Clerk (choral)
Encyclopedia
The clerks are the adult members of the college choirs of the universities of Oxford
and Cambridge
.
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Colleges of the University of Oxford
The University of Oxford comprises 38 Colleges and 6 Permanent Private Halls of religious foundation. Colleges and PPHs are autonomous self-governing corporations within the university, and all teaching staff and students studying for a degree of the university must belong to one of the colleges...
and Cambridge
Colleges of the University of Cambridge
This is a list of the colleges within the University of Cambridge. These colleges are the primary source of accommodation for undergraduates and graduates at the University and at the undergraduate level have responsibility for admitting students and organising their tuition. They also provide...
.
- Undergraduates admitted to a College on the basis of their ability and potential in both singing and academic study are traditionally called "Choral Scholars". At Christ ChurchChrist Church, OxfordChrist Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
, Magdalen CollegeMagdalen College, OxfordMagdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
, and New CollegeNew College, OxfordNew College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
, OxfordUniversity of OxfordThe University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, they are called "Academical Clerks". - "Lay clerkLay clerkA lay clerk, also known as a lay vicar, song man or a vicar choral, is a professional adult singer in a Cathedral or collegiate choir in the United Kingdom. The Vicars Choral were substitutes for the Canons...
" is the usual term used to denote professional singers in collegiate and cathedral choirs, many of whom are recent graduates. Often they have careers unrelated to music and take "Lay Clerk" positions as a way of continuing to sing liturgical music, a style that has a particular attraction for them. - "Clerks Choral", or Choral Clerks are also found in a few of the ancient CathedralCathedralA cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
s and collegiate churchCollegiate churchIn Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons; a non-monastic, or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a dean or provost...
es in the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the Republic of IrelandRepublic of IrelandIreland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
however these singers are more usually styled "lay clerks" or occasionally "lay vicars" or "lay vicars choral".
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