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An exquisite evening of British 20th-century choral music from Tenebrae under Nigel Short at the Sydney Festival, with outstanding renditions of the music of Parry, Bingham and Stanford.

Stunningly beautiful commemorative British choral music from Tenebrae under Nigel Short at Perth Festival of the Arts in St John’s Kirk’s wonderful acoustic.

The first part of the Celebrity Recital which brought the Leeds Lieder Festival to a close was entitled “Schubert Looking North”, which included a section on German versions of British poets.

Gloucestershire is rich in musical heritage; well-known composers connected with the county include Parry, Vaughan Williams and Howells, but one name that is less familiar these days is that of Howells’ friend Ivor Gurney.

In a pioneering development, the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland have added a new orchestra to its family which now encompasses eight playing groups. There are now three orchestras providing a full development pathway for talented players aged 8 to 25, starting with the Junior Orchestra, through the new Senior Orchestra and culminating in the flagship National Youth Orchestra of Scotland.

Many composers would be delighted to be sharing the bill with Pergolesi, particularly if the ratio of programmed pieces were 2:1 in their favour. Judith Bingham combined composing and singing careers for many years, but she now concentrates solely on composing. However, she does – as she confessed in a YouTube interview – compose unconsciously in “breath lengths”.

It is often said that the concert hall is the sanctuary of musicians and music lovers alike: frequent concertgoers flock to their favourite venues as regularly as Sunday service, dressed in their finest and observing the sacred rites and rituals of the classical concert.

In most concert listings, premières seem to be thrown in as a one-off to offset a relatively risk-free billing. In this Cheltenham Music Festival concert, this was not the case. With no less than five premières in an evening of seven choral works, those present could be assured that they were hearing something new.

The enormous organ of the Royal Albert Hall had a busy Sunday. In the evening Prom, it was due to add even more volume to Havergal Brian’s monumental ‘Gothic’ Symphony, whilst during the afternoon it was given to the charge of Stephen Farr, one of the UK’s most compelling organ recitalists, for a solo recital.