News that Lincoln Cathedral Choir has appointed a female to sing alongside the 3 remaining countertenors has rocked the choral world, some seem to think. Over breakfast this morning I ignored my VAT return, closed the Rodelinda score I’m supposed to be absorbing, poured myself a large coffee and engaged in one of those Facebook discussions that start as a comment to a status update and end up being a game of who-can-type-fastest, with the result being a series of half-finished sentences, victims of pressing “return” too hastily and lots of out-of-sequence answers. “I was referring to the posts two about this one!” etc etc.
There seems to be at the heart of the “uproar” two things – one of which I know very little about and the other of which I know a great deal more about than say, the Daily Mail journalist. The first is the appointment itself – rumours abound and it does very little to dwell on the “whys” and “who dunnits” here. Lincoln has every right to appoint whom it wants and deal with that in anyway it wishes. The second half of this episode involves the disquiet around how a female alto has been deemed appropriate for a job that for the best part of 900 years has gone to a man. On the face of it the accusations of sexism when so-called traditionalists make their voice heard can be well argued; plenty of choirs around the world are served by both male and female altos.
What really annoyed me about some of the press coverage was the complete absence of anyone pointing out the very exceptional difference between "natural" tenors, basses and baritones and the so called "un-natural" voice of the countertenor; that is to say that male falsetto does not equate to a female alto. There has been and still is a very rich seam in the English Choral tradition of encouraging and nurturing countertenors, one that is unparalleled throughout the world and without which there would be on offer far fewer opportunities for the young and burgeoning countertenor to embrace and cultivate his voice. The short-sightedness of the decision is what worries me. A flurry of female altos abound that could out-sing a countertenor at every turn. If all lay clerk alto positions were open to both sexes it would become very clear, very quickly that in general women have far stronger and far more reliable voices than male falsettists. But, what may have begun hundreds of years ago as an arguably sexist stand point from the Church has developed today into a unique and very British tradition, without which the likes of Alfred Deller and the revival of the countertenor voice as a viable instrument on the concert and operatic stage would be very difficult to imagine.
For the past 60 years (possibly hundreds more) the countertenor voice has almost consistently been the butt of all vocal jokes, the voice that is seen as strange, bizarre and often a consequence of some underlying “theatrical” persuasion. The one place that it is has been truly respected and acknowledged and more than anything given a harbour, has been the choir stall of the British Cathedral. My year of singing at Wells Cathedral and three years as a St John’s, Cambridge choral scholar were without doubt instrumental in forming my countertenor voice; I cannot stress how important the opportunity such as this is for a young singer, not least a countertenor. The alternatives are few and far between in this country. Had I competed for a place against a female alto I wouldn’t have stood a chance at aged 18, having sung countertenor for just under a year whilst displaying the stamina of a limping sloth. So many young countertenors around the world yearn to sing with a British cathedral choir; the admiration for our strong traditions and the overwhelming lineage of fine countertenors that they have produced excites them beyond belief. The sound of the ‘English’ countertenor you could argue is exceptional – so often this is brought up in reviews or critiques as a product of the “English school”. Whatever that may be it is inextricably conjoined to the choral tradition of this country. For that, cathedrals, including Lincoln, have a degree of responsibility for its nourishment and "preservation".
When girl choristers arrived at Salisbury some years ago now, the continuation of the boy chorister tradition was without question imperative. And likewise, at other Cathedrals the intention is to maintain both boys’ and girls’ choirs. It is neither here nor there if one sounds better than the other. You could argue that some all male choirs are absolutely dreadful compared to others, but that’s not a reason to disband them. Whereas, the arrival of a female alto in place of a male alto rings distant alarm bells. And I only mean that in the sense that I don’t believe it to be sexist or that the choral tradition is crumbling to its death, but rather that it is sending a fairly strong and confusing signal to young, aspiring countertenors. It is worth remembering, the male falsetto is a very different beast to a female alto.
On the operatic stage nobody would think of calling mezzos and contraltos the equal to countertenors. There is a very, very obvious difference and this is reflected in casting choices. As Alfred Deller's biography calls it, it is a "Singularity of Voice" and one that for all the love in the world is still “up against it”. The last place I’d have expected to have brushed aside the male alto was the Church of England.
I hope that the appointment at Lincoln is a success if anything to quell the slightly hardened traditionalists from dragging the countertenor voice through further unnecessary scrutiny.
This said– one of the reasons I started to sing countertenor in the school chapel choir was to go and hang out with the girls at the front. Let’s be sexist for a moment... and just imagine the influx of applications Lincoln are going to get next time a job comes up. I think, in fact, they’ve cracked it:
“Alto choral scholar applications welcome, must be able to sing and deal with the very real fact that there’s a CHICK NEXT TO YOU WITH NICE CURVY BITS AND LOVELY SMOOTH HAIR!!”
Wehey!! Genius or what?!
IT’S ALL OK…YOU CAN GO BACK TO YOUR GIBBONS.
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