On looking at the programme book for 1950, it was amusing to note that concerts would start at 11.15 in the morning, break for lunch, and then continue until 4 in the afternoon! Evensong would take place at 5 pm followed by a full evening concert until 10 at night.

The premiere of Hymnus Paradisi took place on the morning of Thursday 7 September 1950 at 11.15 and finished at 3.45 pm; the programme  included Handel’s Organ Concerto , Vaughan Williams’ Old Hundredth, Kodály’s Missa Brevis and Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra and three conductors - Howells, Vaughan Williams and Meredith Davies.

The composition was so well received that it was performed again the following year in Worcester and again in 1952 in Hereford, conducted on both occasions by Howells.