The Three Choirs Festival: Gloucester 2007
This was probably we're not quite sure our 16th Festival since 1991. We stayed from Tuesday to Saturday at Linton Farm, just off the A40 near Highnam, about 5 miles northwest of the city. There were remarkably few signs of the floods that deprived the city of running water until the very start of the festival. There were, however, notices warning us not to drink tap water and rely on bottled supplies that were in free abundance at the Festival Club. We saw the now famous bowsers being collected from the streets and there were still plenty of sandbags around house doorways. The superintendent of the Gloucester Chorus (whom we knew from Hereford last year) told us about the determination of everyone when things were at their worst that the Festival would go ahead. Special arrangements were made for rehearsals; for example, portaloos were brought in for the exclusive use of the Hereford and Worcester contingents, while the Cathedral staff used the water from the cloister fountains. In the event only one concert had to be rearranged from Tewksbury Abbey to Cheltenham Town Hall. It was an enjoyable festival, with plenty of warm sunshine usual for 3Q but unusual in 2007. We exchanged brief conversations with people met in previous years, made new acquaintances and saw many of the 3Q characters like the Scotsman who wears alternatively a kilt or grey morning dress and is always in a hurry, and the elderly and helpful steward who competes for the most colourful waistcoat to accompany black morning dress.
Our Day-by-Day Diary
Tuesday Evening Concert: Elgar's Dream of Gerontius. This setting of John Henry Newman's poem seemed just a little muddied to us, but then we did have the cheapest and unreserved seats just inside the Pilgrims Door. Others we spoke to later, however, also expressed some disappointment.
Wednesday Used Festival Society privilege to listen to morning rehearsal for evening concert Hayden Theresienmesse, Walton Sonata for Strings and Hayden Trumpet Concerto.
It was interesting to hear conductor Geraint Bowen (with microphone) reminding chorus where to take breath and get timing right ("it won't happen by accident") and one side of his several conversations with the Philharmonia leader James Clark. With the youthful soloists he seemed quite happy (as it seemed to us he truly should be). When it came to the Trumpet Concerto, due deference was paid to soloist Crispian Steele-Perkins who seemed such an engaging personality that we quickly booked for his next day lecture.
Gloucester's eateries make much less effort than those in Hereford to cater for 3Q visitors wanting a meal before a 7.45 pm concert. Most are closed by late afternoon. There was one Bar and Grill that did put on a special menu. And did stay open late. We dined there at 8pm. Never before were we served pasta accompanied by salad, chips and garlic bread; we just about managed to rise from the table.
Our booking was for the late evening concert by Black Voices, a female quintet, singing Spiritual Journey written and arranged by Ken Burton and marking the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade. African origins, pain and loss, plotting escape and liberation were effectively and movingly heard.
Thursday In the morning we drove out to Painswick. Most of the commercial premises are Estate Agents or curio shops, but we did find a Londis from which we bought a picnic to eat in the churchyard. Then we ascended Cud Hill to relax in the sunshine and survey the panorama over Gloucester to the Malvern Hills and beyond.
Crispian Steele-Perkins didn't disappoint. He explained and played - the evolution of the trumpet from an ox horn to the modern trumpet and cornet (on which he played the intro to the Antiques Roadshow). We bought an autographed copy of his CD The English Trumpet (Purcell, Jeremiah Clark and Handel).
The evening concert by the Ex Cathedra Choir, Soloists and Baroque Ensemble was Monteverdi Vespers. This 1613 collection blends "traditional" and "modern" sacred chants and secular motets. It was wonderful!
Friday There's always plenty to see in a 3Q city. I visited the Canal Museum archives on Wednesday while Mary viewed the Museum itself. A marquee on the Cathedral lawn hosted an exhibition of work by The Guild of Gloucestershire Craftsmen. We bought a small wall hanging to take to Ann-Karin and Hans.
The Three Cathedral Choirs Concert was in the afternoon Cantatas by Kuhnau (arr. Bach) and Bach, and Vivaldi's Magnificat and Gloria. Crispian Steele-Perkins (again!) accompanied the guest soprano soloists.
The evening concert comprised one of Elgar's less known works The Spirit of England (1917) and Holst's best known The Planets. Both performances were memorable. Elgar's patriotism didn't descend into jingoism he had too many German friends for that. His sympathetic setting of Lawrence Binyon's poems The Fourth of August (the day war broke out), To Women (suffering at home) and For the Fallen (4th Stanza "They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old ") emphasises the pity of war. Holst's suite was magnificently performed. The final movement Neptune, the mystic - ended with the wordless choir of women's voices out of sight and fading as they moved away and the TV screen being gradually blackened-out.
