The following letter is from the Rev. W. E. Dickson, Precentor of Ely:—
"The College, Ely, October 30th, 1890.
"Dear Sir,—I have much pleasure in replying to your note. If I resolved to do so in a few words I should be obliged to say that seldom indeed do I hear boy altos sing with sweet voices and true intonation, either in my own country, or in those foreign countries in which I am in the habit of taking my holidays.
"But I should like to be allowed to explain that, in my opinion, the coarseness (at any rate) of boy-altos in English choirs is due to mismanagement by the choirmaster. His usual plan is to turn over to the alto part boys who are losing their upper notes by the natural failure of their soprano voices. This saves trouble, for such boys probably read music well enough, and they are simply told to 'sing alto,' and are left to do so without further training, until they can croak out no more ugly noises. Surely this is quite a mistake. Am I not right in maintaining that a perfect choir should consist of
| First Trebles | Tenors |
| Second Trebles | Basses |
well balanced as to numbers, and all singing with pure natural quality? If I am, then it follows that the second trebles should be precisely equal to the firsts in number and strength, and should include boys of various ages, as carefully selected and as assiduously trained as the others. I cannot but think—and, indeed, I perfectly well know—that where this has been done by a skilful teacher, whose heart is in his work, boy altos have been made to sing with sweetness and accuracy.
"You will probably agree with me—though this is quite by the way—that secular music should be largely used by such a teacher. The part-songs of Mendelssohn, for instance, should be trolled out by the two sets of boys, who may even interchange their parts at practice with the best results. But of course this is said only in reference to choirs of a high class.
"I do not deny that even the best teaching and the best management will not secure quite the same timbre which you get in choirs with falsetti in the alto part. A certain silvery sweetness is obtained from these voices to which our English ears have become accustomed, and which we should miss if boys, however well-trained, took their places. In the Preces, Versicles, Litany, &c., of the English Choral Service, we should be conscious of a loss. In cathedrals, too, the complete shelving of some or even many compositions, favourites by long association, if not by intrinsic merit, would be inevitable. But I am unable to doubt for a moment that when the change had been made, and time had been given for the new order of things, under a thoroughly competent musician, we should not regret it.
"At Ely we have ten men in daily attendance; fourteen on Sundays. We keep twenty boys in training. If this vocal body were thus distributed:—
| 10 | First Trebles | 5 | Tenors (6 on Sunday) |
| 10 | Second Trebles | 5 | Basses (8 on Sunday) |