Page 81 - CJFeb24

Book Reviews
Book Reviews

Gregory Pysh, editor
gregory.m.pysh@gmail.com

Cathedrals, Chapels, Organs, Choirs: [I]t is true to say that when the early music re-
A Personal View vival began, there was an unhealthy fashion for
Sarah MacDonald some choral conductors to ask grown women
August Press, 2022 to sing like pre-pubescent boys. This now-
428 pages dated practice resulted in a vocal production
which was artificially straight, constrained,
The COVID-19 pandemic, in retrospect, offered thin, and often sharp (not to mention that it
a unique opportunity for authors on every subject to was both psychologically and vocally traumatic
pause, reflect, and offer their thoughts in print. For for a whole generation of sopranos). Unfortu-
some, it allowed time to compile and organize their nately, the sound was recorded for posterity
previous writings into a single volume. Such is the case and widely distributed, since this trend coin-
with Cathedrals, Chapels, Organs, Choirs. cided with the invention of CD recordings in
In this collection of previously published short es- the 1980s. Thankfully now, most UK choir
says—mostly from her column in The American Organ- directors have outgrown this hazardous prac-
ist—Sarah McDonald offers a unique glimpse into tice, and at any rate, there have been plenty
her life as a teacher, organist, and choir director in the of pre-pubescent boys, particularly in Europe,
United Kingdom. As she is the director of music in who have sung with vibrato, so it was a flawed
chapel at Selwyn College, Cambridge, and director of constraint from the outset (p. 8).
the Girls’ Choir at Ely Cathedral, it is a view from the
pinnacle of her profession. Perhaps most interestingly, Besides being an excellent primer on the structure
and because she was not born in the UK but hails from and nature of the many choirs at Oxford and Cam-
Canada, this book offers “an insider’s knowledge, but bridge (often conflated to “Oxbridge”), this introduc-
an outsider’s perspective” (p. xi). tory chapter also highlights the many differences of the
Grouped by topic, the first chapter is “Terminology educational system “across the pond,” such as the curi-
and Tradition,” and one in which we soon get a taste of osities of English degree conferral and the benefits of
her inestimable Canadian wit. For instance, regarding performing at multiple services per week (chief among
the stereotype of the vibrato-less English choral sound, them an unrivaled reputation for sight-reading profi-
she offers a brief history: ciency borne of necessity).

CHORAL JOURNAL February 2024 Volume 64 Number 6 79