Welcome to the 2009 Three Choirs Festival at Hereford!
To every thing there is a season ...
For nearly three hundred years the cathedral cities of Gloucester, Hereford and Worcester have taken it in turn to host an annual ‘music meeting'. The original performers were the three cathedral choirs, who remain at the heart of the festival, but the large-scale choral repertoire at today's concerts is performed by the festival chorus drawn from the three cities, joined by an array of international artists and ensembles to provide a diversity unimagined in the eighteenth century. We are delighted to welcome once again the Philharmonia Orchestra in residence for the week.
We commemorate major anniversaries of three composers, who whilst born in Germany or Austria, became honorary Englishmen, such was the enthusiasm in this country for their music. Performances of certain works by Handel, Haydn and Mendelssohn were a fixture at the Three Choirs Festival during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and it's an extraordinary reflection on the longevity of the festival to think that it had been going for many years before Haydn was even born.
Handel's music was already a regular feature at festivals when he died in 1759, and 250 years later we present a performance of his dramatic oratorio Israel in Egypt by the three cathedral choirs and the Music for Awhile chamber orchestra.
At the centre of this year's programme is Haydn's great oratorio Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons). First performed in 1801 when the composer was at the height of his fame, the work is full of wonderful music displaying his characteristic zest for life and sense of humour, but has always been overshadowed by The Creation, written three years earlier.
A seasonal theme radiates from the Haydn - including such diverse works as Vivaldi's Le quattro stagioni, Stravinsky's Le sacre du printemps and Britten's Spring Symphony. The Britten was first performed in 1949, and is paired with Finzi's Clarinet Concerto, premiered at that year's Hereford festival. A very different sound-world may be heard later in the week in Richard Strauss's Vier letzte Lieder, composed the previous year.
The Three Choirs wouldn't be complete without music from its most famous musical son, Elgar, and the festival opens with a performance of The Dream of Gerontius.
Whilst it's always enjoyable to look back over the Three Choirs' long history, the festival also has a vibrant tradition of commissioning new music. In 2009, we are delighted to be marking the seventieth birthday of our distinguished composer-in-residence, John McCabe, with three premieres. There will also be several premieres heard at our acclaimed community singing project 'The Gathering Wave'.
Following their stunning debut three years ago, we welcome back to the festival the National Youth Orchestra of Wales to perform Mahler's First Symphony.
We celebrate the last of our trio of honorary Englishmen with a performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah to round the week off ... here are some of the highlights, but there's much more to add to this feast of music, especially the fabled Herefordshire hospitality and the unique Three Choirs atmosphere. We look forward to seeing you there!
Geraint Bowen artistic director
