Rochester Choral Society, founded 1873

A history of the society at the time of their centenary celebrations in 1973. Extract from The Friends of Rochester Cathedral Annual Report for 1973.

Nineteen seventy-three is a very important year in the life of Rochester Choral Society as it is exactly one hundred years since its Foundation. In 1871 the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral appointed as their new Minor Canon the Revd. W. H. Nutter. As a distinguished musician, he was greatly concerned to find that there was no Society to which the many gifted singers and instrumentalists of the district could belong, so he set about making plans for the formation of one.

On July 29th, 1873, the Mayor, Mr. C. R. Foord, presided over a meeting held in the Council Chamber, Rochester Guildhall, for the purpose of establishing the new "Rochester, Strood and Chatham Choral Society", and with the intention of raising a fund to enable the committee to carry out the objects for which the Society had been formed.

Each season would run from October to the following April or May, and would consist of three concerts, the first and third containing Choral performances, while the second was to be a Chamber Concert for which outstanding artists would be engaged. All the concerts would take place in the Corn Exchange, the rehearsals being held in Guildhall by kind permission of the Mayor who became the first Chairman.

From the start, there were strong links between the Society and the Cathedral. The Lord Bishop of Rochester became the Patron, the Very Reverend the Dean being the President, and these two offices have been held by successive Bishops and Deans for a hundred years. All the members of the Chapter were Vice-Presidents, as also were the Mayor and Corporation of the City, the Right Hon. The Earl of Darnley, five Members of Parliament- two for Rochester, one for Chatham and two for Mid-Kent -and the Revd. Robert Whiston, School. Headmaster of King's

Rehearsals started at the beginning of October, 1873, the first Conductor being the Revd. W. H. Nutter, and the first concert- a performance of Men-delssohn's "St. Paul"-took place on December 8th, 1873, when, according to a newspaper report "the Corn Exchange was crowded in every part"

It became the custom to hold a final rehearsal on the Saturday evening preceding the Concert on the following Monday evening, the rehearsal being open to the public at reduced prices.

As the final Concert of the second season, a performance of Mendelssohn's "Elijah" was given, and a report in the South Eastern Gazette described it as being "in all probability the best choral concert ever given in the County of Kent". The Chorus numbered two hundred voices, and the orchestra consisted of amateurs of the district augmented by players from Covent Garden, the wind players being drawn from the Regimental Bands of the Royal Marines and the Royal Engineers.

So in two years, the Society had become firmly established under the conductorship of the Revd. W. H. Nutter who continued to hold the position until he left the Cathedral in 1884 to become Vicar of St. Margaret's, Rochester.

one of the Society's Hon. Vice-Presidents, and her mother joined the committee in 1888.

Two eminent musicians were connected with the Society during this period. Herr Kappey, Bandmaster of the Royal Marines conducted his own work, "Per Mare, Per Terram", in 1879, and Dr. (afterwards Sir) Frederick Bridge, Organist of Westminster Abbey, conducted first performances of his own works on several occasions. On the resignation of the Revd.

W. H. Nutter in 1884, Herr Kappey became the Society's first paid Conductor, a position he held for six years.

In 1890, Herr Kappey was succeeded as Conductor by the Cathedral Precentor, the Revd. G. M. Livett, and his place was taken in 1895 by his successor as Precentor-the Revd. J. Nash, who had had considerable experience as an orchestral conductor.

In 1900 and again in 1901, the composer Coleridge Taylor conducted performances of his work "Hia-watha", and he thought so highly of the standard of the Chorus that when he was invited to become the Society's conductor in 1902, he had no hesitation in accepting the post, travelling from London to Rochester for the regular weekly rehearsals.

In 1906, his place was taken by the Revd. Canon H. Hickin, Vicar of St. Peter's, Rochester, and he was succeeded in 1908 by Captain Neville Flux, Bandmaster of the Royal Engineers. Two outstanding members of the committee at this time were Miss D. L. Sandford, Headmistress of Rochester Girls' Grammar School, and Mr. Edgar Armitage, a newly-appointed Lay-Clerk, who has vivid memories of the concerts of this period, and who is still a member of the Cathedral Friends Council.

