Yesterday we were reminded that the Three Choirs Festival has an essential worship component, and I wanted to describe in more detail the worship services we have attended so far.

The opening service was called “Festal Mattins,” which of course is a different spelling from that used in the United States. During the grand procession which I described in an earlier post, there were three large organ pieces played, Arthur Bliss’ “Fanfare for the Lord Mayor of London”; C. S. Lang’s “Fanfare, op. 85, and Noel Rawsthorne’s “Fanfare.”

The hymns were played with great gusto, and mostly with full organ. The tunes included LAUDATE DOMINUM, ENGELBERG, COE FEN, and the national anthem, “God save our gracious King.”

Bill Potter made the comment that the organist played the hymns differently from the way I play them, and today I finally figured it out. One full measure is added at the end of each verse, which is normal for the way we hold it, but then the organist takes TWO beats of rest between verses, rather than just ONE beat as Americans do it.

Another practice which was different was that the prayers were spoken, but ended with a musical response each time. That meant that the organist had to give a “Gathering Tone” to give the pitch anew. In my experience, if the petitions are spoken, the refrain is also spoken, not sung.

These same practices happened during the Sunday Eucharist at Gloucester Cathedral which we attended this morning. The choir sang a mass setting by Edmund Rubbra (1901-1986), called “Missa Cantuariensis, op. 59,” which included a setting of the Gloria in escelsis. The hymns were MICHAEL, REPTON, AURELIA, and RUSTINGTON.

The distribution of communion was very slow, because at first we could only see two stations, and finally two more stations were opened up just as our row was called. The organist had to improvise for nearly 20 minutes after the communion motet was sung, “Up, o my soul, and bless the Lord,” by Rubbra. I would have been in panic mode!

======

Several people have asked me about going to the Three Choirs Festival and I always tell them accommodations are the most difficult to find, because the locations are not really tourist towns. For example, if you look for a booking next year for Worcester, you’ll get a message saying there is no availability for those dates. In fact, I have generally booked my hotel a year in advance.

We were lucky to find The Vinery, located in a village called Huntley, outside of Gloucester. It is a cute country house, basically in the middle of nowhere, but has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, living room and an outdoor patio where we have been eating our meals.

In the afternoon we drove over one-lane roads to the Forest of Dean, a historic and massive ancient woodland area in Gloucestershire, England, nestled between the River Wye and the River Severn. Once a medieval royal hunting ground, it is now a popular public destination managed by Forestry England for outdoor recreation, wildlife, and tourism.

At 5:30 pm we went to Evensong, which was sung by the Three Choirs Festival Youth chorus. They were excellent.

The evening concert was the Rachmaninov Vespers, sung by a large choral ensemble called Ex Cathedra, directed by Jeffrey Skidmore. It was so incredibly beautiful in every respect. Their refined and nuanced tone was like spun sugar, and the dynamic range was vast.

From the program:

Rachmaninov demands a great deal from the singers. The vocal range of the choir is extremely wide with bottom basses being required to sing low B flat on a number of occasions. The texture varies from four parts to as many as eleven and, at different times, each voice divides into three parts.

Rachmaninov also indicates tempo and dynamics in meticulous detail and there are frequent changes from triple forte to triple piano! The choral orchestration is amongst the most imaginative in the repertoire and there are many moments of exquisite and almost unbearable beauty. The spiritual dimension is irresistible.

You can say that again.