The Bach Choir
Encyclopedia
The Bach Choir is a large chorus, based in London, England. It has around 220 active members. The choir's musical director is David Hill
and previous musical directors have included Sir Charles Villiers Stanford
, Ralph Vaughan Williams
, Reginald Jacques
and Sir David Willcocks.
The Bach Choir is an independent organisation, and promotes concerts in London and elsewhere, as well as accepting invitations to sing for others. Singers are subject to triennial auditions in order to maintain standards at the highest level.
The Bach Choir has an extensive recorded output to which it regularly adds new titles, and is also in demand for film scores. Overseas tours are a regular part of the choir's activities, and tours have included Australia and Germany. The choir has commissioned new works from John Tavener
(Song of the Cosmos, 2001), Naji Hakim
(Gloria
, 2003), and Carl Rütti
(Requiem
, 2007).
The choir's patron is the Prince of Wales, and the president is Leopold de Rothschild
. The conductor laureate is Sir David Willcocks.
The original idea came from Arthur Duke Coleridge, a young lawyer and outstanding amateur tenor, who had become acquainted with the Mass while a student at Leipzig
, where he studied music along with the young Charles Villiers Stanford
. He formed a committee to promote a British performance of the Mass, recruiting George Grove
and John Stainer
to serve on it. They appointed as musical director Otto Goldschmidt
, the husband of Jenny Lind
(the "Swedish Nightingale") who, as a former pupil of Felix Mendelssohn
in Leipzig, had a good knowledge of the music of Bach
. Within six months a choir was recruited and two performances of the Mass, conducted by Goldschmidt, were given on 26 April and 8 May 1876.
The success of the concerts encouraged the formation of a permanent choir with Goldschmidt as the first musical director. The declared aim of the choir was "the practice and performance of choral works of excellence and of various schools". Initially membership was exclusively drawn from the upper levels of Victorian society since this was the social group in which both Coleridge and Goldschmidt moved. Among the singing members was Princess Christian
, the fifth child of Queen Victoria. Among the founder-members was W.E. Gladstone
. This exclusivity was perpetuated because recruits had to be proposed and seconded by existing members and approved by the committee. Of greater concern for the future health of the choir, however, were the lack of a requirement for regular re-audition and a five o'clock rehearsal time. While the latter ensured that the evening social life of the members was not disturbed, rehearsal attendance by tenors and basses with business interests soon became a cause for concern. A positive feature of the wealthy membership, however, was that programming could be more adventurous without the need to resort to performances of the popular oratorio repertoire to secure essential funds.
The repertoire in the Goldschmidt years was biased towards motets and Renaissance church music, a reflection of his particular interest, but the connection with Bach was maintained by regular performances of the Mass in B minor and some of the cantatas.
Goldschmidt resigned in 1885 to be replaced by Stanford, organist of Trinity College, Cambridge
and conductor of the Cambridge University Musical Society, who had recently been appointed professor of composition at the Royal College of Music
. Stanford expanded the repertoire with programmes which included the Brahms Requiem, excerpts from Parsifal, the Verdi Requiem
and other contemporary works. From the beginning there had been a connection with royalty and Queen Victoria became patron in 1879. To mark her golden jubilee in 1887 the choir invited Hubert Parry
to compose its first commissioned work for inclusion in the concert programme. In response Parry produced the Choral Ode Blest Pair of Sirens.
and was replaced by Henry Walford Davies
, who rebuilt the choir and then handed over to Hugh Allen
in 1907.
Allen inherited a choir that included Ralph Vaughan Williams
and later Adrian Boult
among the singing members. He had already gained a reputation as a choral conductor at Ely and Oxford and brought immense energy to the task. Under him a number of first London performances were given, including Toward the Unknown Region and A Sea Symphony. He also steered the choir through the difficult years of the First World War and in 1916 was able to give the first performance of Parry's Songs of Farewell.
The growing pressure of his commitments obliged Allen to resign in 1921, to be succeeded by Vaughan Williams. While he remained faithful to the tradition of the performance of Bach and in particular the St Matthew Passion, he also gave audiences the opportunity to hear works by contemporary composers, including his good friend Gustav Holst
, and in 1926 he conducted the choir in the first London performance of his oratorio Sancta Civitas
.
