Former Manchester choirgirls recall ‘That Day We Sang’

By Ian Youngs

MANCHESTER, UK — Victoria Wood is telling the story of a 1920s
children’s choir in a stage show that will premiere at this year’s
Manchester International Festival.

In 1925, some 250 working class children from more than 50
schools across Manchester were recruited for a choir that would go
down in musical history.

They rehearsed twice a week, and by 1929 were deemed good enough
to make a recording with the prestigious Halle Orchestra by its
principal conductor Sir Hamilton Harty.

Together, they recorded Henry Purcell’s Nymphs and Shepherds at
the Free Trade Hall. The angelic performance made the resulting
78rpm record a surprise hit.

Forty-five years later, Thames Television reunited some of the
choristers for a documentary about that day.

A 21-year-old Victoria Wood happened to be watching. And the
tale of those children, and what became of them, has stayed with
the comedian ever since.

“I’ve always thought it would make a good story, of the children
making that record,” Wood says.

“It’s a famous record and it was very unusual for schoolchildren
to be making a record in 1929, especially with the Halle
Orchestra.”