St Paul's Cathedral. Jubilate

Advent in the Christian calendar is a time for celebration. At St Paul's Cathedral every December a lot of special events are planned in the days leading up to Christmas Day. St Paul’s is a busy working church, in the heart of London and proudly boasts a world class choir made up of 30 boy Choristers, eight probationers and 12 Vicars Choral. The choir sings at Evensong each day, and at Mattins and the Eucharist (Holy Communion) each Sunday, in addition to taking part in many services of national importance, often attended by royalty and world leaders.

St Paul’s Cathedral, one of London’s national treasures standing 365 feet tall and dominating the London skyline for over 300 years is in many ways Sir Christopher Wren’s architectural masterpiece that he completed in 1710, 35 years after masons began building the structure. An Anglican Cathedral it sits on Ludgate Hill the highest point of the City of London on what is thought to have been the earliest site of the original church that was built in 604 AD. What is of great significance is that Sir Christopher designed his masterpiece in the English Baroque style after it’s predecessor was destroyed in the Great Fire of London.

Sir Christopher Wren was born in Wiltshire in 1632 and educated at Oxford University. A designer and architect of 54 churches in his lifetime he was responsible for designing St Paul’s Cathedral, the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, and the south front of Hampton Court Palace. The Wren Building, the main building at the College of William and Mary, Virginia, is also attributed to Wren. As well as being a highly acclaimed architect he was also a well respected astronomer, mathematician and physicist. He died at 89 at his London home in 1723.

St Paul’s Cathedral - Choristers St Paul's Cathedral has a spectacular choir, largely of men and boys, which sings regularly at services. The earliest records of the choir date from 1127. The present choir consists of up to 30 boy choristers, eight probationers and 12 professional singers, historically men, known as the Vicars Choral who provide tenor, baritone and bass. In February 2017 the cathedral announced the appointment of the first female Vicar Choral, Carris Jones (a mezzo-soprano), to take up the role in September 2017.The choristers take part in many services of national importance, often attended by royalty and world leaders. They regularly represent the cathedral and the country on international tours, and continue to record under the labels of Hyperion and Decca.in 2015 the St Paul's Cathedral Choir released a CD of Canticles and of Christmas Carols. Above all, though, their main job is to sing the daily office of the cathedral in the rich tradition of church music and choral singing. An average day for a chorister includes morning rehearsals, a normal school day, afternoon rehearsals followed generally by Evensong. When a boy is chosen to be a new chorister, he’ll spend his first year as a probationer, after which he joins the ranks of some of the most elite young singers in the world today.

Andrew Carwood - Director of Music Andrew Carwood is the first non-organist to lead the music at St Paul's since the 12th century. He has gained a reputation as one of the most versatile musicians of his generation, having had an illustrious career as a singer before focusing attention on conducting and choral direction. He trained as a choral scholar at St John's College, Cambridge, and was a lay clerk at Christ Church, Oxford and Westminster Cathedral, before becoming Director of Music at the Brompton Oratory. As a conductor his reputation was established with The Cardinall's Musick and together the three-time Gramophone award winners continue to perform throughout the UK and Europe.

In March 2017 The Cathedral Choir joined forces with 51 other Cathedrals in the United Kingdom and produced with the help of their choir director Andrew Carwood a new CD entitled Jubilate which celebrates 500 years of cathedral music with a host of famous choral tunes. Jubilate was recorded in the astonishing acoustics of St Paul’s Cathedral ( please watch the accompanying video below). To pick up a copy of Jubilate visit The Cathedral Shop for more details

The History of St Paul’s Cathedral

Wren’s design was developed through 5 general stages. The first design was rejected and was possibly influenced by the Pantheon in Rome and consisted of a circular domed vestibule. His second design was a Greek cross, which was thought by the clerics not to fulfill the requirements of Anglican liturgy, and for his third design he built a model about 13 feet tall and 21 feet long of oak and plaster that retained the form of the Greek Cross design but extended it with a nave. Wren's fourth design was known as the Warrant design because it received a Royal warrant for the rebuilding. Wren sought to reconcile Gothic, with this design which was the predominant style of English churches at that time, with the longitudinal Latin Cross plan of a medieval cathedral.