Resigning in 1928 to concentrate on composing, Vaughan Williams was succeeded by Holst. After accepting the appointment, however, he was obliged to resign on medical grounds three months later. With a new season fast approaching the choir were in difficulty but, although he was already heavily committed, Adrian Boult saved the situation by accepting the appointment. Although only in charge for four seasons he produced singing of a high quality and introduced challenging contemporary works. His lasting legacy, however, was to initiate annual complete performances of the St Matthew Passion in English, a tradition that continues to the present day.
Boult was followed in 1932 by Reginald Jacques
, who had been a pupil of Hugh Allen at Oxford. In a stay of twenty-eight years he introduced the traditional annual Carol Concert, ensured that activities continued without a break during the Second World War, and in 1949 conducted the choir in their first recording – a performance of the St Matthew Passion with Kathleen Ferrier
as the contralto soloist. This filled forty-two sides of the old style 78 rpm discs. Ferrier had made her debut in Messiah
with the choir in 1943.
Following the sudden departure of Jacques in 1960 after a heart attack the post of musical director went to David Willcocks, director of music at King's College, Cambridge
. He was soon pointing the choir in new directions by introducing important contemporary works, including Honegger
's King David, Delius
's Sea Drift
and Janáček
's Glagolitic Mass
, and undertaking a number of recordings. Most notable of these was a performance of Britten
's War Requiem
conducted by the composer, a recording that sold 200,000 copies in the first five months. A series of foreign tours was also arranged with visits to the United States, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand, France, Sweden and South Africa. The choir gave the Italian premiere of the War Requiem at La Scala
, Milan
. Among the conductors under whom the choir sang in the later part of the 20th century were Pierre Monteux
(under whom the choir performed and recorded Beethoven
's Ninth Symphony
), Jascha Horenstein
, Lorin Maazel
and David Oistrakh
. Willcocks retired in 1998 after thirty-eight years in charge.
, was appointed in 1998. Coming from a background of important choral appointments, including organist and master of the music at Winchester Cathedral
and musical director of St John's College, Cambridge, he has conducted a gala concert at the Royal Opera House
, Covent Garden
, to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the foundation of the choir, together with four world premieres (of which three were Bach Choir commissions), and has led tours to Germany, Lebanon and Australia. He has also conducted recordings of carols, Handel
choruses and Howells
's Sir Patrick Spens, as well as working with the choir on film soundtracks including The Chronicles of Narnia
and Shrek the Third
. In addition to his Bach Choir appointment, he is also chief conductor of the BBC Singers
.
David Hill (choral director)
David Hill , is a choral conductor and organist. His most high profile roles are as Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers from September 2007, and Musical Director of The Bach Choir from April 1998. He was previously Organist and Director of Music at St John's College, Cambridge, in succession to...
and previous musical directors have included Sir Charles Villiers Stanford
Charles Villiers Stanford
Sir Charles Villiers Stanford was an Irish composer who was particularly notable for his choral music. He was professor at the Royal College of Music and University of Cambridge.- Life :...
, Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
, Reginald Jacques
Reginald Jacques
Thomas Reginald Jacques was an English choral and orchestral conductor. His legacy includes various choral music arrangements, but he is not primarily remembered as a composer....
and Sir David Willcocks.
The Bach Choir is an independent organisation, and promotes concerts in London and elsewhere, as well as accepting invitations to sing for others. Singers are subject to triennial auditions in order to maintain standards at the highest level.
The Bach Choir has an extensive recorded output to which it regularly adds new titles, and is also in demand for film scores. Overseas tours are a regular part of the choir's activities, and tours have included Australia and Germany. The choir has commissioned new works from John Tavener
John Tavener
Sir John Tavener is a British composer, best known for such religious, minimal works as "The Whale", and "Funeral Ikos"...
(Song of the Cosmos, 2001), Naji Hakim
Naji Hakim
Naji Subhy Paul Irénée Hakim is a Lebanese-French organist, composer, and improviser. He studied under Jean Langlais, and succeeded Messiaen as organist at the Église de la Sainte-Trinité, Paris.-Biography:...
