History
Originating in Wales, where industrial workers joined to form all-male ensembles in Victorian times, today’s male voice choirs are made up of people from all walks of life and age groups. Comradeship in song unites them in a unique way and singing performances benefit from each member of the choir contributing to a powerful whole. A male voice choir is made up of four parts: 2 tenor sections, baritone and bass. Had there been no strike in the colliery at Coalpit Heath in 1921, it is debatable whether the Frampton Cotterell Male Voice Choir (as it is now known) would ever have existed. It was in April of that year that a nucleus of striking miners approached Mark Dutfield to conduct a choir they hoped to form.
.jpg)
The choir at Mr Benson's Ryecroft House, Frampton Cotterell 1926
He consented and practices soon commenced. Enthusiasm swept the village and on 21st December 1921, the choir, which now numbered 70, mostly miners, gave its first concert.
The choir continued to flourish until 1923 when, unfortunately, Mark Dutfield died and silence fell. There followed an 18 month period of inactivity during which many of the choir members left the village and surrounding neighbourhood. In August 1925 however, a new choir was formed with forty members and Charles Smith was invited to be the new conductor. It was at this point that the choir was named the Frampton Cotterell Male Voice Choir. The choir’s first outing was to sing at Cheddar Gorge travelling by charabanc as shown in the photograph.
The choirs first outing to Cheddar Gorge 1926
During the General Strike in 1926, the activities of the choir were greatly increased through visits to areas ranging from Speedwell to as far afield as Wotton. These concerts were performed to raise much needed funds for the striking miners and their families. The choir’s first Annual Concert was on Saturday 20th February 1926 held at the Wesleyan Chapel, Frampton Cotterell, which was situated on Church Road. The chapel no longer exists.
Over the choir’s 100 year history it has performed at hundreds of concerts all over the region and beyond. In 1942/3, during the second World War, four concerts were given at the Badminton Village Hall in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Mary and the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort. The second of these was at Royal request where Queen Mary asked the choir to sing ‘The Old Woman’ by Hugh Roberton. Proceeds of these concerts were used to purchase and equip a tank.
Since 1925 the choir has sung continuously including during the entirety of the Second World War where the majority of members were in reserved occupations as coalminers. The only year the choir was unable to sing together as a group was during the Covid 19 pandemic in 2020 to 2021. The choir did however keep socialising and singing using IT technology (specifically the Zoom application). Details of today’s choir, post pandemic, are featured later in this publication.In
1991 for the first time, the Annual Concert was a joint concert with the Tintagel Orpheus Male Voice Choir. The following year the choir went on tour to visit Tintagel, Cornwall, and sang another joint concert with the same choir. In 1995 the Tintagel Orpheus choir came back to Frampton Cotterell to perform the last joint concert with them to date.
On 18th September 1993, Frampton Cotterell Male Voice Choir joined The Filton Male Voice Choir (now known as The Bristol Male Voice Choir) and eight other male voice choirs for an anniversary gala concert at the Bristol Colston Hall (now known as The Beacon). This gala concert involved accompaniment from the band of the 1st Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment.
There were no formal records of membership until 1976. Between then and 1986 the membership was around 25 but fell to around 21 until 2006 when several new members joined increasing the membership to 30. Since then, the membership increased to around 42 until the Covid 19 Pandemic took its effect and numbers fell once again. The present membership is 33 and the choir actively encourages new members to join. Since its inception there have been a number of accompanists at choir rehearsals and concerts, none more longstanding than Mary Darby who played the piano for the choir from 1999 to 2024.
Continuing a long established tradition, the choir’s concerts and activities raise funds predominately for Cancer Research UK (formerly known as British Empire Cancer Research). Over the years many thousands of pounds have been raised for this important cause.