1860 – 2010 ..... We celebrate 150 years!

On the 17th and 18th of December 1859, a performance of Messiah was given in the Boys National School in Gainsborough. The following week The Lincolnshire Chronicle and Northampton, Rutland and Nottingham Advertiser reported:-

"So very successfully has the effort of native talent proved that we may look forward confidently to see a reappearance, especially as we understand the practising and instructing are to be regularly continued."

Thus it appears that it was Messiah, arguably the most popular of all oratorios and certainly the most frequently performed by amateur choirs, that was instrumental in the formation of Gainsborough Choral Society.

Under the baton of George Robinson, organist and choirmaster of the Parish Church, the Society gave its first concert on 2nd November 1860. It was held in the Banqueting Hall of Gainsborough's Old Hall. The programme for this event is given at the end of this history and is markedly different in character from those undertaken nowadays.

Although the Society appears not to have had a proper constitution until 1880 when the first Annual General Meeting took place in the Temperance Hall in Exchange Street, a considerable record of early events can be found in newspaper archives. At the first AGM in September 1880 the Society elected Mr. T.W. Denman as President, Mr. Calvert-Appleby as Hon. Secretary and Mr. R.E. Brameld as Hon. Treasurer. Over the years of its existence we have been fortunate in having many fine officers to serve the Society. In this century in particular Mr. Eric Dyson served as President from 1934 - 1961, Dr. Bernard Dudley from 1966 - 1984. Mrs. Grace Hesp, a well-loved and respected local music teacher, served as President from 1985 until her death in May this year. Grace, who first joined the Society in 1927 and served as member of the soprano chorus, soloist, Hon. Secretary and Chairman, is succeeded as President by Mr. Philip Ainsworth.

Although the Society has been fortunate in its administrative officers over the years, it is undoubtedly the quality and energy of successive musical directors that have ensured its survival, indeed its growth and development. The Society may well have succumbed to indifference immediately after World War I but for the hard work and musical leadership of Alan Stephenson, who in 1934 left Gainsborough to become organist at Coventry Cathedral. The succeeding Director, W. Stanley Vann, also moved eventually from Gainsborough to take up the post of organist at Peterborough Cathedral. Alan Morrow directed the choir from 1947 until his retirement in 1969. Alan Morrow was followed by William Snowley and in 1975 Philip Ainsworth took up our baton. The Society has a long association through its Directors with the Queen Elizabeth’s High School, a link continued through Stephen Burnage and now Richard Green.

Our 2010-11 season will rightly be one of celebration. The number of similar societies that have been in existence for 150 years in the UK could be counted in tens rather than hundreds. Only those who have sung in amateur choral groups can perhaps appreciate the debt its members owe to the enthusiasm, patience, sense of humour, musical and organisational skills of the Director and committee.

Here's to the next 150 years!.

Deirdre Speed
Hon Secretary

Gainsborough is a town of 20,000 people in the north-west of Lincolnshire. The town is situated on the banks of the River Trent which forms the border between Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. Formerly, major employers included Track Marshall and Rose Packaging and, currently, the town has many diverse small employers. The town has two outstanding architectural highlights - an Elizabethan "Old Hall" and the Parish Church.

Gainsborough has a wealth of artistic and cultural activities including a theatre club and amateur operatic society as well as a major performing venue - the Trinity Arts Centre.

Gainsborough Choral Society was founded in 1860 and is one of England's longest-established Societies. In 1991 we commissioned Dr. Colin Hand to write a choral work for us and The Gainsborough Psalms were performed later that year and were subsequently published. The Choral Society has a close association with local schools and performances regularly include concerts involving the pupils of Queen Elizabeth's High School. In addition, we often give support to the local Primary Schools' Music Festival. Our performances are at All Saints' Parish Church in November, December and March each year.