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| The choir |  
The choir of 1988 vintage | | The choir of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit at Guildford is one of Britain's youngest, being formed in 1960 — just a few months before the Consecration itself.
From the very start the intention was to maintain a daily sung service in the cathedral, according to ancient tradition, and it is a tribute to everyone involved with the cathedral that this has, indeed, been the case. |
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| Guildford Cathedral has never had an official choir school. Originally the boys came from schools all over the town but nowadays they all come from either Lanesborough Preparatory School or its “parent”, the Royal Grammar School.
That the cathedral's music has flourished at all, let alone at the very high standards Guildford has always set for itself, is something of a miracle in this day and age. | | 
The practice room in the Crypt |
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Barry Rose taking a practice at Lanesborough in 1970 | | The credit for this lies not only at the door of an enlightened Dean & Chapter, with which the cathedral has consistently been blessed, but also with the three choirmasters the choir has had since its foundation. These fine musicians have created and maintained a tradition that is now getting on for forty years old.
Through the years they have been supported by a succession of talented assistant organists and adult singers, tempted to Guildford in the first place not by the high level of salaries (!) but by the formidable musical tradition associated with the place. | |
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