Introduction
Every summer, the singers of Hereford, Gloucester and Worcester gather to celebrate the finest choral music. This year, Worcester plays host with its splendid mediaeval cathedral, and other inspiring venues throughout county.
There are many ways for enthusiastic singers of all ages and abilities to take part: in the coming months two Come and Sing events (p7) feature works in the festival programme, while those aged 9–13 can sign up for our ‘Sing Up, Sing Out’ children’s choir (p.18). Talented young singers (14–25) have the opportunity to join our Youth Choir for a performance of Jonathan Dove’s sparkling There Was a Child and Fauré’s beautiful Requiem (p28), and on the last day of the festival, singers of all ages and abilities can take part in a Family Come and Sing (p9) – just one of a host of workshops and Tiny Tunes sessions to entertain and inspire the very youngest in our community (pp8–9).
This year, the cathedral performances will take place under the tower of the cathedral, improving the listening experience for the audience. This repositioning of the concert platform also allows us to marry up the orchestra with the cathedral organ, enabling me to programme both the Poulenc Organ Concerto and Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony (p18) as well as harnessing the full power of Janáček’s towering and triumphant Glagolitic Mass (p25).
My starting point in programming the 2017 festival was the historical tension between war-torn Europe and the contrasting atmosphere in the United States in 1917. As America entered the First World War, spirits ran high and the arts flourished; the first commercial recording of the Dixieland ‘Jass’ Band (p12) was released and the vibrant ragtime of Scott Joplin (who died that year) would have been heard up and down the country (p25) while the Bolshevik uprising in Russia was a cataclysmic event to which Shostakovich responded by dedicating his twelfth symphony ‘The Year 1917’ to the memory of Lenin (p31).
I look forward to welcoming a host of visiting artists including the Choir of King’s College Cambridge (p33), the Cardinall’s Musick (p27), the Sacconi Quartet (p32) and many more. I hope you enjoy discovering what the festival has to offer in the pages which follow.
Peter Nardone, Artistic Director
All details, programmes and artists published in this brochure are correct at the time of going to press but may be subject to alteration.
Worcester Cathedral organ © Ash Mills
Your Visit: Food and Drink
There are a range of catering options on the festival site throughout the day, as well as the cathedral’s own café and a wide range of chains and independent eateries nearby.
Festival Marquee, College Green
The hub of the festival site, the Festival Marquee on College Green is open daily from 10 am to midnight (11.30 pm on Sunday) and is a great place to relax and recharge between concerts. You can be sure of a warm welcome from the Worcester Friends of the Three Choirs Festival, who serve a range of hot and cold drinks, cakes, breakfasts, lunches and suppers.
You will also find a wine bar, run by local wine merchants Malpas Stallard, and a fine selection of cask ales and local ciders provided by Moongazing Hare, who also run The Cardinal’s Hat and Georgian City Rooms on Worcester’s medieval Friar Street.
Pre-concert Dining
You can pre-book a two-course sit down dinner, served in the King’s School dining hall, at 6 pm each evening of the festival. Priced at £24 per person, all menus include a selection of vegetables, choice of dessert, a glass of wine, and tea or coffee. Special dietary requirements can be catered for, but please inform the ticket office at the time of booking.
Pre-concert Dinner Menu
Saturday 22 July
• Pork loin steak with a honey and mustard sauce
• Butternut squash and spinach risotto (v)
Sunday 23 July
• Traditional carvery: roast beef, roast pork, or baked gammon
• Glamorgan sausage (v)
Monday 24 July
• Breast of chicken in a creamy tarragon sauce
• Courgettes filled with rice, peppers, breadcrumbs and feta (v)
Tuesday 25 July
• Salmon fillet with hollandaise sauce
• Goats cheese and broccoli flan (v)
Wednesday 26 July
• Boeuf bourguignon
• Filo basket filled with exotic mushrooms in tarragon sauce (v)
Thursday 27 July
• Curry Night: chicken korma, lamb rogan josh, fried garlic rice
• Creamy Quorn korma (v)
Friday 28 July
• Cod in beer batter with homemade tartare sauce
• Roasted red peppers with fennel (v)
Saturday 29 July
• Chinese Night: stir-fried duck and pineapple; chicken and broccoli in hoisin sauce
• Aubergines and peppers Szechuan style (v)
© Ash Mills
Your Visit: Festival Village
As well as a range of food and drink options on College Green, there’s plenty to keep you busy between concerts.
Jonathan Gibbs Books
Located in the same building as the ticket office, facing onto College Green, Jonathan Gibbs will be selling a collection of secondhand books, music and other festivalrelated ephemera throughout the week.
Designer Crafts Marquee
Adjacent to the Festival Marquee, members of the craft guilds of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire offer an enticing display of multi-disciplined items, ideal to take home as gifts or to keep as mementos of the festival. Open daily from 10 am – 7.30 pm.
Players on the Green
Twice daily, at lunchtime and early evening, a range of local performers provide free entertainment on College Green – a perfect excuse to grab a snack and soak up the festival atmosphere. Full details of performers and timing will be published on the website and in the programme book ahead of the festival.
Souvenir Programme Book
This beautifully-produced publication contains full details of every concert alongside song texts, notes, articles and much, much more – a great memento of your visit.
Pre-order your copy for a reduced price of £15 (£17 at the festival), and you can opt to receive an electronic preview copy a fortnight before the festival.
EXHIBITION:
John
RowlandsPritchard
In the same building as the ticket office, Opus Anglicanum director John Rowlands-Pritchard and creator of this year’s cover image (taken from the libretto of Jonathan Dove’s There Was a Child ) exhibits hand painted inscriptions on canvas panels featuring texts from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and other passages on angels and music. Exhibition open daily 10 am – 7 pm.
Exhibiting at 4 College Green
Saturday 22nd July – Saturday 29th July 2017 10.00 am to 7.30 pm
● Music books ● Vocal Scores
● Sheet Music ● Full Scores
● Ephemera
Tel: 01684 593169 or 07971 677485
Please contact ahead for particular wants: info@jgibbsbooks.co.uk
Three Choirs Festival, Worcester
Your Visit: Worcester
Worcester Cathedral
The cathedral sits at the heart of the festival’s geography and history, just as it does the city of Worcester. While some areas of the cathedral will be closed for rehearsals and concerts, we work closely with the cathedral staff to keep as much of the cathedral open to visitors as possible, and detailed information will be posted on our website.
The various cathedral services during the week are at the very heart of our unique festival, and all are welcome to attend. The Opening Service is the only service for which a ticket is required – tickets are free and should be reserved when placing the rest of your ticket order.
Further Afield
There is much to explore in the city of Worcester and beyond. The Tourist Information Centre or our Information Point will be very happy to provide information about things to see and do.
Quiet Room and Information
Our friendly volunteers are on hand to offer practical information and local knowledge to festival visitors, and can provide access to the Quiet Room – ideal for those who want time to relax between concerts away from the lively comings and goings on College Green.
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Orchestra in Residence
Philharmonia Orchestra
The Philharmonia is the resident orchestra of the Three Choirs Festival: at the end of every season, the Orchestra begins its summer of festival appearances with seven or eight days of music-making in Hereford, Worcester or Gloucester. The Philharmonia has performed at the Festival since 1995, before the founding of the residency in 2012.
For the rest of year, the Philharmonia is at home at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it performs a season of 35 concerts, led by Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor Esa-Pekka Salonen. The Orchestra has further residencies in Leicester, Bedford, Canterbury and Basingstoke and is widely acknowledged for its pioneering approach to music education, audience development and the use of new technology to reach a global audience.
Pre-festival Come and Sings
If you can’t wait for the festival to arrive, then get into the spirit of things with two come-and-sing events featuring some of the festival repertoire. All welcome. See the website for more information and booking details.
