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The Birmingham Bach Choir is a large chamber choir based in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Established in 1919, it is one of the city's oldest musical groups (predating both the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus and the City of Birmingham Choir). [1]
The origins of the Birmingham Bach Choir date back to October 1919 and the formation of the Birmingham Bach Society [2] which was established by Bernard Jackson, a Bach enthusiast and musicologist. [3]
In 1929 the choir was re-established as The Birmingham Bach Club and affiliated to The Bach Cantata Club in London. Dr. Allen Blackhall, organist at St. Mary’s, Warwick and subsequently Principal of the Birmingham School of Music, was appointed conductor. [3]
The society was returned to the name Birmingham Bach Society in 1947. [3] [2]
Richard Butt was appointed as Conductor and Director of Music in 1966. [2] His tenure included major changes to organization and programming. [4] The Choir undertook various commissions of new works, including pieces by David Lord, Rory Boyle and Paul Spicer (Darling of the World). [3] Choral performances were also accompanied by recitals by such leading figures as Yehudi Menuhin, Paul Tortelier and George Malcolm. [3]
In 1989, the Choir was invited to give a performance of Bach’s Mass in B minor at the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig (the church where Bach served as cantor for 27 years), an event described as "one of the great crowning achievements in the life of the Choir." [3]
Paul Spicer took over as Conductor in 1992 [5] after being invited to apply by Richard Butt the year before. [4]
Subsequently, the choir changed its name to the Birmingham Bach Choir and extended its repertoire into the 20th century and contemporary music, notably works by Benjamin Britten, Edward Elgar, Gerald Finzi, Herbert Howells and John Joubert. [3]
The choir has continued to premiere new choral works, including Spicer's The Deciduous Cross, a work based on five poems by RS Thomas commissioned for Paul's 10th anniversary as conductor; [6] Easter Oratorio which was recorded by the Choir with Lichfield Cathedral Choristers and Special Choir and the English Symphony Orchestra in 2005; [5] and Unfinished Remembering, at Birmingham Symphony Hall in 2014, to commemorate the centenary of the start of the Great War. [3] [7] The performance of Unfinished Remembering was described by the Birmingham Post as "one of the most important concerts" in the choir's history. [8]
Other premieres include Universal Nature by John Joubert (commissioned by Nicholas Fisher for the choir and first performed in 1994); [9] My Heart Danceth by Eleanor Alberga (commissioned by the choir as part of a nationwide series of concerts celebrating the eightieth birthday of John Joubert, composer and patron of the Choir, and debuted in 2007); [10] and Steal Away, a spiritual-based piece written by Paul Spicer as part of the choir's 2019 centenary.
In 2019, Roderick Williams was announced as a Patron as part of the choir's year-long centenary celebrations, [11] which included an autumn Gala Concert at Lichfield Cathedral.
Although the main focus of the choir is the Baroque period, they perform music spanning over 500 years including 20th and 21st century works. [12]
Discussing the Choir's repertoire, Paul Spicer told MusicWeb International's John Quinn: "Whenever we do Bach we feel we’re coming home, so it is a Bach choir, very much with a purpose. But we have a very broad-based repertoire indeed and we go back a long way before Bach and come right up to the present day. And, of course, with my particular interest in twentieth century British music we’ve done a huge amount of that over these years." [13]
The choir has premiered numerous new choral pieces by distinguished composers, many of them commissioned. These include Wofully Araide commissioned from David Lord (1970); Best Glorious Man (1991) and The Rochester Triptych (1994) by John Jourbert (1991); Love and Life by Adrian Partington (1999); How God Answers the Soul by Aaron Jay Kernis (1996); as well as numerous pieces by Paul Spicer including A Shared Singing and Unfinished Remembering (2014), Festival (2015) and The Darling of the World (1986). [14]
The choir have been described as one of the UK's leading large chamber choirs [15] [16]
They have been praised for their "wonderful breadth of tone" and "thought-provoking" performances, [17] boasting "an impressive team of soloists." [18]
The War Requiem, Op. 66, is a British choral and orchestral composition by Benjamin Britten, composed mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962. The War Requiem was performed for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, which was built after the original fourteenth-century structure was destroyed in a World War II bombing raid. The traditional Latin texts are interspersed, in telling juxtaposition, with extra-liturgical poems by Wilfred Owen, written during World War I.
