Southern Cathedrals Festival
{{Short description|Music festival}}
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The Southern Cathedrals Festival is a five-day music festival held in rotation among the English cathedrals of Chichester, Winchester and Salisbury, in the penultimate week of July.{{cite news|url=http://www.chichester.co.uk/what-s-on/culture/southern-cathedrals-festival-heads-for-chichester-1-5239362|title=Southern Cathedrals Festival heads for Chichester|publisher=Chichester Observer|date=1 July 2013|access-date=18 July 2013}} The festival was restored in 1960 after initial attempts to create the annual occasion were followed by 28 years without it. The respective director of music acts as festival director when it is that cathedral's turn to host the event.
History
In September 1904, a service was held in Chichester Cathedral to celebrate the reopening of the main organ of that cathedral following its restoration by Hele of Plymouth. This brought together the cathedral choirs of Chichester, Winchesterand Salisbury. In 1905, the cathedral choirs met in Salisbury, followed by Winchester in 1906. Bishop Wilberforce of Chichester died in September 1907, so the return to Chichester had to be delayed until 1908. Thereafter, the Three Choirs Festival, as it was then known, continued until 1913 when the annual meeting was suspended because of the First World War. The festival was revived in 1920 and continued to be held until 1932. At that time the annual meeting consisted of a single day and the joint performance by the three choirs of a choral evensong.
In 1960, the festival was re-established by John Birch (Chichester), Reginald Alwyn Surplice (Winchester) and Christopher Dearnley (Salisbury), with the title changed to the Southern Cathedrals Festival, and the length increased to two days, with two joint evensong services and the addition of a concert.{{cite book |title=Southern Cathedrals Festival 2007 |year=2007 |page=64}}
The festival is now three days long, consisting of three concerts, a choral masterclass, an organ recital, a Festival Eucharist, buffet lunches, three evensong services sung separately by each choir and a "Fringe" event.{{cite news|url=http://www.southerncathedralsfestival.org.uk/programme/l|title=Southern Cathedrals Festival Programme|publisher=SCF}} The Fringe is an entertainment which is written and performed by the hosting cathedral. It consists of solos sung by lay clerks, comedy acts by organists and vicars, and so on.
Commissioned works
{{Incomplete list|date=September 2018}}
- 1965 Bryan Kelly: Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in C{{cite book|title=English Cathedral Music and Liturgy in the Twentieth Century|page=128|author=Martin Thomas|publisher=Routledge Publishing|date=2016}}
- 1965 Leonard Bernstein: Chichester Psalms
- 1991 Patrick Gowers: Cantata{{Cite web |title=Veni, Sancte Spiritus - Choral and Organ music of Patrick Gowers |url=http://www.lammas.co.uk/veni-sancte-spiritus-choral-and-organ-music-patrick-gowers |work=Lammas Records |access-date=22 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140322134856/http://www.lammas.co.uk/veni-sancte-spiritus-choral-and-organ-music-patrick-gowers |archive-date=22 March 2014 }}
- 1996 Francis Jackson: I will extol Thee{{cite web |title=Dr Francis Jackson—List of Works, 1937-2006 |url=http://www.yorkminster.org/geisha/assets/files/FJ%20LIST%20REVISED%20JUNE2008_1.pdf |work=York Minster |date=June 2007 |access-date=22 March 2014}}
- 1999 Francis Grier: A Prayer of St. Augustine{{Cite thesis |type=D.Mus.A |pages=24–25, 46–47 |title=The Choral Music of Francis Grier |url=http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/umi-uncg-1261.pdf |author=Robert Benjamin Hutchens II |year=2006 |access-date=19 July 2013 }}
- 2004 Malcolm Archer: Benedicite
- 2005 Simon Lole: O Holy Ghost, O Paraclete
- 2008 Tarik O'Regan: Nunc Dimittis{{cite news |title=O'Regan premieres at East Neuk Festival and Southern Cathedrals Festival |url=http://www.schirmer.com/Default.aspx?TabId=2569&State_3173=2&newsId_3173=1386 |work=Schirmer |access-date=19 July 2013}}
- 2009 Will Todd: Psalm 146{{cite news |title=A 5-Day Feast Of Choral Music - Southern Cathedrals Festival 2009 At Salisbury Cathedral 15 - 19 July |url=http://www.salcath.co.uk/press-release-archive/5-day-feast-choral-music-southern-cathedrals-festival-2009-salisbury-cathedral |work=salisburycathedral.org.uk |date=May 21, 2009}}
- 2012 Neil Cox: The River of Life{{cite web |title=BBC - Media Centre - Programme Information - Choral Evensong |url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2012/31/choral-evensong.html |work=BBC Radio 3 |date=1 August 2012 }}
- 2013 James MacMillan: The Offered Christ
- 2015 Howard Moody: In the hand of God{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0640ltc|title=Choral Evensong – Southern Cathedrals Festival in Salisbury Cathedral|date=17 July 2015|publisher=BBC Radio 3}}
- 2016 Ned Bigham: Music to hear
- 2018 Marco Galvani: O Sacrum Convivium
- 2019 Frederick Stocken: Chichester Service (Evening Canticles)
- 2021 Joseph Twist: How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?
