> The Choir
> Concerts
> History
> Links
> Contact us
> Conductors
> "Stroud Sings"
The Society began in the first part of the nineteenth century following the opening of the Subscription Rooms in October 1834.
Delightful snippets of everyday life in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries together with the trials, tribulations and successes of the Choral Society, come to us from the pages of the local newspapers. Early concerts in the Subscription Rooms were regarded as tremendous social occasions of great importance. However, there was one occasion in 1845 when the Choral Society, singing at Cirencester, was paid £40 to go away!
Concert goers in the 1860’s were incensed by the state of Street lighting in Stroud. Going home after concerts, they complained that the gas lights where either too close together or more infrequent than angel’s visits.
The renovations of the Sub Rooms in 1869 caused further anguish to the Stroud populace. The renovations were taking far too long and costing too much! By a curious twist of fate, Mendelssohn’s ‘St Paul’ was the last concert given before the closure in 1869 and the first choral concert given in the opening week following the recent renovations in 2000.
Readers will enjoy the one-man campaign in 1868 by someone using the pen-name Ex-Impresario. Over a period of many weeks he urged The Journal readers to take notice of his ideas in order to raise the standard of choral music in Stroud to international levels. Maybe professional musicians may know, or be able to guess at, the identity of Ex-Impresario.
Getting carried away on 1904, The Stroud Journal declared, in bold letters and quite erroneously, that ‘The Choral Society had died of ambition’ as it was impossible for a small town such as Stroud to continue putting on concerts that involved an outlay of £100 each.
The
open-air concert in Stratford Park, Thursday 18th July
1907
Far from having died of ambition, the Choral Society rose
to many challenges of the twentieth century. Though one
problem, that of singing with their backs to the audience
in the Parish Church, took many years to solve!
During WW2, the Society ‘did its bit’ by
staging concerts on Sunday afternoons to avoid blackout
difficulties. These concerts were immensely popular, with
queues stretching from the Parish Church down the length
of the High Street waiting to get in.
Under Sammy Underwood, their conductor for over 50 years,
the society went from strength to strength. Composers
used the society to showcase new works. Famous soloists
such as Isobel Baillie, Janet Baker, Heddle Nash and
April Cantelo came to sing. Amanda Roocroft, of
international acclaim, gave her first professional
performance with the Society in 1986.
The Society has supported charities throughout both
centuries, singing as early as 1851 to raise money for
the Casualty Hospital and supporting the new Stroud
Hospital from 1873 onwards. During the latter part of the
twentieth century, the Society has supported the Hospice
movement, in particular, Cotswold Care.
Although the Society has uncovered much of its history
there still remains some secrets and mysteries to be
explained. Perhaps a future reader may be able to throw
light on some of those unsolved questions.