| Music Encyclopedia: Royal Choral Society |
British choral society, the oldest surviving in London. It was founded in 1871 as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society (renamed 1888). Gounod conducted the first concert (1872), in which c1000 took part; membership is now c250. Activities include annual seasons, tours abroad and recordings (from 1926); its carol concerts (from 1912) served as a model. Under Malcolm Sargent (1928-67) repertory was broadened and from 1973 works were commissioned.
| Wikipedia: Royal Choral Society |
| Royal Choral Society | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | RCS |
| Origin |  London, England, United Kingdom |
| Genre(s) | Classical |
| Years active | 1871-present |
| Website | www.royalchoralsociety.co.uk |
The history of the Royal Choral Society reads like a directory of the greatest names in the musical world. Formed soon after the opening of the Royal Albert Hall in 1871, the choir gave its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on the 8th of May 1872 – the choir’s first conductor Charles Gounod included the Hallelujah Chorus in the inaugural concert. From the beginning, performing premieres of new choral works has been a feature of the choir’s repertoire. Both Verdi and Dvorak conducted the choir in premieres of their own works as have Edward Roxborough, Ramirez, Raymond Premru and Geoffrey Burgon in more recent years. The choir continued to be conducted by the most eminent musicians of the day, most notably Sir Malcolm Sargent whose association with the choir spanned forty years. The present Music Director, Richard Cooke, took over the baton from his distinguished predecessors in 1995.
Today, the choir enjoys maintaining a balance between its heritage and the opportunities on offer performing for today’s music lovers. In addition to its traditional repertoire, singers have had a chance to take part in new and unusual events, from open air concerts in Hampton Court and Glastonbury, to singing at the launch of the Queen Mary 2, participating in the 25th anniversary ceremony for the Falklands, to performing at both last year’s performances for the reopening of the Royal Festival Hall.
This year, the RCS celebrates the 131st anniversary performance of its Messiah on Good Friday concerts at the Royal Albert Hall; the annual Summer Concert this year will be a performance of Rachmaninov’s All Night Vigil (Vespers) at St Bartholomew’s Church in Brighton on Saturday 4th of July. The RCS continues its annual residency at Southwark Cathedral where the choir will perform Pergolesi and Mozart’s Requiem on Remembrance Day, Wednesday November 11th. The RCS has also been invited, for the second year running, to perform at Slovakia’s equivalent to Glastonbury – Pohoda (which means Wellbeing) where the choir will be closing the opening day of the festival with a candlelit midnight concert of Rachmaninov’s Vespers, followed by a performance in Bratislava.
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