SIR Henry Wood was not a man of modest gestures. But in 1938, fifty years after he had made his conducting debut, the 69-year-old quietly deposited his full collection of scores and orchestral parts at the Royal Academy of Music in London. The reason for the cloak-and-dagger approach? He was paranoid about anyone jumping to the conclusion that he was about to retire. Not only was it a storage solution for Wood, but for a small fee, the music could be made available to other conductors or students. The proceeds would go to the Henry Wood Fund to assist needy students. This was typical of Wood: he had noticed students appearing self-conscious on stage because of ‘a poor pair of shoes or the need of a new bow or strings’ and recognised the difference his fund could make.

Change came to this arrangement after Wood's death in 1944. What I will henceforth refer to as the ‘Wood Archive’, held at the Royal Academy of Music, London, was withdrawn from general access in order to preserve his markings. Nothing was hidden, but the huge number of scores were not fully catalogued on the modern library system. When I requested to look at some of Wood's marked-up scores of Bach's works, I didn't realise the full extent of what I would find.

Wood's thirst for new music, whether newly composed or newly discovered, was insatiable. He had boundless energy for producing arrangements, preparing orchestral parts and vocal scores, and revisiting old scores. But only when you actually start to turn the pages do you begin to understand the scale of his industry. The rows and rows of boxes in the archive contain scores and parts heavily annotated in his hand – they constitute a lifetime dedicated to transmitting what was then still largely unknown music to the widest possible audience.

The arboreous pairing of Wood and Bach is not one that has attracted comment in recent times. Until I completed this research, Wood's proper place in the history of Bach reception could not have been assumed. The extent of his interaction with the composer simply wasn't known. Few Bach scores had been opened; a couple had been used for performance in the days when they could be loaned out; but most had been untouched since Wood last turned the pages.