ORIGIN OF THE CHOIR

 

From the very beginnings of history, singing has been integral to worship in the Judaeo-Christian tradition, and from the earliest times, part of the Christian life, with references to Jesus (Mark 14.26) and the early Church “singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Ephesians 5.19).

The Encarta Dictionary defines a choir as “an organized group of singers who perform together, especially in church”. For the Free Dictionary, the choir is “a company of singers; a band; or company of dancers; an order or division of angels”. In the Jewish Encyclopedia, a choir “is a collection of singers with trained voices who take part in the divine service”. It continues to state that “the first choir mentioned in the Bible is the one organized by the Levites for the Temple service, to be accompanied by musicians”.

Stan (2006) writes that “the ‘church choir’ has its origins not in the Roman Catholicism and in Christianity at all, but in the Old Testament. Interestingly, Rayburn (2003) says that “choirs are found before, during, and after the temple in the Old Testament”. This means that the institution of the choir even predates the Bible. Tracing the origin of the choir from the Bible, Stan continues to say that “the first ‘church choir’ was appointed by King David some 3000 years ago”. The Bible confirms this in Chronicles; “now these are the singers, heads of fathers’ household of the Levites, who lived in the chambers of the temple free from other services; for they were engaged in their work day and night” (1 Chronicles 9:33). Stan says that these choirs were far more serious than anything we have today.

 King David is credited with establishing the first Israelite orchestra and choir, with the purpose of enhancing the spiritual mood of sacred services. Most of the musicians and singers David employed came from the tribe of Levi. As we read in I Chronicles 15: "David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brothers as singers to sing joyful songs, accompanied by musical instruments: lyres, harps and cymbals, joyfully making their voices heard."

The Jewish Heritage Online Magazine also adds that …

“The Levitical singers went through a training period from the age of 25 to 30 and usually participated in the Temple service between the ages of 30 to 50; young Levites often joined the choir to "add sweetness to the sound" but were not permitted to stand on the same platform with the adult Levites.”