This Wednesday will see the World Premiere Performance of
The Ballad of St Kenelm at the 2015 Hagley Music Festival.
The words come from a poem by Francis
Brett Young, written in 1944 to boost morale
during the war years, and have been set to
music by local Hagley composer Andrew
Downes. Andrew is Professor Emeritus at
Birmingham City University, appointed “for
his distinguished work in composition at
Birmingham Conservatoire.” He accepted a
commission from The Francis Brett Young Society to compose
this work about Kenelm, a local 9th century Mercian prince
and martyr.
At the performance in St John the Baptist Church, the narrow entrance into the vestry
will represent the woodland brook in Clent where he was brutally murdered, and the
Bishop’s Chair in the Lady Chapel will become the place for Pope Paschal to discover
the document, dropped by a dove on to the high altar of St Peter’s Rome, which
divulged the whereabouts of Kenelm’s body.
Cynthia Downes will direct the performance by the Hagley Community Orchestra and
the Central England Camerata (leader: Anna Downes), with a cast in original costumes
led by soprano Paula Downes and narrator Haydn Thomas. H.R.Wilson’s original
illustrations for the book will be on display.
Please pray for the 2015 Hagley Music Festival, and for all who seek to enhance
the quality of life locally through music and music festivals in churches and local
communities.
Worcester East Deanery – Rural Dean: Stuart Currie; Lay Chair: Michael Bunclark
Diocese of Derby; Bishop Alastair Redfern with Bishop Humphrey Southern (Repton)
Diocese of Clogher (Ireland): Bishop John McDowell
Diocese of Aalborg (Denmar): Bishop Henning Toft Bro
Diocese of Nebbi (Uganda): Bishop Alphonse Watho-kudi
