At the heart of our festival are the singers from Gloucester, Hereford and Worcester, performing daily alongside the Philharmonia, one of Europe's finest orchestras. These singers are augmented by the Cathedral Choirs of the three cities, who also sing evensongs during the week, and will give a performance of the ever popular Vivaldi Gloria.
The festival is framed by the final large-scale public statements of two of the twentieth century’s most significant composers: Britten and Mahler. We open with Britten’s War Requiem, his response to the Second World War, which in itself forms an interesting comparison with Elgar’s last great choral work, The Spirit of England, written towards the end of the First World War. These, together with The Dream of Gerontius and the concluding concert of the week, the colossal 8th Symphony of Elgar’s direct contemporary, Mahler, link together to create themes of death and sacrifice, culminating in redemption through love in the setting of Goethe which concludes the symphony and the festival.
The combination of Bax and Vernon Handley has been widely acclaimed, and this performance of his 1st Symphony will be the first time a Bax symphony has been performed at Three Choirs. Walton’s Sonata for Strings is also real discovery, worthy of comparison with the best known English works of the genre. Set these alongside the UK première of a Debussy orchestration by our composer-in-residence, Robin Holloway, Crispian Steele-Perkins on both modern and natural trumpet, and a line-up of the finest singers, and festival is surely unmissable
2007 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sir Edward Elgar, an occasion which will be recognised by many across the world. However, performances of his music given in one of the Three Cathedrals which the composer loved best will have extra spiritual, acoustic and architectural dimensions. Where better to hear Gerontius, or the Enigma Variations, and many other works by the composer will be performed over the course of the week in choral, chamber and solo contexts? Likewise, there is no more beautiful setting in which to hear quintessentially English works, such as Howells’ Hymnus Paradisi and Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music (in its original version for 16 solo singers), and who would want to miss Montevedi’s Vespers in one of the most appropriate acoustics this side of the Alps!?
The daytimes too are packed with enticing events – John Scott on the organ, both the National Youth Choir and the Rodolfus choir, song recitals by Roderick Williams, Andrew Kennedy and Catherine Bott, the Sorrel quartet playing Elgar and a chance to hear Holloway’s Gilded Goldbergs for two pianos. We give a platform to many other composers of our own day too, including Elizabeth Maconchy, Howard Skempton, Graham Whettam, John Joubert and Hugh Wood, all in their anniversary years. And, why not unwind at the end of the day with some late-night jazz in the festival club?
There’s something for all tastes at Three Choirs, so come and enjoy the unique ambience of the world’s oldest music festival in the beauty of Gloucestershire.
Andrew Nethsingha
Artistic Director
