ALTO BOYS.
How is the alto part, in a church choir consisting of males, to be sung? In our cathedrals this part has been given, ever since the Restoration, to adult men, generally with bass voices singing in their "thin" register. For this voice our composers of the English cathedral school wrote, carrying the part much lower than they would have done if they had been writing for women or boy-singers. For this voice, also, Handel wrote, and the listener at the Handel Festival cannot but feel the strength and resonance which the large number of men altos give to the harmony when the range of the part is low. The voice of the man alto, however, was never common, and is becoming less common than it was. It occupies a curious position, never having been recognised as a solo voice. I have heard of an exceptionally good man alto at Birmingham who was accustomed to sing songs at concerts, but this is an isolated case. The voice seems to have been generally confined to choral music.
This voice is entirely an English institution, unknown on the continent. Historians say that after the Restoration, when it was very difficult to obtain choir-boys, adult men learned to sing alto, and even low treble parts, in falsetto, in order to make harmony possible.
Let us concede at once that for music of the old cathedral school this voice is in place. The churches are, however, getting more and more eclectic, and are singing music from oratorios, cantatas, and masses that was composed for women altos, and is far too high in compass for men. We may admit that because the alto part lies so much upon the break into the thick or chest register of boys, it is very difficult to get them to sing it well. The dilemma is that in parish churches, especially in country places, the adult male alto is not to be had, and the choice is between boy altos, and no altos at all.
There is no doubt, moreover, that the trouble of voice-management in boy altos can be conquered by watchfulness and care. At the present time there are, as the information I have collected shows, a number of very good cathedral and church choirs in which the alto part is being sustained by boys.
The following is from Mr. James Taylor, organist and choirmaster of New College, Oxford:—
"New College, Oxford, Dec. 13, 1890.
"Dear Sir,—In reply to your letter, I can confidently recommend boy altos in parish or other choirs, provided they are carefully trained. We have introduced them into this choir for more than two years, and the experiment has fully come up to my expectations. We still retain two men altos in our choir, which now consists of the following:—Fourteen trebles, four boy altos, two men altos, four tenors, and four basses. I find boy altos very effective in modern church music, such as Mendelssohn's anthems, &c., where the alto part is written much higher than is the case in the old cathedral music.
"Yours very truly,
"James Taylor."