From its unlikely conception in a pub, The Really Big Chorus has become a cultural phenomenon, offering amateur singers the opportunity to take part in vast performances, writes Andrew Green
ADecember night at the Royal Albert Hall. Conductor Brian Kay coaxes from the English Festival Orchestra the familiar sounds, full of promise, of the opening to Messiah… then ‘Comfort Ye’ and ‘Ev’ry Valley’ from the solo tenor. Finally, massed banks of altos herald the arrival of the 2,500-strong chorus with ‘And the glory of the Lord’. And you can’t help breaking into a broad smile. As Kay observes, ‘That wall of sound knocks me off my perch every single time.’
This year sees the 50th anniversary of the launch (although not under this name) of The Really Big Chorus (TRBC), celebrated with events throughout 2024. There have been TRBC renderings of other choral favourites in the Albert Hall or on summer forays abroad, but the winter Messiahs (always chorally unrehearsed) are still the heart and soul of the choir’s activities.
Broadcaster and The Times columnist Libby Purves has been contributing her alto to TRBC Albert Hall Messiahs for many years. ‘I could never join a choir because of shift work and freelancing,’ she says. ‘So, when I heard about TRBC and its openness to us unskilled types who can’t really sightread, I got my hands on the Choraline alto parts via the internet. It was a marvellous revelation. The joy is finding yourself singing alongside really good people from real choirs! We learn from them.’
Singers arrive each year from around the globe. Norwegian Tor Hagir recalls approaching his first TRBC Messiahs ‘with a bit of scepticism because of the sheer number of singers involved. Surely this Messiah couldn’t be done precisely. In fact, it went far better than I’d expected. I enjoyed it so much I’ve kept coming back. One great pleasure is meeting people from Australia, the USA and all around Europe.’
This international dimension to the chorus also pervades TRBC performances of other repertoire. Brian Kay – TRBC’s longstanding principal conductor – recalls an Australian soprano ‘who sang the Verdi Requiem one evening in Sydney, jumped on a plane and sang it the next night with us in the Albert Hall!’
So how come the Albert Hall performances work so well,