- 2023 Christopher Hussey: The Star
List of organ recitalists
An organ recital is given in the evening of the first day of the festival. Recitalists since 1986 have included:
{{div col}}
- 1986 John Birch, former Organist and Master of the Choristers, Chichester Cathedral
- 1987 James Lancelot, Master of the Choristers and Organist, Durham Cathedral
- 1988 Colin Walsh, Organist, Lincoln Cathedral
- 1989 Simon Lindley, Organist, Leeds Parish Church
- 1990 Martin Neary, Organist and Master of the Choristers, Westminster Abbey
- 1991 Nicolas Kynaston, concert organist
- 1992 Jeremy Suter, Master of the Music, Carlisle Cathedral
- 1993 Dr Marilyn Keiser, concert organist
- 1994 Thomas Trotter, Birmingham City Organist
- 1995 John Scott, Director of Music, St Paul's Cathedral
- 1996 Roy Massey, Organist and Director of Music, Hereford Cathedral
- 1997 David Briggs, Director of Music, Gloucester Cathedral
- 1998 James Thomas, Director of Music, St Edmundsbury Cathedral
- 2001 Adrian Lucas, Master of the Choristers, Worcester Cathedral
- 2002 Stephen Farr, Organist and Master of the Choristers, Guildford Cathedral
- 2003 James O’Donnell, Organist and Master of the Choristers, Westminster Abbey
- 2004 Martin Baker, Master of Music, Westminster Cathedral
- 2005 Philip Scriven, Organist and Master of the Choristers, Lichfield Cathedral
- 2006 David Briggs, Organist Emeritus, Gloucester Cathedral
- 2007 Colin Walsh, Organist Laureate, Lincoln Cathedral
- 2008 John Scott, Organist and Director of Music, Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue
- 2009 James Lancelot, Master of the Choristers and Organist, Durham Cathedral
- 2010 Thomas Trotter, Birmingham City Organist
- 2011 James O’Donnell, Organist and Master of the Choristers, Westminster Abbey
- 2012 Gillian Weir, concert organist
- 2013 Mark Wardell, former Assistant Organist, Chichester Cathedral
- 2014 Robert Quinney, Director of Music, Peterborough Cathedral
- 2015 Naji Hakim, former Organiste Titulaire, Église de la Sainte-Trinité, Paris
- 2016 David Goode, Organist, Eton College and former Sub-Organist, Christ Church, Oxford
- 2017 Simon Johnson, Organist and Assistant Director of Music, St Paul's Cathedral
- 2018 Daniel Cook, Master of the Choristers and Organist, Durham Cathedral
- 2019 Franz Hauk, Organist, Liebfrauenmünster, Ingolstadt
- 2023 Colin Walsh, Organist Laureate, Lincoln Cathedral
- 2024 Jonathan Hope, Assistant Director of Music, Gloucester Cathedral
{{div col end}}
See also
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
- [http://www.southerncathedralsfestival.org.uk/ Official Southern Cathedrals Festival website]
Category:Music festivals established in 1904