In 1912, Mr. Luard Selby, the Cathedral Organist, is mentioned as being a member of the Committee, and this is the first occasion on which any Cathedral Organist appears to have been associated actively with the Society.

On the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, the Society's activities were suspended, but when Peace was restored, the new Cathedral Organist, Mr. Charles Hylton Stewart, set about reorganisation.

Since then, the conductorship has remained in the hands of the Cathedral Organist, though the two positions do not automatically go together.

As the name of Gillingham had now been added to the Society's title, some of the concerts were given in the Cathedral, some in the Corn Exchange, some in Chatham Town Hall and some in St. Mary's Parochial Hall at Gillingham, but in 1933 the names of the various districts were dropped and since then the Society has been known solely as "Rochester Choral , its members being drawn from a very wide area.

Under Mr. Hylton Stewart's baton, the Society gave its first performances of several Bach Cantatas, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (the Choral), Elgar's "Dream of Gerontius" and Brahms's "Requiem".

After twelve years, Mr. Hylton Stewart left to become Organist of Chester Cathedral, and his place as Cathedral Organist and Hon. Conductor of the Choral Society was taken by Mr. H. A. Bennett whose great contributions to the Society's repertoire were the Bach Passions, there being an annual performance of either the St. Matthew or the St. John settings throughout the whole of his conductorship.

On the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the resulting black-out regulations and mass evacuation meant a temporary suspension of activities, but through the kindness of the Dean and Chapter at the beginning of 1940, rehearsals were resumed in the Cathedral on Saturday afternoons, enabling the annual Passion performance to be given in March. The enthusiasm of the chorus was so great that the members could no longer be accommodated in the Crypt, and at the invitation of the Mayor, rehearsals were continued in Guildhall, both the rehearsals and the Cathedral concerts taking place during daylight hours on Saturday afternoons. During the six years of War, thirty-nine Recitals were given, in addition to twelve performances of the Christmas and Easter portions of Handel's "Messiah", and although conditions became more and more difficult with air-raids and the advent of "Aying-bombs, not a single performance planned and rehearsed for had to be abandoned.

With the return of Peace, the Society resumed its normal pattern of activities. Its financial position had always been precarious, but with the formation of the National Federation of Music Societies, aid became available first from the Carnegie Trust, then from the Arts Council of Great Britain. There is also an ever-growing body of "Friends of the Choral Society" whose names appear in each concert programme and whose kindly interest and generous support are greatly valued by the Society.

Nineteen fifty-six saw the retirement of Mr. Bennett after twenty-six years of devoted and inspired service, and his place was taken by the present Cathedral Organist, Dr. Robert Ashfield. Under his capable and enthusiastic leadership, the chorus numbers have increased to one hundred and sixty, and the pro-grammes have included most of the greatest works in the choral repertoire. The names of Bach, Haydn, Handel, Mendelssohn, Elgar and Vaughan Williams appear frequently, together with those of the modern composers- -Britten, Delius, Kodaly, Poulenc and Stravinsky. All the performances have full orchestral accompaniment and professional soloists are engaged.

During the first half century of the Society's existence there was a constant change of personnel, but the second fifty years have shown that people tend to stay in office for longer periods, thus giving the Society greater stability. The Reverend Canon F. H. Gripper has been Chairman since 1966, Miss E. C. Rowe has been the Hon. Secretary for the last thirteen years, and Mr. James Levett has been the Society's indefatigable accompanist ever since 1930.

The Centenary Celebrations, which will last throughout the whole of the 1973/74 season, will begin on May 19th, when the Members hope that all well-wishers will join them at a Thanksgiving Service in the Cathedral. During the year, backward looks at the early years will be seen in performances of "Elijah" and "Messiah", modern composers will be represented by Britten, Kodaly and Stravinsky, and the future will be saluted with the first performance at the November Concert of "Cantiones Roffenses" a new work specially written for the Society by Dr. Ashfield.

In the 1972 Cathedral Friends Report, Canon D. R. Vicary wrote-"From the earliest times Rochester appeared to have fame in the training of singers". The Choral Society is proud to have continued in that tradition for the last hundred years, and is now prepared to face its second century with hope and confidence, and with gratitude for its many links with Rochester Cathedral.

Author TBD
Extract from The Friends of Rochester Cathedral Annual Report for 1973