Three Choirs Festival

Rebecca Hardwick soprano
Michael Bell tenor
Emma Johnson clarinet - tbc
Gloucester Choral Society
British Sinfonietta
Adrian Partington conductor

Howells Hymnus Paradisi
Gurney The Trumpet
Finzi Clarinet Concerto

Long overdue but well worth the wait. Join us as we celebrate 175, well, 178 years of Gloucester Choral Society. This rescheduled concert promises to be every bit as special as the occasion deserves. We are also doing something a little bit different.

Herbert Howells’s Hymnus Paradisi was first performed at the Gloucester Three Choirs Festival of 1950. Hymnus Paradisi is set in six movements that combine the texts of psalms, the Latin mass and other sacred texts for chorus, orchestra and soli. We are delighted to have the British Sinfonietta performing with us for the concert. Rarely performed, this is a fantastic opportunity to enjoy the best of Howells.

The orchestra will also perform Gerald Finzi’s Clarinet Concerto, a rightly popular and magnificent orchestral work. It’s our great pleasure to have the brilliant Emma Johnson as the clarinet soloist in what promises to be a memorable concert for chorus and audience alike.

This concert also includes a performance of Ivor Gurney’s The Trumpet, in recognition of the local poet and composer, whose work shaped many performances of the society over the last century.