Worcestershire Cathedral Visit.

Описание: Worcestershire Cathedral Visit.
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Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, England; situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is The Cathedral Church of Christ and the blessed Mary the Virgin of Worcester.

Bells
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The tower has a ring of twelve bells plus three semitone bells and a non-swinging bourdon. The current peal of 15 ringing bells were cast in 1928 by John Taylor & Co., of Loughborough, from the metal of the original ring cast in 1869. The ring is the fifth heaviest in the world, only the bells in the cathedrals of Liverpool, Exeter, York and St Paul's, London are heavier. The bells are also considered to be one of the finest toned rings ever cast. The bells hang in a wooden frame that was constructed in 1869 for the previous ring. Worcester Cathedral is unique in having a purpose-built teaching center equipped with eight special training bells, linked to computers.

Music
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The transept organ-case
Worcester Cathedral has three choirs: the Worcester Cathedral Choir (the main choir which has both a boys' and a girls' treble line, which normally work independently), Worcester Cathedral Chamber Choir, and the Worcester Cathedral Voluntary Choir. All three choirs were involved in the BBC broadcast of the midnight and Christmas morning services in 2007, with the boys and the girls of the Cathedral Choir, respectively, taking the lead in the two services. Since the 18th century, Worcester Cathedral Choir has taken part in the Three Choirs Festival, the oldest music festival in the world.

The composer Edward Elgar spent most of his life in Worcestershire. The first performance of his Enigma Variations took place at the cathedral during the 1899. He is commemorated in a stained glass window which contains his portrait.

Worcester Cathedral has a long history of organs dating back to at least 1417. There have been many re-builds and new organs in the intervening period, including work by Thomas Dallam, William Hill and most famously Robert Hope-Jones in 1896. The Hope Jones organ was heavily re-built in 1925 by Harrison & Harrison, and then regular minor works kept it in working order until Wood Wordsworth and Co were called in 1978. It was a large four-manual organ with 61 speaking stops. It has a large Gothic Revival case with heavily decorated front pipes as well as two smaller cases either side of the quire.

This organ (apart from the large transept case and pedal pipes) was removed in 2006 in order to make way for a new instrument by Kenneth Tickell, which was completed in the summer of 2008. The nave has a three-manual Rodgers organ.

Notable organists at Worcester have included Thomas Tomkins (from 1596), Hugh Blair (from 1895), Ivor Atkins (from 1897) and David Willcocks (from 1950). The present organist (from 1996) is Adrian Lucas.

Organists

1240 Thomas the Organist
1415 T. Hulet
1468 Richard Grene
1484 John Hampton
1522 Daniel Boyse
1541 Richard Fisher
1569 John Golden
1581 Nathaniel Giles
1585 Robert Cotterell
1590 Nathaniel Patrick
1595 John Fido
1596 Thomas Tomkins
1649 Vacant 1661 Giles Tomkins
1662 Richard Browne
1664 Richard Davis
1686 Vaughan Richardson
1688 Richard Cherington
1724 John Hoddinott
1731 William Hayes
1734 John Merifield
1747 Elias Isaac
1793 Thomas Pitt
1806 Jeremiah Clarke
1807 William Kenge
1813 Charles Clarke
1844 William Done
1895 Hugh Blair
1897 Ivor Atkins
1950 David Willcocks
1957 Douglas Guest
1963 Christopher Robinson
1974 Donald Hunt
1996 Adrian Lucas

Assistant organists

William Done 1835--1844 (afterwards organist)
Alfred James Caldicott c.1860
Robert Taylor 1865
Mr. Garton 1879
James Henry Caseley (later organist of Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon)
Henry Holloway
Hugh Blair 1887--1895
Frank Alfred Charles Mason 1893--1899[14]
George Street Chignell 1893--1896[15]
Edgar Thomas Cook 1904--1909
ALexander E. Brent Smith ?--1912
Edgar Day 1923
Donald Hunt 1947--1954 (later organist)
Christopher Robinson 1962--1963 (later organist of St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle)
Harry Bramma 1963--1976 (later organist of Southwark Cathedral)
Paul Trepte 1976--1981 (later organist of Ely Cathedral)
Adrian Partington 1981--1991 (later organist of Gloucester Cathedral)
Raymond Johnston 1991--?
Daniel Phillips 1998--2004
Christopher Allsop 2004 -- present

Events
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Worcester Cathedral is the host of the annual graduation ceremonies for the University of Worcester. These ceremonies are presided over by the Chancellor of the University, and take place over 3 days in November.


For More information, visit http://www.worcestercathedral.co.uk