Figure 1.--Les Petits Chanteurs de Toulnse wear the standard French choir uniform, bkue sweaters, white short worn without a tie, blue shorts, white kneesocks, and black leather shoes. This is the uniform worn at many private French and Belgian colleges..

Many countries of Western and Central Europe have a long tradition of church boys' choirs dating back to the medevil era. One of the longest traditions is that of the French boy choirs. The choirs were associated and continue to be associated with the the Catholic Church. I do not know of any secular boy choirs in France. The French tradition has influenced the development of boy choirs in several other countries, including Belgium, Canada, Haiti, and others.

The "Manécanterie of with the Potencée Cross" is an association created pursuant to article 5 of the law of July 1, 1901. It is an association with nonprofit, cultural and educational goal, which wants to promote the religious and secular choral music to performe beautiful musical works.

History

This "OEuvre" was founded in 1936 by the abbot George Rey in the spirit of the music whose tradition goes back to 13th century France. The choristers in that era received musical instruction and provided an important liturgical function. The name of "Manécanterie" indicates that they sang at morning services. As centuries passed, their role extended, through the polyphonic music.

Today it is rare to expect such dedication on the part of small boys. The manecantery of the Small Singers to the Potencée Cross thus became, after its creation, a subsidiary company of the group of the Small Singers to the Wood Cross, and it adheres since 1940 to the International Federation of Pueri Cantores. It has travelled throughout the world, widened its repertory with secular music and for a few years, with the lyric art through participation in grand operas at the famous Capitole Theater.

Various recordings mark out the history of Manécanterie. The latest is a compact disc of ten titles and a recording with the tenor Roberto Alagna under the direction of Michel Plasson, director of the National Orchestra of Capitole at Toulouse.

The life of the "Mané" the manecantery that the small singers call "Mané", sets up a group of about 30 young boys, both elementary and secondary schoolboys. "If they have voice, so much better, if not give it to them" known as Abbot REY, which succeeded now several heads of chorus.

The small singer is admitted without particular musical knowledge. It will be formed with the choir singing, more by the practice and the exercise that by a theoretical teaching. He will discover the hilosopher's stones of the sacred and secular music, of the Gregorian chant to the traditional polyphony of 15th and 16th centuries, and to contemporary works.

Child and schoolboy like the others, practices two or three times per week. Very quickly, he takes part in the concerts and the masses which Manécanterie animates everywhere in Toulouse and in its area. During school holidays, Manécanterie carries out rounds of one to three weeks in France and abroad. The small singers are lodged in families of greeting and share a collective life where the concerts alternate, for their greater happiness, with sports activities, the visit of the patrim.

Figure 2.--This French choir also wears the standard uniform of blue sweaters, white shirt, blue shorts, and white kneesocks.