--> 24 small boys stand in the abbey choir school around a grand piano, rehearsing music they will sing not for tourists but for persons in attendance at a wedding Friday April 29.
The heavy door muffles sound. A good thing, because the music is a secret that the boys are honor-bound not to reveal to anyone, not even their parents. Misplaced trust? Perhaps, but these are not ordinary boys. They are Westminster Abbey choristers: heirs to a great tradition, impeccably trained, ridiculously mature and about to get the experience of their young lives, singing at the wedding of a future king of England.
“They know the drill,” said the man at the piano, the abbey organist and music director, James O’Donnell. “They know what’s expected of them. Details of the wedding service are embargoed by the royal household, so we’re not allowed to say anything. And we don’t.”
“Secular choirs like the Tallis Scholars and the Sixteen have given visibility to the music we do day in, day out liturgically, and that brings us into the fold. Listeners can buy their CDs or ours, and sometimes they prefer ours. So we are there, being heard.”
Ranging in age from 8 to 13, they enjoy the privileges of an elite education, attending a school with only 34 pupils and 9 teachers. In return they shoulder the workload of professionals. Nerves fray, voices break. Check that: “We don’t say ‘break’ here, we say ‘change,’ ” Mr. O’Donnell said. “It sounds less rupturing.”
[From the New York Times, Sunday April 24, 2011]
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