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Welcome
This is a blog that examines aspects of the history of Manchester’s famous Hallé Choir. Within it I am planning to offer a number of perspectives on the Hallé Choir, a choir I am proud to have been a member of since 2009. I’m not going to write a formal linear history of the choir,…
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The Semi-Chorus: Part 3 – James Challoner Heaton & Lillie Hutton
In this final post about choir members who sang in the semi-chorus for choir performances of Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, I will pick up the strands I touched on previously with the stories of Margaret Hudson and Ernest Houghey. Firstly, I will tell the story of James Challoner Heaton who like Ernest Houghey used the…
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The Semi-Chorus: Part 2 – Ernest Houghey
Following on from my last post about Margaret Hudson I look at another semi-chorus member, Ernest Houghey, who sang in the first Hallé performance of Gerontius before embarking on a career that encompassed opera at Covent Garden, property development in Surrey and Sussex, a final chapter in the sunshine of California and much more besides.
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The Semi-Chorus: Part 1 – Margaret Hudson
This post discusses the way a choir such as the Hallé Choir is structured in terms of voice parts, with particular emphasis on the role of the semi-chorus. Looking at members who have sung in the semi-chorus in the Dream of Gerontius it focuses on Margaret Hudson and her long life of devotion to education…
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Hallé Choir Knights Part 2 – Bliss, Willcocks, Groves, Boult and Davis
Moving into the 1950s we continue our survey of Hallé Choir conducting knights with discussions of Arthur Bliss, David Willcocks, Charles Groves, Adrian Boult and Andrew Davis.
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Hallé Choir Knights Part 1: Sullivan, Stanford, Elgar and Wood
During its lifetime the Hallé Choir has been conducted by many men who were, or became, knights of the realm. Many were of course principal conductors of the orchestra. We begin a survey of other conducting knights with Arthur Sullivan, before moving on to Charles Villiers Stanford, Edward Elgar and Henry Wood.
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Make A Joyful Noise – The Hallé Choir on TV
Introduction In my previous blog describing the Hallé Choir’s history of radio broadcasts I noted that February 5th, 2025 marked the 100th anniversary of the choir’s first appearance on radio, a performance of Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius relayed live from the Free Trade Hall in Manchester. Within this blog I will look at the choir’s
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Aufersteh’n, ja aufersteh’n
In a previous blog I described how in his nearly 25 years at the helm of the Hallé Orchestra Mark Elder revolutionised the choral landscape in Manchester with the pyramid of choirs he helped set up, at the top of which is the choir that Charles Hallé set up all those years ago and that
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The Hallé Choir Through The Years – An Exhibition at Hallé St Peters
I have been writing this blog for nearly three years now and I could not have done it without the help and kind words of Eleanor, Charlie and Heather at the Hallé Archive in Manchester. It has also been a constant encouragement to me how much my fellow members of the Hallé Choir appreciate what…
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The March of the Women – Ethel Smyth, Lili Boulanger and the long search for gender equality in music
During the 2024/25 Hallé season, the first with Kahchun Wong as the new Principal Conductor, the Hallé Choir will be performing works by two women composers, Lili Boulanger and Kaija Saariaho. In addition one of these will be conducted by a woman conductor, Delyana Lazarova, formerly assistant conductor to Sir Mark Elder…
Mr Hallé’s Choir: a blog about Manchester’s Hallé Choir
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