Scroll through a century of highlights

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Fortieth anniversary

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. This recording has also been published on All of Bach.

BACH festival in TivoliVredenburg

On the weekend of 20-22 May 2022, we concluded our centenary with the BACH Festival in TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht. The programme of this festival included a festively staged opening concert, a puppet theatre performance for children, a Bach Scratch, a crossover concert with Bach, jazz & improvisation and a multitude of activities on a specially arranged festival square.