(Gloria
Gloria in Excelsis Deo
"Gloria in excelsis Deo" is the title and beginning of a hymn known also as the Greater Doxology and the Angelic Hymn. The name is often abbreviated to Gloria in Excelsis or simply Gloria.It is an example of the psalmi idiotici "Gloria in excelsis Deo" (Latin for "Glory to God in the highest")...
, 2003), and Carl Rütti
Carl Rütti
Carl Rütti is a notable Swiss composer, who has written much choral music.In 2005, Rütti was commissioned by the Bach Choir to write a Requiem. This was completed in 2007.-See also:****...
(Requiem
Requiem
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead or Mass of the dead , is a Mass celebrated for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, using a particular form of the Roman Missal...
, 2007).
The choir's patron is the Prince of Wales, and the president is Leopold de Rothschild
Leopold David de Rothschild
Leopold David de Rothschild, CBE, FRCM is a British financier, musician, and a member of the Rothschild banking family of England....
. The conductor laureate is Sir David Willcocks.
Early years
Formed originally in 1875 for the sole purpose of giving the first complete British performance of J. S. Bach's Mass in B minor, the Bach Choir then continued and developed so that today it has become one of the leading amateur choirs in the world.The original idea came from Arthur Duke Coleridge, a young lawyer and outstanding amateur tenor, who had become acquainted with the Mass while a student at Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, where he studied music along with the young Charles Villiers Stanford
Charles Villiers Stanford
Sir Charles Villiers Stanford was an Irish composer who was particularly notable for his choral music. He was professor at the Royal College of Music and University of Cambridge.- Life :...
. He formed a committee to promote a British performance of the Mass, recruiting George Grove
George Grove
Sir George Grove, CB was an English writer on music, known as the founding editor of Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians....
and John Stainer
John Stainer
Sir John Stainer was an English composer and organist whose music, though not generally much performed today , was very popular during his lifetime...
to serve on it. They appointed as musical director Otto Goldschmidt
Otto Goldschmidt
Otto Moritz David Goldschmidt was a German composer, conductor and pianist, known for his piano concertos and other piano pieces...
, the husband of Jenny Lind
Jenny Lind
Johanna Maria Lind , better known as Jenny Lind, was a Swedish opera singer, often known as the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she is known for her performances in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and across Europe, and for an extraordinarily...
(the "Swedish Nightingale") who, as a former pupil of Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
in Leipzig, had a good knowledge of the music of Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
. Within six months a choir was recruited and two performances of the Mass, conducted by Goldschmidt, were given on 26 April and 8 May 1876.
The success of the concerts encouraged the formation of a permanent choir with Goldschmidt as the first musical director. The declared aim of the choir was "the practice and performance of choral works of excellence and of various schools". Initially membership was exclusively drawn from the upper levels of Victorian society since this was the social group in which both Coleridge and Goldschmidt moved. Among the singing members was Princess Christian
Princess Helena of the United Kingdom
Princess Helena was a member of the British Royal Family, the third daughter and fifth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert....
, the fifth child of Queen Victoria. Among the founder-members was W.E. Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
. This exclusivity was perpetuated because recruits had to be proposed and seconded by existing members and approved by the committee. Of greater concern for the future health of the choir, however, were the lack of a requirement for regular re-audition and a five o'clock rehearsal time. While the latter ensured that the evening social life of the members was not disturbed, rehearsal attendance by tenors and basses with business interests soon became a cause for concern. A positive feature of the wealthy membership, however, was that programming could be more adventurous without the need to resort to performances of the popular oratorio repertoire to secure essential funds.
The repertoire in the Goldschmidt years was biased towards motets and Renaissance church music, a reflection of his particular interest, but the connection with Bach was maintained by regular performances of the Mass in B minor and some of the cantatas.
