The number of boy choristers was fixed at 16 by King Henry in 1453 and it is 16 still. While originally there were six lay clerks, there are now 12 choral scholars, who are undergraduates of the college studying for degrees. (The Director) therefore loses about a third of his most experienced singers every year, as the boys’ voices break and the men graduate…. There is, however, a compensatory factor in that much of the music for which the choir is famous is new to a third of its members each year, thus contributing to the remarkable vitality and spontaniety of the singing.’ (Gramophone)
