Exploring the religious and spiritual trajectory of cathedral choristers in England

The present paper reports findings from interviews with thirty ex-choristers from cathedrals and collegiate chapels in England, aged from eighteen to eighty. These interviews explored choristers’ religious commitments before entering choir school and factors for staying with, leaving, or later retur...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of beliefs and values
Subtitles:Cathedral Studies; Guest editors: Leslie Francis and Stephen Parker
Authors: Dong, Lan (Author) ; Ward, Sophie 1964- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Routledge 2023
In: Journal of beliefs and values
Year: 2023, Volume: 44, Issue: 4, Pages: 502-516
Further subjects:B Spirituality
B Chorister
B Religious
B Cathedral Studies
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Description
Summary:The present paper reports findings from interviews with thirty ex-choristers from cathedrals and collegiate chapels in England, aged from eighteen to eighty. These interviews explored choristers’ religious commitments before entering choir school and factors for staying with, leaving, or later returning to religious practice. The findings suggest that the attitudes to religion among ex-choristers mirror those of the wider population and confirms the trend that ex-choristers may be seeking spirituality but not religion. The study concludes that, although choristers are not invited into the spiritual community on a level that allows them to engage cognitively with organised religion, they remain open to its emotional connotations as expressed in music. They might, nonetheless, subsequently find faith if they get help to explore the meaning of liturgy and music within it. However, there have been accounts where this faith is forced upon them in a way that pushes them away.
ISSN:1469-9362
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of beliefs and values
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/13617672.2023.2267928