This time last year I was celebrating finishing my exams at Cambridge University, including submitting my dissertation which looked at the effect of gender-specific music and ensembles on the psychology of vocal performers. One of the main examples I focused on was female singers in traditionally all male cathedral choirs. For this blog I wanted to look back on some of my research from last year and see whether anything has changed or is going to change in the near future.
Section 1: Research collected for my dissertation last year
Despite enormous amounts of research, I found no published research on gender specific ensembles, but there is substantial literature on Cathedral choirs, which have often been seen as solely for male singers. Most of this literature does not address performance anxiety, but it does illustrate the context and difficulties of gender specific ensembles and the potential to affect the psychology of choral performers.
Much of the literature on women in cathedral choirs focuses on the main two ways they have become a part of the choirs: as girl choristers (such as Wharton, Maxtone Graham and Wickham) and as adult female altos (such as Rudgard, Vincent and Knowles). Girl choristers now feature in most cathedral choirs; however, this has only become the case more recently. As of June 2018, there were still 11 cathedrals or Oxbridge college choirs that were male only (Maxtone Graham, 2018). The published articles present mixed opinions on the matter. Maxtone Graham says that “anyone who used to protest that ‘it won’t work, because girls sound different from boys’ has been proved wrong” (Maxtone Graham, 2018) and also quotes Richard Morrison saying that “surely, true ‘diversity’ should mean a diversity of choral situations- some cathedrals with girls’ and boys’ top lines, and some with boys only and perhaps some (though this has not happened yet) with girls only” (Maxtone Graham, 2018). This may take some time to become universal though, particularly with views such as Lindley’s: “the sound of the singing boy has been felt for century upon century to be very special and particularly appropriate for worship” (Wickham, 2016), Beet’s: “the whole purpose of introducing girls into cathedral choirs in the first place was a deliberate iconoclastic act by feminists” (Beet, 2011) and Maxtone Graham’s (later in the article): “those last remaining choirs of men and boys still have the edge when it comes to astonishingly high-quality singing…. When a cathedral or college starts running two top lines, each line then has half as rich an experience as the boys-only top line previously had” (Maxtone Graham, 2018). These views, some stated as recently as 2018, still show the male dominance in cathedral choirs and may deter some girls (or their parents) from ever wanting to sing in such situations. They are all from critics though and the opinions of general audience members or choir directors may not be as strong so not all situations may deter singers. Nevertheless, these opinions may still affect the mindset of performers in such ensembles.
This was not the case for a 9-year-old girl in Berlin, which is explored in Jane Wharton’s article from August 2019. The girl auditioned with the State and Cathedral Choir, which was founded in 1465, and has never admitted girls. Wharton looks at the opposing views about whether girls should be admitted or not: mixing male and female voices would bring an end to a centuries-old sound in contrast to arguing that the difference is not noticeable and that boys choirs stem from a tradition that “insists women must remain silent in church” (Conant, quoted in Wharton, 2019). The girl was rejected by the choir, on the grounds that she did not have the motivation or talent needed to join one of the choir’s 11 groups. This may discourage other girls from auditioning for this or similar choirs, reinforcing the perception that they have no chance of getting in. Some musicologists argue that the timbre between girls and boys voices is noticeably different, which may justify not mixing them in choirs, however the fact that this choir for 250 boys and men is the State choir sends out a clear message that girls’ and boys’ choirs are not equal. In the UK also, the Westminster Abbey choir comprises only male singers. In these situations, it is not the gender specific choirs themselves that may affect the psychology of performers, but rather their position in society. To encourage equal participation of boys and girls in choirs, the state and national leading choirs should lead the way by at least having both boys and girls choirs, even if not a mixed choir. Other cathedrals and liturgical choirs are then more likely to provide equal opportunities for both girls and boys, encouraging all genders to participate and not discriminating against girls.
Articles addressing the roles of adult female altos are also relevant. Women have been participating in Anglican choirs since the early 1970s and are becoming accepted into what was previously a male domain, although there are still some cathedrals and audiences who want only male altos. Vincent (2018) references the arguments of the Campaign for the Traditional Cathedral Choir who claim that female voices go against the “unique quality of the all-male choral sound” (Vincent, 2018). However, women now have a greater role in society and within the church than they did for a lot of the history of cathedrals. Rudgard’s article (2017) discusses the experience of Carris Jones, the first female chorister in St Paul’s Cathedral. This demonstrates the importance of such a prominent national choir accepting a female alto, which may encourage women to apply to such choirs and make other female altos more comfortable singing with predominantly male ensembles.
Section 2: New developments from this year
Cathedral choirs, like many other music and arts groups, have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic but most are getting back to normal now and some have been for some time. However, some are not quite going back to normal but instead deciding to make a change. On 11th May 2021 Ely Cathedral announced that from September 2022, boys and girls in the Cathedral Choir will enjoy complete parity of workload and recognition. They will sing an equal number of services each week and will receive an identical percentage fee award throughout their time in the Choir. This follows other cathedral choirs’ similar changes towards equality, including Worcester, which in a historic change announced that from September 2021 the girls will not only take an equal share in choristership, but will also have access to scholarships at the adjacent The King's School; York, where girl choristers share the singing equally with the boys at eight sung services each week during term time; and others such as Gloucester, Durham, Salisbury and Wells.
These changes are significant steps forward to ensuring equality is practised in cathedrals across the country. Edmund Aldhouse, Director of Music at Ely Cathedral, said: "I am proud to be involved in ensuring that this opportunity is available equally to girls and boys from now on,” while Sarah MacDonald, Director of the Girl Choristers of Ely Cathedral Choir, said: "I am thrilled by this important development in the music at Ely, which will ensure that it continues to flourish and thrive for many years to come.” The Very Reverend Mark Bonney, Dean of Ely, shared similar thoughts and said: "I really want to make the wonderful opportunity to be a chorister available equally to boys and girls, and to a wider number of people, and I believe that these developments will help us maintain this great choral tradition into the future."
Despite Maxtone Graham’s worry that “When a cathedral or college starts running two top lines, each line then has half as rich an experience as the boys-only top line previously had”, Ely have stated that although it may not be apparent at first, it will mean only a very slight reduction in the total number of services sung by the boys over the year, with better distribution of workload. The girls will be singing more services, but again much more evenly distributed than has previously been the case. As such, Ely aims to become another Cathedral that show equal opportunities for boy and girl choristers can easily be done without reducing the benefits of singing at a cathedral for either girls or boys.
It's so wonderful that all these changes are starting to be made in various cathedrals and hopefully they will go far in encouraging girls to not only become choristers, but to feel comfortable in cathedral settings that are often still so associated with men and boys. While there is still a long way to go to achieve equality in every cathedral for girl choristers, adult female altos, and particularly for adult female sopranos, these steps forward cannot be underappreciated in the fight for equality in cathedral choirs.
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