The17

The17 is a choir based in the United Kingdom. It specialises in improvised music, and does not make recordings of its performances. The choir was founded by Bill Drummond as a development of his interest in choral music, after hearing the music of Arvo Pärt. ["It was in 2004...that I discovered the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt" quoted in [http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/a-higher-calling-why-bill-drummond-swapped-rave-for-choir-practice-876657.html A higher calling: Why Bill Drummond swapped rave for choir practice] (The Independent) (retrieved 26 July 2008]

Name

Drummond states that he thought of the name immediately. ["Right from its inception the choir in my head had a name" quoted in [http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/a-higher-calling-why-bill-drummond-swapped-rave-for-choir-practice-876657.html A higher calling: Why Bill Drummond swapped rave for choir practice (The Independent)] Retrieved 26 July 2008] It has origins in his love of Prime numbers, and his idea of the seventeenth year as a stage of life between the "sweet, coy" [http://www.mapmagazine.co.uk/index.cfm?page=984F1E34-BDF5-2379-71075D0184E53D92&articleid=102 The 17: Bill Drummond (MAP Magazine)] retrieved 26 July 2008] sixteen and the full adulthood of eighteen. There was also a play on the name of The Sixteen, a professional choir admired by him.

Ethos

The choir's ethos derives from Drummond's disillusionment with recorded music. He released a manifesto calling on people to "dispense with all previous forms of music and music-making and start again", [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/jul/25/billdrummond 'I'll never willingly put on a CD again' {The Guardian)] Retrieved 26 July 2008]

Each performance has no audience and is never recorded. ["I came to the decision that not only should The17 never be recorded for posterity and have no fixed line-up..." in [http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/a-higher-calling-why-bill-drummond-swapped-rave-for-choir-practice-876657.html A higher calling: Why Bill Drummond swapped rave for choir practice (The Independent)] Retrieved 26 July 2008)] Also, there is no sheet music; instead the choir performs according to a set of instructions written by Drummond. These instructions (called "scores," but bearing little relation to musical scores) are open to change over time, and exist in the public domain. [Drummond, B. "Scores 18–76" (Penkiln Burn 2006), p. 3]

Members

The choir has a constantly shifting membership (the choir's website states that to join one need only turn up and sing [ [http://www.the17.org/members.php?page=1 the17.org members page] Retrieved 26 July 2008] ); as of July 2008 there have been 1,261 performers, mostly members of the public with little or no experience in professional music.

Education

In 2006, Drummond was invited to help schoolchildren compose scores in a project sponsored by the Arts Council. Children from several primary and secondary schools in County Durham wrote scores that were eventually compiled in the book "Scores 18–76". The children also performed their scores in the Hatton Gallery, Newcastle. ["All of the schools took part in the performance..." in [http://www.the17.org/words/25.htm The17-Further information] (retrieved 26 August 2006)]

References

External links

* [http://www.the17.org/ Official site]

* [http://www.thequietus.com/articles/heavenly-17-bill-drummond-hears-too-much-music Heavenly 17: Bill Drummond Hears Too Much Music (The Quietus)]
* [http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/bill-drummond-man-who-wants-end-recorded-music Bill Drummond: The Man Who Wants To End Recorded Music (The Word)]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2006/nov/17/classicalmusicandopera.popandrock Voices in my head (The Guardian)]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/jul/25/billdrummond 'I'll never willingly put on a CD again' {The Guardian)]
* [http://www.timeout.com/london/art/features/3845/The_relationship_between_art_and_music.html The relationship between art and music (Time Out)]