Bradford Festival Choral Society

Bradford Festival Choral Society was founded as a direct result of the opening of St George's Hall in 1853. A massed choir of over 200 singers from far and wide was formed for the first Bradford Musical Festival which took place that year. When the second festival took place in 1856 another choir, consisting of rather more locally based singers, was formed and at the end of the festival it was felt wasteful to disband a group which had already gained such a high reputation. A meeting was held on 17 November 1856 under the chairmanship of Samuel Smith, the original instigator of the construction of St George's Hall, and Bradford Festival Choral Society came into being with Mr Smith as its first President. The conductor was William Jackson who had been the highly successful trainer of the chorus for both festivals. The choir sang and rehearsed at the Hall and soon gained the nickname of the “Coffee and Bun Society” as refreshments were provided for those members travelling from a distance. This arrangement was also intended to discourage possible visits to licensed premises before rehearsal!

The choir's rise to fame was so rapid that it was summoned to sing before Queen Victoria in June 1858. It is hardly surprising that there was a sudden glut of applicants to join the Society and high standards could be demanded of singers. The group left Bradford by special train on 28 June 1858 and performed at Buckingham Palace for the large royal party that same evening. The concert was a huge success and the choir went on to sing twice at The Crystal Palace and also at St Martin's Hall, as well as at the Handel Festival, during the rest of its week-long stay in London. On its return to Bradford, the choir repeated its London programme in St George’s Hall and Peel Park before the end of what must have been its annus mirabilis.

The next festival featuring the choir took place in 1859 and was an artistic success but, as is so often the case, was not rewarding in financial terms. As a result, the next festival was postponed and eventually cancelled. No more triennial festivals took place in Bradford.

Without festivals, the choir settled down to a regular routine of concerts in St George's Hall, the equilibrium only shattered by the sudden death of its conductor William Jackson in 1866. Such was the esteem in which he was held that the Society undertook all the funeral arrangements and was also responsible for the monument in Undercliffe Cemetery and also the one in Masham – Jackson's birthplace. Performances of Jackson’s oratorio, The Deliverance of Israel from Babylon, were given to raise money for these projects.

Shortly after this, in 1870, the close association with St George’s Hall was relaxed and, although the Hall remained the venue for concerts, rehearsals moved to the Mechanics’ Institute, where they remained for the next 100 years until the building was demolished.

In 1906 the choir was eagerly planning, in spite of great financial problems, celebrations for its Golden Jubilee. Fortuitously, an invitation was received from the London Philharmonic Society to sing in the Queen’s Hall. The Chairman, Henry J Mason, generously offered to fund the trip and 323 singers left by special train, reputed to be (at 200 yards long) the longest train ever to leave Bradford. The concert, consisting of the double motet Sing ye to the Lord (Bach) and Beethoven’s Choral Symphony, was greeted with acclaim and the choir returned home at 4am, no doubt exhausted.

In Bradford, the choir enjoyed celebratory concerts and a grand ball in St George’s Hall. It was also during this jubilee year that it was presented with an original Schubert masterpiece by a former President, Mr W. M. Hertz. This manuscript was later almost forgotten until it was rediscovered by the librarian at the time of the centenary and subsequently deposited in the Bradford Archives. In 2005 it was deemed necessary to realise all possible assets in order to continue the work of the Society and the manuscript was sold.

The 20th century led to great changes. The Society survived two World Wars with attendant problems of a lack of male singers and of blackout restrictions. Sir Malcolm Sargent became the Society’s conductor in 1925 and was instrumental in raising the choir’s profile during the 26 years of his reign. During this time too, BFCS had to leave St George’s Hall when it became a cinema in 1926. A new home was found at Eastbrook Hall where the choir remained until the reopening of St George’s as a concert hall in 1953. It was a real landmark when BFCS took part in the concert, broadcast by the BBC
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