His 5th and final design differed substantially from the official fourth Warrant design. Wren received permission from King Charles II to make "ornamental changes" to the submitted design and the final design was strongly rooted in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, and the saucer domes over the nave being inspired by François Mansart's Church of the Val-de-Grâce, which Sir Christopher had seen during a trip to Paris in 1665.

Construction commenced in 1675: the process involved many highly skilled draftsmen, masons and craftsmen and was pursued in phases, largely dependent on the availability of funding and materials. Portland stone predominated, but other types of stone were necessary as well as bricks, iron and wood. All of the building accounts, contracts and records of the rebuilding commission survive, and many original drawings. A detailed history of the design of the cathedral can be found in the online Wren Office Drawings catalogue. If you’re interested in the design of The Dome,please watch this fascinating video narrated by Dr. Gordon Higgott.

Sir Christopher Wren lived to see the building completed: the last stone of the Cathedral’s structure was laid on 26 October 1708 by two sons named after their fathers, Christopher Wren junior and Edward Strong (the son of the master mason). The first service to be held at St Paul’s was held in 1697 13 years prior to the Cathedral’s completion in 1710, and was a Thanksgiving for the Peace between England and France. Explore the Architectural Archives that contains the papers and drawings created by the Surveyor to the Fabric and related drawings by consultants, contractors, artists and designers.

St. Paul's Cathedral School educates the 34 choristers who sing in the choir.The school is located in New Change in the City of London,and has around 220 co-ed pupils, most of whom are day students. All the 34 choristers are boarders and sing at the daily services in St Paul's Cathedral.The school became co-educational in 2002. There are two resident, fully qualified nurses who look after the choristers' health and live in flats in the boarding house, while other full time staff live adjacent to the school.

The school was founded in 1123 and originally had just 8 “needy” children, who were given a home and an education in exchange for singing in the Cathedral.The Choir School and a Grammar School coexisted happily under the same roof until 1511 at which time the Grammar School moved and became known as St Paul’s School whilst the children who had been adopted by St Paul’s Cathedral choir, became St Paul’s Cathedral School. To this day they are distinct and separate institutions.

The original Choir School, which stood in St Paul's Churchyard, was destroyed in the Great Fire of London. The School has had several incarnations being re-built in 1670, in 1822 (in Cheapside) and 1887 (in Carter Lane). The current buildings within The City of London (New Change) date from the 1960s, and are close to the Cathedral, so the choristers have easy access for Evensong, Cathedral services, and special events at the Cathedral.

St Paul’s Cathedral has a vibrant Music Outreach program. Besides promoting excellent opportunities which Choristership offers to students, institutions have partnered with schools (like the Hackney Children’s Choir seen above) and education hubs to deliver outreach and education programs. For more details please CLICK HERE

In addition to offering themed guided tours to visitors, workshops can also be arranged. Secondary School and Kindergarten children can receive a 60 minute guided tour around the Crypt and Cathedral Floor where they can visit the tombs of Admiral Lord Nelson, Florence Nightingale and Sir Christopher Wren himself. For more information please visit Educational Visits and please watch the accompanying video below.

If you’re planning to travel to London, St Paul’s Cathedral doors are always open to you. Whether you’d like to worship there or simply visit them as a tourist you’ll become lost in the majesty that shows itself in every nook and cranny of this ancient monument. With your sightseeing ticket, you can walk in the footsteps of royalty on the Cathedral floor, or climb the dome and listen to the unique acoustics of the Whispering Gallery; look out over some of the most spectacular views of London from the Stone and Golden Galleries, and finally head down to the crypt where many of Great Britain's’ heroes are buried. Throughout December there’ll be Christmas Celebrations, Carol Services, a performance of Handel's Messiah and many other special events at St Paul’s Cathedral, culminating in a glorious service on Christmas Day.For times and more information please click here