The Army's first Choirs
Booth’s Prejudice
We have already seen that Booth was a great champion of good singing, which, to please him, had to be congregational, hearty and useful. However, he had obviously experienced some difficulty with organized choirs in the early days of his ministry. He told those at the 1877 Annual Conference that he had:
“ever found choirs to be possessed of three evils, awkward, ugly and impossible to cast out. They are the quarrelling devil, the dressing devil and the courting devil, and the last is the worst of the three!”
His strong feelings on this subject led him, for a considerable time, to forbid any other but congregational or solo singing. The first Orders and Regulations for Field Officers decreed that:
‘One voice alone is always much preferred…because the words can be heard with so much greater distinctiveness’.
Hardly had these regulations had a chance to be circulated before the very thing William Booth condemned was, without warning, put into use. It was proved that his fear that the words could not be heard when sung by a musical group were unfounded.
The Army’s first Choirs
In May 1882 the National Barracks in Clapton opened as a training home and so came considerable development in the annals of Salvation Army Vocal music. In July 1883 a singing brigade was formed and sent out, under the leadership of Herbert Booth. The group was known as the Salvation Songsters and had a three-fold function:
- Win souls for Christ.
- Enlist the interest of young people in officership.
- Raise money for the training of cadets.
One of the members was Richard Slater, who had recently taken up an appointment in the newly formed Music Department. It was his responsibility to find the voices and teach the parts. Some of the Army’s best songs were written during this association between Herbert Booth and Slater.
The group was not on the road all the time. After a tour lasting some six weeks they would return to Clapton, some for a short period before being commissioned – others were sent immediately on the field. Their training consisted of service with the singing brigade. They continued to tour until the winter of 1885.
In 1886 the ‘Speaking, Singing and Praying Brigade’ was introduced. Even with proven success of this brigade, William Booth was reluctant to approve organized part-singing in corps activity. ‘Choirs’ were still frowned upon and it was taking William Booth along time to overcome his deep-rooted prejudice.
The first Songster Brigade
All this did not prevent ‘underground movements’ springing up at many corps in Britain and overseas, some as early as 1882. Several songster brigades can today trace their beginnings to a date long before such groups were permitted. This has made it very difficult to recognize any one brigade as being the first.
Many felt that such a useful of weapon of evangelism should not be ignored and it was Commissioner John Carleton who spoke to the General on the subject. In September 1898 he was given authority to form a songster brigade at his own corps, Penge, in south London, as an experiment. The same month a songster brigade was formed at Clapton Congress Hall.
We have already seen that Booth was a great champion of good singing, which, to please him, had to be congregational, hearty and useful. However, he had obviously experienced some difficulty with organized choirs in the early days of his ministry. He told those at the 1877 Annual Conference that he had:
“ever found choirs to be possessed of three evils, awkward, ugly and impossible to cast out. They are the quarrelling devil, the dressing devil and the courting devil, and the last is the worst of the three!”
His strong feelings on this subject led him, for a considerable time, to forbid any other but congregational or solo singing. The first Orders and Regulations for Field Officers decreed that:
‘One voice alone is always much preferred…because the words can be heard with so much greater distinctiveness’.
Hardly had these regulations had a chance to be circulated before the very thing William Booth condemned was, without warning, put into use. It was proved that his fear that the words could not be heard when sung by a musical group were unfounded.
The Army’s first Choirs
In May 1882 the National Barracks in Clapton opened as a training home and so came considerable development in the annals of Salvation Army Vocal music. In July 1883 a singing brigade was formed and sent out, under the leadership of Herbert Booth. The group was known as the Salvation Songsters and had a three-fold function:
- Win souls for Christ.
- Enlist the interest of young people in officership.
- Raise money for the training of cadets.
One of the members was Richard Slater, who had recently taken up an appointment in the newly formed Music Department. It was his responsibility to find the voices and teach the parts. Some of the Army’s best songs were written during this association between Herbert Booth and Slater.
The group was not on the road all the time. After a tour lasting some six weeks they would return to Clapton, some for a short period before being commissioned – others were sent immediately on the field. Their training consisted of service with the singing brigade. They continued to tour until the winter of 1885.
In 1886 the ‘Speaking, Singing and Praying Brigade’ was introduced. Even with proven success of this brigade, William Booth was reluctant to approve organized part-singing in corps activity. ‘Choirs’ were still frowned upon and it was taking William Booth along time to overcome his deep-rooted prejudice.
The first Songster Brigade
All this did not prevent ‘underground movements’ springing up at many corps in Britain and overseas, some as early as 1882. Several songster brigades can today trace their beginnings to a date long before such groups were permitted. This has made it very difficult to recognize any one brigade as being the first.
Many felt that such a useful of weapon of evangelism should not be ignored and it was Commissioner John Carleton who spoke to the General on the subject. In September 1898 he was given authority to form a songster brigade at his own corps, Penge, in south London, as an experiment. The same month a songster brigade was formed at Clapton Congress Hall.
