The English choral tradition comes in various shapes and sizes. The largest manifestation of it is on display at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, with its 18 men and ranks of boys. The smallest, a kind of pocket-battleship affair, is the choir of the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace, with its six men and precisely ten boys. These greatly differing sizes are reflected in the dimensions of the buildings which the two choirs serve: St Paul’s is one of the largest religious spaces in the world, with acoustics to match; the Chapel Royal is smaller than many Oxbridge chapels, with choirstalls so compact that it is physically impossible to squeeze any more singers into them. This building also has acoustics to match.
Although the Chapel Royal is by far the most referred-to foundation in our choral tradition, having employed just about every famous English composer there has ever been, it is not on everybody’s list to visit now.
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