Afterword: Bedford Choral Society 1991–2015

Summary

Since 1991, the Choral Society has continued to perform at least three concerts every year as well as regularly presenting a Christmas carol concert. In recent years there have also been many requests for small groups to perform at weddings and funerals. This has enabled members to sing in a smaller choir, as well as generating much needed income for the Society.

One of the features of the Choral Society has been the willingness to present new and unusual repertoire as part of a balanced programme over the course of a season. This has been maintained and remains one of the features of the Society today.

Following a successful year in 1991, the Society undertook, for the first time, what must be one of the most challenging works in the whole choral repertoire – Howells's Hymnus Paradisi. This work, by an undervalued English composer, presents huge challenges for the choir in learning it and huge challenges in performance as well. It requires a large orchestra, and so balance between choir and orchestra is a major consideration for the conductor. Members put in a vast amount of effort to learn the work and gave a very creditable performance in November 1992.

This was the beginning of three years of challenging works. It was also the beginning of a deliberate policy to present ‘lighter’ summer concerts. Definitions of ‘lighter’ vary enormously, but the Choral Society has never departed from its fundamental principle of presenting high-quality choral compositions.

Preceding the Howells, two major works of the choral repertoire were performed, namely Dvořák's Requiem and Bach's profound St John Passion. The Choral Society did not perform any major work by Bach until 1927. Since then it has performed the St John Passion five times. It does seem extraordinary that one of the composers now considered ‘great’ was missing from the choir's repertoire for the first sixty years of its existence.

Another great choral work only received its second outing in 1993 - the Vespers of 1610 by Monteverdi. It had first been sung by the choir in 1984 and has subsequently (in 2007) had a further airing. It is a challenging work that can be sung by large and small choirs alike, but it becomes a firm favourite of the singers once performed.