During the Blitz, in the autumn of 1940, rehearsals had to be suspended for some weeks, but members got together again as soon as they could. Travel problems for outlying members led to the formation of branch choirs in Southeast London, Guildford, Slough and Epsom. Frederick Haggis travelled each week to rehearse the various choirs, amalgamating them for the final rehearsal and performance. During these difficult times, the choice of the Goldsmiths Choral Union as a name for the choir seems singularly apt!
Despite travel difficulties, absence of members in the Forces, and enemy action, the choir flourished and membership grew and the GCU was one of the few choirs to continue performing through the war years. Twenty-six concerts were given at venues as varied as the Queen's Hall; the Royal Albert Hall; Golders Green Hippodrome (then known as the Golders Green Orpheum); Central Hall, Westminster; Central Hall, Bromley, Streatham Hill Theatre; the Grand Theatre, Croydon; and Wimbledon Town Hall.
Familiar works appear many times – Messiah, Elijah, Bach's Mass in B Minor, Hiawatha – but there was also a performance of Elgar's King Olaf in the Central Hall, Westminster, in November 1941, which the choir, according to The Times, sang "with relish"! Another special event, in the previous month, was an Anglo-Soviet Concert, attended by the Russian Ambassador, M. Maisky. The concert was held jointly with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and the choral items were John Ireland's These Things Shall Be and Mussorgsky's "Coronation Scene" from Boris Godunov. A memorable performance of Beethoven's Mass in D (Missa Solemnis) was given before a packed audience for the re-opening of the Royal Albert Hall in 1942 and from that year on, the GCU gave a Boxing Day performance of Messiah.
The 1943 performance of Messiah had as alto soloist Kathleen Ferrier, making one of her first professional appearances in London. She returned to sing with the GCU a number of times – her performance in The Dream of Gerontius in May 1945, was particularly memorable.
Wartime memories are not only of concerts, but also of travelling problems, rehearsals in cold halls, and meetings with friends, old and new, in unexpected places. A former Hon. Sec. of the GCU recalls: "On one occasion, Frederick Haggis was unable to take a rehearsal and arranged as his deputy a young lecturer from Morley College – a certain Michael Tippett. He could hardly be described as a 'stand-in', since he conducted proceedings from a languorous sitting posture, draped over a chair on the platform. Our efforts seemed to give him vast amusement, for there were frequent pauses when he would throw back his head with roars of laughter."
The war years also saw the beginning of the choir's association with the BBC and Sir Adrian Boult (who eventually became its patron). The choir broadcast many programmes for the BBC, including the first performance in England of Carmina Burana.
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