The Northampton Bach Choir is one of the foremost choruses in the region, and
the largest choir in the county, numbering over 130 singers. It owes its
formation to Denys Pouncey, then organist of St Matthew’s Church, Northampton,
giving its first concert there on Palm Sunday 1935. During its time it has
nurtured a series of young, enthusiastic, not to say visionary, musical
directors, many of whom have gone on to forge careers of national and
international significance.
St Matthew’s Church continues to be the choir’s home, but it gives one concert a year at the Royal & Derngate in Northampton, in conjunction with one of the visiting orchestras. The choir has performed with the Hague Philharmonic under Ivan Fischer, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under Edward Warren, and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under Andrew Litton. It has performed Howells Hymnus Paradisi in the presence of the composer, Berlioz Te Deum at the Royal Albert Hall and Kashif The Queen Symphony with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the composer’s direction. The choir performs regularly with the RPO at the Royal & Derngate, and this year returned to the Royal Albert Hall to sing with them in a Grand Opera Gala under the baton of Owain Arwel Hughes.
Concert tours to Northampton's Twin Towns of Poitiers and Marburg, and a joint concert with Ensemble Josquin des Prés of Poitiers in Derngate to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the granting of Northampton’s Charter have been highlights in international co-operation. In April 2009 the Choir returned to Marburg, and in June 2011 will visit Rome, singing Mass on Ascension Day at The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter, and giving a concert performance of Mozart's Requiem at All Saints' Anglican Church. In November 2011 they will be singing Choral Evensong at St Paul's Cathedral in London, on the Feast of Ss Crispin and Crispinian, Patron Saints of cobblers, Northampton's historic trade.
In the last five years the choir has performed all of Bach’s major choral works, Beethoven’s Choral Symphony, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Britten’s War Requiem, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, Mozart’s ‘Great’ Mass in C minor, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music and Verdi’s Requiem. Under the directorship of its current Musical Director, Lee Dunleavy, the choir has formed a reputation for performing new music alongside the choral classics. The choir recently gave the European première of Craig Phillips’ Dies Gratiae: Requiem Reflections alongside Fauré’s Requiem, and in September 2011 will give the European première of David Conte’s September Sun alongside Mozart’s Requiem.
To mark the choir's 75th anniversary in 2010 the choir released a recording - Congaudeat! - featuring twenty-one carols, all with a Northamptonshire connection, and including eight carols written especially for the choir. Carols by Former Musical Directors Stephen Cleobury (King's College, Cambridge), Simon Johnson (St Paul's Cathedral, London) and Andrew Reid (Peterborough Cathedral) were commissioned, alongside works by the current Musical Director, Lee Dunleavy.