1921 - 2021

Scroll through a century of highlights

  • The foundation of the Netherlands Bach Society

    The Netherlands Bach Society was founded in 1921 by conductor Johan Schoonderbeek, with the aim of performing Johann Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew Passion in a church: the Grote Kerk in Naarden.

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  • The first St Matthew Passion

    On Good Friday 14 April 1922, the Netherlands Bach Society gave its first performance of the St Matthew Passion in the Grote Kerk in Naarden.

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  • Funeral procession of Johan Schoonderbeek

    Johan Schoonderbeek, the founder and first conductor of the Netherlands Bach Society, died on 3 March 1927 at the age of 52. He was carried to his grave in a long funeral procession along the old ramparts of Naarden.

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  • St John Passion instead of the St Matthew Passion

    Schoonderbeek’s successor, Evert Cornelis, refused to perform an unabridged St Matthew Passion. After much consideration, the board decided on a performance of the St John Passion instead. However, it brought in much less income.

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  • To Naarden by steam tram

    From 1882 until World War II, the Gooische steam tram ran from Bussum to the Grote Kerk in Naarden, taking the audience to the St Matthew Passion.

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  • St Matthew Passion photos from 1934

    The oldest photo in our archive of a performance of the St Matthew Passion in Naarden appeared in the newspaper de Telegraaf on 31 March 1934. We see the choir of the Netherlands Bach Society and the Utrechts Stedelijk Orkest, conducted by Anthon van der Horst.

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  • Programme by M.C. Escher

    From 1922 to 1969, the Netherlands Bach Society used standard librettos for the St Matthew Passion. In 1938, M.C. Escher designed the cover of these programmes.

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  • Acquisition of Flentrop organ

    In 1938, the Netherlands Bach Society acquired a Flentrop organ, which was placed in the choir of the Grote Kerk in Naarden. For many years, the organ served as a continuo instrument in the performances of the Mass in B Minor and the annual St Matthew Passion. The organ is still in the Grote Kerk.

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  • Threat of war

    Despite the threat of war, the St Matthew Passion went ahead as usual in the spring of 1940. From May 1940, the Netherlands was occupied by the Germans. No gatherings could be organised without permission from the authorities.

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  • Introduction of the Nederlandse Kultuurkamer

    In 1942, the German occupation introduced an institution called the Nederlandse Kultuurkamer. Singing associations like the Netherlands Bach Society had to join it in order to continue their activities legally. The Netherlands Bach Society was forced to join the Kultuurkamer in 1942 and had to turn away its Jewish choir members.

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  • In the queue

    The queue in front of the entrance of the Grote Kerk in Naarden has been around for as long as the St Matthew Passion tradition itself. In 1942, the audience are waiting until the doors open.

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  • Footstoves and coconut mats

    In the past, there was both reserved and free seating for the St Matthew Passion. Outside, the audience jostled for a good place, and when the doors opened they streamed in to find a seat with a good view.

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  • 25th anniversary

    On the occasion of the Bach Society’s 25th anniversary, in 1946, a big Bach festival was organised.

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  • Bach Society performs at the Holland Festival

    Shortly after World War II, the Holland Festival was founded as an international performing arts festival, focusing on both classical and contemporary music. The Bach Society regularly performed music by Bach at this festival, thus gaining more recognition in the Netherlands and abroad.

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  • Royal visit

    Queen Elisabeth of Belgium was made an honorary member of the Bach Society when she was a guest at the performance of the St Matthew Passion in 1951.

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  • Shots of the audience

    In honour of the visit from Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, the audience were filmed around the church and at lunch in the interval, by Mrs Moes-Spakler, a board member of the Bach Society.

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  • Letter from Albert Schweitzer

    Besides Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, the doctor, theologian and musician Dr Albert Schweitzer was also made an honorary member of the Bach Society, in 1951. Schweitzer’s connection with the Bach Society dated back to 1928, when he gave organ concerts throughout the Netherlands in collaboration with some of the Bach Society choir members.

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  • First LP of the St Matthew Passion

    In 1957, the first LP of the St Matthew Passion was recorded by the Bach Society. The recording was made in the Grote Kerk in Naarden.

