The most famous soloist of all the choirboys of the Vienna Court Choir was no other than Franz Schubert. He was by no means the first; others before him had sung the praise of the Lord in solo: at Schönbrunn the pure, angelic voice of little Franz Wild had won over even the war-like heart of Napoleon. A hundred years later among the boy soprano soloists of this school was one destined to conquer the world with the conductors' baton-Clemens Krauss. For many years nothing more was heard from the choir, until, thanks to the initiative and devotion of the Director, Josef Schmitt, it re-appeared as the Vienna Boys’ Choir. The following account from Cologne is dated 1926:

"A glance from the teacher sufficed to diminish the tone, a nod of the head and their robust voices poured forth with full-throated ease. Suddenly a clear soprano voice rang out, soared upwards and trilled like a bird of the forest... a voice of rare quality, sweetly flowing, as smooth as velvet, enchanting beyond words in its beauty of tone. This is the young Matthias Schneider, the "primadonna" of the choir, whose instinctive feeling for style and infallible musicality are also phenomenal. How sad it is that a voice like this is destined to die so soon, like a beautiful butterfly delighting the sun with its shimmering colours... will he become a singer or will his voice break and fall siIent?"

This young boy soprano did not become a singer: his voice broke and fell silent (today Matthias Schneider is a prelate and the Abbot of the Benedictine Monastery of St. Paul in Carinthia). But his place has not remained unoccupied. Others followed, only from then on they were not mentioned by name, so that like the old Gothic wood-carvers these little "primadonnas" remain anonymous. The Director of the Institution, Dr. Walter Tautschnig, who was himself a choirboy and soloist, is constanly bringing this point home not only to the boys themselves but also to his colleagues. The reasons for this are moral as well as educational. The ability to be a soloist is no reflection of personal merit but a favour or gift to be received with due modesty. There is this too, that they have all an equally important part to play in performing a common task. Without doubt at one time or another every single one of the choirboys dreams of singing solo, urged on by a natural ambition towards greater things. And constructive use is made of this ambition as an incentive to higher attainment; it is encouraged but directed into the right channels. There is no star-cult in the Vienna Boys’ Choir, any tendency to "give oneself airs" is nipped in the bud. The would-be little "primadonna" is "rested" until he comes to his senses. In the meantime a replacement is found to sing his solo.
In every other sense however the principle that the soloist must always be the best is recognised. By the best is meant the boy showing outstanding ability in the vocal test and then proving the best in a narrower selection from among two or three of his comrades in the same voice group. Obviously a soloist has more work to do and therefore has to show more industry: the solos have not only to be studied but also mastered technically. As a result voice training is of primary importance. For many years the young singers’ voices have been in the care of one of Austria’s leading voice trainers, Professor Ferdinand Großmann, who has recently been joined by Professor Hans Gillesberger, his best pupil and his successor as artistic director of the choir. Using his own special method of deep-breathing he opens their throats, loosens, rounds and deepens their delicate voices. His sense of humour and a subtle insight into the working of a child’s mind enable him, often with no more than a word, to remove the boys’ inhibitions and to make his style of singing seem to them the most natural in the world. The boys owe their far-reaching sense of style to the enormous range of their repertoire, which extends from the Renaissance to the present day (this recording offers a selection from the baroque and classical periods).
An atmosphere like this does not nurture jealousy. When, as frequently occurs, an eleven year old replaces a fourteen year old soloist, this gives rise to no problems. The following words written in the thirties are equally true today:

"They have lost none of their touching, child-like purity of heart and their obvious joy in singing is charming in its innocence. Directors of opera houses all over the world would have to revise their ideas on the artistic temperament in the face of this ensemble of singers in which, with shining eyes, every single member says not ‘I’, but ‘we’.”