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.
Schoonderbeek also wanted his performance of the St Matthew Passion to be smaller in scale than the grand version by Willem Mengelberg that was traditionally given every year in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.