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  • Radio broadcast of the Christmas Oratorio

    A live radio recording from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam of cantata 5 from the Christmas Oratorio, performed by the choir of the Bach Society and the Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by Anthon van der Horst.

    Choir of the Bach Society and the Concertgebouw Orchestra

    Cantata 5 from the Christmas Oratorio by Bach

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  • Fortieth anniversary

    To celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the Bach Society, a big Bach festival was organised in the autumn of 1961.

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  • Charles de Wolff succeeds Anthon van der Horst

    On 7 March 1965, Anthon van der Horst passed away. From 1931 to 1964, he had conducted all the Bach Society’s performances of the St Matthew Passion. On 12 May 1965, the Bach Society and the Concertgebouw Orchestra performed the Mass in B Minor as a tribute to Anthon van der Horst in the Grote Kerk in Naarden. In May, Charles de Wolff was appointed as conductor of the Bach Society.

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  • De Wolff’s St Matthew Passion

    "There was only one authentic performance and that was the first one in Leipzig”, said Charles de Wolff about the St Matthew Passion.

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  • Holland Festival 1968

    The choir of the Netherlands Bach Society rehearses for the Holland Festival, conducted by Charles de Wolff.

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  • Discussion about historical instruments

    In the 1960’s and 70’s, Baroque music was increasingly performed on instruments from the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries, or copies of them, but this was not the case at the Bach Society.

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  • No St Matthew Passion in Naarden

    In the 1970’s, the Grote Kerk in Naarden underwent extensive restoration. The annual performance of the St Matthew Passion was therefore forced to move to Monnickendam in 1970.

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  • Audio recording of Cantata 21

    In June 1973, this recording of Bach’s cantata Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis BWV 21 was made during the Holland Festival.

    Choir of the Bach Society and the van de Bachvereniging and the Noordelijk Philharmonisch Orkest

    Cantata 'Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis' BWV 21

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  • Financial concerns

    Chairman Pascal Rijnders expresses his concerns about the Bach Society’s financial situation in Tros Aktua.

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  • Concert tour to the DDR

    After World War II, the Bach Society gained international recognition, partly through participating in the Holland Festival. As a result, the choir was regularly invited to give concert series and perform at festivals abroad.

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  • Audience at the St Matthew Passion

    For a hundred years, the Bach Society’s St Matthew Passion has been filling the Grote Kerk in Naarden on Good Friday.

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  • LP recording by De Wolff

    In 1980, an LP of the St Matthew Passion was released on the record label COrneMUse. The Bach Society released several recordings on that label.

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  • Prince Claus as patron

    Prince Claus became the patron of the Netherlands Bach Society in 1981. He was a great admirer of Bach’s music and regularly attended the Bach Society’s concerts.

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  • Factional struggle and change of conductor

    In the early 1980’s, a conflict arose about which artistic course to steer. The board wanted to go in a new direction, inspired by the authentic performance practice that was flourishing at the time in the Netherlands. The conductor Charles de Wolff decided to leave, with nearly the full choir of the Bach Society in tow, and founded Bachkoor Holland.

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  • New direction for the Bach Society

    Coverage of the first St Matthew Passion on historical instruments with a smaller choir, and of the conflict that preceded it.

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  • Jos van Veldhoven’s first St Matthew Passion

    Three years after his appointment as artistic director of the Bach Society, Jos van Veldhoven conducted his first St Matthew Passion in Naarden. This was also one of the last times that the choir and orchestra sat behind the rood screen. In 1989, the stage moved to the centre of the church.

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  • Queue for the Grote Kerk in Naarden

    For a hundred years, the Bach Society’s St Matthew Passion has been filling the Grote Kerk in Naarden on Good Friday.

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  • Guest conductors and the St Matthew Passion

    Under the artistic leadership of Jos van Veldhoven, guest conductors were regularly invited to conduct the St Matthew Passion in Naarden. Jos van Immerseel was the first, in 1984, followed by names like Ton Koopman, René Jacobs, Philip Herreweghe and Gustav Leonhardt.