Ex Cathedra is a leading British choir and early music ensemble based in Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. It performs choral music spanning the 15th to 21st centuries, and regularly commissions new works.
Sir Stephen John Cleobury was an English organist and music director. He worked with the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, where he served as music director from 1982 to 2019, and with the BBC Singers.
Mark Andrew James is a conductor of classical music.
John Pierre Herman Joubert was a British composer of South African birth, particularly of choral works. He lived in Moseley, a suburb of Birmingham, England, for over 50 years. A music academic in the universities of Hull and Birmingham for 36 years, Joubert took early retirement in 1986 to concentrate on composing and remained active into his eighties. Though perhaps best known for his choral music, particularly the carols Torches and There is No Rose of Such Virtue and the anthem O Lorde, the Maker of Al Thing, Joubert composed over 160 works including three symphonies, four concertos and seven operas.
Crouch End Festival Chorus (CEFC) is a symphonic choir based in north London which performs in a range of musical styles, including traditional choral repertoire, contemporary classical, rock, pop and film music.
Jeffrey Skidmore OBE is the conductor and artistic director of Ex Cathedra, a choir and early music ensemble based in Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. An active participant in musical education and a pioneer in researching and performing neglected choral works of the 16th to 18th centuries, he has worked with leading musicologists to prepare new performing editions of French and Italian music. In particular, his recordings of French and Latin American Baroque music with Ex Cathedra have won wide acclaim.
Charles Daniels is an English tenor, particularly noted for his performances of baroque music. He is a frequent soloist with The King's Consort, and has made over 25 recordings with the ensemble on the Hyperion label.
Saint Peter's Singers (SPS) is a chamber choir associated with Leeds Minster, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England that celebrated during the Season 2017/2018 the fortieth anniversary of the choir's formation by Harry Fearnley in 1977. An anniversary concert took place at Leeds Minster on Sunday 25 June 2017 with the National Festival Orchestra and soloists Kristina James, Joanna Gamble, Paul Dutton and Quentin Brown. Further anniversary year events included Bach Cantatas and Music for Christmas at Fulneck Church in August and December respectively, Handel Coronation Anthems at Holy Trinity, Boar Lane as part of the Leeds Handel Festival in September and a tour of East Anglia in October. In November at Leeds Town Hall, the Singers participated in Herbert Howells's masterpiece Hymnus Paradisi with Leeds Philharmonic Chorus and Leeds College of Music Chorale under the direction of Dr David Hill with the Orchestra of Opera North. 2018 began with a concert of Sacred Choral Masterworks at Leeds Town Hall in February and Bach's Mass in B minor at Leeds Minster on Good Friday 2018 in memory of long-serving member Jan Holdstock. The final concert of the current season takes place at Leeds Minster on Sunday 24 June at Leeds Minster at 5.30. At this event will be presented the first performance of a new work from composer Philip Moore commissioned for the Singers' 40th anniversary – the motet Tu es Petrus – along with music by E W Naylor, Arvo Part, Sir Hubert Parry, Judith Bingham and Maurice Durufle.
The Bach Choir is a large independent musical organisation founded in London, England in 1876 to give the first performance of J. S. Bach's Mass in B minor in Britain.
London Concert Choir (LCC) is one of London's leading amateur choirs. The choir was formed in 1960, and the full-time membership consists of ca 150 singers of a wide range of ages.
