22 December 2012

Carols by the Bach Choir

The Bach Choir is a large amateur ensemble that has been performing in London since 1875. Reginald Jacques was its conductor for 32 years.

Reginald Jacques
This present disk is one of its first recordings. The entirely conventional program of carols was inscribed in June 1950. The location was London's Kingsway Hall, a famous but now demolished venue for choral and orchestral recordings. Many great sounds were captured there; unfortunately this is not one of them. While the performances are perfectly fine, the sound is frustratingly opaque. Enjoyable enough, but not what it ought to be.

The impressively named Osborne Peasgood, sub-organist at Westminster Abbey at the time, handles the accompaniment.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all!
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15 comments:

  1. Buster22 December, 2012 11:34

    Link (Apple lossless format):

    http://rapidshare.com/files/1395178249/Carols%20by%20the%20Bach%20Choir.zip

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Duke16 December, 2016 14:52

      Would you please reupload this?

      Delete
    2. Buster16 December, 2016 20:20

      Remastered reupload:

      https://www.mediafire.com/?72qx4xn3b4s8911

      Delete
  2. Anonymous22 December, 2012 12:08

    Buster

    I remember hearing this group's recordings often in my youth. I'm really looking forward to this one.

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

    Philip

    PS: Thanks for all these great recordings.

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  3. robert22 December, 2012 12:42

    and Season's Greetings to You, Buster. May there be as much joy for you as the joy and memories you have brought me, and I am sure many, many others, with your insightful and pleasurable postings.

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  4. Buster22 December, 2012 13:13

    Thanks, guys - awfully nice of you!

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  5. JAC22 December, 2012 14:56

    I don't think I knew this about the Bach Choir. I would see their name on recordings and wonder what their story was. I think their only recording that I actually own is Benjamin Britten's famous recording of his War Requiem, in which they play the part (appropriate, it seems) of the "cathedral choir." That still-superb recording was also made in Kingsway Hall.

    In fact, I know Kingsway Hall firsthand. I lived there for several weeks one summer, decades ago, as the guest of one of the ministers (its day job, so to speak, is as a Methodist mission and church; the recordings were made in a no-longer-used auditorium).

    This seems like a good time to thank Buster for the pleasure he brings to so many, and the excellence of his musical and technical taste.

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  6. Buster22 December, 2012 15:08

    Hi JAC,

    Thanks for your note, and the interesting anecdote about Kingsway Hall. Many of my favorite recordings were made there, including the Britten. I was not happy when it was torn down!

    I don't know how many other recordings the choir made, but I do have some, I believe, directed by Jacques' successor, David Willcocks.

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  7. Anonymous22 December, 2012 17:43

    A Bach Choir recording I used to own, on badly worn LPs, was a complete Bach Saint Matthew Passion which featured the great alto Kathleen Ferrier. I think excerpts are still available in the Decca Kathleen Ferrier Edition. I remember enjoying it through the scratches and general sonic haze.

    Again, Merry Christmas to all, and Happy New Year.

    Philip

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  8. Rich22 December, 2012 18:08

    Thank you Buster for all the shares this year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

    Thanks,
    Rich

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  9. Buster22 December, 2012 18:13

    Philip - I believe that was the choir's first record.

    Richard - Thanks - happy holidays.

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  10. Unknown24 December, 2012 12:08

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  11. Unknown24 December, 2012 12:10

    Hi Buster,
    From a current member of the Bach Choir, many thanks for sharing this record, which I am looking foward to hearing! Jacques is still a recognisable name to many amateur singers in the UK: he, together with David Willcocks (his successor as Bach Choir chorus master, and famous for his work at Kings College Cambridge, who will turn 93 on the 30th) and John Rutter (known for his Christmas music, and still going strong), edited the "Carols for Choirs" series which feature heavily in Christmas concerts here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carols_for_Choirs). Jacques also introduced an annual Bach Choir Chritmas carol concert, and some of the above carol arrangements by the trio were written for the choir to perform at these concerts; we may well be hearing the recording premiere of some of these.

    The choir's first recording was indeed the Matthew Passion, in 1947-48 (the Choir was well-known by that time for its annual Palm Sunday performances, in English); it was re-released in full on Naxos earlier this year for the Ferrier centenary. It's well worth hearing for the soloists and orchestra, who take the bulk of the recording work, are sonically well captured (Ferrier's "Have Mercy on Me Lord" is a perhaps definitive performance). Sadly though, owing to the recording era and the large number of choral singers involved (it was a *big* choir in those days), the choir sounds soupy, unwieldy, and Victorian (a bit like Sargent's Messiah recordings with Huddersfield).

    The Choir (much improved since the Jacques days) has quite a large discography, and still records frequently: recent discs include a Christmas disc with John Rutter, a Delius Mass of Life, and the live Havergal Brian Gothic Symphony from last year's proms. And it is still very active, performing an average of once every two months - the most recent being the War Requiem at the Festival Hall, and a set of christmas concerts at the Albert Hall and London Guildhall (including many of those above). And of course, the Matthew Passion is coming up in March...

    Many thanks for all your great shared music,
    All the Best,
    Michael (Bass 2)

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  12. Buster24 December, 2012 12:31

    Hello Michael,

    Thank you so much for writing and for the information you provided.

    I believe that Willcocks and the choir (at least I think it was the Bach Choir) recorded a selection of the "Carols for Choirs" in the 1980s (?) for OUP. I have that set of records somewhere. These present arrangements did not sound the same to me, but I could very well be wrong, given the number of arrangements of these carols I have heard over the years!

    I must seek out the recent recordings you mention. I enjoy Rutter's music and arrangements, and haven't heard the Mass of Life for many years (probably since the Groves recording came out).

    It must have been a thrill to participate in the concerts and recordings you mention!

    Best regards.

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  13. Muff Diver24 August, 2021 18:22

    Thank you Buster for keeping these old recordings alive for new listeners!

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