Saturday In the morning, an organ recital by John Scott. A varied programme: 17th C Buxtenhude; 18th C Bach; and 20th C Langlais, Joubert, Durufle and Hugh Wood (who was in the audience). The organ growled in some pieces and danced in others
John Scott was the guest speaker at the Festival Society Lunch and spoke very well about music making today. Dame Janet Baker as eloquently as ever gave the vote of thanks including those who had made the Festival possible in spite of the floods.
Evensong was preceded by an organ recital by Christopher Allsop from Worcester and was conducted by Adrian Lucas. The congregation sang not very appropriately? "Lead kindly light, amid the encircling gloom". The blessing was given by the Bishop.
The final concert was Mahler's Symphony Number 8 a choral work in two parts. This was the only concert for which we had "seeing" seats (i.e. not dependent on the TV screen) in fact in the seventh row. Thus Part I "Veni, creator spiritus" sung fff by seven soloists (often together with the chorus) was deafening. Part II "Closing scene from Faust, Act II" in German - more varied in volume and in content - was more enjoyable. A massive work. An unforgettable experience. But better from further back than Row 7.
Mary and I went, as is our custom, in August to the Three Choirs Festival, this year at Hereford where there is always a very friendly atmosphers. I'll mention just a few of what were for us the highlights of a great week.
The Sunday morning Catherdral Eucharist was to a setting by Denys Darlow specially commissioned for the Festival. The Dean preached about settings for the mass, commended singing the Creed as emphasing the spirit not the letter and thus avoiding use of doctrine as a hurdle, and made special mention - by actually singing it - of how Darlow's Agnus Dei yearns for peace.
Sunday ended with Elgar "The Kingdom" - a very moving presentation of Pentecost and the life of the early Church. (One wonders about its impact on the performers - the Philharmonia Orchestra and Festival Chorus under Geraint Bowen and soloists Judith Howarth, Catherine Wynne-Rogers, Adrian Thompson and Roderick Williams.) Yet by the time of its first performance in 1906 Elgar had long lost his Christian faith!
Later in the week we heard the Dean again - speaking on The Legacy of The English Hymnal (published in 1906). Prime movers were Percy Dearmer (anglo-catholic socialist cleric) and Vaughan Williams (enthusiast for corporate, community activity [singing in unison] but not a churchgoer). In the late 19th century, hymn standards were low and anglo-catholics, in contrast to the founders of the Oxford Movement, over-emphasised ceremonial. Nothing but the best should be offered in worship, but new sources were found, including American hymns and folk tunes, and provision was made for the structure of the liturgical year.
Initially it was controversial, particularly for including hymns on Our Lady and the Saints. It was banned by some bishops. But, the Dean noted, John Wesley agreed Mary was indeed "full of grace". What is now being celebrated is not a book but a movement, a movement which continues in new publications such as "New English Praise."
The final concert on Friday evening comprised Shostakovitch "Tahiti Trot" (based on "Tea for Two" from the musical "No, No, Nanette" and for which the composere was forced by his Soviet masters to make a grovelling apology); Ravel "Ma mere l'oye (Mother Goose); Stravinski "Pulcinella Suite" and as a stunning climax Walton's "Belshazzar's Feast". The Philharmonia Orchestra, Festival Chorus and Soloist Neal Davies, under Geraint Bowen, were magnificent. This was followed by wine, finger buffet and fireworks in the grounds of the Bishop's Palace.
Mary and I attended this, the 278th Annual Meeting of the Three Choirs of Worcester, Hereford and Gloucester, for only two of its extra-long nine days at Worcester. We travelled early on Sunday morning (7th August) to get there in time for the 10.30 am Festival Eucharist in the Cathedral. We made it, just with the only seats available being in the very front row. (For the Festival, Worcester turns around with the orchestras and choirs at the West End for the concerts. The service stayed the same way round with a temporary altar and lectern.) It was a splendid service, musically and liturgically with an appropriate sermon by the Bishop, Dr Peter Selby on miracles (unexpected happenings in our lives) both good and bad and how we should respond.
