Figure 2.--Many French choirs were founded at Catholic French colleges (schools) in the years after World War II. Notice the one boy wearing strap shoes. |
We have no information on early French choirs at this time. Presumably the choral tradition in France was similar to that of other European countries. Choral music like Gregorian chants play an important role in the life of the early Church. France, unlike Italy and some other Europan countries, never used castra. The soprani always involved boys from 9 to 14 years old. While most current French choirs are relatively new choirs, there are some with traditions spanning mpore than a millenium. One of the oldest boys choir in catholic church is the " Choeurs d'enfants de la Cathédrale de Paris " created in the 7th century. The choir still functions today. The history of early European choirs is a topic HBC hopes to persue in the future. The choral tradition was significantly affect in France as a result of French Revolution which began in 1789. The Church was a sdtrong supporter of the ancien regime. As a result, the Revolution developed as a secular, anti-clerical movement. The strong anti-clerical thrust of the Revolution weakened and changed the character of the French Church. The Cathedrals and the institutions surromding them were greatly weakened. The boy choir traition was weakened along with the Church's control over education. The boy choirs were unable to survive the establishment of the Republic which was less tolerant of ecclesiastical etiquette than the Germanic countries where choir schools declined only temporarily. There too, however, intellectual and artistic currents weakened the institution, which was then under the responsibility of Lutheran town councils who, little by little, let it fall into decline. As a result of the anti-clerical thrust of the Revolution, as far as we know, no boy choirs survived. None of the French choirs can thus trace their roots back to early church choir schools like several British and German choirs are able to do. We know of no boy choirs in France during the 19th century. A revival of boy choirs began in Britain after the mid-19th century. We see nothing similar in France, but our information is still very limited. Afactor here is that choral music and singing in the church was generlly more of a Protestant than a Catholic tradition. Most of our current information comes from the 20th century after World War I. The boy choir tradition in France was not revived until the 20th century. The first activity HBC has noted occured during the summer of 1906, two young students, on holiday at the Abbey of Tamie, in Savoy, form a project which seemed at the time to be a dream: to form a group of children which would go from church in church in various cities to carry the living testimony living of the authentic sacred music. This dream was actually realized in 1907. The result was La Manécanterie des Petits Chanteurs à la Croix de Bois. Their activity helped reintroduce boy choir music to France, especially after World War I (1914-18) in the 1920s and 30s. This single choir had a profound impact on the French boy choir movement. The moveement was interupted by World War II (1939-45) and the German occupation. After the War, however, several boys choirs were inroduced throughout France. Most of the choirs were Catholic choirs, founded by private French colleges (schools). We do not yet have much information about Frenh choirs in the 21st century. We know that several boy choirs coninue to function. There are now girl choirs as well. We are not yet sure about their relative p[revalence and popularity. Musical experts disagree as to the musicilogical merit of the boy and girl choirs.
We have no information on early French choirs at this time. Presumably the choral tradition in France was similar to that of other European countries. Choral music like Gregorian chants play an important role in the life of the early Church. France, unlike Italy and some other Europan countries, never used castra. The soprani always involved boys from 9 to 14 years old. While most current French choirs are relatively new choirs, there are some with traditions spanning mpore than a millenium. One of the oldest boys choir in catholic church is the " Choeurs d'enfants de la Cathédrale de Paris " created in the 7th century. The choir still functions today. The history of early European choirs is a topic HBC hopes to persue in the future.
The choral tradition was significantly affect in France as a result of French Revolution which began in 1789. The Church was a sdtrong supporter of the ancien regime. As a result, the Revolution developed as a secular, anti-clerical movement. The strong anti-clerical thrust of the Revolution weakened and changed the character of the French Church. The Cathedrals and the institutions surromding them were greatly weakened. The boy choir traition was weakened along with the Church's control over education. The boy choirs were unable to survive the establishment of the Republic which was less tolerant of ecclesiastical etiquette than the Germanic countries where choir schools declined only temporarily. There too, however, intellectual and artistic currents weakened the institution, which was then under the responsibility of Lutheran town councils who, little by little, let it fall into decline.
As a result of the anti-clerical thrust of the Revolution, as far as we know, no boy choirs survived. None of the French choirs can thus trace their roots back to early church choir schools like several British and German choirs are able to do. We know of no boy choirs in France during the 19th century. A revival of boy choirs began in Britain after the mid-19th century. We see nothing similar in France, but our information is still very limited. Afactor here is that choral music and singing in the church was generlly more of a Protestat than a Catholic tradition.
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Most of our current information comes from the 20th century after World War I. The boy choir tradition in France was not revived until the 20th century. The first activity
HBC has noted occured during the summer of 1906, two young students, on holiday at the Abbey of Tamie, in Savoy, form a project which seemed at the time to be a dream: to form a
group of children which would go from church in church in various cities to carry the living testimony living of the authentic sacred music. This dream was actually realized in 1907. The result was La Manécanterie des Petits Chanteurs à la Croix de Bois. Their activity helped reintroduce boy choir music to France, especially after World War I (1914-18) in the 1920s and 30s. This single choir had a profound impact on the French boy choir movement. The moveement was interupted by World War II (1939-45) and the German occupation. After the War, however, several boys choirs were inroduced throughout France. Most of the choirs were Catholic choirs, founded by private French colleges (schools). The uniforms thus became the uniforms worn by the boys at the schools. The revival of the boy choir movement has been very successful in France. There appear to be more boy choirs in France today then in any other European country--at least on the continent as there are also large numbers of English choirs. Almost all the French choirs are associated with churches or French Catholic schools. The French appear to take a very conservative approch to church music. Unlike the situation in English cathedrals, HBC knows of no French girl choirs that have been formed. Neither does HBC know of any secular choirs, however, our information is very limited. Many choirs were organized in France during te 20th century, most after world War II. Not many choirs lasted very long, especially boy choirs.
We do not yet have much information about French choirs in the 21st century. We know that quite a number of boy choirs coninue to function. We note the same basic unfirms of blue sweatrs, short pants, and white knee socks. There are now girl choirs as well. We are not yet sure about their relative p[revalence and popularity. Musical experts disagree as to the musicilogical merit of the boy and girl choirs. One source suggests that French choirs enjoyed an revival of interest following the appearance success of a low-budget film--Les Choristes (2004). It is about an inspirational teacher who manages to turn a group of reform school boys into angel-voiced choristers. It proved to be one of the French cinema's biggest international hits in severl years. One journlist maintains that ithe film '... has done for the image of choral singing what Billy Elliot did for ballet and the musical Riverdance for Irish dance." One assessment suggests that some 0.3 million people of all ages are involved in French choirs. Boychoirs are just one part of the French choral community. Choirs have been organized in schools, companies, arts centres, and retirement homes. A French reader and former chorister tells us, "I know many traditional boy choirs organized in the post-World War II era have now become modern choirs and they are very different."
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