Figure 1.--The establishment of the La Manécanterie des Petits Chanteurs ŕ la Croix de Bois in 1907 was the beginning of the modern boy choir movement in Frannce.
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Figure 1.--The establishment of the La Manécanterie des Petits Chanteurs ŕ la Croix de Bois in 1907 was the beginning of the modern boy choir movement in Frannce. |
The boy choir tradition was not revived until the 20th century. The first activity
HBC has noted occured during the summer of 1906, two young students, on holiday at the Abbey of Tamie, in Savoy, form a project which seemed at the time to be a dream: to form a
group of children which would go from church in church in various cities to carry the living testimony living of the authentic sacred music. This dream was actually realized in 1907. The result was La Manécanterie des Petits Chanteurs ŕ la Croix de Bois. Their activity helped reintroduce boy choir music to France, especially after World War I (1914-18) in the 1920s and 30s. This single choir had a profound impact on the French boy choir movement. The moveement was interupted by World War II (1939-45) and the German occupation. After the War, however, several boys choirs were inroduced throughout France. Most of the choirs were Catholic choirs, founded by private French colleges (schools). The uniforms thus became the uniforms worn by the boys at the schools. The revival of the boy choir movement has been very successful in France. There appear to be more boy choirs in France today then in any other European country--at least on the continent as there are also large numbers of English choirs. Almost all the French choirs are associated with churches or French Catholic schools. The French appear to take a very conservative approch to church music. Unlike the situation in English cathedrals, HBC knows of no French girl choirs that have been formed. Neither does HBC know of any secular choirs, however, our information is very limited.
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