Goldschmidt resigned in 1885 to be replaced by Stanford, organist of Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
and conductor of the Cambridge University Musical Society, who had recently been appointed professor of composition at the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
. Stanford expanded the repertoire with programmes which included the Brahms Requiem, excerpts from Parsifal, the Verdi Requiem
Requiem (Verdi)
The Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi is a musical setting of the Roman Catholic funeral mass for four soloists, double choir and orchestra. It was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian poet and novelist much admired by Verdi. The first performance in San Marco in Milan on 22 May...
and other contemporary works. From the beginning there had been a connection with royalty and Queen Victoria became patron in 1879. To mark her golden jubilee in 1887 the choir invited Hubert Parry
Hubert Parry
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet was an English composer, teacher and historian of music.Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is best known for the choral song "Jerusalem", the coronation anthem "I was glad" and the hymn tune "Repton", which sets the words...
to compose its first commissioned work for inclusion in the concert programme. In response Parry produced the Choral Ode Blest Pair of Sirens.
20th century
By the end of the 19th century, the choir faced a major crisis. Deteriorating standards of performance through a combination of an ageing membership not subject to re-audition and an unrealistic rehearsal time produced mounting financial losses. Changes were made, with membership opened to all social groups and regular re-tests for existing members. Stanford resigned in 1902 to take up the conductorship of the Leeds FestivalLeeds Festival
Leeds Festival may refer to:*Reading and Leeds Festivals , a rock music festival in Leeds , West Yorkshire, England*Leeds Festival , European classical music festival in Leeds...
and was replaced by Henry Walford Davies
Henry Walford Davies
Sir Henry Walford Davies KCVO OBE was a British composer, who held the title Master of the King's Musick from 1934 until 1941.-Early life and education:...
, who rebuilt the choir and then handed over to Hugh Allen
Hugh Allen
Hugh Allen is the name of several prominent people.*Hugh Allen Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1926 to 1935.*Hugh Allen English musician*Hugh Allen Meade former US Congressman....
in 1907.
Allen inherited a choir that included Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
and later Adrian Boult
Adrian Boult
Sir Adrian Cedric Boult CH was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London for the Royal Opera House and Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company. His first prominent post was...
among the singing members. He had already gained a reputation as a choral conductor at Ely and Oxford and brought immense energy to the task. Under him a number of first London performances were given, including Toward the Unknown Region and A Sea Symphony. He also steered the choir through the difficult years of the First World War and in 1916 was able to give the first performance of Parry's Songs of Farewell.
The growing pressure of his commitments obliged Allen to resign in 1921, to be succeeded by Vaughan Williams. While he remained faithful to the tradition of the performance of Bach and in particular the St Matthew Passion, he also gave audiences the opportunity to hear works by contemporary composers, including his good friend Gustav Holst
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
, and in 1926 he conducted the choir in the first London performance of his oratorio Sancta Civitas
Sancta Civitas
Sancta Civitas is an oratorio by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Written between 1923 and 1925, it received its first performance in Oxford in May 1926, during the General Strike. Although its title is in Latin, the libretto is entirely in English, based upon texts from Revelation, as well as Taverner's...
.
Resigning in 1928 to concentrate on composing, Vaughan Williams was succeeded by Holst. After accepting the appointment, however, he was obliged to resign on medical grounds three months later. With a new season fast approaching the choir were in difficulty but, although he was already heavily committed, Adrian Boult saved the situation by accepting the appointment. Although only in charge for four seasons he produced singing of a high quality and introduced challenging contemporary works. His lasting legacy, however, was to initiate annual complete performances of the St Matthew Passion in English, a tradition that continues to the present day.
Boult was followed in 1932 by Reginald Jacques
Reginald Jacques
Thomas Reginald Jacques was an English choral and orchestral conductor. His legacy includes various choral music arrangements, but he is not primarily remembered as a composer....
, who had been a pupil of Hugh Allen at Oxford. In a stay of twenty-eight years he introduced the traditional annual Carol Concert, ensured that activities continued without a break during the Second World War, and in 1949 conducted the choir in their first recording – a performance of the St Matthew Passion with Kathleen Ferrier
Kathleen Ferrier
Kathleen Mary Ferrier CBE was an English contralto who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the classical works of Bach, Brahms, Mahler and Elgar...
as the contralto soloist. This filled forty-two sides of the old style 78 rpm discs. Ferrier had made her debut in Messiah
Messiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...
with the choir in 1943.
