I was Glad! at Coventry Cathedral

21 October 2021

Last weekend, Cathedral Music Trust were delighted to host a special concert in partnership with Coventry Cathedral, in aid of the Diamond Fund for Choristers. Directed by Rachel Mahon, fifty young singers representingten cathedrals and greater churches across central Britaincame together in Coventry for I was Glad!

Choristers from Birmingham (Birmingham Cathedral and St Chad's), Derby, Leicester, St Alphege Solihull and Southwell Cathedrals and the Collegiate Churches of St Mary, Warwick and St Peter, Wolverhampton were invited to join the choristers and back row of Coventry Cathedral for this special event. The concert was a celebration of choral music, and a tribute to choristers’ continued hard work and dedication throughout the pandemic. Following a welcome by Revd Canon Kathryn Fleming, the programme included a wide range of choral pieces including Parry’s I was Glad, Handel’s Zadok the Priest and Duke Ellington’s Father Forgive, a setting of the Coventry Litany of Reconciliation composed after a visit to Coventry Cathedral in 1966. John Rutter gave a rousing speech before conducting the choir in a rendition of his composition The Lord Bless You and Keep You.

I was Glad! was attended by HRH The Duchess of Gloucester, who said: ‘Over the centuries this country’s choral tradition has developed and expanded and has become one of our greatest gifts to world culture. All of us who have been moved when listening to our glorious choral music should be aware that many of our cathedral and collegiate church choirs are threatened by shrinking resources and, of course, the pandemic has, sadly, exacerbated all these challenges. I hope that the audience in this wonderful cathedral tonight, listening to the voices of children from ten cathedrals and greater churches in the heart of Britain, will wish to support the Cathedral Music Trust’s Diamond Fund for Choristers. In this way we can all become part of this story and help sustain our great choral tradition for generations to come.’