Saturday 13 May, 10.15 am – 4.45 pm
St Helen’s Church, Worcester, £20
Mozart Mass in C minor, ‘Great’
Peter Nardone conductor Christopher Allsop piano
Saturday 15 July, 2 – 5.45 pm
Kidderminster Town Hall, £12
Fauré Requiem
Geoffrey Weaver conductor Mike Elden piano
Philharmonia Orchestra © Benjamin Ealovega
FAMILIES AND YOUNG PEOPLE
The festival offers a range of activities for children, families and young people.
Tiny Tunes £5 adults, children FREE
Taking place in various venues around Worcestershire, Tiny Tunes sessions are fun and interactive music events designed for babies and toddlers by the Elgar School of Music. Pre-schoolers and elder siblings are also welcome.
Sunday 23 July
3.30 – 4.15 pm
Kidderminster Town Hall
Monday 24 July 10 – 10.45 am
All Saints Church, Evesham
Monday 24 July
10.30 – 11.15 am
St Martin’s Church
Wednesday 26 July 10 – 10.45 am
Great Malvern Priory
Thursday 27 July
3.30 – 4.15 pm
Pershore Abbey
Woodwind Wonders From clarinet and flute to baritone sax, explore the wonderful sounds of the woodwind family with the inspirational Marie McNally.
Baby Baroque Lively music from the 17th and 18th centuries with virtuoso Andy Watts on bagpipes, bassoon and recorder and Janine Parsons on piano.
Mozart in the Morning Mozart and other well known opera favourites, with vocal duo Sarah Davison and Wilhelm Theunissen accompanied by Stephen Halstead.
Song Time Nursery rhymes, famous songs, silly songs, campfire songs and folk songs with cello and piano duo Corinne Frost and Janine Parsons
Dance! Dance! Tunes from around the globe for tiny toes to tap to! Enjoy the wonderful sounds of the Lilliput Duo (violinists Kate Fawcett and Kate Skeet) as they entertain you with jigs, reels, waltzes, and tangos.
We have signed up to the Family Arts Standards. We welcome families and to help you enjoy your experience we are committed to ensuring we meet these Standards. As we continue to improve our service for families your views are very important to us – so please let us know if you have a good experience with us or tell us what you’d like us to improve. Write to us at info@3choirs.org.
Workshops £6 per participant (supervising adults FREE at age limited workshops)
With drama, dance, mask theatre and singing on offer these workshops are a great opportunity to try out a new activity. All abilities and levels of experience are welcome – please come dressed in comfy clothing. Soft, flexible-soled shoes or bare feet will be best for these workshops.
Saturday 22 July
2 – 3 pm (ages 7–11)
3.15 – 4.15 pm (ages 14–16)
King’s School Theatre
Tuesday 25 July
11 – 12.30 pm (ages 8–11)
1 – 2 pm (ages 5–7)
Crow Studio, Keyes Building, King’s School
Thursday 27 July
10 am – 12 noon
Ideal for ages 8 to adult King’s School Theatre
Saturday 29 July
2 – 5 pm
Ideal for all ages
All Saints Church, Worcester
Drama In tandem with the performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Gloucestershire Youth Players (see p14), the director and cast of this year’s show invite you to attend a workshop based on some of the themes of the play. There’ll even be a chance to try on Bottom’s enchanted ass’ head!
Dance with Dancefest Lively, creative and fun dance workshops incorporating the music of Scott Joplin led by Dancefest, a dance development organisation for Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
Mask Theatre with Vamos An engaging and fast-paced introduction to mask theatre. The session will familiarise participants with the basics of wearing and performing in full mask.
Music from the movies: family come and sing An afternoon singing Disney favourites with Nia Llewelyn Jones (Singing Development Leader at Gloucester Cathedral) accompanied by members of The Film Orchestra and the Elgar School of Music’s Raglejazz band. The afternoon will end with an informal performance at 4.30 pm.
Get involved…
If you’re a young singer then you might like to join our children’s choir (ages 9–13) for a performance on Monday 24
July (see p18) or youth choir (ages 14–25) on Thursday 27
July (see p28). Full details of what to expect and how to apply can be found at 3choirs.org/take-part
Rehearsal passes
If you’d like to sample choral music, or get to know the music a bit better before attending a concert, then
accompanied children and full-time music students can apply for free rehearsal passes (subject to availability) to rehearsals in the cathedral. Contact the ticket office for more information.
Festival Firsts
Never been to the festival before? Sign up to our Festival Firsts programme to find out more about attending your first Three Choirs Festival concert for free. The Festival Firsts scheme is a way for our audience to share their love of
the festival by donating a ticket to someone who has never attended. Find out more at 3choirs.org/festival-firsts
CAVATINA
FREE tickets
8–25 year olds can claim free tickets for the following concerts at Worcester Baptist Church:
Wed 26 July
Echoes of a Distant Land (p23)
Thurs 27 July
Toby Hughes (p27) Sat 29 July
Sacconi Quartet (p32)
SATURDAY
JULY
A Child of Our Time
7.45 – 10 pm
The Opening Night features music from Elgar, Britten and Tippett. See p12.
Opening Service
11.30 am – 1 pm Worcester Cathedral
FREE (ticket required)
Worcester Cathedral Choir
Three Choirs Festival Chorus
Christopher Allsop organ
Peter Nardone conductor
Francis Jackson Benedicite
Schütz Psalm 100 Jauchzet dem Herren
Bruckner Ecce sacerdos magnus
Processions begin at 11.15 am; please be seated no later than 11am
Festival Reception
12.45 – 2 pm King’s School Boathouse
£16
Join the Friends of the Worcester Three Choirs Festival to celebrate the start of the 2017 festival with drinks and canapés.
Youth Drama Workshop
2 – 3 pm (ages 7 – 11)
3.15 – 4.15 pm (ages 14 – 16)
King’s School Theatre
£6
Participatory theatre workshops based on passages from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. See p9 for further details.
David Hurley: Love’s Philosophy
2.30 – 3.50 pm Huntingdon Hall
£27 £22
David Hurley countertenor
Roger Owens piano
Dowland Five Songs
Ian Venables At the Court of the Poisoned Rose
Purcell Four Songs
Britten Notturno
Quilter Seven Elizabethan Lyrics
Britten British Folksongs
Head Love’s Lament
Quilter Love’s Philosophy
David Hurley has made many appearances at the Three Choirs Festival during his staggering 26-year tenure with the renowned King’s Singers, but this will be his first solo recital for the city or festival since leaving the group last year. Hurley has put together a beautiful programme of British song through the ages, musing on the fervour and fickleness of love.
1917: A Future in Sight?
3.30 – 4.30 pm
College Hall, Worcester Cathedral £12
In 1917, victory for either side was elusive but change was in the air. The alliance of ‘throne and altar’ was wobbling and Europe’s ‘Christendom’ was in deep trouble. Would Bolshevik revolution spread across the continent? What influence would America’s entry into the war have on Europe’s future?
Keith Robbins examines how, amidst the carnage of ‘Christendom’ Christianity was reimagined amidst a profound hope that this might indeed be the war to end war.
Launch 4.30 – 5 pm, FREE (ticket required) This talk will be followed by a reception to celebrate the launch of Life after Tragedy: Essays on Faith and the First World War Evoked by Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, a book devised by members of Worcester Cathedral chapter and published on the centenary of Studdert Kennedy’s award in 1917 of the Military Cross.
