UMS Concert Program, December 13, 1990: The Little Singers Of Paris --

Season: 112th
Concert: Sixteenth
Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
THE LITTLE SINGERS OF PARIS
Bernard Houdy, Music Director and Conductor
Thursday Evening, December 13, 1990, at 7:00 Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
PROGRAM
Selections will be chosen from the following works:
Cantate Domino ........................Leo Hasler
O Memoriale..................Giovanni Pierluigi Palestrina
Ave Verum........................Francis Poulenc
Ave Verum....................Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Tantum Ergo........................Gabriel Faure
O Sacrum Convivium .................Lodovico da Viadana
Ave Maria.........................Franz Schubert
Ave Maria...........................Gregorian
Laudate Dominum.................Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Mountain Nights ......................Zoltan Kodaly
O bone Jesu .......................Johannes Brahms
Adoramus Te...........................Brahms
Regina Coeli...........................Brahms
Songs of the Holiday Season
Entre le boeuf et l'ane gris .............Francois Auguste Gevaert
C'est Noel, joie sur la terre....................J. Rolland
Chantons Noel (Quebec).................Cocagnac-P. Houdy
Es ist ein' Ros (Germany).................Michael Praetorius
Joy to the World ..................George Frideric Handel
Madre en la puerta ......................Spanish Folk
Les anges dans nos campagnes....................Gevaert
O Little Town of Bethlehem .................Lewis Redner
O Come All Ye Faithful .................John Francis Wade
Jingle Bells.........................J. S. Pierpont
White Christmas .......................Irving Berlin
Stille Nacht .........................Franz Gruber
INTERMISSION
Recordings: Auvidis, Tempo
The Little Singers of Paris arc represented by Herbert Barrett Management, New York City.
For the convenience of our patrons, the box office in the outer lobby is open during intermission for purchase of
'tickets to upcoming Musical Society concerts.
Sixteenth Concert of the 112th Season Twentieth Annual Choice Series
Waldecho ..........................Bogenhardt
La berceuse du petit zebu....................Jacques Ibert
Le petit gargon malade...................Francis Poulenc
Petit fleur fanee........................French Folk
So Ra O A Ruite ................Japanese Folk, an. Pierrepont
Tece voda, tece (Czechoslovakia) ............Franz Xaver Pokorny
Le clocher de Saint-Malo...................Rolland-White
Les temps viendront.....................Amade-Sigrist
Alphabet.............................Mozart
Jardin de France........................P. Bonneau
La nuit .......................Jean-Philippe Rameau
Mes jeunes annees......................Charles Trenet
Kalinka ...........................Russian Folk
Berceuse.............................Mozart
The Little Singers of Paris
The Little Singers of Paris are known throughout the world for their technical perfection and purity of sound. Under the lead?ership of music director and con?ductor Bernard Houdy, this celebrated choir is a shining example of the youth and culture of France. Since its formation in 1907, the choir has performed in more than 100 coun?tries and is now making its 12th visit to Notrh America. They have made 14 tours of Japan, and in 1986 they were the first Western children's choir ever to visit the People's Republic of China. After concluding their current concerts in the United States, the boys will travel to Rome for their traditional annual performance at the Vatican.
It all started more than 80 years ago, in 1907, when a few Parisian students felt the desire to revive the medieval tradition of religious boys choirs, which had been some?what forgotten in the course of the centuries.
1908: The first Little Singers
The basis for their inspiration was the "Moto Proprio" of Pope Pius X, who strongly advo?cated the revival of true liturgical music. Gathering a group of boys in the popular section of Vaugirard in Paris, the students formed a first choir, which they named "Manecanterie des Petits Chanteurs a la Croix de Bois," after the small wooden cross that the boys wore over a choir vestment known as "alb." "Manecanterie" was a word of medieval French used to designate a choir school.
At first, the choir sang exclusively in Parisian churches, its repertoire limited to Gregorian chant and polyphonic music of the Renaissance. Later, some secular pieces were added, and the choir began to give a few concerts. Primarily, though, it participated in religious services in Paris and in nearby towns and villages. In 1923, after having been associated for a few years with the activities of the choir school, Father Fernand Maillet became the director and conductor of the choir. Father Maillet was a tall, dynamic man for whom the word "impossible" just didn't exist. Under his inspiring leadership, The Little Singers were to become, in just a few years, a famed boys choir. His ability to train a boy's voice to obtain a clear, limipid sound is a characteristic of the choir that has been carefully preserved to this day.
