About the Project

Choristers of the Coronation 2022/23- The Project

In the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, the University of Hertfordshire oral history team was inspired to act on the fact that many of those who sang as boy choristers at the 1953 Coronation of the Queen were still alive. Thus, the Choristers of the Coronation project was born.

The 1953 Coronation choir numbered around four hundred. A very large proportion of the singers were male, the sole contribution from women being a range of professional singers invited to London from around the world.

Some 180 boy choristers sang, a fact which made it likely that a good number of these would still be available to interview. In the event, around thirty such individuals were interviewed either in person, by videolink, or on the phone. They were to be found in many parts of the country, but also abroad. Many represented high profile choirs in 1953 – from St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal at Saint James’s Palace, for example – but they came also from other cathedrals and collegiate establishments. Some had sung in 1953 under the banner of the Royal School of Church Music, which selected outstanding young vocal talent from around the country, not least from parish church choirs.

The project participants, listed by choral establishment in 1953

The Choristers of the Coronation project sought simply to harvest a collection of complete narratives of the experiences enjoyed by those choristers who sang at this landmark event in 1953, starting with the explanation of how each individual began his career as a chorister – at a time when there was much greater competition to sing in high-quality choirs than today.

The chorister’s testimony was collated into the various episodes that made up the complete story of the 1953 Coronation as far as these singers were concerned. This collation formed the basis of the book of the project, which is available in limited numbers.

The project also made a point of gathering in images of Coronation-related memorabilia in the possession of the 1953 choristers, evoking the atmosphere of the time.

Coronation pass admitting a singer into rehearsals

The publication of the Choristers of the Coronation book was celebrated with an afternoon event in Westminster in July 2023, attended by many of these one-time choristers, most of them present with their partners.

The oral history team working on Choristers of the Coronation offers its warmest thanks to the University of Hertfordshire (especially to Leanne Calvert, Katrina Navickas and Rowland Hughes) for its enthusiastic and generous support of the project. The result was a never-to-be-forgotten experience for all involved.

The St George’s School magazine for the summer term of 1953 carried eye-witness accounts of the Coronation offered by those choristers from the school who took part. They are preceded by the words of William H. Harris, organist (and choirmaster) of St George’s Chapel, who assisted the conductor of the musical forces on the big day, Sir William McKie.

Here are collections of clips from the recorded interviews.

Below, the sound files for each interview together with transcripts.

Finally, the text of Andrew Green’s Introduction to the book of the project, Choristers of the Coronation.

2023 Coronation Choristers

So what was the experience of choristers who took part in the 2023 Coronation of King Charles III? There was no huge body of boy choristers this time around, just those from Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal St James's Palace, who were joined by girl choristers from Truro Cathedral and Methodist College, Belfast.

Two members of the Westminster Abbey choir agreed to pass on their memories of this great occasion – Barnaby and Thomas. Both have now moved on from the Abbey, but continue to have music as a central part of their lives. Their interviews suggest various points of comparison with their predecessors in 1953. Barnaby and Thomas both describe how they came to be choristers at Westminster Abbey: their voice trials were uncannily similar to those that were generally used at major choral establishments in the 1950s. Then we hear of everything from the intensive rehearsal period for the 2023 Coronation and favourite music to their feelings on waking up on Coronation morning and the food they were given to see them through the event. The hugely welcome presence of the girl choristers gave rise to some interesting thoughts on what this added to the sound of the overall choir.

Both boys remember the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the privilege of singing at her funeral. By the time of the Coronation preparations, the Abbey choir had acquired a new Organist/Master of the Choristers, Andrew Nethsingha, replacing James O'Donnell. There are descriptions of the musical collaboration between Andrew Nethsingha (as the choral conductor at the 2023 Coronation) and the conductor of the orchestra for the occasion, Sir Antonio Pappano.

Uncannily, three musical items which featured in the 1953 Coronation are still cast-iron favourites, if the evidence of these two choristers is anything to go by: O Taste and See by Ralph Vaughan Williams, I was glad by Hubert Parry and Handel's Zadok the Priest.

What is clear is that the 2023 Coronation will live as long in the minds of the choristers who took part as the 1953 Coronation has for the main contributors to this project.