Manecantery of the Small Singers to the wood cross

The manecantery of the Small Singers to the wood cross is a choral society of young boys to religious vocation. Since its creation, in 1907, its forever contradicted success.

History

The project of the manecantery was born in 1906 on the idea of two students catholic on vacation to the abbey of Tamié, Paul Berthier and Pierre Martin, which wanted to create an itinerant structure without attachment with a parish or a cathedral, thus breaking with the thousand-year-old tradition of the choruses of children. The following year, the idea was concretized by the first representations which had a success fast and growing.

It is into 1924 that the abbot Fernand Maillet took the direction of the manecantery, to which it gave its final and international take-off. It gained a world reputation very quickly, until the the Vatican where the popes Pie XII, then Jean XXIII conferred his noble letters to him. Success without precedent of this formation still gave a decisive impulse to a revival of the choir singing in the whole of Europe, which concretized itself in the Fifties by the federation of the Pueri Cantores , in activity today. In 1945, the film the Cage with the Nightingales (which will be entitled to its remake in 2004 with the Chorus-singers) contributed largely to famous of Manécanterie.

The abbot Fernand Maillet directed the choral society until his death the February 20th 1963. The abbot Roger Delsinne, his second during more than twenty years, took the succession until in 1978, date of his death. The musical direction of Manécanterie was then ensured by a former soloist of the small singers Bernard Houdy, and this until 1992. Rodolphe Pierrepont, him also former soloist of the small singers, succeeded to him until 2000. Since, the musical direction is ensured by Veronique Thomassin.

Today, the manecantery is not only one choral society but also a school which provides to the children a complete school education in boarding school, primary at the end of the Collège. Since the re-entry 2006, Manécanterie left its castle of Glaignes (in the Oise) to be reinstalled with Paris as at its beginnings, with the support of the mayor Bertrand Delanoë, former small singer.

The Small Singers with the Wood Cross, suffer since a score from year, a less media presence. Nevertheless the success of the Chorus-singers, their return to Paris and the celebrations of their centenary could give again the wheel in motion to them. These celebrations gave the opportunity to them to be very present on the small screen in December 2006 with documentary of Emmanuel Descombes “the chorus of the children” diffused on France 2 as well as a great television program presented by Stephan Bern on France 2 also. This emission entitled “the hundredth birthday of the small singers to the wood cross” their made it possible to sing with many large artists of the French song and international (Charles Aznavour, Florent Pagny, Faudel, Mireille Mathieu, Tina Arena, Lara Fabian, Nadya, Benabar, Louis Chedid, The Ten Tenors, Yannick Noah, Nolwenn Leroy).

July 14th, 2007, the manecantery sang the Marseillaise and the European anthem at the time of the military ravelled.

Some small singers become famous

Bertrand Delanoë, Louis Chédid, Jean Marco, singer of the orchestra of Jacques Hélian

Catalog of films

1937 a dance card of Julien Duvivier

1945 the Cage with the nightingales of Jean Dréville

1946 the visitor of Jean Dréville

1949 brilliant Waltz of Jean Boyer

1952 Sparrows of Paris of Maurice Bell 1979 the crime of innocent the of Roger Dallier (Telefilm)

1998 the Gold of the angels of Philippe Reypens (documentary of fiction)

2006 the Large Charles of Bernard Stora (telefilm)

2007 Antonio Vivaldi, a prince in Venice of Jean-Louis Guillermou (left on August 29th, 2007)

Appendices

Useful bonds

the official site of the manecantery
the international site of the pueri cantores

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