The RSNO Chorus has a long history beginning in the 19th Century. 

SNO Chorus 1971-72 in Glasgow's City Halls

1873: Raising a 'Resident Orchestra'
Up until 1873, the Choral Union arranged temporary orchestral accompaniment for its concerts, involving largely amateur musicians and a few professionals.  Sometimes orchestras from other parts of the UK were engaged.  In 1873, there was a proposal for a ‘resident' orchestra and enough funds were raised to pay for a 50-strong professional orchestra for a 16-week season in 1874-5.  With a more efficient orchestra, the Glasgow Choral Union was able to organise a series of choral and orchestral concerts. Despite the financial burden to maintain the orchestra, the Choral Union continued with this arrangement and even increased the orchestra to 80 players by 1883-4.

1891: The Scottish Orchestra Company
In 1891, a new establishment, the Scottish Orchestra Company, was registered in order to set up a more permanent orchestra independent of any choral society.  The new orchestra was also promoted by people who felt that the Choral Union season was too short and too perfunctory.  The Choral Union and this new company entered into negotiation for working in partnership.  However, the negotiation collapsed in 1892 because the Choral Union could not secure a say in the selection of the orchestra and its conductor, and the fees for hiring the orchestra were also deemed to be too high. The Choral Union decided to continue giving concerts with its own orchestra.  Meanwhile, the Scottish Orchestra also went ahead with its long inaugural season. 

1893: The Choral and Orchestral Union
After one season of concerts given separately by the two rival musical organisations, negotiations were resumed because the competition had resulted in financial losses to both.  In 1893, the Scottish Orchestra and the Choral Union agreed to a temporary arrangement of giving joint concerts under the title of "The Choral and Orchestra Union", although the Glasgow Choral Union reserved the right to give, as the Glasgow Choral Union and independent of any other organisation, the usual New Year's Day performance of Messiah and two other popular concerts.  This temporary agreement was consolidated into a more permanent structure in 1898 with the formation of the Choral and Orchestral Union of Glasgow. The Choral Union continued to exist as an independent organisation in the appointment of its own conductor and office-bearers. In 1950, the Scottish National Orchestra Society Limited was formed and the Scottish Orchestra changed its name to Scottish National Orchestra (SNO).  The Choral and Orchestral Union was empowered to nominate four directors to the board of this new society and an additional five members with voting rights. 

1960s: The chorus of the SNO
In the early 1960s, the council of the Glasgow Choral Union thought it would be financially advisable to disband the Choral and Orchestral Union and transfer its fund to the SNO Endowment Trust.  In 1964, the Choral Union and the SNO Society agreed that the latter would take over the administration of the Union.  The choir kept its name but became effectively the chorus of the SNO, being responsible for choral concerts performed with the SNO in Glasgow and Edinburgh.  It was renamed the SNO Chorus only in 1971.  In 1991, the orchestra was awarded royal patronage and renamed the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) and the chorus changed its name accordingly.

Today: The RSNO Chorus
Today, the RSNO Chorus is recognised as one of the most distinguished symphonic choruses in the UK. In a typical season, the chorus performs with the orchestra around six different programmes with up to twenty performances in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee.  In recent years it has performed every work in the standard choral repertoire as well as works by contemporary composers, such as John Adams's On the Transmigration of Souls and James MacMillan's Cantos Sagrados.  The chorus has also made many recordings with the orchestra, including for example, the acclaimed recordings of Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky conducted by Neeme Järvi, and Paul Paray's mass Joan of Arc conducted by James Paul.

Chorus Masters
Throughout its long history, the chorus has been directed by numerous accomplished musicians who took up the post of Chorus Master .  Some were in post for no more than a couple of years while others stayed for longer duration and made significant impact on the standard of the chorus.  Many long-serving members still in the chorus would have experienced the legendary John Currie who was the Chorus Master from 1965 to 1984.  Currie was succeeded by Roger Williams who stayed for four seasons.  In 1989 Christopher Bell took up the post and became one of the most popular choral conductors in recent years. After Bell left in 2002, the auditions for a new Chorus Master lasted for a whole season and Stephen Williams was appointed in 2003 and stayed in post until 2006.  The chorus is now directed by Timothy Dean who is also Head of Opera at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow.

Tours
Under the directorship of John Currie, the chorus embarked on its first major overseas tour .  Prior to this, the Choral Union had only performed abroad once, as one of the competing choirs in the City of Paris International Musical Tournament in 1912.  (The choir won second prize in the highest class for mixed voices and second prize in sight singing. The Chorus Master Henri Verbrugghen was awarded first prize for conducting.)  In 1967, John Currie and the chorus council discussed the possibility of a tour, but it was felt that it might not be possible to get a balanced choir for such an event because many members were unable or unwilling to take part.  Furthermore, it was feared that a foreign tour might result in financial loss.  A few years later, the idea of a visit to Israel was put forward by the Principal Guest conductor of the SNO, Gary Bertini, who was the founder and musical director of the Chamber Orchestra of Israel. In 1972, the SNO Chorus undertook its landmark tour.  With the Israel Philharmonic conducted by Daniel Barenboim, the chorus sang the German Requiem, which had never been performed in Israel before. Since then, the chorus has been invited to perform with other orchestras in many different parts of the world and has established an international status.

Chorus Size
Since its early days in the 19th century, the chorus has reduced considerably in size.  In the second year after its formation, the Glasgow Musical Association had about 400 members.  The number of singers remained high by the end of the 19th century with a record of 424 members in 1898-99.    The numbers went down to about 200 in 1943, 150 in 1955, and 140 in 1967.  This fall was attributed to a lack of interest in choral music not only in Glasgow but throughout the country.  The drop in numbers was particularly noticeable in the male sections, especially after the Second World War.  In a letter written by John Currie to the chorus in 1983, he suggested that changes in the labour market and the increased need for men to go away on work trips were possible reasons for the decline in the number of male singers. Currently, the RSNO Chorus has 142 members (43 sopranos, 45 altos, 23 tenors and 31 basses).  It is probably unrealistic and impractical to aim for the kind of membership figures as those in the early days of the Choral Union but recruitment remains an ongoing issue since more voices are always needed to match the orchestra when performing full-scale symphonic works.  

A Long Lasting Contribution to Scotland's Musical Life
The chorus has moved a very long way from the society set up to perform the Messiah.  In the last 164 years, it has survived many hard times - financial crises, fall in membership, internal squabbles and disputes with other musical organisations, and wider socio-political problems or world events (the chorus did not cease giving concerts during both world wars).  There are still challenges which could threaten its survival, but with chorus members' commitment to a high standard of music making and the capable stewardship of the Chorus Master, the RSNO Chorus will continue to blossom and make long lasting contribution to the musical life in Scotland and further afield.

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