Derby Choral Union is one of the UK’s longest standing choral societies having been formed in 1866. The choir was established to perform choral music of the highest quality, a tradition it strives to maintain to this day. The repertoire includes traditional choral works as well as music by 20th-century and more contemporary composers. Derby Choral Union is a registered charity and an independent choral society. It promotes concerts in Derby, England, and the surrounding district, and has over 100 active members.
Royal Melbourne Philharmonic (RMP) is a 120-voice choir and orchestra in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1853, and is reportedly Australia's oldest surviving cultural organisation. The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic is Australia's oldest musical organisation that has been continuously existing for over 150 years. Among its programmes, there have been large-scale concerts celebrating classical composers including Bach, Mendelssohn and Beethoven. The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic is managed under the direction of Andrew Wailes, the artistic director of the orchestra.
Sheffield Bach Society was founded in 1950 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the death of J S Bach in Leipzig, and to bring the music of Bach to Sheffield audiences. It was led first by Norman Barnes, then for many years by Dr Roger Bullivant, who conducted the choir for 38 years. Dr Bullivant was succeeded by Peter Collis in 2000, and in 2010 by Dr Simon Lindley. The Society’s President, Professor George Nicholson, conducted during the 2021-22 season, and the choir appointed new conductor Philip Collin to start from September 2023.
Paul Spicer is an English composer, conductor, and organist. He taught choral conducting at the Royal College of Music and conducted the RCM Chamber Choir between 1995 and 2008. Until his retirement in July 2022 he also taught at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and conducted their chamber choir which records for Somm Records. He also teaches at Oxford and Durham universities. Since 2004 he has been the conductor of the Petersfield Festival. He was Senior Producer for BBC Radio 3 for the Midlands Region based in Birmingham between 1984 and 1990 after which he moved to be artistic director of the Lichfield Festival. He also produced for various record companies over many years. He founded the Finzi Singers in 1984 making many recordings for Chandos Records. He conducts the Birmingham Bach Choir and the Whitehall Choir in London. His compositions include two oratorios for Easter and for Advent with libretti by the Dr Tom Wright and a choral symphony 'Unfinished Remembering' (2014) to a libretto by Euan Tait commemorating the outbreak of World War 1. He runs a series of choral courses under the banner of The English Choral Experience based mainly at Abbey Dore in Herefordshire.
Bristol Choral Society is a large mixed-voiced choir based in Bristol, England, founded in 1889. Currently conducted by Hilary Campbell, it has around 140 auditioned members. The choir stages at least three concerts annually at the Bristol Beacon in Bristol with professional orchestras and soloists, and another annually at Bristol Cathedral in addition to other performances and broadcasts in Bristol and further afield.
Adrian Frederick Partington is an English conductor, chorus master, organist and pianist. He is director of music at Gloucester Cathedral, joint conductor of the Three Choirs Festival and artistic director for the Gloucester festival years, director of the BBC National Chorus of Wales, conductor of Gloucester Choral Society, and former conductor of Bristol Choral Society and leader of the postgraduate choral conducting course at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.
Brighton Festival Chorus is a large choir of over 150 amateur singers based in Brighton, UK. One of the country's leading symphony choruses.., and considered "one of the jewels in the city's musical crown", BFC performs in major concert halls throughout Britain and Europe, particularly in Brighton and London.
Harold Rosenbaum is an American conductor and musician. He is the artistic director and conductor of the New York Virtuoso Singers and the Canticum Novum Singers. The New York Virtuoso Singers appear on 48 albums on labels including Naxos Records and Sony Classical. He has collaborated extensively with many ensembles including the New York Philharmonic, Juilliard Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, Bang on a Can, Mark Morris Dance Group, Orchestra of Saint Luke's, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Riverside Symphony, and Brooklyn Philharmonic.
The Deutscher Chor London (DCL), also known as the German Choir of London, is a London-based amateur mixed-voice choir with a core repertoire of German classical choral pieces and a special interest in contemporary works. The choir was founded in 2009 by its current musical director Barbara Höfling.
