Interesting article

Found an interesting article on another website. It's in Uraguyan but Google Translate translates the page nicely. It is a bit of history which most other places have, but it also has the daily schedule of a castrato in the 1700s. It's quite an intesive schedule! There is also a letter to a young page called Monsieur Dery who was a good singer. It is encouraging him to become a castrato. The page is here: blogpost and a rough translation of it can be found on Google translate which is here : translation

Pueri Cantores della Cappella Musicale Pontificia “Sistina”

That's the Italian name for the Boys' choir of the Sistine Chapel. It is one of the oldest choirs in the world, dating back to around the sixth century. Still going strong today and still a boys' choir. Sometimes singing by themselves, and sometimes with adults for Tenor and Bass. There are about twenty adult singers and thirty boys.

The choir has a long history and has been directed by many famous composers. For example Domenico Mustafà.


Mustafà was a member of the Sistine Chapel Choir as a singer. He was a castrato and had a famously beautiful voice. He was noted for his performances of music by Handel. he became director of the choir in 1878. Below is a photograph of the choir from around 1904. You can see Mustafà in the back row (fifth from the right). Also in the photograph is Alessandro Moreschi, the famous castrato (centre row - fourth from the right).


Pope Pius X caused many changes in the music of the catholic church and he was very much against human castration. He introduced the Moto Proprio which dictated what kind of music could be sung at mass and who would sing it. The new director Lorenzo Perosi (not a castrato this time) wrote much music that would fit within the edicts of the Moto Proprio. A photograph below shows Perosi with the Sistine Choir. Interestingly, Moreschi is in the photograph so Castrati were still singing with the choir despite the pope's wishes!


The choir today still sings much music by former directors who composed, including Perosi. Here is a beautiful rendition of Perosi's Ave Maria sung by the boys. The older teens and younger boys blend wonderfully.



Pope Benedict is a great lover of classical music and is keen that real music be sung at mass once more. Vatican II destroyed much of that and Benedict is trying to bring some of the splendour and beauty back. He is a supporter of choirs and it must be an honour for the boys of the Sistine Chapel to sing for him.



The music in the Vatican Mass must be wonderful again. Here is the choir singing during a mass


See the Swiss Guard with his fancy uniform in the foreground!


Working hard


For that fine honed performance

Wow its been a long time

Hi everyone. I'm sorry it has been so long. I just never really got time to keep on top of doing the blog. So I ended up not bothering but some people have been asking me to do more posts so I will. Maybe not as often as before but I will do my best.

Les Petits Chanteurs de Bordeaux

This choir has had a name change. It used to be called Les Petits Chanteurs à la Croix d'Azur and was founded in 1948. Here is an old record cover of them in their former incarnation


They have a typical French Petit Chanteur type uniform with long shorts and white socks and a sweater. The sweater doesn't have a label or badge sewn into it but they wear a kind of cruciform pinned on badge



They also wear white shirts formally - when the weather is a bit hot for sweaters





NOW shall we chuck him over the rail?


They are a busy choir and tour around France giving concerts as well as abroad. Here they are in Krakow


Some of the boys are not in the light blue sweaters and I think it means that they are new members to the choir and are probationers. The Guys in the dark blue sweaters with the pinned badge sing the lower parts (Alto, Tenor and Bass) while the light blue sweater means they are soprano


They sing soprano well into their teens and in the next picture they are singing a concert in Bristol Cathedral. You would wonder how the Bristol people behind can see over the taller boys from Bordeaux


Ahhhh there they are - hiding


Some of the older teen sopranos seem to move from shorts into long trousers but the blue sweater means their voices still haven't broken




On tour it isn't all giving concerts, there is still time to enjoy yourself




Round the table anyone?



Or maybe round a different table...



Even so - you still have to learn the notes sometimes




and when you are on tour it is nice to be able to learn a few outdoors in the fresh air and sun



to work up an appetite


even though there is more grub being prepared!



With all the rehearsals, concerts and fun of the tour it isn't surprising that sometimes you just have to crash out anywhere


How about this for improvised bunk beds?



Flying the French flag


and moving off to do a few more concerts.








No wonder you have to let off steam sometimes


Oh no. not again! Why do they like chucking the younger ones off parapets?


Back home it is time for "la prise d'Aube"





There are always suggestions for a new choir uniform


but I think the powers that be will stick with the one that they have got.