Concert tours were, at first, limited to the Parisian area and then extended to the French Provinces. Foreign countries were
1935: Second voyage to the United States
next, and after touring in Europe came the big venture: a trip to the United States and Canada in 1931. At the end of the initial period of three weeks, the success of this tour was so great that 60 more days had to be added to the schedule. This marked the beginning of a series of North American tours that now number 12. The "Manecanterie" also trav?eled several times to South America, to Central Africa, and other countries. The first trip to the Pacific dates back to 1957 and included Japan, Vietnam, and the Philip?pines. In 1963, in the course of a trip around the world, the choir visited Thailand, Viet?nam, Australia, New Zealand, and New Cal?edonia. It went back to Japan and to Thailand in 1967, and from then on, the visits to countries in the Far East became more and more frequent.
While World War II brought the choir's touring activi?ties to a virtual halt, these activities were resumed on an ever-increasing scale after the war. But other significant events were soon to take place. As early as 1944, the choir's growing popularity was confirmed in French-speaking countries by its participation in the motion picture La Cage aux Rossignols, which, in effect, described a choir school very similar to the "Manecanterie." In later years, the choir appeared in several other pictures, as well as on many television shows.
In 1945, Father Maillet realized a long-cherished dream by founding a French Feder?ation of boys' choirs, which would later become an International Federation. It was joined not only by existing choirs, but also by the many choirs that were founded by following the example of The Little Singers. The first National Congress of Little Singers took place in 1947. Two years later, 3,000 children attended the first International Con?gress of the Federation and were welcomed in Rome by Pope Pius XII, who celebrated a Mass for them in St. Peter's Basilica.
The choir school found a new home in 1943 in Rue Eugene Flachat in Paris, where it remained for nearly 20 years. In this white mansion, the school finally found such needed facilities as classrooms, rehearsal
areas, playgrounds, and bedrooms (replacing former dormitories). By this time, the staff was comprised almost entirely of former Little Singers, still headed by Father (soon to be?come Monsignor) Maillet. After 40 fruitful years as director of The Little Singers, Mon?signor Maillet died in 1963 and was succeeded by Father Roger Delsinne. For many years, Father Delsinne had been associated with activities of the choir, and within a few months after taking over, he was conducting a choir of 4,500 children at an International Congress in Madrid. The performing and touring activities continued under Father Delsinne's leadership until 1978, when he died suddenly of a heart attack soon after the choir's 1978 tour of North America.
Bernard Houdy, music director and conductor of The Little Singers since 1978, was a former solo soprano singer with The Little Singers of Paris. After finishing his years with them, he continued his training at the French Radio and Television School of Music and then went on to graduate from the Paris Conservatory of Music, where he studied opera. Under Mr. Houdy's leadership,
a second Little Singers choir was created in 1989, thereby helping to increase the influ?ence of this exemplary musical organization around the world. Gerard Sedru, also a former Little Singer, had been in charge of all touring activities at the time of Mr. Houdy's appointment, and he continues to serve as manager and tour director.
Today's Little Singers are enjoying their present home, a castle-like mansion surrounded by the lovely countryside in Glaignes, near Crepy-en-Valois. The board?ing school offers classes from the primary school level to the age of 14With facilities for 110 children, the school provides general education in compliance with official pro?grams, as well as musical education. Appro?priately, it is named "Residence Monseigneur Maillet," where all of the choir's long lasting traditions are carefully preserved.
This evening's concert marks the Ann Arbor debut of The Little Singers of Paris.
The Little Singers of Paris
Bernard Houdy, Music Director and Conductor
Gaetan Back Walter Belli Herve Cabuzel Frangois Carlot Nicolas Chaumier Benoit D'Onofrio Gerome De Fraville Gregory Depieme Olivier Fenaille
Vianney Fournel Robin Guiovanopoulos Adrien Hardy Julien Le Corre Gregoire Mathieu Emmanuel Millecamp Romeo Pedro Guerreiro Guillaume Perrichon Sebastien Pontillo
Eric Puzzuoli Thomas Religieux David Richard Louis Rose Thierry Taffin Romuald Urvoas Thomas Vandenbossche
The Little Singers of Paris are supported by the French Ministry of Culture (Music Section).
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