The Gächinger Kantorei was formed in 1954 by conductor Helmuth Rilling, a key German early music conductor. From the beginning, the Kantorei was prolific as a recording unit. It was the first choir to record a complete cycle of Bach's cantatas and oratorios, issuing the last album on March 21, 1985, Bach's 300th birthday. The Kantorei also performed Romantic and contemporary music, and even with early music, its performances were generally not historically oriented; the choir often boasted up to 200 members. That changed when Hans-Christoph Rademann succeeded Rilling in 2013. Three years later, Rademann adopted the new Gaechinger Cantorey spelling of the choir's name (in line with 18th-century precedents). In 2020, an album recorded while still named the Gächinger Kantorei of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, Op. 123, and other Beethoven choral works was issued.