881st Lunchtime Organ Concert with Gloucester Cathedral Choir, Birmingham Town Hall | Monday 23rd March 2026 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by David Gray & Paul Gray

881st Lunchtime Organ Concert with Gloucester Cathedral Choir

Birmingham Town Hall | Monday 23rd March 2026

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by David Gray & Paul Gray

“A glorious performance of two choral favourites.”

Gabriel Fauré - Requiem

Ralph Vaughan-Williams – Five Mystical Songs

Fauré said that his Requiem was “dominated from beginning to end by a very human feeling of faith in eternal rest”. And in this glorious performance by Gloucester Cathedral Choir - under the excellent direction of Adrian Partington and the masterly craft of organist Thomas Trotter – there was a uniquely human understanding of the work.

The choir - a modern mix of men, boys and girls - were on top form, producing a perfectly balanced ensemble. Great attention was given to detail, particularly in the crystal-clear enunciation of the text, and in the superb use of the dynamics.

Soprano soloist, Harriet Perfect gave us a deeply felt and full-toned Pie Jesu. Her namesake, Baritone, Nicholas Perfect, was similarly outstanding in his solo passages. Both soloists brought a gentle humility to their performances, and this was deeply touching.

Baritone soloist, Lucas Maunder, was equally magnificent in Vaughan-Williams’ Five Mystical Songs. This is a big and complex solo set for a younger male voice, and Lucas Maunder rose admirably to its challenges. This is a young Baritone to watch!

These Mystical Songs set words by the Jacobean poet, George Herbert (1593-1633) and they express his spirituality using elaborate and sustained metaphysical conceits. Choir, soloist and organist delivered and interpreted these complex texts with terrific commitment, musicality and understanding. And, of course, the crowning joy of these songs is the well-known final choral Antiphon “Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing”. This allowed choir and organ to rejoice in unbridled fortissimo in the magnificent space of Birmingham Town Hall. Truly, a triumph of a Lunchtime Concert.

Gloucester Cathedral Choir

Adrian Partington – Director

Thomas Trotter - Organ

Harriet Perfect – Soprano Soloist                                                                                                                                      Nicholas Perfect – Baritone Soloist                                                                                                                                                                      Lucas Maunder – Baritone Soloist