Founded in 1903 as the London Choral Society, to bring Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius to London, the London Chorus introduced a number of other works during its early years. In 1950, when the choir sang the Messiah in St. Paul’s Cathedral under John Tobin, it was the first performance of Tobin’s reconstruction of the original score, which later became the basis of the critical edition of Handel’s masterpiece. More recently, the 120-member choir has given the first London performances of works by such composers as Samuel Barber, Frank Martin, and Richard Blackford, and they have presented a wide range of works in all of London’s major venues. Under Ronald Corp’s baton since 1994, the choir formally changed its name in October 2000 at the Royal Festival Hall, with an acclaimed concert of Delius’s rarely performed Mass of Life.