Following the sudden departure of Jacques in 1960 after a heart attack the post of musical director went to David Willcocks, director of music at King's College, Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
. He was soon pointing the choir in new directions by introducing important contemporary works, including Honegger
Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger was a Swiss composer, who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. He was a member of Les six. His most frequently performed work is probably the orchestral work Pacific 231, which is interpreted as imitating the sound of a steam locomotive.-Biography:Born...
's King David, Delius
Frederick Delius
Frederick Theodore Albert Delius, CH was an English composer. Born in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family of German extraction, he resisted attempts to recruit him to commerce...
's Sea Drift
Sea Drift (Delius)
Sea Drift is among the larger-scale musical works by the composer Frederick Delius. Completed in 1903-1904 and first performed in 1906, it is a setting for baritone, chorus and orchestra of words by Walt Whitman.- The poem adaptation :...
and Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
's Glagolitic Mass
Glagolitic Mass
The Glagolitic Mass is a composition for soloists , double chorus, organ and orchestra by Leoš Janáček. The work was completed on 15 October 1926...
, and undertaking a number of recordings. Most notable of these was a performance of Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
's War Requiem
War Requiem
The War Requiem, Op. 66 is a large-scale, non-liturgical setting of the Requiem Mass composed by Benjamin Britten mostly in 1961 and completed January 1962. Interspersed with the traditional Latin texts, in telling juxtaposition, are settings of Wilfred Owen poems...
conducted by the composer, a recording that sold 200,000 copies in the first five months. A series of foreign tours was also arranged with visits to the United States, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand, France, Sweden and South Africa. The choir gave the Italian premiere of the War Requiem at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. Among the conductors under whom the choir sang in the later part of the 20th century were Pierre Monteux
Pierre Monteux
Pierre Monteux was an orchestra conductor. Born in Paris, France, Monteux later became an American citizen.-Life and career:Monteux was born in Paris in 1875. His family was descended from Sephardi Jews who came to France in the wake of the Spanish Inquisition. He studied violin from an early age,...
(under whom the choir performed and recorded Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Ninth Symphony
Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...
), Jascha Horenstein
Jascha Horenstein
Jascha Horenstein was an American conductor.Horenstein was born in Kiev, Russian Empire , into a well-to-do Jewish family; his mother came from an Austrian rabbinical family and his father was Russian....
, Lorin Maazel
Lorin Maazel
Lorin Varencove Maazel is an American conductor, violinist and composer.- Early life :Maazel was born to Jewish-American parents in Neuilly-sur-Seine in France and brought up in the United States, primarily at his parents' home in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood. His father, Lincoln Maazel , was...
and David Oistrakh
David Oistrakh
David Fyodorovich Oistrakh , , David Fiodorović Ojstrakh, ; – October 24, 1974, was a Soviet violinist....
. Willcocks retired in 1998 after thirty-eight years in charge.
The choir today
The current musical director, David HillDavid Hill (choral director)
David Hill , is a choral conductor and organist. His most high profile roles are as Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers from September 2007, and Musical Director of The Bach Choir from April 1998. He was previously Organist and Director of Music at St John's College, Cambridge, in succession to...
, was appointed in 1998. Coming from a background of important choral appointments, including organist and master of the music at Winchester Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe...
and musical director of St John's College, Cambridge, he has conducted a gala concert at the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
, Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the foundation of the choir, together with four world premieres (of which three were Bach Choir commissions), and has led tours to Germany, Lebanon and Australia. He has also conducted recordings of carols, Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
choruses and Howells
Herbert Howells
Herbert Norman Howells CH was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music.-Life:...
's Sir Patrick Spens, as well as working with the choir on film soundtracks including The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia (film series)
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of English fantasy films from Walden Media that are based on The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of novels written by C. S. Lewis...
and Shrek the Third
Shrek the Third
Shrek the Third is a 2007 American animated film, and the third film in the Shrek series. It was produced by Jeffrey Katzenberg for DreamWorks Animation, and is distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was released in U.S. theaters on May 18, 2007...
. In addition to his Bach Choir appointment, he is also chief conductor of the BBC Singers
BBC Singers
The BBC Singers are the professional chamber choir of the BBC. As one of six BBC Performing Groups, the 24-voiced choir has been in existence for more than 80 years. The BBC Singers have commissioned and premiered works by the leading composers of the past century, including Benjamin Britten, Sir...
.