The Royal Platinum Jubilee Gala Concert

7:30pm

4th June 2022

Worcester Cathedral, 8 College Yard, Worcester WR1 2LA

Programme

Vaughan Williams  Festival Te Deum
Elgar  Spirit of England
– Elgar Festival Chorus
– April Fredrick, soprano
Ian Venables  Song of the Severn (world premiere)
– Marcus Farnsworth, baritone
Elgar  In the South

Conductor: Kenneth Woods

Soloists: April Fredrick (Soprano), Marcus Farnsworth (Baritone)

About this Concert

Always the highpoint of the festival, this year’s Royal Platinum Jubilee Gala concert opens with the Festival Te Deum by Ralph Vaughan Willams, a composer whose 150th birthday we celebrate this year. This dazzling work was written in celebration of of coronation of King George in 1937. Worcester-based composer Ian Venables has proved a worthy successor to Sir Edward Elgar, and his Song of the Severn is a poignant celebration of the natural wonders of Elgar Country. The concert sees the launch of the new Elgar Festival Chorus for a performance of Elgar’s powerful Spirit of England, and concludes with his brilliant tone poem, In the South.