Choral Evensong
5.30 – 6.20 pm
Worcester Cathedral
Worcester Cathedral Chamber Choir
Richard Cook organ
Stephen Shellard director
Ian King Responses (premiere, Chamber Choir commission)
Howells St Paul’s Service
Harris Faire is the Heaven
David Hurley
Worcester Cathedral © Ash Mills
A Child of Our Time
7.45 – 10 pm Worcester Cathedral £55, £50, £32, £25, £15
Sarah Fox soprano
Hilary Summers alto
Andrew Tortise tenor
Neal Davies bass
Three Choirs Festival Chorus
Philharmonia Orchestra
Peter Nardone conductor
Elgar Great is the Lord 10’
Britten Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes 16’
Tippett A Child of Our Time 72’
Elgar’s opulent 1912 anthem contrasts with the distinct musical styles of Britten and Tippett, marking changes in a musical landscape influenced by two world wars. The Four Sea Interludes depict the moods and tempers of both the North Sea and the dark protagonist of Britten’s opera, Peter Grimes. By contrast, Tippett’s contemplative oratorio is a shifting tapestry of light and shade, its spirituals acting like chorales in a Bach Passion and its text reflecting on the individual’s fate, ending with a plea for pacifism.
Sponsored by Great Western Railway
Sarah Fox supported by Joanna Brickell
Sunset Café Stompers: A Tribute to the Original Dixieland Jass Band
10.15 – 11.30 pm
College Hall, Worcester Cathedral £15
It is one of the ironies of jazz (originally ‘jass’) history that—given the origins of the music—the first commercial recordings came from an all-white group. They were an instant sensation. In 1917, the Original Dixieland Jass Band (modestly billing themselves ‘The Creators of Jazz’) recorded Livery Stable Blues (complete with neighing effects!) and Dixie Jass One Step. Simultaneously, the USA entered WW I and the African-American regimental band, the ‘Harlem Hellfighters’, was equally influential in introducing jazz to troops and civilians throughout Europe. Tonight’s programme celebrates this pioneering music.
Sunset Cafe Stompers
Sarah Fox © Grahame Mellanby
Neal Davies © Gerard Collett
23 JULY SUNDAY
Fly, singing bird, fly! 3
– 4.20 pm Huntingdon Hall
Worcester Cathedral’s girl choristers perform the complete set of Elgar’s part songs for upper voices. See p14.
Festival Eucharist
10.30 am – 12 noon Worcester Cathedral
Worcester Cathedral Choir
Worcester Cathedral Voluntary Choir
Christopher Allsop organ
Peter Nardone director
Piers Connor-Kennedy Missa Vigornia (Worcester Cathedral Commission)
Finzi Welcome, sweet and sacred feast
LuNcH aNd BOOk LauNcH
Three Choirs Festival: A History
1 pm – 2.30 pm
King’s School Boathouse £16 (includes lunch)
Enjoy a light lunch and hear Paul Hedley and Anthony Boden – both closely involved with the festival for many years – speak about the updating and revision of the festival’s definitive history, first published in 1992. Their work brings this new and revised edition thoroughly up to date.
Three Choirs Festival: A History will be available by pre-order and at the festival for the discounted price of £18.75 (RRP £25).
The revision of this title has been supported by the Three Choirs Festival Society
Peter Nardone © Michael Whitefoot
Organ Recital
1.15 – 2.15 pm Kidderminster Town Hall
£10
Joseph Wicks organ
Benedict Marche des Templiers 6’
Bairstow Scherzo in A flat 5’
Mendelssohn Prelude and Fugue in E minor 8’
J.S. Bach Canonische Veränderungen
‘Vom Himmel Hoch, Da Komm Ich Her’
BWV 769a 13’
Vierne Toccata (Piéces de Fantaisie) 5’
Whitlock Canzona and Scherzetto 12’
Elgar arr, Martin Imperial March, Op. 32 6’
The first of our concerts showcasing some of the finest organs in Worcestershire with recitals from talented young players selected by the Royal College of Organists. The Kidderminster Town Hall organ has been refurbished in a manner that retains many of its original features and is notable for being one of the oldest surviving municipal organs.
£9
Coach departs 12.15 pm returns by approx. 3 pm
Supported by Father Michael Thomas
Fly, singing bird, fly!
3 – 4.20 pm Huntingdon Hall
£18, £12
Worcester Cathedral’s Girl Choristers
Shulah Oliver, Kate Fawcett violin
Richard Cook piano
Christopher Allsop conductor
Worcester Cathedral’s girl choristers, perform ‘in concert’ for the first-time at the Three Choirs Festival. At the end of their 10th anniversary year, they present a varied programme of sacred and secular music, featuring all of Elgar’s part-songs for upper voices, violins and piano (including Fly, singing bird, fly and The Snow), alongside Schubert’s The Lord is my Shepherd, Michael Head’s Ave Maria, Francis Jackson’s From a Railway Carriage and much more!
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
3 pm – 5 pm
West End Garden, Worcester Cathedral £10 adults, £5 children
Gloucestershire Youth Players
Edward Derbyshire director
GYP – the UK’s only young company performing solely Shakespeare – invite you to come on a journey of magic and mystery, of love and loss, of discord and harmony. Be prepared to be whisked through court and wood, and back again. Don’t be surprised if unexpected things happen in the woods, or if you’re asked to attend the uproarious ‘play within a play’. Do come ready to be cajoled, enquired of, and entertained.
In the event of adverse weather, this performance will move to the King’s School Theatre
Yvonne Howard
Tiny Tunes
3.30 – 4.15 pm Kidderminster Town Hall
£5 adults; children FREE
‘Woodwind Wonders’. See p8 for more details
Ideal for babies and toddlers
THE WuLsTaN aTkINs LEc T urE
Worcester’s Forgotten Organist
4 – 5 pm King’s School Boathouse
£12 (includes tea and cake)
Hugh Blair was a pioneering figure in 1890s musical life in Worcester. He worked closely with Elgar to raise standards of choral singing as well as championing his music. But Blair’s lifestyle was unorthodox and the inevitable confrontation with the cathedral establishment led to dismissal after just two years. Kevin Allen examines Blair’s life in this fascinating portrait of a forgotten musical legacy.
Supported by Katharine O’Carroll, Robert and Sherill Atkins
Choral Evensong
5.30 – 6.20 pm Worcester Cathedral
Three Cathedral Choirs
Peter Dyke organ
Adrian Partington director
Philip Moore Responses (set III)
Blair Evening Service in B Minor
Leighton Let All the World
An Audience with Zeb Soanes
6 – 7.15 pm King’s School Boathouse
£16
The Friends of Worcester Cathedral welcome broadcaster and Opus Anglicanum narrator, Zeb Soanes, to discuss his experiences at the BBC and as a performer, before welcoming questions from the audience. The talk will be followed by drinks and canapés.
Mendelssohn St Paul
7.45 – 10.30 pm Worcester Cathedral £50, £45, £32, £25, £15
Judith Howarth soprano
Yvonne Howard mezzo-soprano
James Oxley tenor
David Stout baritone
Three Choirs Festival Chorus
Philharmonia Orchestra
Geraint Bowen conductor
Mendelssohn St Paul 130’
A rare chance to hear Mendelssohn’s first oratorio rather than the more frequently performed Elijah. Influenced by Bach’s Passions (of which Mendelssohn was an early champion), the work is full of dramatic writing. It contains some glorious melodies, including ‘How Lovely are the Messengers’ and one of the most beautiful choruses Mendelssohn ever wrote: ‘Happy and Blest are They Who Have Endured’.
Supported by the Perry Family Trust
David Stout © Benjamin Ealovega
Paradise Remembered
3 – 4.30 pm All Saints Church, Evesham
Vocal trio Voice premiere a new work by Roderick Williams with cellist Matthew Sharp alongside Holst and Vaughan Williams. See page 17.
JULY
Religion and the British Soldier in WWI
9.30 – 10.30 am
King’s School Boathouse
£12 (includes breakfast)
Canon Michael Snape, Professor of Anglican Studies at the University of Durham, looks at how the First World War impacted on soldiers’ religious beliefs and practices. This talk is the second in a series programmed to mark the launch of Life after Tragedy: Essays on Faith and the First World War Evoked by Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy.
Tiny Tunes
10 – 10.45 am All Saints Church, Evesham ‘Baby Baroque’
10.30 – 11.15 am St Martin’s Church, Worcester ‘Mozart in the Morning’
£5 adults; children FREE
See p8 for more details.
