Chichester to host the Southern Cathedrals Festival
The festival rotates from year to year between Chichester, Salisbury and Winchester. 2016 will be Charles’ first on home territory – and an exciting prospect.
“It is one of the most significant and exciting celebrations of cathedral music in the country, and second only to the Three Choirs Festival in its scope and ambition,” Charles said.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“It brings together some of the finest cathedral choirs, offering opportunities to hear them individually and in combination. Festival-goers can enjoy the stylistic differences between the choirs and revel in the subtlety, colour and sheer power of the joint forces.
“The festival is a truly wonderful testament to the skill and talent of children: much of the singing is done by the girl and boy choristers (83 in all) of the three cathedrals. The levels of professionalism they attain never fail to astonish me, especially when I remember that the youngest are just nine years old. It is worth coming to one of the events just to take in this minor miracle.”
As host, Charles is festival director this year: “This is an important responsibility for me. I have many distinguished predecessors, and they have set high standards for artistry and imaginative programming. There is terrific support from my colleagues here at Chichester, and at Salisbury and Winchester – but it is right to be just a little apprehensive as I take the reins for the first time.
“My responsibilities most importantly are planning a varied, satisfying and cohesive programme. That job took about 18 months, and involved lots of thinking and rethinking. Timetabling was surprisingly complicated, but vital to get right: while performing lots of wonderful music, it is important to look after our choirs, and ensure that no one is overworked. Fundraising is also important: sponsorship and advertising account for about half of the total income, and we are very fortunate to have many generous supporters. Then there are meals, accommodation, seating plans, rehearsal schedules, proof-reading… I want everyone – audience and performers – to enjoy themselves: the little details count just as much as the big artistic vision.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“We are marking the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death with several settings of his texts, including a newly-commissioned work from local composer Ned Bigham. Several notable composers of cathedral music have anniversaries this year, and these will be marked, particular in our recording for BBC Radio 3. I have also been keen to include music outside the English tradition: Czech, Hungarian, Russian and German music will feature prominently – and our choristers will be singing in five languages during the course of the festival!
“The festival has a special place in the artistic life of the south of England, and is much admired at national level. There is a large and loyal band of patrons, at least one of whom (known to me) has attended every festival since 1960! It inspires great affection among its supporters, and is respected for commissioning new pieces of music. Leonard Bernstein’s famous Chichester Psalms were written for the Southern Cathedrals Festival in 1965, the first of many works that have entered the repertoire via this route.
“Once the themes of the festival were established, my job was to develop a programme that has at its core the English choral tradition, while reaching out to less familiar strands. This is good for the choirs, and I hope stimulating for the audience. The singers want some repertoire in which they feel at home, but equally we don’t want to waste the opportunities that come with large choral forces, and with orchestral and instrumental resources. This is particularly true of the Chichester choir – the smallest cathedral choir in the country: we can sing much of the standard cathedral repertoire with great poise and flexibility, but some pieces are too large-scale for us on our own. By joining forces with our friends from Salisbury and Winchester, our choir can have the experience of performing works that are normally out of our reach. In addition to the main choral concerts, there are song recitals at Pallant House Gallery, jazz evenings in the Bishop’s Palace, and an organ performance by the internationally-acclaimed David Goode.”
