London Bach Society

The London Bach Society is a society devoted to performing the music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) with small, professional forces, using period instruments in order to obtain an authentic style of interpretation.

History

The London Bach Society was founded in 1946 by Dr Paul Steinitz who, at that time, was organist of St Peter’s Church, Dulwich Common. Dr Steinitz had been working for some years on ideas about performing Baroque music. This was a time in which Romantic notions held sway in Baroque performance. Bach’s music, especially his vocal music, had fallen into oblivion after his death in 1750 and it was not until Felix Mendelssohn performed the St Matthew Passion in 1829 that interest was reawakened. For over a century, however, Bach’s vocal music was performed by large choral societies. It was obvious to Steinitz that such huge choirs could never achieve the right clarity, let alone would they balance against the small orchestras with Baroque instruments such as Bach would have used.

Steinitz formed a choir of 60 members in January 1947. This amateur choir were trained to a high standard, and for the next four decades they were the backbone of the LBS, performing vocal works by Bach as well as his contemporaries including Handel and Telemann, and early Baroque composers such as Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672). Between 1958 and 1987 the LBS choir under Steinitz performed every single one of the 208 cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach in London venues, mostly in the Queen Elizabeth Hall. In addition they gave an annual performance of one of the two passions, usually the St Matthew Passion, in Holy Week. They also made broadcasts and toured abroad, performing twice in St Thomas Church, Leipzig, where Bach had been Cantor from 1723 until his death in 1750.

In 1968 Steinitz founded the Steinitz Bach Players, a professional group of instrumentalists, who were specialists in authentic Baroque performance practice. This was a time in which great strides were being made in the development of period instruments. The Steinitz Bach Players were some of the first to add clarino trumpet, cornet, sackbut and Baroque flute to the orchestra. By 1985 the development of Baroque instruments and the technique of the players were such that the LBS were able to perform the St Matthew Passion with a complete orchestra of authentic period instruments. This was the opening concert of the Bath International Music Festival in Wells Cathedral.

In 1983 the Steinitz Bach Players, which had been run as a separate organization, merged with the amateur choir to form a new charity. Besides performing Baroque works the LBS had also been committed to performing contemporary music. However, in the new constitution of 1983 this was dropped, although there was a commission, sponsored by the Arts Council, for Christopher Brown, composer and singing member of the LBS, to write a cantata for Paul Steinitz’s 75th birthday concert in 1984.

The completion of the Bach cantata series in 1987 was a milestone in the history of music in this country. Paul Steinitz lived just long enough to fulfil his lifelong ambition. In 1989, a year after Steinitz’s death. the decision was taken to disband the amateur choir and to continue in the way that Steinitz had for some time been contemplating: with performances of Bach’s vocal works by very small groups of professional singers, and with boys’ voices where possible. This, it was felt, would provide authentic vocal forces for combining with small groups of period instruments. There was to be an annual Bach Festival. The first of these took place in 1990. At that time it was known as the London Bach Festival, but today it continues under the title London Bach Society's Bachfest. The programmes attempt to place the works in the context of Bach’s life and that of his contemporaries and near contemporaries. Under the guidance of its founder’s widow, Margaret Steinitz, the London Bach Society has continued to entertain, experiment, uplift and inspire all lovers of Bach’s music as well as building up an invaluable database for Bach studies and an imaginative educational programme. In the autumn of 2006 the LBS will celebrate their Diamond Jubilee.

External links

*http://www.bachlive.co.uk/
*http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/LBS.htm