Ideal for babies and toddlers
The Great and Wide Sea
11 am – 12.40 pm
Worcester Baptist Church
£22 £16
Opus Anglicanum
Lynne Plowman The Rime of the Ancient Mariner 50’
Alexander Campkin ‘by still waters’ 3’
Sally Beamish Sea Psalm 20’
Opus Anglicanum (five male unaccompanied singers and BBC Radio’s Zeb Soanes narrating) perform sequences of song and spoken word created especially for the ensemble.
Plowman’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner places 12 brilliant miniatures amidst Coleridge’s 1798 ballad, while
Voice © Yoshitaka Kono
Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy
Beamish’s Sea Psalm marks the sinking of HMS Duchess in 1939, setting Psalm 107 ‘They that go down to the sea in ships’ against a retelling of the event through an eyewitness account.
£5
Coach departs 10.30 am returns by approx. 1 pm
Exhibition: John Rowlands-Pritchard
Opus Anglicanum director John RowlandsPritchard and creator of this year’s cover image (taken from the libretto of Jonathan Dove’s There Was a Child ) exhibits hand painted inscriptions on canvas panels featuring texts from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and other passages on angels and music.
Exhibition open daily 10 am – 7 pm in Choir House, 4 College Green. Admission FREE
Organ Recital
1.15 – 2.15 pm
St Martin’s Church, Worcester
£10
Sebastian Gillot organ
J.S. Bach Prelude and Fugue in B minor BWV 544; Largo e dolce from Flute Sonata in B minor BWV 1030 (arr. Gillot) 15’
Messiaen Le Banquet Céleste 7’
Buxtehude Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, Bux WV 76 8’
Mendelssohn Sonata No 4 in B flat 13’
The second in our tour of fine Worcestershire organs, showcased by young players nominated by the Royal College of Organists. The St Martin’s organ was originally built by Nicholson in 1928 but has been significantly refurbished and extended this century by Trevor G Tipple of Worcester.
£5
Coach departs 12.45 pm returns by approx. 2.45 pm
Supported by Father Michael Thomas
Paradise Remembered
3 – 4.40 pm All Saints Church, Evesham £22 £16
Voice vocal trio
Matthew Sharp cello (baritone*)
Filipe Sousa Like As the Waves 6’
James Francis Brown Rough Magic (arr. Matthew Sharp) 5’
Vaughan Williams Lovely Joan; Early in the Spring; She’s Like the Swallow 8’
Holst I Love my Love; O Swallow, Swallow; In Youth Is Pleasure; Eight Canons 13’
Giovanni Sollima Lamentatio* 7’
Roderick Williams Silence and Music (premiere) 20’
This concert takes its title from the autobiography of Ursula Vaughan Williams, whose life and poetry provides a programmatic thread. Performed and arranged by female vocal trio Voice and ‘cellist Matthew Sharp, songs of myth and memory celebrate Vaughan Williams’ (and lifelong friend Holst’s) enthusiasm for English folksong. At the heart of this programme is a new suite of madrigals, Silence and Music, composed for the quartet by Roderick Williams, setting Ursula Vaughan Williams’ poetry. The composer will give a short introduction to the piece and the ‘subtle, sensuous music’ of the poetry that inspired him.
£9
Coach departs 2 pm returns by approx. 5.25 pm
© John Rowlands-Pritchard
Sing Up, Sing Out!
4 – 5 pm Worcester Cathedral £6 adults, £2 children
Three Choirs Festival Children’s Choir
Robert Challinor piano
Ula Weber director
Young singers from around Worcester who have been given the opportunity to develop their singing skills with vocal coach Ula Weber have a chance to perform in the cathedral’s magnificent surroundings. Music will include Jonathan Dove’s Music on the Waters, I Turn on the Tap by Richard Stilgoe and extracts from Thomas Johnson’s Four Songs for the End of Wars (a 2016 festival commission) as well as songs from the shows and a touch of audience participation! To find out more about how to take part visit 3choirs.org/take-part
Supported by Carolyn Pascall
Choral
Evensong
5.30 – 6.20 pm Worcester Cathedral
Three Cathedral Choirs
Christopher Allsop organ
Geraint Bowen director
Sumsion Responses
Stanford Evening Service in A W Lloyd Webber The church with joy acclaims her Lord
Julian Lloyd Webber in Conversation
6.30 – 7.15 pm King’s School Theatre £12
Julian Lloyd Webber talks about his passion for music education and life in a musical family, with particular reference to his father’s music which features in tonight’s concert and Choral Evensong.
Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony
7.45 – 9.40 pm Worcester Cathedral £55, £50, £32, £25, £15
Wayne Marshall organ
Philharmonia Orchestra
Jérémie Rhorer conductor
W Lloyd Webber Aurora 10’
Poulenc Organ Concerto 22’ Saint-Saëns Symphony No 3 ‘Organ’ 36’
Tonight’s concert celebrates the monumental sound of organ and orchestra combined. While Poulenc’s concerto captures both tenderness and exuberance, Saint-Saëns’ symphony sweeps the listener along with its dramatic evolution. Organist William Lloyd Webber’s sumptuous tone poem Aurora opens the concert.
Supported by the Kildare Trust
Wayne Marshall supported by the Rodway Family Charitable Trust
Late Night Brandenburg
10 – 11 pm
St Helen’s Church, Worcester £16, £12
Musical and Amicable Society
Martin Perkins director/harpsichord
Vivaldi Concerto for two cellos in G minor, rV 531 11’
Vivaldi Concerto for four violins in B minor, Op. 3 No 10 12’
J.S. Bach Brandenburg Concerto No 6 in B flat, BWV 1051 16’
J.S. Bach Brandenburg Concerto No 3 in G, BWV 1048 11’
The Musical and Amicable Society give a period-instrument performance of these effervescent baroque masterpieces in the intimate surroundings of St Helen’s Church.
Worcester Cathedral organ © Ash Mills
TUESDAY
Hail Bright Cecilia
2.45 – 5 pm Worcester Cathedral
WOrksHOp
Sing Gregorian Chant
10 am – 4 pm
St Helen’s Church, Worcester
£35 (includes tea and coffee)
An entertaining, informative and enjoyable day, suitable for both experienced and novice singers. Using 10th-century chant composed in Worcester in honour of the then Bishop, St Oswald, this workshop prepares participants to perform Vespers in Worcester Cathedral alongside Opus Anglicanum in tonight’s 5.30 pm service. Directed by John Rowlands-Pritchard.
Spetchley Park Gardens Tour
10.30 am – 12.15 pm
Spetchley Park Gardens
£12
Enjoy an introductory welcome and morning refreshments before a guided tour of these historic gardens to learn more about the fascinating history and stories behind Spetchley’s wonderful plants and trees.
Coach departs 10.10 pm returns by approx. 12.45 pm
The three cathedral choirs celebrate Cecilia, patron saint of music. See p20.
Ash Mills
Spetchley Park Gardens
Elgar Society Lecture
10.30 am – 12 noon
King’s School Theatre
£14
A Profound and Glorious Revelation
Ralph Allwood, formerly Director of Music at Eton College and currently director of the Rodolfus Choir, Eton Choral Courses, Chapel Choir of Queen’s College, Cambridge and several other ensembles, talks about the significant effect of Elgar’s music on his life and work.
Elgar Society Lunch, 1pm
£29, or £40 to include the morning talk
Lunch will be served in the nearby King’s School Boathouse following the morning’s lecture. All welcome.
Dance Workshop
11 am – 12.30 pm (ages 8 – 11)
1 – 2 pm (ages 5 – 7)
Crow Studio, Keyes Building, King’s School
£6
Dancefest present a lively, creative dance workshops using Scott Joplin’s ragtime music. See p9 for further details.
