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Donald Macleod surveys some of the music particularly associated with Gloucester Cathedral's contribution to the three centuries of the Three Choirs Festival.

Gloucester Cathedral is renowned for having a uniquely beautiful acoustic, and famously was the venue for the premiere of one of the most quintessentially English pieces of music - Vaughan Williams's Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis. And Gloucester is the final stop on Donald Macleod's tour of the three cities that constitute the geographical, historical, and musical triangle of the Three Choirs Festival. The festival takes place annually, as it has for three centuries, and lies at the heart of British musical life.

Today Donald Macleod visits the office of Chief Executive Dominic Jewel and discusses the practicalities of managing a festival that extends over three counties. He also pays a final visit to Festival historian Anthony Boden and discusses the particular influence of Herbert Howells and Ivor Gurney, two of Gloucestershire's finest composers.

1 hour

Clip

Music Played

  • Ivor Gurney

    Since I Believe In God The Father Almighty For Double Chorus

    Choir: Gloucester Cathedral Choir. Director: Adrian Partington.
    • Priory: PRCD 1128.
    • Priory.
    • 14.
  • Ivor Gurney

    Since I Believe In God The Father Almighty For Double Chorus

    Choir: Gloucester Cathedral Choir. Director: Adrian Partington.
    • Priory: PRCD 1128.
    • Priory.
    • 14.
  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

    Ballade In A Minor Op.33 For Orchestra

    Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Grant Llewellyn.
    • ARGO : 436-401-2.
    • ARGO.
    • 1.
  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

    Ballade In A Minor Op.33 For Orchestra

    Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Grant Llewellyn.
    • ARGO : 436-401-2.
    • ARGO.
    • 1.
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis For Double String Orchestra

    Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Conductor: Neville Marriner.
    • DECCA : Argo-414 595-2.
    • DECCA.
    • 1.
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis For Double String Orchestra

    Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Conductor: Neville Marriner.
    • DECCA : Argo-414 595-2.
    • DECCA.
    • 1.
  • Herbert Howells

    Hymnus Paradisi

    Performer: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Performer: Three Choirs Festival Chorus. Conductor: Donald Hunt. Singer: April Cantelo. Singer: David Johnson.
    • 91Èȱ¬ : 15656-91982.
    • 91Èȱ¬.
  • Herbert Howells

    Hymnus Paradisi

    Performer: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Performer: Three Choirs Festival Chorus. Conductor: Donald Hunt. Singer: April Cantelo. Singer: David Johnson.
    • 91Èȱ¬ : 15656-91982.
    • 91Èȱ¬.
  • Rosalind Ellicott

    A Reverie For Cello And Piano

    Performer: Joseph Spooner.
    • Dutton: CDLX 7225.
    • Dutton.
    • 7.
  • Rosalind Ellicott

    A Reverie For Cello And Piano

    Performer: Joseph Spooner.
    • Dutton: CDLX 7225.
    • Dutton.
    • 7.

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