Victoria Wood stages choir’s story

By Ian Youngs

LONDON, UK — 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.