Arthur Oldham was an accomplished composer, primarily of vocal works, who is celebrated as a choirmaster. A Londoner, he studied at the Royal College of Music with Herbert Howells, and later became Britten’s only pupil, and assisted on several works. Oldham also collaborated with Berkeley, Tippett, and Walton. However as a composer he was affected by public criticism and the comparison to his colleagues. He abandoned music for several years. But after converting to Catholicism, he moved to Edinburgh to lead the city’s Catholic Cathedral choir. In 1965 the Edinburgh Festival approached Oldham to create a chorus to perform Mahler’s 8th Symphony. A one-off performance turned into successive seasons of preparing great choral works. During his tenure the chorus performed under Giulini, Abbado, von Karajan, Bernstein, and Barenboim. Oldham was simultaneously director of the LSO Chorus from 1968 to 1976.

In 1975 Barenboim persuaded Oldham to move to France to form the Orchestre de Paris Chorus and recreate his Edinburgh success. In 1979 Oldham took on a further challenge to create the Concertgebouw Orchestra Chorus.

from notes by Robin Tritschler © 2024