Southern Cathedrals Festival
The Southern Cathedrals Festival (known colloquially as "SCF") is a 5-day music festival held alternately at the cathedrals of Chichester, Winchester and Salisbury in the penultimate week of July.[1] The festival was restored in 1960 after initial attempts to create the annual occasion - such efforts led to 28 years without it. The directors of music act as festival director when it is their cathedral's turn to host the event - currently, they are Sarah Baldock (Organist & Master of the Choristers, Chichester Cathedral), Andrew Lumsden (Organist and Director of Music, Winchester Cathedral) and David Halls (Director of Music, Salisbury Cathedral).
History
In September 1904 a service was held in Chichester Cathedral to celebrate the reopening of the main organ of Chichester Cathedral following its restoration in by Hele of Plymouth. This brought together the cathedral choirs of Chichester Cathedral, Winchester Cathedral and Salisbury Cathedral. 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 just 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), Alwyn Surplice (Winchester) and Christopher Dearnley (Salisbury), with the title changed to the Southern Cathedrals Festival, and the proceedings increased to two days, with two joint Evensongs and the addition of a concert.[2]
The festival is now three days long consisting of three concerts, a choral masterclass, an organ recital, a Festival Eucharist, buffet lunches, evensongs sung separately by each choir and performances of the "Fringe".[3] 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. It is always well received.
Commissioned works
- 1965 Leonard Bernstein: Chichester Psalms
- 1999 Francis Grier: A Prayer of St. Augustine[4]
- 2004 Malcolm Archer: Benedicite
- 2005 Simon Lole: O Holy Ghost, O Paraclete
- 2008 Tarik O'Regan: Nunc Dimittis[5]
- 2009 Will Todd: Psalm 146[6]
- 2012 Neil Cox: The River of Life[7]
- 2013 James MacMillan: The Offered Christ[3]
- This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
List of organ recitalists
An organ recital is given in the evening of the first day of the festival. Recitalists since 1995 have included:
- 1995 John Scott
- 1996 Roy Massey
- 1997 David Briggs
- 1998 James Thomas
- 2002 Stephen Farr
- 2006 David Briggs
- 2007 Colin Walsh
- 2008 John Scott
- 2009 James Lancelot
- 2010 Thomas Trotter
- 2011 James O’Donnell
- 2012 Gillian Weir
- 2013 Mark Wardell
- This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
See also
- List of music festivals in the United Kingdom
- Choir of Chichester Cathedral
- Winchester Cathedral Choir
- Salisbury Cathedral Choir
References
- ↑ "Southern Cathedrals Festival heads for Chichester". Chichester Observer. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
- ↑ Southern Cathedrals Festival 2007. 2007. p. 64.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Southern Cathedrals Festival Programme 2013". SCF.
- ↑ Robert Benjamin Hutchens, II (2006). The Choral Music of Francis Grier (D.Mus.A). pp. pp.24–25, 46–47. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
- ↑ "O’Regan premieres at East Neuk Festival and Southern Cathedrals Festival". Schirmer. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
- ↑ "A 5-DAY FEAST OF CHORAL MUSIC - SOUTHERN CATHEDRALS FESTIVAL 2009 AT SALISBURY CATHEDRAL 15 - 19 JULY". salisburycathedral.org.uk. May 21 2009.
- ↑ "BBC - Media Centre - Programme Information - Choral Evensong". BBC Radio 3. 1 August 2012.