• Behind the scenes

A Bach Choir tour of London

The Bach Choir was formed in 1876, and along the way in our 150-year journey we’ve certainly had some milestone moments. We challenged our Soprano Chloé to find some of the spots where five key moments of The Bach Choir magic have happened since our formation, including our very first rehearsal venue and the studios where we’ve recorded some of our most well-known recordings.

If you want to look at The Bach Choir’s history in more detail, you can see the full timeline below…

The Bach Choir - AbbeyRoadStudiosEntrance
2024
Key Historical Moment:
Return to Hollywood
In. November 2024, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II was released in cinemas worldwide. We were asked to return to record the soundtrack at Abbey Road Studios by composer Harry Gregson-Williams, who is also one of our Vice-Presidents.
2024
The Bach Choir - Joe Hisaishi 1
2022
Key Historical Moment:
Recording with Joe Hisaishi
In early 2022, we took part in a recording with Japanese film composer Joe Hisaishi for Deutsche Grammophon, which was sung in Japanese. Joe is famous for his work in composing for Studio Ghibli films including Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle.
2022
Members of The Bach Choir singing at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall
2021
Key Historical Moment:
Vision of a Garden world premiere
In our first performance after the COVID-19 pandemic, we performed the world premiere of Vision of a Garden at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. We commissioned composer Richard Blackford to write the piece which documents choir member Peter Johnstone’s struggles with and eventual triumph over COVID. It received four stars in BBC Music Magazine.
2021
The Bach Choir - RBLFestivalofRemembrance
2021
Key Historical Moment:
Festival of Remembrance debut
In 2021 we made our first appearance on the RBL’s Festival of Remembrance which honours the sacrifices of our armed forces. We’ve been asked back every year since, and have sung with stars like Cynthia Erivo, Sir Tom Jones, Katie Melua and many more. The Festival is often attended by our Patron, HM King Charles III.
2021
The Bach Choir - 146 1
2017
Key Historical Moment:
The first Sir David Willcocks Carol Competition
Every year since 2017, we’ve been running the annual Sir David Willcocks Carol Competition to provide opportunities for composers from all over the world and to add new carols to our repertoire.
2017
The Bach Choir - Hong Kong Tour
2014
Key Historical Moment:
Touring in Hong Kong
We were invited to Hong Kong to perform the St Matthew Passion twice in 2014 with Jaap Van Zweden and the Hong Kong Philharmonic.
2014
The Bach Choir - angryplanethighres 1
2012
Key Historical Moment:
The Angry Planet at the Proms
Just two years after our Vocalise! project began, we commissioned Bob Chilcott to compose The Angry Planet to be sung by The Bach Choir and members of this programme. We sang the piece in the Proms where 180 choir members were joined by over 300 children on stage in a memorable night at the Royal Albert Hall.
2012
The Bach Choir - HollywoodSign
2005
Key Historical Moment:
The Bach Choir goes to Hollywood
In 2005 we made our Hollywood debut singing in Kingdom of Heaven starring Liam Neeson and Orlando Bloom. Since then, our music has been used in films such as Prometheus, Shrek the Third, Robin Hood, Jack the Giant Slayer, The Martian and many others.
2005
Prince Charles singing with The Bach Choir
2001
Key Historical Moment:
HM The King becomes patron
In 2001, HM The King became our patron, a role which he continues to fulfil. This image shows his majesty singing with The Bach Choir in 1985.
2001
The Bach Choir - Royal Wedding 1
1981
Key Historical Moment:
A royal occasion
We were invited to sing at the wedding of HRH The Princess of Wales and our patron HM King Charles III. Our royal connections extend back to 1879 when Queen Victoria became our patron and we commissioned Hubert Parry to write a work to mark her golden jubilee in 1887.
1981
The Bach Choir - Mick Jagger 1976 1
1965
Key Historical Moment:
Singing with The Rolling Stones
The Choir sang with Marianne Faithfull in her recording of the Lennon-McCartney song Yesterday in 1965 and The Rolling Stones in their hit You Can’t Always Get What you Want in 1969. To this day, we still sing a wide repertoire of music including contemporary music, film scores, pop songs and much more. We don’t just sing Bach!
Image Credit: Bert Verhoeff / Anefo - Nationaal Archief, CC BY-SA 3.0
1965
The Bach Choir - 1549px Teatro La Fenice Venice 1
1963
Key Historical Moment:
Overseas touring
The first of many overseas tours took place in September 1963 when the Choir, at the invitation of the London Symphony Orchestra, took the War Requiem to Perugia, La Scala in Milan and La Fenice Opera House in Venice.
Image Credit: Youflavio - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
1963
The Bach Choir - 1024px Fortepan 137710 1
1963
Key Historical Moment:
War Requiem
It was partly our recording of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem that gave us the standing and prestige that we still hold. This recording is still seen as definitive.
Image Credit: Szalay Zoltán, CC BY-SA 3.0
1963
The Bach Choir - DVW 290x327 1
1960-1998
Sir David Wilcocks, CBE MC
Musical Director of The Bach Choir for 38 years, and Conductor Laureate from his retirement in 1998 to his death in 2015, Sir David Willcocks was not only responsible for taking the Choir to new levels of excellence during his time at the helm, but was also a very good friend to many of the Choir’s singing and associate members.