Organ Recital
1.15 pm – 2.15 pm
St Swithun’s Church, Worcester
£10
Herman Jordaan organ
Froberger Capriccio III 5’
Sweenlinck Onder een Linde groen 6’
Byrd Clarifica me Pater 4’
J.S. Bach Partita ‘Ach, was soll ich Sünder machen’, BWV 770 15’
Kerckhoven Fantasia in D minor 6’
Purcell Voluntary in G 4’
Litaize X, XVII, XXIV from Vingt-quatre préludes liturgiques 12’
Russell Voluntary XI in D minor/major 7’
The third recital in our organ tour takes us to the early-Georgian city-centre church of St Swithun’s, whose organ has been listed by the British Institute of Organ Studies as an instrument of ‘outstanding historic and musical importance’.
Supported by Father Michael Thomas
The Merry Wives of Windsor
2 – 4.30 pm
West End Garden, Worcester Cathedral
£17, £10 children
The Festival Players
The Festival Players Theatre Company (allmale, costumed cast) bring you a summer feast of farce in this colourful comedy. The roguish and foolish knight, Falstaff, schemes to woo two married women and get his hands on their husbands’ money, but the wily Wives of Windsor are more than a match for him…
In the event of adverse weather, this performance will move to the King’s School Theatre
Hail Bright Cecilia
2.45 – 5 pm Worcester Cathedral
£45 £40 £27 £20 £10
Ruth Holton soprano
Robin Blaze countertenor
Gwilym Bowen tenor
Aidan Smith baritone
Three Cathedral Choirs
Meridian Sinfonia
Peter Nardone conductor
Purcell Hail Bright Cecilia 50’
Handel Ode for St Cecilia’s Day 52’
‘From harmony, from heavenly harmony…’ So begins Handel’s cantata in this concert celebrating Cecilia, patron saint of musicians: a fitting programme to showcase the exquisite sound of the three festival cathedrals’ professional choirs.
Supported by Lee Bolton Monier-Williams
Evensong
5.30 – 6.20 pm Worcester Cathedral
Opus Anglicanum cantors
Participants from today’s workshop
John Rowlands-Pritchard director
Vespers for St Oswald
The Dream of Gerontius
7.45 – 10 pm Worcester Cathedral £55, £50, £32, £25, £15
Susan Bickley mezzo-soprano
David Butt Philip tenor
Roderick Williams baritone
Worcester Cathedral Girl Choristers
Three Choirs Festival Chorus
Philharmonia Orchestra
Martyn Brabbins conductor
Elgar The Dream of Gerontius 100’
In the heart of ‘Elgar country’, Gerontius is perhaps synonymous with today’s Three Choirs Festival. In turn both theatrical and breathlessly delicate, earthly and ethereal, there is no wonder this work has endured in audiences’ hearts decade after decade. Conducted tonight by a celebrated champion of British music, Martyn Brabbins, alongside a stellar cast of soloists, this is sure to be a memorable performance of a festival favourite.
Supported by the Wigornia Circle
Roderick Williams
supported by Philip Jones
Late-night Bach
10.15 pm – 11.15 pm
Worcester Cathedral Quire
£15
Lucy Russell violin
J.S. Bach Partita No 1 25’
J.S. Bach Partita No 2 30’
Exquisite, dazzling, mesmerising – the hypnotic beauty of Bach’s solo violin works is impossible to forget and there is no better place to hear them than in the cavernous stillness of a slumbering cathedral. Played tonight by the leader of the Meridian Sinfonia and violinist of the Fitzwilliam String Quartet, Lucy Russell.
CAF.ThreeChoirsFestival_63x92mm_Ad-17247-AW:Lay
Big Sing 17
Saturday 22 April, 7pm, Cheltenham Town Hall Exultate Singers
Wednesday 3 May, 7.45pm, Christ Church Tom Donald
Saturday 6 May, 8pm, Christ Church
The London Community Gospel Choir
Sunday 7 May, 7.30pm, Trinity Church Book online at christianar tsfestival.org For further information call 01242 898403
Lucy Russell
Roderick Williams © Benjamin Ealovega
CHELTENHAM
Glagolitic Mass
7.45 – 9.40 pm Worcester Cathedral
Janáček’s triumphant mass takes full advantage of the cathedral’s magnificent organ. See page 25.
Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy: An Inside View
9.30 – 10.30 am
King’s School Boathouse
£12 (includes breakfast)
The third in a series programmed to mark the launch of Life after Tragedy: Essays on Faith and the First World War Evoked by Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy. Today we receive a unique insight from Andrew Studdert-Kennedy, grandson of ‘Woodbine Willie’, who will talk about the life, work and legacy of the most famous British army chaplain of the First World War. He will explore the particular context of his grandfather’s ministry and see what lessons can still be drawn from it.
Tiny Tunes
10 – 10.45 am Great Malvern Priory £5 per adult; children free
‘Song Time’. See p8 for more details. Ideal for babies and toddlers
Three Choirs Festival Society Outing
10.30 am – 12.45 pm Hanbury Hall £20 (Society members only)
Enjoy coffee on arrival, a short talk about Hanbury Hall followed by a performance from harpist Catherine Derrick (a Philharmonia Orchestra instrumental fellow), whose recital will include Britten’s Suite for Harp and Sonatine No 1 by Marcel Tournier. After the concert you can choose to take a private tour of the house or garden, or spend time on your own enjoying the garden and grounds.
Coach departs 9.45 am returns by approx. 1.30 pm
Echoes of a Distant Land
11 am – 12.50 pm
Worcester Baptist Church
£22, £16, under 26 FREE
Marsyas Trio
Jessica Summers soprano
Haydn Trio No. 30 in F Hob. XV:17 12’
Haydn Welsh Songs 10’
Hilary Tann Llef 8’
Ravel Chansons Madécasses 14’
Hilary Tann In the Theatre of Air 12’
(English premiere)
Beethoven Welsh Songs 24’
The Marsyas Trio (flute, cello, piano) are joined by soprano Jessica Summers in a programme that explores imagined portraits of foreign shores. Commissioned to write works inspired by folk songs from countries they had never visited, Haydn, Beethoven and Ravel aptly capture the spirit of these distant lands in rarely heard vocal works suffused with raw beauty, whilst Hilary Tann’s music remains deeply connected to her native Wales and its wild, open landscapes even from her home in the USA.
£5
Coach departs 10.30 am returns by approx. 1.15 pm
Lunch with Torsten Rasch
1.15 – 2.30 pm King’s School Boathouse £16 (includes a light lunch)
Roderic Dunnett interviews composer Torsten Rasch about his new orchestral version of A Welsh Night, premiered tonight by Sarah Connolly and the Philharmonia Orchestra.
The Merry Wives of Windsor
2 – 4.30 pm
West End Garden, Worcester Cathedral £17, £10 children
The Festival Players Theatre Company (all-male, costumed cast) bring you a summer feast of farce in this colourful comedy. The roguish and foolish knight, Falstaff, schemes to woo two married women and get his hands on their husbands’ money, but the wily Wives of Windsor are more than a match for him…
In the event of adverse weather, this performance will move to the King’s School Theatre
Twenty Somethings
3 – 4.50 pm Great Malvern Priory
£22, £16, £10
NYCGB Fellowship Octet
Ben Parry director
Monteverdi O primavera, gioventú de l’anno; Rimanti in pace 7’
Ramsey Sleep, Fleshly Birth 5’
Gombert In te domine speravi 8’
Purcell Hear my prayer, O Lord 2’
Leighton God’s Grandeur 5’
Vaughan Williams No longer mourn for me 4’
Britten Hymn to the Virgin 3’
Owain Park Shakespeare Love Songs 11’
David Hamilton Caliban’s Song 4’
Swingle It was a lover 3’
Trad. American Shenandoah 4’
Trad. Hawaiian arr. Eric Tuan Sanoe 5’
Goffin Something Tells Me 3’
Billy Joel arr. Philip Lawson Lullaby 4’
Webster/Harris arr. Friedman Spider-Man 3’
Just how great were the great composers in their twenties? And to what extent had they already found their voice? Selected by the eight singers of the National Youth Choir of Great Britain’s Fellowship Programme, a group of outstanding singers in their twenties, this beautiful programme explores the early music of composers from Monteverdi to Billy Joel. There is also new music from Owain Park, rapidly establishing himself as the current twenty-something composer to watch!
