London Symphony Chorus

The year 1966 marked a turning point for the London Symphony Orchestra. Established in 1904 as the oldest of London’s full-sized ensembles, it had operated without a dedicated home and with persistent instability in both its finances and its artistic standards. That year the Corporation of the City of London resolved to construct the Barbican Arts Centre and appointed the LSO—whose level of performance had risen sharply in a brief period—as the centre’s permanent resident orchestra. At the same time the London Symphony Chorus was created to work alongside the LSO. Until then, any ensemble billed as the “London Symphony Chorus” on recordings or in concerts had been either an ad hoc assembly or a group supplied by organizations such as the Ambrosian Singers, a pool of several hundred professional singers.

More than 200 amateur singers drawn from varied professions make up the London Symphony Chorus. Although it maintains a close working relationship with the London Symphony, the chorus remains a distinct organization; the orchestra itself functions as a self-governing cooperative, whereas the chorus is independently administered by nine elected representatives chosen by its members.

In addition to its regular appearances with the LSO, the chorus may perform with other orchestras. Twentieth-century choral music forms the core of its repertoire, including Mahler’s three choral symphonies, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, Britten’s War Requiem, Janácek’s Glagolitic Mass, and Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast. The ensemble has produced more than 90 recordings, among them Richard Hickox’s account of War Requiem, which received the Grand Prix du Disque, and both Bernstein’s Candide and Britten’s Peter Grimes, each of which won Grammy Awards.

A commissioning program has resulted in new works such as Tavener’s The Myrrh-Bearer and Peter Maxwell Davies’ The Three Kings, a Christmas cantata. The chorus takes part in major festivals and regularly tours throughout the world.