1960-1998
The Bach Choir - Queen Elizabeth
1947
Key Historical Moment:
Queen Elizabeth II becomes patron
The country's longest-ever serving monarch was also our patron for an incredible 54 years between 1947 and 2001, succeeding her father, George VI.
1947
The Bach Choir - reginald jacques 290x422 1
1931-1960
Reginald Jacques
Reginald Jacques was born in 1894. Despite suffering severe injuries in the First World War, he recovered and went on to read music at Queen’s College, Oxford. In 1926 he was appointed organist and Director of Music there, and became conductor of the Oxford Orchestral Society a few years later.
1931-1960
The Bach Choir - Programme image
1930
Key Historical Moment:
St Matthew Passion
Every year since 1930, even in wartime, we have performed Bach’s St Matthew Passion, sometimes once, sometimes twice and, between 1994 and 1998, three times. The only exceptions were the cancellations due to COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021.
1930
The Bach Choir - Adrian Boult cropped 290x380 1
1928-1931
Sir Adrian Boult
Prompted by the outgoing Musical Director Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst was approached to succeed him and confirmed his acceptance of the position by letter late in 1927. He was due to take up the appointment at the start of the 1928-29 season, but a few months before that was forced to withdraw on medical grounds. Malcolm Sargent was then approached, but the appointment finally went to Adrian Boult.
1928-1931
The Bach Choir - Vaughan Williams 1910 290x393 1
1921-1928
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Following Hugh Allen’s resignation, the post of Musical Director was first offered to Adrian Boult, who turned it down. It was then offered to Ralph Vaughan Williams, who had been a singing member of the Choir since 1902. Vaughan Williams (pictured here in 1910) was 49 when he took up the appointment having by then already established himself as one of the leading composers in the English musical renaissance. Whilst he did not have Boult’s conducting experience, he knew the Choir well, and had conducted regularly at the Leith Hill Musical Festival for some years.
1921-1928
The Bach Choir - Hugh Allen John Singer Sargent British Museum 1925
1908-1921
Hugh Allen
Hugh Allen’s appointment as Musical Director of The Bach Choir was ratified in 1907 and he took up the position the following year at the age of 39. He was already a skilled choral conductor, having worked with choirs since the age of 18. As well as conducting the Oxford Bach Choir, Allen was organist of New College, Oxford, an appointment he had held since 1901.
1908-1921
The Bach Choir - Henry Walford Davies
1902-1908
Henry Walford Davies
Henry Walford Davies became Musical Director of The Bach Choir in 1902, following Charles Villiers Stanford’s resignation. Walford Davies began his musical life as a chorister at St George’s Chapel, Windsor. Encouraged by Stanford, he was awarded a scholarship in composition at the Royal College of Music where he obtained his B Mus degree as well as a doctorate, and in 1898 was appointed organist at the Temple Church, where he was to reorganise the choir and widen its choral repertoire.
1902-1908
The Bach Choir - Queen Victoria 1887 1 e1655117986306
1887
Key Historical Moment:
First commission
Our first commission of new music was in celebration of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887. It was Hubert Parry’s Blest Pair of Sirens, which remains one of our singers’ favourites.
1887
The Bach Choir - Charles Villiers Stanford cropped 290x404 1
1885-1902
Charles Villiers Stanford
At the time of his appointment as Musical Director of The Bach Choir, Stanford was 33, and organist of Trinity College, Cambridge. He was born in Dublin and studied at Queen’s College, Cambridge from 1870, where he became assistant conductor of the Cambridge University Musical Society (CUMS) at a time when women were barred from membership. Stanford sought to overcome opposition to women joining CUMS, achieving this in 1872, and becoming conductor of the Choir in 1873.
1885-1902
The Bach Choir - Goldschmidt cropped
1876-1885
Otto Goldschmidt
Otto Goldschmidt was born in Hamburg in 1829 and studied at the Leipzig Conservatoire where his teachers included Felix Mendelssohn. In 1852 he married Jenny Lind, after acting as accompanist on her American tour, and in 1858 they decided to settle in London where, in 1863, Goldschmidt was appointed Professor of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music. On 8th May 1876, it was decided that The Bach Choir would be made permanent, under the musical direction of Otto Goldschmidt, with two or three public concerts given each season at St James’s Hall.
1876-1885
The Bach Choir - Bachchoiroldprogramme2
1875-76
Key Historical Moment:
How it all started
We started our history by performing J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor for the first time in the UK. The conductor was Otto Goldschmidt and the organising genius was Arthur Coleridge, a lawyer with a fine tenor voice who had encountered the score while an undergraduate at Cambridge. A committee was formed, money raised, singers auditioned and rehearsals started. The first two performances were on 26th April and 8th May 1876.
1875-76

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