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The Three Choirs Festival returns to Worcester this summer, from 24th July – 1st August, with an exciting programme of choral and orchestral concerts, recitals, talks, family events,
cathedral services, exhibitions and more.
Two of John’s pieces will be premiered at the service of Choral Evensong on 28th July, and later on in the week, John will be talking with David Wordsworth about David’s new book: Giving Voice to my Music.
John writes about the two pieces to be premiered at Choral Evensong on 28th July:
A Pilgrims’ Prayer
I wrote A Pilgrims’ Prayer last year for the (sadly cancelled) 2020 Three Choirs Festival which had as a theme the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower to America. The Festival has graciously rescheduled my piece for this year, and I look forward to the première in Worcester Cathedral on July 28th. It’s a five-minute setting for choir and organ of two interwoven texts, the ancient Latin hymn Ave maris stella and an English version of a traditional Breton fishermen’s prayer. The theme of both texts is trust in a guiding star.
Lead, kindly Light
Sometimes when I’m working on one composition I find I have an idea for another one, and so it was with Lead, kindly Light, which came almost fully formed while I was writing A Pilgrims’ Prayer for the Three Choirs Festival. Lead, kindly Light is a short unaccompanied setting of John Henry Newman’s classic text, slightly related in mood and style to my setting of God be in my head. Delighted that it will be premièred at the Three Choirs Festival on July 28th, at the same service as A Pilgrims’ Prayer. Two first performances in one day!
Lovely music!