's, St., Eaton Square, 9, 70
+
+Pianoforte for rehearsal, 32
+
+Prizes for choir boys, 9
+
+Pronunciation in singing, 27, 46
+
+Puberty, Age of, 3
+
+
+Registers, The, 12
+
+Rib breathing, 6
+
+Richardson, Mr. W. H., 35, 40
+
+Roberti, Signor, 36
+
+Roney, Mr. H. B., 9, 16
+
+Rural districts, 49
+
+
+Salisbury Cathedral, 67
+
+Salisbury Diocese, 23
+
+Salzungen Choir, 73
+
+Saxton, Mr. R. H., 3, 19
+
+Schools for choristers, 90
+
+School teacher, The, 41
+
+Sentiment about choir boys, 11
+
+Sergison, Mr. de Manbey, 9, 70
+
+Sharpening, 35
+
+Sharp, Mr. Frank, 83
+
+Sight-singing, 30
+
+Singing by ear, 29
+
+Singing by note, 29
+
+Singing out of tune, 31
+
+Songs for boys, 99
+
+South, Mr. C. L., 67
+
+Stainer, Sir John, 13
+
+Steggall, Dr., 61
+
+Stewart, Rev. C. H., 25
+
+Stone, Alfred, 29
+
+Strakosch, M., 15
+
+Swanley boys, 35, 40
+
+
+Taylor, Mr. James, 76
+
+Taylor, Mr. J. C. E., 20, 85
+
+Temper, Uncontrolled, 10
+
+Temple Church, 61
+
+Thick register, 12, 89
+
+Thin register, 12
+
+Tonic Sol-fa certificates, 9, 20, 29, 47
+
+Tonic Sol-fa system, 30, 50, 51, 53, 57, 70, 73
+
+Training of boys' voices, 40
+
+Tuning boys up, 16, 73
+
+
+Upton Cross School, 74
+
+
+Voice training, 12
+
+
+Weekes, Rev. W. J., 35
+
+Westminster Abbey, 60
+
+Working class boys, 10
+
+
+Yorkshire voices, 14
+
+Young, Mr. J. W. M., 26, 62
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boy's Voice, by J. Spencer Curwen
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #32023 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32023)