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The choir was established in 1875 by the lawyer and tenor,
Arthur Coleridge, who was first presented with the music of Johann Sebastian
Bach when he attended Cambridge
University. At the time he was a singer in an
ensemble led by Otto Goldschmidt, who was married to the Swedish soprano known
as "The Swedish Nightingale", Jenny Lind. Coleridge suggested a choir be
formed to perform Bach's Mass
in B Minor and with Goldschmidt's help he recruited 150 voices
which gave two performances with great success. From that time Goldschmidt became
the musical director and they were named The Bach Choir to commemorate
their first work. Princess
Christian, who was the third daughter of Queen Victoria, held a place in the choir
along with many other members who were known in Victorian society and the
Queen herself became their patron.
The music directorship was taken over by Charles Villiers
Stanford in 1885 when he included orchestral works and concertos with
performances by the world's leading soloists. The musical directors through the
years have also included Hugh Allen, the previous choral members Ralph Vaughan
Williams and Adrian Boult, Henry Walford Davies, Sir David Willcocks
and the current holder of the position, David Hill. They have made countless recordings,
appeared on several television and radio programmes
and internationally toured in over 80 different venues. The choir currently has 220 members
and their repertoire stretches from the 1600s to the present day, including
work on the song "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by
the Rolling Stones and on the film scores of Shrek 3, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Kingdom of Heaven.
Recordings
Angelus ad Virginem
London 417
898-2 (CD: O Come All Ye Faithful)
Members of
the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble
Organ
- John Scott
Conductor - Sir David Willcocks
Once in Royal
David's City (Cecil Alexander/Henry John Gauntlett)
London 417 898-2 (CD: O
Come All Ye Faithful)
The Philip Jones Brass
Ensemble
Organ - John Scott
Conductor - Sir David Willcocks
Sources:
- http://www.thebachchoir.org.uk/
- http://imdb.com/company/co0152958/
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