From its very first concert in 1840, which consisted of glees, rounds and madrigals, interspersed with instrumental items, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society has maintained and developed its strong and varied choral tradition.
Choral Music predominated in the Society's programmes during and just after World War 1 because of the scarcity of orchestral musicians. With the establishment of a full-time professional orchestra after World War II, the choir became an integral part of the main concert series in Philharmonic Hall with its broadcasts on Radio 3 and on recordings.
The breadth of the choir's repertoire is illustrated by the current season's programmes which include music by Bach, Handel, Bartok, Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Mahler, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Ravel and Orff. The RLPC is a regular contributor to the well-known Liverpool Christmas Carols Concerts, inaugurated by Dr. J. E. Wallace, Chorus Master to the choir for 40 years, end developed by his successor Edmund Walters.
Since 1985, Ian Tracey has been Chorus Master of the RLPC and has travelled with them both nationally and internationally. As well as performing in many of the major venues in the North-West and Midlands, in recent years the choir has appeared annually in the Royal Albert Hall Proms. It has sung regularly with the BBC Philharmonic and has performed with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. In 1992. the choir was invited to tour Spain with the RLPO to give six performances of Mahler's "Symphony of a Thousand", a performance of Paul McCartney's "Liverpool Oratorio" at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona and two concerts at Expo '92 in Seville and at the Lille Festival. In summer 1992, they sang in "Fanfare for the New World", and opera gala televised nationally from Liverpool's King's Dock; in summer 1993, they performed at the Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod and during Easter 1994, they gave concerts in Paris, Chartres and Orleans. They gave two concerts with the RLPO in the Saarland Festival in June 1995. In the 1995/6 season they gave concerts with the BBC Philharmonic and the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, including the BBC Philharmonic's opening concert at the Bridgewater Hall.
In recent seasons, the RLPC has recorded Vaughan Williams' "A Sea Symphony", "Sinfonia Antarctica" and "Serenade to Music", and Howell's "Hymnus Paradisi" and "An English Mass" with Vernon Handley and Finzi's "Intimations of Immortality" with Richard Hickox. Other recordings include, Borodin's "Polovtsian Dances" and Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony" with Sir Charles Mackerras, Paul McCartney's "Liverpool Oratorio" with Carl Davis and Suk's "The Ripening" and "Epilogue" with Libor Pesek. Their recording of Vaughan Williams' "Symphony No. 5" and "Flos Campi" with the RLPO and Vernon Handley won the 1988 BPI Best Classical Record Award. They have recorded Elgar's "Dream of Gerontius" under Vernon Handley with the RLPO and the Huddersfield Choral Society, and "Carols from Liverpool" with the Philharmonic Brass with Ian Tracey. They have appeared at the BBC Proms with the RLPO on 27 July 1997 and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in September 1997.