£6
Coach departs 2.15 pm returns by approx. 5.20
Supported by Michael Guittard and Harry Prince, and Pamela White
Choral Evensong
3.30 – 4.30 pm Worcester Cathedral
Three Cathedral Choirs
Christopher Allsop organ
Peter Nardone director
Day Round me falls the night
Thomas Hewitt Jones Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis*
Peter Nardone Responses
Stanford The Lord is My Shepherd
Ian King A Worcester Fantasy*
*Worcester Cathedral commission
This service will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. Please be seated by 3.15pm
The Three Deans’ Bowls Match
5 – 6.30 pm King’s School Garden
£10 (includes refreshments)
Enjoy a summer tea and cheer on the teams of the Worcester, Hereford and Gloucester Deans as they pit their bowls skills against one another.
Please note that this is a standing event and the gardens are wheelchair accessible only a far as the upper terrace
Peter Nardone © Michael Whitefoot
Organ Recital
5.30 – 6.40 pm Great Malvern Priory
£10
Donal McCann organ
J.S. Bach Prelude and Fugue in D BWV532 10’
Hindemith Sonata No 2 14’
Frescobaldi Toccata prima, Canzona quarta from Secondo libro 8’
Buxtehude Prelude, Fugue and Chaconne in C Bux WV 137 7’
J.S. Bach Trio Sonata No 6 BWV530 14’
Franck Chorale No 1 in E 14’
The last of our recitals from young organists showcasing some of the finest organs in Worcestershire. Great Malvern Priory’s organ restoration was completed to much acclaim in 2004 in consultation with former Worcester Organist and Festival Director Adrian Lucas.
£6
Coach departs 4.45 pm returns by approx. 7.10 pm
Supported by Father Michael Thomas
Glagolitic Mass
7.45 – 9.40 pm Worcester Cathedral £50, £45, £32, £25, £15
Natalya Romaniw soprano
Sarah Connolly mezzo-soprano*
Claudia Huckle contralto
Daniel Norman tenor
Ashley Riches bass
Christopher Allsop organ
Three Choirs Festival Chorus
Philharmonia Orchestra
Frank Beermann conductor
Strauss Metamorphosen 26’
Torsten Rasch A Welsh Night* (version premiere) 14’
Janáček Glagolitic Mass 40’
Janáček’s towering Glagolitic Mass is in turns raw, triumphant and affirmational. After its Prague premiere,
Janáček wrote that he ‘did not take the path trodden by slippers… we were a fresh spring breeze’. Similarly heartfelt is Strauss’ Metamorphosen, an anguished elegy to a ruined Europe in the closing months of WWII. The premiere of Torsten Rasch’s orchestration of his song cycle A Welsh Night (first performed at the festival in 2015) takes an altogether more private tone, setting lines of fond remembrance from Welsh poet Alun Lewis.
Supported by the Elmley Foundation
Late Night Joplin
10 – 11.15 pm College Hall, Worcester Cathedral £15
By the time of his death in 1917, Scott Joplin’s name had become synonymous with the increasingly refined ‘classic rag’ that we think of today as ragtime. From Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag to Fats Waller’s Alligator Crawl, versatile pianist John Lenehan traces the rise of popular piano music across four decades, taking in Albert Ketèlbey, Zez Confrey and Billy Mayerl, along the way.
Scott Joplin
Sarah Connolly © Jan Capinski
THURSDAY
Tudor Symphonies
3 – 4.50 pm Worcester Cathedral
JULY
The Cardinall’s Musick perform some of the finest examples of sixteenth-century English vocal music. See p27.
Vamos Mask Theatre Workshop
10 am – 12 noon King’s School Theatre
£6
Vamos present an engaging and fastpaced mask theatre workshop. See p9 for more details.
Ideal for ages 8 to adult
An English Celebration
11 am – 12.45 pm Pershore Abbey
£22
£16
The Proteus Ensemble
Gabrielle Bullock reader
Piers Maxim organ
Stephen Shellard director
Purcell I Was Glad, Hear My Prayer
Vaughan Williams Kyrie, Sanctus Benedictus and Agnus Dei from Mass in G Minor; Let all the World
Parry My soul, there is a country; I was Glad; Blest Pair of Sirens
Finzi Lo, the full final sacrifice
Stanford Three Motets
Tavener Song for Athene
This beautiful selection of English choral repertoire is punctuated by readings from Gabrielle Bullock. Together they create a performance which celebrates England’s landscape, music and traditions.
£9
Coach departs 10.15 am returns by approx. 1.15 pm
Supported by Carolyn Pascall and Wychavon District Council
Pershore Abbey
Toby Hughes
11 am – 12.45 pm Worcester Baptist Church £15, under 26 FREE
Toby Hughes double bass
Ben Powell piano
Toby Hughes is the 2016 winner of the Bromsgrove International Musicians’ Competition, and the first double bassist ever to win the strings section final of the Royal Over-Seas League ARTS competition. In today’s recital he showcases the instrument’s versatility in a wide ranging programme featuring sonatas from Derek Bourgeois and Hindemith alongside pieces by Bottesini, Rachmaninoff, Dvořák and Schubert.
£5
Coach departs 10.30 am returns by approx. 1.10 pm
Three Choirs Festival Society Lunch
1.15 – 2.30 pm King’s School Boathouse£30 (includes lunch, a glass of wine and coffee)
Enjoy a two-course lunch with fellow Society members, followed by an address from recentlyappointed Society President, baritone Roderick Williams.
Tudor Symphonies
3 – 4.50 pm Worcester Cathedral £35 £30 £25 £15 £10
The Cardinall’s Musick
Andrew Carwood director
Sheppard Gaude, gaude, gaude Maria 14’
Cornysh Ave Maria, mater Dei 3’
Tye Ad te clamamus 3’
Mundy Vox patris caelestis 18’
Taverner Mater Christi sanctissima 6’
Byrd O gloriosa Domina 5’
Tallis Euge caeli porta; Gaude gloriosa 21’
Sixteenth-century England stood apart from the European mainland with a musical inheritance which was radically different. During the life of Henry VII, English composers had produced huge and aweinspiring settings of texts in honour of the Virgin Mary that influenced Tallis, Sheppard and Mundy. This is a rare opportunity to hear some of these magnificent Tudor ‘symphonies’ in one concert. Full of colour and drama, they push the limits of invention. The programme is punctuated by more modest ‘sorbets’ – the English could excel at miniatures as well!
The Three Choirs Festival Society AGM
will be held today at 5.15 pm in the King’s School Theatre. All Society members welcome.
Tiny Tunes
3.30 – 4.15 pm Pershore Abbey £5 adults; children FREE ‘Dance! Dance!’. See p8 for more details. Ideal for babies and toddlers
Evening Prayer (said) will be held today at 5.30 pm in the Cathedral Crypt
Toby Hughes
© Sally Corrick
There Was a Child
7.45 – 9.40 pm Worcester Cathedral
£45 £40 £27 £20 £10
Lorna Anderson soprano
Nicholas Mulroy tenor
Andrew Davies baritone
Three Choirs Festival Youth Choir
Three Cathedral Choir Choristers
Philharmonia Orchestra
Adrian Partington conductor
Fauré Requiem 35’
Jonathan Dove There Was a Child 50’
Commissioned to write a piece in memory of his friend’s son, Jonathan Dove could all too easily have written a requiem. Yet, paired here with Fauré’s Requiem, we see that neither of these pieces are about loss, but wonderment. There Was a Child begins vibrantly as texts from Wordsworth
to Whitman trace a radiant vision of a young life from birth. Both works resolve In Pardisum: ‘an ecstatic sense of eternal continuity’.
