English Español
Français Nederlands
Deutsch русский
Japanese Chinese
Home | Browse | Choirs | Trebles | Singers | Films | Books | New Releases | Events | Search | | Links | Contact BCSD | Sign In
9 CHOIRS   Africa | W. Europe | E. Europe | Middle East | North America | Oceania | Scandinavia | South America | SE Asia | UK

  Bristol Cathedral Choir Classical Choir of Men and Boys 
Print Friendly Page 
Bristol Cathedral Choir Bristol Cathedral was founded in 1140 as an Augustinian abbey. The exact date of the introduction of boy choristers is not known, but it was probably in the 14th century, when records show there were 3 to 6 boys. The abbey church was made a cathedral by Henry VIII in 1542, in which year Thomas Denny was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers, who were to be 6 in number. At this time the nave was in ruins and for the next 300 years the building could accommodate a congregation of only 300. After the chancel was altered in 1861, allowing a congregation of a thousand, the number of choristers was increased from 6 to 12 and from 1877 when the rebuilt nave was opened, the number was raised to 18 in line with other cathedrals. The present choir has 16 choristers (day pupils at the adjacent Bristol Cathedral School) and 6 to 9 lay clerks. (A voluntary girls' choir was formed in 1993 of about 26 girls ages 11 to 18 from local schools.)

The picture shows the choir in the choirstalls of c.1520.
Related Sites
Official Site: Bristol Cathedral Choir
Of Choristers
Bristol Profile

Search Google for 'Bristol Cathedral Choir': Web - Images
 
Featured Recordings Compact | Full
Bristol Cathedral Choir - Carols From Bristol Cathedral
Carols From Bristol Cathedral (Alpha ACA552, LP) November 1985
Featuring Bristol Cathedral Choir   Timothy Angel   James Blackhurst   Robert Fowkes  
Directed By Malcolm Archer with Martin Schellenberg (organ)
  1.   Come Thou Redeemer Of The Earth (German Trad)  
  2.   Sussex Carol (arr Willcocks)  
  3.   A New Year Carol (Britten)  
  4.   There Is No Rose (Joubert)  
  5.   A Child Is Born In Bethlehem (Archer)  
  6.   In Dulci Jubilo (Pearsall)   Soloists Robert Fowkes and Timothy Angel (Trebles) Andrew Gardiner (Tenor)
  7.   Sir Christemas (Mathias)  
  8.   O Little Town Of Bethlehem (Vaughan Williams)  
  9.   Once In Royal David's City (Gauntlett)   Soloist Robert Fowkes (Treble)
10.   In The Bleak Midwinter (Darke)   Soloists Timothy Angel (Treble) and Howard Shelton (Tenor)
11.   I Sing Of A Maiden (Middleton)   Soloists James Blackhurst (Treble) and Adrian Johnston Hubbold (Tenor)
12.   Of The Father's Heart Begotten (arr Willcocks)  
13.   Away In A Manger (arr Archer)  
14.   A Coventry Carol (1591 Version)   Soloists Stephen Taylor (Alto); Andrew Gardiner (Tenor); Donald Crewe (Bass)
15.   The Three Kings (Cornelius)   Soloist Stephen Fowkes (Bass)
Bristol Cathedral Choir - Dvorak - Mass in D with Motets by Bruckner and Brahms
Dvorak - Mass in D with Motets by Bruckner and Brahms (Meridian CDE 84446, CD)
Featuring Bristol Cathedral Choir  
Directed by Malcolm Archer. Anthony Coupe, treble.
Available at   MusicaBona
Bristol Cathedral Choir - Sir Edward Elgar: Choral Music
Sir Edward Elgar: Choral Music (Meridian CDE 84389, CD)
Featuring Bristol Cathedral Choir  
Available at   Meridian Records
Books Compact | Full
no cover
Cathedral Trilogy with Intermezzo (Cliffe Publications 0952292912, Book) 1994
Featuring Bristol Cathedral Choir   Westminster Cathedral Choir  
by Gregory C. Atkin. The View of a Former Cathedral Chorister of Choral Life in the Twentieth Century. Atkin throws a considerable amount of light on what was encountered by cathedral choristers and lay clerks at Bristol Cathedral and Westminster Cathedral in the middle of the twentieth century. The book is written from personal observations and experience in these establishments at that time.
Available at   Amazon UK
Bristol Cathedral Choir - Where the Fat Black Canons Dined. A History of Bristol Cathedral School 1140 to 1992.
Where the Fat Black Canons Dined. A History of Bristol Cathedral School 1140 to 1992. (Bristol Cathedral School 0 9520208 0 7, Book) 1992
Featuring Bristol Cathedral Choir  
By Jane Collard, David Ogden & Roger Burgess. ix, 142 pages, colour & monochrome illus, 21 cm. An update to E.T. Morgan's pioneering work "History of Bristol Cathedral School" (1913). The City's only royal educational foundation - where the Cathedral choristers are educated - is one of the country's foremost independent schools.
This page last modified on Saturday, April 14, 2007
Copyright © 2013 The Boy Choir & Soloist Directory