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  • Tours to Japan

    In 1991, the Bach Society went on tour to Japan for the first time, performing Mozart’s Requiem, conducted by Ton Koopman. A second tour followed in 2011, when the programme included the Mass in B Minor, conducted by Jos van Veldhoven. In 2019, the ensemble went to Japan for the third time, under the leadership of Shunske Sato.

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  • 75th anniversary

    In 1997, the 75th anniversary of the Netherlands Bach Society was celebrated. On 28 March 1997, the NCRV made an extensive documentary about the history of the Bach Society, which included interviews with musicians, audience, soloists, former soloists and conductors.

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  • Cappella Figuralis

    In 1989, Jos van Veldhoven founded Cappella Figuralis, a small soloist ensemble that focused on repertoire from the 17th and 18th century. In the years that followed, the distinction between soloists and choir became smaller and smaller, in order to heighten the clarity of the music. For this reason, Cappella Figuralis was discontinued in 2005.

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  • Tour to the United States

    In July 2007, the Bach Society went on tour to the United States to give two concerts in the Seiji Ozawa Hall, at the Tanglewood Festival.

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  • St John Passion by Gebel

    Jos van Veldhoven often championed the lesser-known Baroque repertoire, such as the St John Passion by Gebel (performed in 2007).

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  • The St Matthew Passion in an asymmetrical set-up

    In the quest for the most authentic performance practice of the St Matthew Passion, Jos van Veldhoven experimented in 2010 with an asymmetrical stage set-up (choir I and II in unequal composition).

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  • Launch of the All of Bach recordings

    In 2013, as a prelude to its 100th anniversary, the Bach Society launched the All of Bach project: a large-scale video project, in which top-quality recordings were to be made of all Bach’s works and then put online for people to watch and listen to for free.

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  • NRC devotes special supplement to All of Bach

    On Thursday 1 May 2014, the newspaper NRC published an extra supplement that was completely devoted to the launch of All of Bach.

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  • Release of All of Bach

    The official release of All of Bach took place on 2 May 2014. The first six works (BWV 61, 82, 130, 565, 593 and 858) were published on the website allofbach.com.

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  • Audience in the midst of the St Matthew Passion

    In his final year as artistic director, Jos van Veldhoven presented the St Matthew Passion in TivoliVredenburg in an unusual set-up, with some of the audience seated in between the two choirs/orchestras.

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  • Shunske Sato appointed new artistic director

    In 2018, Jos van Veldhoven left the Bach Society, after 35 years as artistic director. He was succeeded by Shunske Sato, concertmaster of the Bach Society since 2013.

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  • Launch of All of Bach YouTube channel

    Starting on 4 September 2018, the All of Bach videos have been published on the Bach Society’s YouTube channel. The aim is to reach a much bigger and more international audience. The channel was given the English name 'Netherlands Bach Society', and YouTube made the direct URL www.youtube.com/bach available for this channel.

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  • Tour to Japan

    From 28 September to 6 October 2019, the Netherlands Bach Society went on its third tour to Japan. Concerts were given in Kyoto, Tokyo, Yokohama, Saitama and Hiroshima.

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  • All of Bach milestone

    A year and a half after the launch of the All of Bach YouTube channel, the milestone of 100,000 subscribers was reached.
    A couple of months earlier, on 29 October 2019, the recording of the Cello Suite No. 2 – performed by Steuart Pincombe – was the first video to exceed the 1-million-view mark on YouTube.

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  • St Matthew Passion cancelled

    In March 2020, the corona pandemic broke out, meaning that all the performances of the St Matthew Passion had to be cancelled. For the third time in the 99-year existence of the Bach Society, no St Matthew Passion was performed in Naarden.

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  • St John Passion on Good Friday

    In 2021, it was once again impossible to give performances of the St Matthew Passion, due to the continuing pandemic. Instead, it was decided to record the smaller-scale St John Passion in the Grote Kerk in Naarden, without audience. This television recording was broadcast on NPO 2 on Good Friday.

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  • Festive opening of the anniversary season

    On Saturday 25 September, the festive opening of our anniversary season took place, attended by King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima.

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