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200:, and the festival's fortunes were enhanced by the arrival of the railways. However, these also brought crowds, a phenomenon not always pleasing to the church authorities, although full seats uplifted the finances. In the 1870s, the festival was reduced to the three cathedral choirs, ending for a while the era of the visiting celebrity singer as a faction in the church sought to stress the "appropriate" nature of activities allowed in cathedrals. However, the civil authorities took issue with the ecclesiastical and the festival revived. Works by
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65:) and originally featuring their three choirs, which remain central to the week-long programme. The large-scale choral repertoire is now performed by the Festival Chorus, but the festival also features other major ensembles and international soloists. The 2011 festival took place in Worcester from 6 to 13 August. The 2012 festival in Hereford took place earlier than usual, from 21 to 28 July, to avoid clashing with the
69:. The event is now established in the last week of July. The 300th anniversary of the original Three Choirs Festival was celebrated during the 2015 festival, which took place from 25 July to 1 August in Hereford (the landmark 300th meeting of the Three Choirs does not fall until after 2027 due to there being no Three Choirs Festivals for the duration of both
325:
In 2010, the Three Choirs
Festival Youth Choir was formed. Made up of singers aged 16–25, it has performed at every festival since then, under a variety of conductors. In 2012 in Hereford the Three Choirs Festival Youth Choir premiered
124:, the first is believed to have been held in Gloucester in 1715. Publicity for it in 1719 addressed "Members of the yearly Musical Assembly in these parts". Its music obviously tended towards the ecclesiastical. In early gatherings,
321:
In 1996, a
Festival Society was established to provide a means for enthusiasts to actively participate in support for the Three Choirs Festival. The festival is funded by ticket sales, donations and sponsorships.
208:-born) composer Elgar, who began to be featured around the turn of the century and whose works dominated the festival for much of the 20th century as its emphasis shifted toward British musicians.
50:
631:
Pink, Andrew (2012) 'Order and
Uniformity, Decorum, and Taste: Sermons Preached at the Anniversary Meeting of the Three Choirs, 1720–1800' in Keith Francis & William Gibson
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92:. The organists of the three cathedrals (who act as artistic director and festival conductor when it is their cathedral's turn to host the festival) are
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in 1912, after which he co-featured with Elgar as a central prop to the musical repertoire. Sumsion fostered a relationship with
Hungarian composer
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A timeline of some of the more significant events in the festival's history from 1709 until the present day has been compiled by
Anthony Boden:
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was a regular part of the repertoire until 1784, and Handel dominated 18th-century programmes with oratorios such as
639:. Series: Oxford Handbooks in Religion and Theology. (Oxford and New York : Oxford University Press). 215-26.
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is known to have attended), is one of the world's oldest classical choral music festivals. Originally called the
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The festival, originally held over two days in
September (but also held in September in 1933 and 1947, since
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was one of the earliest works to be commissioned especially for the festival and performed in 1891.
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is a music festival held annually at the end of July, rotating among the cathedrals of the
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The festival is closely identified with the musical careers of
British composers
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Three Choirs: A History of the
Festival']' (Stroud: Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd).
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and programmed Kodály's works at six
Gloucester festivals. Other names include
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in 1901 was another composer who introduced or conducted new works, with his
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81:. The 2023 Festival will take place in Gloucester from 22 to 29 July.
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History of the Origin and
Progress of the Meeting of the Three Choirs
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began a rolling three-year formal residency at the festival in 2012.
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In July 2019, it was reported that the programming of Beethoven's
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were not heard until the 1870s, soon to be followed by local (
524:"The Philharmonia Orchestra & the Three Choirs Festival"
472:
BIOS Reporter Volume 28, number 4, page 15. October 2004.
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for the finale of the festival had prompted anger amongst
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American Music Performance Invitational for Mixed Choirs
546:"Brexiters boycott choral festival over EU's Ode to Joy"
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Whitehouse, Richard (2021). "A Symphonic Odyssey", in
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The Oxford Handbook of the British Sermon, 1689–1901
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was heard first in the festival of 1800. From 1840,
224:'s compositions were also performed regularly. His
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365:In 2021, the Festival included the première of
729:International Stasys Ĺ imkus choir competition
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386:, who revived the festival after World War II
379:List of music festivals in the United Kingdom
248:was premiered there in 1910, followed by the
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833:Festivals established in the 18th century
646:(Worcester: Ebenezer Baylis and Son Ltd).
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601:Boden, Anthony and Hedley, Paul (2017)
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724:Festival de MĂşsica Coral Renascentista
462:The British Institute of Organ Studies
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619:Three Choirs Festival in Ten Concerts
607:. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer.
439:Three Choirs Festival in Ten Concerts
185:was performed every year until 1930.
16:Annual music festival held in England
838:Recurring events established in 1719
798:Classical music festivals in England
604:The Three Choirs Festival, A History
443:, reviewed at MusicWeb International
245:Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
169:, was a "prominent figure". Haydn's
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317:Three Choirs Festival timeline
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813:Culture in Worcester, England
753:Nordic-Baltic Choral Festival
733:Intervarsity Choral Festival
657:Three Choirs Festival website
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257:Fantasia on Christmas Carols
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628:(Worcester: Osborne Books).
404:Hereford web pages: History
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621:(Hereford, Logaston Press)
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644:The Three Choirs Festival
617:Carpenter, Simon (2024).
642:Watkins Shaw, H. (1954)
491:Retrieved 15 August 2009
476:20 February 2012 at the
358:, due to its use as the
709:Cincinnati May Festival
526:. Three Choirs Festival
504:. Three Choirs Festival
418:. Three Choirs Festival
328:Centuries of Meditation
693:Choral music festivals
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589:Lysons, Daniel (1812)
343:Philharmonia Orchestra
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624:Hunt, Donald (1999)
369:'s Eighth Symphony.
236:Dance Rhapsody No. 1
167:Hellier Stradivarius
67:2012 Summer Olympics
33:Gloucester cathedral
251:Five Mystical Songs
25:Worcester cathedral
777:Universitas Cantat
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165:, guardian of the
163:Sir Samuel Hellier
100:(Gloucester), and
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41:Hereford Cathedral
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238:. Another was
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550:The Guardian
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420:. Retrieved
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278:Gerald Finzi
266:Gustav Holst
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75:World War II
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530:20 December
508:20 December
422:20 December
298:John McCabe
177:Mendelssohn
116:'s brother
114:C. S. Lewis
71:World War I
803:Gloucester
792:Categories
391:References
384:Percy Hull
356:Brexiteers
351:Ode to Joy
202:J. S. Bach
59:Gloucester
737:Australia
470:0309-8052
198:Beethoven
126:Purcell's
63:Worcester
808:Hereford
767:PICCFEST
474:Archived
373:See also
242:, whose
134:Jubilate
79:COVID-19
55:Hereford
214:Howells
190:Rossini
158:Messiah
130:Te Deum
108:History
742:Canada
635:(eds)
611:
556:12 May
468:
441:(2024)
308:, and
288:, and
232:Delius
196:, and
194:Mozart
182:Elijah
145:Samson
118:Warren
61:, and
633:et al
222:Parry
218:Finzi
609:ISBN
558:2020
532:2011
510:2011
466:ISSN
424:2011
341:The
155:and
132:and
88:and
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73:and
45:The
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