Supported by The Bransford Trust
The Society
Lorna Anderson
President: Julian Lloyd Webber FRCM
FRIDAY
Kitty Whately
2.30 – 4.30 pm
Huntingdon Hall
Kitty Whately premieres a new work by Sally Beamish with words from author Alexander McCall Smith. See p30.
Britain, Germany, and Church Relations, 1914–1918
9.30 – 10.30 am
King’s School Boathouse
£12 (includes breakfast)
The final talk in a series programmed to mark the launch of Life after Tragedy: Essays on Faith and the First World War Evoked by Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy. Canon Mark Chapman, Professor of the History of Modern Theology at the University of Oxford, and Vice-Principal of Ripon College Cuddesdon gives a fascinating talk on how relations between the churches of Britain and Germany were affected by the First World War.
Music at Madresfield
11.00 am – 12.15 pm
The Long Gallery, Madresfield Court
£15
In the stunningly beautiful surroundings of Madresfield Court’s Long Gallery, oboist Amy Roberts, one of the Philharmonia Orchestra’s instrumental fellows, gives a recital including Clara Schumann’s Three Romances.
£6
Coach departs 10.15 am returns by approx. 12.45 pm
Supported by Dr Jim Hoyland
Watts
Madresfield Court
Celebrity Organ Recital:
Wayne Marshall
11 am – 1 pm Worcester
Cathedral £20
Wayne Marshall organ
Wayne Marshall Intrada Improvisée 5’
Widor Marcia from Symphonie No 3 Op. 69 6’
Alain Trois Dances 24’
Dupré Deuxième Symphonie Op. 26 15’
Lizst Fantasy and Fugue on “Ad Nos ad
Salutarem Undam” 25’
Wayne Marshall Improvisée Symphonique
Conductor and organist Wayne Marshall has been invited to give recitals at some of the most prestigious concert halls and cathedrals in the world. Today’s recital is bookended by some of his signature improvisations, alongside works that showcase his flair and virtuosity.
Kitty Whately
2.30 – 4.30 pm Huntingdon Hall
£27, £22
Kitty Whately mezzo-soprano
Simon Lepper piano
Jonathan Dove Nights Not Spent Alone; My love is mine; Five Am’rous Sighs; The Siren 28’
Sally Beamish new work (premiere) 20’
Tarik O’Regan Hold this city all night 12’
Joseph Horovitz Lady Macbeth – a scena 9’
Richard Sisson The Silver Swan 3’
Stephen Sondheim Could I leave you? 4’
Kitty’s choice of repertoire celebrates the vocal music on offer from today’s composers. At the heart of this programme lie works written especially for this award-winning mezzo, including Jonathan Dove’s Nights Not Spent Alone and a Three Choirs commission from Sally Beamish setting a new text on the subject of birds from bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith.
Choral Evensong
5.30 – 6.20 pm Worcester Cathedral
Worcester Cathedral Choir
Richard Cook organ
Christopher Allsop director
Rose Responses
Matthias Jesus Service
Parry At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners
Alexander McCall Smith and Sally Beamish in Conversation
5.30 – 6.15 pm King’s School Theatre
£12
Author Alexander McCall Smith and composer Sally Beamish discuss their recent collaboration on a new song cycle for mezzosoprano Kitty Whately (premiered today in Huntingdon Hall, 2.30 pm).
ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING AND BEST LOVED UNIVERSITIES IN THE UK
EXCEPTIONAL FACILITIES AND INVENTIVE COURSES HAVE OPENED UP NEW HORIZONS FOR STUDENTS
worcester.ac.uk/follow-us
Mozart’s Great Mass
7.45 – 10 pm Worcester Cathedral
£55 £50 £32 £25 £15
Katharine Fuge soprano
Gillian Keith soprano
Joshua Ellicott tenor
Robert Rice bass
Three Choirs Festival Chorus
Philharmonia Orchestra
Adrian Partington conductor
Shostakovich Symphony No 12 in D minor
‘The Year 1917’ 38’ Mozart Mass in C minor, ‘Great’ 60’
While at first glance there may seem little to unite tonight’s works, written centuries apart, both are responses to unforgettable times in each composer’s life. For Mozart, the recovery of his wife from critical illness; for Shostakovich, the Bolshevik Revolution seen through the prism of the post-WWII
Soviet landscape. In each work, the dramatic unleashing of fanfare and fury punctate music underpinned by a defiant hopefulness and faith in humanity.
Supported by the Freemasons of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershirend
Lay Clerks in Concert
10.30 – 11.30 pm
All Saints Church, Worcester £16 £12 £8
The Lay Clerks of Worcester, Gloucester and Hereford cathedrals come together for this staple of the festival programme: an evening of light entertainment and bonhomie
Supported by Salmon Harvester Properties Limited
Gillian Keith © Clare Park
An English Farewell
The festival concludes with works from Vaughan Williams, Finzi and Howells. See p33.
Sacconi Quartet
11 am – 12.45 pm Worcester Baptist Church
£27 £22, under 26 FREE
Sacconi Quartet
Suk Meditation on Chorale ‘St Wenceslas’ 7’
Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8 in C minor 20’
Beethoven String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 131 40’
The rich, beguiling late quartets of Beethoven and Shostakovich are considered some of the finest in the genre. Taken together, they illuminate the impact of Beethoven’s fervour on his successors and highlight Shostakovich’s own invention and originality. These two brooding works are prefaced by a gentler, dainty meditation on a traditional Czech chorale by Suk.
£5
Coach departs 10.30 am returns by approx. 1.10 pm
Music From the Movies: Family Come and Sing
2 – 5 pm
All Saints Church, Worcester
£6
An afternoon for all the family singing Disney favourites with Nia Llewelyn Jones. See p8 for more details. Ideal for all ages and abilities
Sacconi Quartet © Emilie Bailey
Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
3 – 5 pm Worcester Cathedral
£35 £30 £25 £15 £10
Choir of Kings College, Cambridge
Richard Gowers, Henry Websdale organ
Stephen Cleobury director
Tomkins O sing unto the Lord; When David Heard 7’
Byrd Ave Verum Corpus; Haec dies quam fecit Dominus 6’
Brahms Warum ist das Licht gegeben?; Schaffe in mir, Gott, ein rein Herz 13’
Bruckner Locus iste a Deo factus est 3’
Monteverdi Cantate Domino; Adoramus te, Christe 8’
Purcell Remember not, Lord, our offences; Jehovah, quam multi sunt hostes mei 8’
Vaughan Williams Valiant-for-Truth
Howells Nunc Dimittis (Collegium Regale) 5’
Elgar Give unto the Lord 10’
Fresh from their latest overseas tour, this esteemed choir present a very special festival performance. In the words of their director, Stephen Cleobury,
‘I am thrilled to be bringing the King’s Choir, with whom I have worked for over 30 years, to Worcester Cathedral and the Three Choirs Festival, the scene of my childhood musical education as a chorister. The music I have chosen is by composers whose music I first got to know in those days, and many of the pieces are ones which I sang in the Choir at that time.’
Supported by The American Friends of the Three Choirs Festival
Evening Prayer (said) will be held today at 5.30 pm in the Cathedral Crypt
‘Inexpressibly Rare’: Finzi and Traherne
6 – 7 pm King’s School Theatre
£10
Richard Willmott, Chairman of the Traherne Association, examines the background, meaning and beauty of the Thomas Traherne texts that Gerald Finzi sets in Dies Natalis
An English Farewell
7.45 – 9.45 pm Worcester Cathedral £50 £45 £32 £25 £15
Ruth Holton soprano
Ed Lyon tenor
Robert Evans bass Three Choirs Festival Chorus Philharmonia Orchestra
Peter Nardone conductor
Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music 15’ Finzi Dies Natalis 25’
Howells Hymnus Paradisi 46’
Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music illustrates Shakespeare’s words with shimmering sweetness before we embark on a musical journey from birth to death in two works premiered at past Three Choirs Festivals. Finzi’s setting of Traherne’s mystical poems express the wonder of a newborn coming into the world, while Howells’ almost unbearably moving Paradisi is an outpouring of grief over the death of his young son. The final, ecstatic movement brings the 2017 festival to a rapturous close and farewell.
