This page will give you information about the training I offer to boys intending to enter a Cathedral Audition. I know exactly how the treble voice works and have successfully prepared boys for their cathedral auditions. I have successfully prepared adults for audition for Lay Clerk posts. I started my musical journey in the choir of St Peter and St Paul, Cromer. The choir was trained by Mr Norman Cutting, B Mus. Dunelm, F.R.C.O., L.T.C.L. It attained a standard pretty close to that of Norwich Cathedral. (Mr Cutting could have taken the post of Cathedral Organist at Norwich, after the second world war. He did not want to leave Cromer Church.) I went on to study at the University of East Anglia, and Trinity College of Music under John Noble. I sang with Peterborough Cathedral Choir and All Saints Church, Peterborough. I was choral scholar at St John's Church, Hyde Park, London. I have sung professionally for choral societies and opera companies and have an Equity Card.
Each year in November, Peterborough Cathedral holds an audition for boys aged 6, who are interested in joining the cathedral choir. The boys are guaranteed an education at the Kings School, Peterborough, which is probably the best comprehensive school in the city. They will also get an unparalleled music education and spiritual and cultural experiences that other schools simply cannot offer. Competition for these places is exceedingly fierce. The successful chorister must have an excellent voice; a musical aptitude and keen intelligence. There are a number of tests they must complete to win their place in the choir. A sung audition which is a hymn of 8 lines; ear tests similar to those conducted by the ABRSM, but the Choir may expect more demanding ear tests which require careful preparation. A reading test which would show that the chorister has an above average reading ability. There may be other tests which the Cathedral will conduct on the day, which they don't give advance notice of. (That is their prerogative. The Music Staff are professionals and experienced and know exactly what they are doing.) There is also an interview with the Precentor for the parents.
The sound a chorister makes is not that which the primary school music teacher expects. (Music education, post Covid 19, has been badly hit and schools do not have the time or expertise to do the subject justice.) Technically, it is the sob vocal set-up plus twang. (This is Dr G A Kayes opinion, and she is well qualified to make that judgement.) A few boys are endowed with this vocal quality, and use it, but they are few in number. However, it can be taught. Provided the voice is relaxed 'sob' is accessible for all healthy voices. The problem is that in the classroom children learn bad habits and produce a hard pressed tone which takes time to correct. This is a recognised vocal disorder on the fringes of vocal ill-health. The would-be chorister must learn to support their voices with the correct posture, breathing technique and clear diction. Having found the right sound the chorister must learn to use it pretty much all the time. The theatre school does not teach the correct technique of sob or head voice it does not belong on the stage. The actor uses a verismo (i.e realism) approach and evensong is not dramatic realism.
The auditionee must sing a hymn of 8 lines length. That is a lengthy hymm. Most are 4 lines or 6 lines long. The musical phrase must count for more than literary content. (Singing a demanding musical phrase from a hymn with 6 lines must carry more weight than 8 lines of a hymn which is not particularly demanding.) What the cathedral does not want to hear is a song written by an amateur musician from the evangelical fringe. They don't want to hear a modern chorus or praise song. The chosen hymn needs to show the voice off to best advantage and demand some technique and musical intelligence. In order to impress it needs to be peformed from memory. Do not underestimate the time it takes to learn the hymn and have it off the page. It will require time and concentrated effort. If you don't make the effort, it is certain that the next singer will have made that effort. You cannot afford to just turn up on the day and wing it. Prepare the hymn in good time and be prepared to perform it in front of your parents - the toughest audience. Remember you cannot sing a hymn until you can read it and read it well.
The Aural Tests are an important part of the test. They are probably based on those tests used by the ABRSM or Trinity Examination Boards. The Cathedral will probably add one or two tests of their own, which the major examining boards do not use. These tests will be indicators of innate musical skill; rhythmic and melodic memory and a sharp musical intelligence. The primary school music curriculum does not touch these areas. A good way of developing rhythmic and melodic memory is listening to quality music from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic Eras. That is music from 1600 AD onwards. (Baroque composers include Purcell, Vivaldi, Bach and Handel. Classical composers include Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert.) You will find a wealth of music on the internet. My music education began with classical music played as we walked into school assembly at primary school, then Radio 2's Your Hundred Best Tunes presented by Alan Keith on a Sunday Night. You should also listen to the recordings which are available online, of the top cathedral choirs. The late Queen Elizabeth II's funeral, King Charles III's coronation. There is one recording which displays the English choral sound better than most: Allegri Misere with Roy Goodman and the Kings College Choir, 1963. There is a documentary online where Roy Goodman and Sir David Willcocks relate the story of how Roy Goodman was chosen for the now iconic recording. I actually heard it from his mother, Mary Goodman. Roy had been out all afternoon, playing rugby. he ran into the famous chapel, covered in mud and still wearing his sports kit. Sir David Willcocks warmed up three of the choirs trebles, including Roy. He then pointed at Roy and asked him to sing the solo line. Roy did not have time to shower or change out of his rugby kit. So we hear the purest of treble tones coming from a singer covered in mud. The rugby match had so well warmed up Roy's voice that it gave him an advantage in the final audition.
The Allegri Miserere was the exclusive property of the Sistine Chapel, Rome. It was sung at the beginning of Lent as part of the tenebrae service on Ash Wednesday. Apparently for a time anyone caught with an unauthorised copy of the piece faced a very severe punishment. Perhaps even death. Later a young boy called Mozart was visiting Rome and heard the piece in the Sistine Chapel. He went back to his lodgings and wrote the piece out from memory. Google: Allegri Miserere, Roy Goodman, Kings College Choir 1963. The iconic recording is on line as well as the documentary where an adult Roy and elderly David reminisce about the making of the iconic recording.
The point is this: the development of a good musical memory takes time and effort. You will not be able to repeat Mozart's feat. If you listen to the right music and start in good time like a muscle the memory will develop. You won't have time to do all with a teacher. Listen to a piece of music. Clap the musical pulse. Clap the rhythm. If it has a simple tune, sing the tune. All these exercises help to develop a strong memory and musical ear. The cathedral will conduct tests designed to identify boys with musical aptitude, a good voice and a strong musical memory.
The third test listed by the Cathedral is the reading of a passage of literature out loud. You will not be given prior notice of what they will want you to read. They are looking for boys with an above average reading ability, because the cathedral chorister must be an excellent reader with a clear and audible voice. As a member of the choir he will have to sing in more than one language: English, Latin and others. Latin and others the cathedral will teach him, but English they will not, they expect that the primary school will have taught him to do that. The problem is that children read far less than they used to. They handle books far less than they used to, but we do not process language and information from a book as we do language and information off the computer screen. In simple terms: we have become lazy readers. It is possible to be looking at a book and not be reading it properly. Practice reading out loud. Your reading skills are possibly not as sharp as they need to be. Practise, practise and practise some more. The better your reading skills, the better your chances of getting a place in the choir. Do you read out loud clearly and confidently? It takes time and practice to develop the skill and reading to somebody sitting next to you is not sufficient practise to gain the strength and the projection of tone that the cathedral wants.
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