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Music at the Abbey | Westminster Abbey Choir
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Westminster Abbey is a renowned landmark in the City of Westminster, London, and has been resounding music within its walls for more than a thousand years. Since music has always been a very crucial part of Christianity, the walls of the Abbey have been blessed with a choir that sings every day for years.
Read on to know more about this world-famous choir.
Westminster Abbey Choir & Musicians
The Choir
The Choir of Westminster Abbey has a reputation across the globe for being one of the finest choirs of its type in the present era. Ever since its foundation in the late 14th century, the Choir is known to sing for the daily services in the Abbey.
Comprising twelve professional singers, called Lay Vicars, along with thirty students from the Abbey’s Choir School, the Choir is known to perform a wide range of activities. Today, the Choir is also known to encompass concerts, recordings, and various broadcasts. It plays a significant role in plenty of royal events that take place in the abbey as well.
Choristers
Choristers in the Choir of Westminster Abbey gain valuable skills in the musical, academic, and social fields that can last for a lifetime. The Westminster Abbey Choir School caters to providing an outstanding experience with specialist musical training and instrument lessons for students between the ages of 8 and 13, providing a strong foundation for their future.
The abbey’s music department is headed by James O’Donnell, the director of music and principal conductor of the Abbey Choir. He is known and has performed worldwide, including the United States, Australia, Europe, New Zealand, and many others.
Westminster Abbey Organs
The organs present at Westminster Abbey play a crucial role in the abbey’s life and worship. If the choir creates a delightful environment for its audiences, the organs are the soul of the choir that help raise the roof in hymn-singing.
The Harrison & Harrison Organ
The Harrison & Harrison Organ is a grand five-manual instrument that is often heard being played at the daily choral services, weekly Sunday organ recitals as well as during the annual Summer Organ Festivities.
Until 1982, no significant changes were made to this organ. In 1982, new stops were added and a second, unenclosed division was added in the north case. When refurbishment was completed in 1986, the organ had a more robust chorus, allowing it to create a greater presence to support major occasions. In 2006, it saw another overhaul with changes like new reversible thumb pistons and a fully adjustable music desk.
The Queen's Organ
Westminster Abbey is also home to the two-manual Queen’s Organ which was a result of a collaboration between the Lord Mayor of London, the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, and the City of London Corporation. Found in the Lady Chapel, this organ is used during small-scale services like weddings and memorials as a five-stop continuo organ by Kenneth Tickell and a practice organ by William Drake.
This organ was a gift to the Queen, commissioned by Alderman Roger Gifford, to honor the 60th anniversary of her coronation. By the demand of the Queen, the organ was housed at Westminster Abbey initially, which was later installed in the Henry VII Lady Chapel in Nov 2013.
Westminster Abbey Choral Services
The Westminster Abbey has been offering choral services nearly every day for thousands of years. These services are sung during term time by the well-known choir of Westminster Abbey as well as by visiting choirs when the abbey choir is on a break.
The Choral Services performed by the abbey has a richness and variety in the kind of music they play, ranging from Gregorian chant dating from the first millennium all the way to contemporary music.
A lot of tourists from across the world visit Westminster Abbey and join its services free of charge, every day. Although, on a few Sundays, the services may require a prior booking of the free tickets.
Attend a Westminster Abbey ServiceBook Your Tickets To Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey Choir School
The Westminster Abbey Choir School is a purpose-built school offering a preparatory school boarding education to exclusively educate choristers. The school offers a first-class education system in a supportive environment with an aim to tailor to the needs of choristers.
The Choir School provides a very unique experience for 30 young boys, between 8-13 years of age, to sing in the Choir of Westminster Abbey and allows them to be a part of various concert performances that are done internationally. The school consists of either full-time choir members or students studying to join the choir. As a part of their training, these boys are made to sing on state and national occasions and are made to sing evensongs on a regular basis, except for Wednesdays.
This school is the only one amongst the other three choir schools which look into educating males in the choirs.
Frequently Asked Questions About Westminster Abbey Choir
Q. How many people are there in Westminster Abbey Choir?
A. The Westminster Abbey choir has 42 people in total, including 12 Lay Vicars and 30 choristers from the Westminster Abbey Choir School.
Q. Who leads the Westminster Abbey's Choir?
A. Westminster Abbey's Director of Music is the principal conductor or the choir. Currently, the abbey's Director of Music is Organist and Master of Choristers, James O’Donnell.
Q. What events do Westminster Abbey's Choir conduct?
A. The choir holds everyday services along with Sunday organ recitals and other special events like concerts and Summer Organ Festivals.
Q. Are there any recordings of Westminster Abbey's Choir singing?
A. Yes, Westminster Abbey partners with Hyperion Label and has a few recordings of music.
Q. Where can I listen to Westminster Abbey's Choir's recordings?
A. You can listen to some of the Westminster Abbey Choir's recordings on their official website.
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