THURSDAY, JULY 21
11am Church Music Society Lecture. St John’s Chapel
The Church Music of Charles Wood. The Dichotomy of Antiquarian versus Romantic
Lecturer: Professor Jeremy Dibble
Free admission
1.30pm Concert - Hear my Words
The combined boy choristers and lay clerks
Parry Hear my words, ye people
Andrea Gabrieli Magnificat a 12
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdJ.S. Bach Meine Seele erhebt den Herren, BWV 733
J.S. Bach Ich lasse dich nicht, BWV 159
Gesualdo/Stravinsky Tres sacrae cantiones
Eben Moto Ostinato from ‘Musica Dominicalis’
Walton The Twelve
Tickets £17 centre nave £13 side aisles (restricted view)
3.15pm Songs and Sonnets: Shakespeare and Friends
Pallant House Gallery
Mark Wilde tenor
David Owen-Norris piano
Parry Four Sonnets of Shakespeare
Sterndale Bennett from Six Songs, Op.23 and Op.35
Battison Haynes Elizabethan Lyrics
Tickets £15 unreserved (includes admission to Gallery)
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad5.45pm Choral Evensong (recorded by BBC Radio 3 for future broadcast)
The girl choristers of Salisbury and Winchester and the combined lay clerks
Responses Rose
Reger Nachtlied
Wood Collegium Regale
S. Wesley In exitu Israel
Vierne Allegro maestoso from Symphony III
8pm Organ Recital - David Goode
Dupré Variations sur un Noël, Op.20
J.S. Bach Sonata No.2, BWV 530
Mathias Partita, Op.19
Duruflé Scherzo, Op.2
Reger Choral-Fantasy on Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern
Tickets £13 unreserved (Large TV screen in nave)
9.30pm Fringe Jazz Club
The Old Kitchen, Bishop’s Palace
Lucy Cronin voice
Liam Dunachie piano
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdJazz for all tastes, excellent food and drink, and a relaxing and convivial atmosphere. The Fringe Jazz Club is the perfect way to round off you day at the Festival.
Tickets £5.50 (admission only) £12.75 (admission and barbecue)
FRIDAY, JULY 22
10am Mattins
The boy choristers and lay vicars of Salisbury Cathedral
Responses Radcliffe
Sumsion Te Deum in G
Howells Collegium Regale (Jubilate)
Wesley Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace
2.30pm Songs and Sonnets: Shakespeare and Friends
Pallant House Gallery
Mark Wilde tenor
David Owen-Norris piano
Parry Four Sonnets of Shakespeare
Sterndale Bennett from Six Songs, Op.23 and Op.35
Battison Haynes Elizabethan Lyrics
Tickets £15 unreserved (includes admission to Gallery)
5pm Evensong
The boy choristers and lay clerks of Winchester Cathedral
Responses Smith
Murrill in E
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdJo Twist How shall we sing in a strange land
7pm Concert - Angel Voices
Music for choir, tenor and harp
The girl choristers of Salisbury and Winchester and the combined lay clerks
Mark Wilde tenor
Lucy Wakeford harp
Wood Hail! Gladdening light
Gowers Viri Galilei
Messiaen Transports de joie
Howells Sequence for St Michael
Britten Canticle 5
Grieg Ave Maris stella
Rachmaninov Bogoroditse Djevo
Ned Bigham Music to hear (SCF 2016 Commission)
Janácek Otce nas
Tickets £21 centre nave £15 side aisles (restricted view)
8.15pm Fringe Jazz Club
The Old Kitchen, Bishop’s Palace
Lucy Cronin voice
Liam Dunachie piano
Jazz for all tastes, excellent food and drink, and a relaxing and convivial atmosphere. The Fringe Jazz Club is the perfect way to round off you day at the Festival.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdTickets £5.50 (admission only) £12.75 (admission and barbecue)
SATURDAY, JULY 23
11am Festival Eucharist
The combined boy choristers and lay clerks
Kodály Missa brevis
Sharpe Venite commedite
Preacher: The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster
2.45pm Brighton Festival Youth Choir
St Paul’s Church
James Bingham conductor
Among the country’s leading youth choirs, BFYC performs an exciting programme including works by Lauridsen and Franck.
Tickets £10 unreserved
6pm Concert - Touches of Sweet Harmony
The combined boy choristers and lay clerks
Southern Sinfonia
Bozidar Smiljanic bass baritone
Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music
Vaughan Williams Five Mystical Songs
Dvorak Mass in D
Tickets £25 centre nave £18 side aisles (restricted view)
£12 south transept
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdDon’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.
Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.
1) Make our website your homepage
2) Like our Facebook page
3) Follow us on Twitter
4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.
And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!
Always the first with your local news.
Be part of it.