Supported by Three Choirs Foundation
Ed Lyon supported by Mr and Mrs Sam Driver White
Choir of King’s College, Cambridge © Keith Saunders
Ed Lyon
BOOKING INFORMATION
How to book
Online: 3choirs.org
By Phone: 01452 768 928 (local rate from a UK landline), Monday to Friday 10 am – 4 pm
In person: from Monday 17 July, Festival Ticket Office, Choir House, 4 College Green, Worcester
Monday 17 – 10 am – 4 pm
Thursday 20 July
Friday 21 July 10 am – 6 pm
Sunday 22 – 10 am – 7.30 pm
Saturday 29 July
Booking Fees and Dispatch
A £2.50 booking fee applies to each order, plus 50p for postage (alternatively, you can choose to collect your tickets at the festival or have them emailed to you to print at home).
If you elect to receive your tickets by post, you should expect to receive your tickets within two weeks of placing your order.
Tickets held at the box office should be collected at least one hour prior to your first event, after which they will be transferred to the door of the venue.
© Clare Stevens
Festival Firsts
If you’re a regular Three Choirs Festival goer, we’d love you to help us share the experience with new people. This year, we’re launching a ‘Festival Firsts’ scheme, which will give local people who have never attended the Festival the chance to sample a concert free of charge via a simple sign-up process.
When you complete your booking, you’ll be invited to donate: we’d like to suggest the cost of a single seat, but you’re welcome to give more or less. Please consider sharing your love of the festival and help to grow our audiences.
Cathedral Subscription Discount
Booking five or more events in the cathedral qualifies you for a discounted ticket price:
5–9 events 5% discount
10 or more events 10% discount
Subscription bookers may request the same seat for each concert (subject to availability), or select them separately, and can book in any price band. The discount does not apply to additional seats (i.e. for members of your party attending fewer than 5 concerts) and free events do not count towards your events total.
Cathedral Rehearsals
Access to rehearsals is free of charge to Society members, accompanied children under 16, senior citizens and music students (proof of eligibility should be shown on the door). Anyone wishing to attend rehearsals who does not qualify for free entry may purchase a one-day rehearsal pass on the door for £5, subject to availability.
Admission to rehearsals is strictly at the discretion of the conductor and festival officials and access may be curtailed at short notice. No photography or recording is permitted, other than by an accredited festival photographer. Details of rehearsal times and any restrictions will be available online at 3choirs.org from the start of July.
For detailed information about booking, terms and conditions and other visitor information, please visit 3choirs.org/your-visit
Accessibility
We welcome all visitors to the festival and will be happy to help with access requirements wherever possible. A separate fact sheet is available, giving full details of access to all venues.
Please contact the ticket office at the time of booking if you have particular access requirements, and note that not all seats can be removed for wheelchairs. A very limited number of car parking spaces are available for disabled drivers with a blue badge, and these will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
Booking opens
Gold and Life Members from 10 am, Wednesday 5 April
Standard Members from 10 am, Monday 10 April
Public Booking from 10 am, Monday 24 April
Membership of the Three Choirs Festival Society, giving access to priority booking and other benefits, starts from as little as £40 per year. Visit 3choirs.org/membership or call the ticket office for more information.
35 A £2.50 transaction fee applies to all ticket orders
Worcester City Venues
Full details of seating areas and venue accessibility can be found online at 3choirs.org/your-visit
Coaches to outlying venues will collect from and return to King Street.
Marquee King’s School
6. Boathouse & Gardens* 7. Theat re
Dining Room* 9. Crow Studio, Keyes Building*
venues 10. Hu ntingdon Hall, Crowngate W r 1 3L d 11. Worcester Baptist Church, Sansome Walk W r 1 1LN
12. St Helen’s Church, Fish Street W r 1 2HN
13. All Saints Church, Deansway W r 1 2JJ
14. St. Mar tin’s Church, London Road W r5 2Ed*
15. St Sw ithun’s Church, Church Street W r1 2rH*
Worcestershire Venues
Venues marked with an asterisk (*) are unreserved. See seating plans for viewing restrictions in other venues.
16. Great Malvern Priory, Church Street W r 14 2 aY
17. Pershore Abbey, Church Street W r 10 1dT
18. All Saints Church, Market Place, Evesham W r 11 4rW*
19. Kiddermister Town Hall, Vicar Street dY10 1dB*
20. Spetchley Park Gardens W r5 1rs*
21. Madresfield Court W r 13 5 a H*
22. Hanbury Hall, School Road, Droitwich Spa W r9 7Ea*
Ba Evesham
Seating Plans
You can view seating plans and select your own seat for all reserved venues by booking online. Please note that Zone B seats are likely to have small areas of the stage obscured. Seats in Zone C will only have a restricted view of the stage. In the cathedral, Zones D and E have no view of the stage, but a TV relay system is in place for those seated in Zones C, D and E. Please note that seats in Zone E are behind the stage, and that no audio enhancement is in place in any part of the cathedral.
Huntingdon Hall, Worcester
All Saints Church, Worcester
Pershore Abbey
Worcester Baptist Church
St Helen’s Church, Worcester
Malvern Priory
King’s School Theatre, Worcester
Located just two minutes’ walk from Worcester Cathedral, this wonderful Museum will transport you to the start of manufacturing in 1751 where you will learn about the workers, famous customers, a world-class industry and meet skilled craftsmen who regularly work in the galleries.
www.museumofroyalworcester.org
Open Monday to Saturday 10 am – 5 pm, closed Sundays
Severn Street
Worcester WR1 2ND T: 01905 21247
‘Royal Worcester’ and the C51 crown device are registered by and used under kind permission from Portmeirion Group UK Ltd to whom all rights are reserved.
A treasure trove of Vintage and Antique China and Porcelain that was made here on the factory site. Whether you are looking for contemporary tableware, cake stands or gifts for special occasions we guarantee you will find the perfect memento of your visit.
www.museumofroyalworcester.org
Open Monday to Saturday 10 am – 5 pm, closed Sundays
Severn Street
Worcester WR1 2ND T: 01905 21247
‘Royal Worcester’ and the C51 crown device are registered by and used under kind permission from Portmeirion Group UK Ltd to whom all rights are reserved.
Sponsors and Supporters
The Three Choirs Festival is grateful to the following organisations and individuals for their generous support:
Corporate
Public Bodies
Friends Organisations
Trusts and Foundations
CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust ⋅The Edward Cadbury Charitable Trust
Finzi Trust ⋅ Kildare Trust ⋅ The Perry Family Charitable Trust
Rodway Family Charitable Trust
Individual Supporters Wigornia Circle
Richard Arenschieldt ⋅ Robert and Sherill Atkins ⋅ Mr and Mrs Sam Driver White
Michael Guittard and Harry Prince ⋅ Dr Jim Hoyland ⋅ Philip Jones
Katharine O’Carroll ⋅ Carolyn Pascall ⋅ Father Michael Thomas
Pamela White ⋅ Donations in memory of Mrs Margaret Elizabeth Digger
Jonathan and Lucy Chenevix-Trench ⋅ Michael and Angela Clarke
Lord and Lady Flight ⋅ Julia and Anthony Glossop ⋅ Richard Hall
Gerald and Cynthia Harris ⋅ David and Margaret Hawkins
Sir Michael and Lady Perry ⋅ Elaine Spalding
There are a number of ways in which you can support the work of Three Choirs Festival. If you are interested in finding out more, please contact Genie Dyke: genie.dyke@3choirs.org 01452 768 933