After lunch on the Green, we went by coach to Malvern Priory for our first concert: an organ recital by Thomas Trotter. It was packed and the doors werent opened until 15 minutes before it was due to start, prompting comments that Christian revival had stated with long queues of people anxious to be in church! Thomas Trotter played Bach Concerto in D minor after Vivaldi BWW 596, James Macmillan Le Tombeau de Georges Roualt a very strange modern work, Schumann Canon in A flat, Elgar Sonata in G op 28, Ad Wammas Miroir a delightful minimalist piece by the former keyboard player of the 1970s cult Dutch group "Finch" and Wagner arr Lemare Overture Die Meistersinger.
On our return to the city we had time to establish ourselves at our B&B and get something to eat before the evening concert in the Cathedral, an all-Russian treat. Shostakovich Festival Overture was an invigorating introit. Shosta, back in favour after the death of Stalin wrote this commission for the 37th Anniversary of the 1917 Revolution - in days before the celebration. Then we were entranced by Prokofiev Alexander Nevsky. This commemorates the defeat of invading Teutonic invaders in 1242 and was originally written for Eisenstein's 1938 film. It suited Stalin's aim of rehabilitating nationalism, and the film was banned in West Germany until 1966. What we heard was the cantata Prokofiev made from the music in 1939. The orchestra was the Birmingham Philharmonic, with the Festival Chorus and mezzo-soprano Elena Prokina, under the baton of Adrian Lucas, the Worcester organist/choirmaster and Artistic Director of the Festival. The performance was magnificent. Imagine how the music and the film helped maintain morale during the siege of Leningrad that began in September 1941 and lasted for 900 days. The final item was Rachmaninov The Bells, a setting in Russian of a poem by Edgar Allan Poe, with Frances McCafferty (soprano), Ilya Levinsky (tenor) and Pavel Baransky (baritone) who flew in from Kiev that day to replace Vladimir Moroz who had been taken ill. The various presence of bells in Russian life sleigh riding, weddings, fire alarms, funerals were explored; the way in which other instruments as well as tubular bells and xylophones can produce bell-like tones is amazing. But perhaps because we were tired after a long day we didn't enjoy this so much as the rest of the programme.
At breakfast next morning we made the acquaintance of two fellow guests, older than us, from Rustington. We compared notes on the organ recital and we reported on the Russian concert they had not attended. Like many festival-goers they were very knowledgeable and in fact he leads musical appreciation classes for the University of the Third Age. We spent the morning in the sunshine by the Cathedral and by the river, which in that part is a swan sanctuary. We met and spoke with Roy Massey, retired Hereford organist/choir master, who features on a painting hanging on our dining room wall with him, his choir and his dog proceeding across the Green towards the Cathedral.
We attended the Festival Society Lunch in the Festival Marquee. As ever, there a was very friendly atmosphere as indeed there always is over the whole Festival performers, very musically knowledgeable folk and ignoramuses like us who just like the music and the ambiance meet and talk freely with anyone. The Guest Speaker was Howard Blake whose Elgar Commission Songs of Truth and Glory had just had its first performance at St Martin's Church. He spoke about the travails of composing, in particular commissions. George Carey as Archbishop once invited him to write something "to revive the Church of England"! He was commissioned to set the Charter of the United Nations to music. It was first performed in front of high officials and heads of state and government. He was presented to the Queen, Prince Philip and Prince Charles. "Too many words", grunted Philip. "Too many words", added Charles. It is the UN Charter, explained Howard Blake. "Humph", expostulated Philip. It reminded the speaker of a know-all's criticism of Mozart: "too many notes". More seriously, Blake expressed the belief that Schoenberg's 12 tonal theory has now had its day. All notes are not of equal value; the dominant, sub-dominant etc exist in nature. A budding composer should write "what you feel is right for you". But each country has its own cultural heritage. "English conductors for English works!"
OAPs, Festival Society members and students are admitted to rehearsals. In the afternoon we went into the Cathedral for the second half of rehearsals of Elgar The Light of Life and Britten Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings just orchestra and soloists. We have heard rehearsal before that were just a run through the pieces. This was different. Many stops, much verbal exchange between conductor, soloists, leader and other section principals and some beautiful excerpts of music. To judge by the review in The Guardian, it all went well on the night. We then had a cream tea, joined by new friends from St Edmunds we had met at the lunch who had also been at the rehearsal. That was our last sight of the festival. We visited some old friends who now live in Worcester and drove home on Tuesday morning. The roads were nearly as quiet as on Sunday, at least from Worcester to Oxford.