CATHEDRAL MUSIC AND MUSIC FESTIVALS
The origins of Chester's music festivals lay in the
musical tradition established at the cathedral after
1541. (fn. 1) The statutes of 1544 provided for six minor
canons, six conducts or singing-men, eight choir boys,
and a choir master and organist. (fn. 2) A degree of continuity
with the abbey is suggested by the fact that John
Birchley, the monks' last organist, was re-employed by
the new chapter. (fn. 3) By 1567 his office was sufficiently well
regarded to attract Robert White, a distinguished composer of settings of the Latin liturgy, and later organist at
Westminster Abbey. The cathedral was then the focus of
considerable musical activity, and much involved in the
musical side of the mystery plays. (fn. 4) White's successors,
Robert Stevenson (1570–99) and Thomas Bateson
(1599–1608), were also composers and maintained
high musical standards at the cathedral. (fn. 5) By 1602 the
lay clerks included Francis Pilkington, a composer of
lute songs and madrigals, who became a minor canon in
1612 and precentor from 1617 until his death in 1638. (fn. 6)
Between 1608 and 1646, however, the organists
included only one figure of note, Randolph Jewett
(1643–6), son of a former mayor, pupil of Orlando
Gibbons, and composer of anthems. (fn. 7)
After the Restoration the cathedral's music was
undistinguished. An attempt at improvement was
made in 1727 when the chapter appointed Edmund
Baker, a pupil of Thomas Arne and Chester's first
professional organist since 1660, but the choir remained
unsatisfactory and in 1741 Baker was unable to supply a
conduct capable of singing at sight to help Handel
rehearse Messiah while he waited at Chester to take
ship for Dublin. Nevertheless, Baker was an accomplished musician and by the 1740s the city had become
'a very musical place'. By then John Prescott, a prebendary of the cathedral, held a weekly concert attended
by 18–20 performers, gentlemen, and professors. Prescott, who was deprived of his stall in 1746, seems to
have tried hard to promote an interest in music in
Chester. He paid Baker to teach the harpsichord to
singing boys and pupils of the cathedral school and in
1739 secured a free place there for the young Charles
Burney. (fn. 8) Concerts were also occasionally performed at
the Exchange, especially in aid of the infirmary from the
late 1750s. (fn. 9)
Baker's successor, Edward Orme (1765–77), a man of
some social position who became sheriff of Chester in
1773–4, organized the city's first music festival in 1772,
at which three of Handel's oratorios, Messiah, Samson,
and Judas Maccabeus, were performed in the cathedral
nave. Further festivals took place in 1783, 1786, 1791,
1806, 1814, 1821, and 1829. Although Handel continued to dominate the programme, in 1806 Haydn's
Creation was performed and in 1821 there were works
by Mozart, Haydn, and Pergolesi. The festivals became
increasingly grand, and by 1806 the four days of
performances were a major social occasion attended
by royalty and involving many of the principal musicians of the day. Their popularity, however, made the
dean and chapter fearful of 'abuses and irreverence', and
they refused permission for further festivals after 1829. (fn. 10)
Figure 169:
Cathedral organ of 1875
Under Dean Anson (1839–67) the cathedral's musical standards were raised. A great new organ was
introduced, the number of choristers was increased to
the statutory eight, and a separate choir school was
founded. (fn. 11) Further improvements took place under the
precentor Hylton Stewart (1877–90) and organist J. C.
Bridge (1877–1925) and in the 1880s large-scale choral
works were occasionally performed and a triennial
festival of parish choirs was established. Aided by
another splendid organ installed in 1875, Bridge
revived the music festival in 1885, with two days of
concerts and choral evensong at the cathedral. Thereafter, festivals were held triennially. The performances,
which included choral works by Handel, Haydn,
Mendelssohn, Spohr, Verdi, and Berlioz, were generally
held in the cathedral and invariably conducted by
Bridge himself. The last took place in 1900. (fn. 12)
The cathedral continued its choral tradition
throughout the 20th century, despite the closure of
the choir school in 1977. In 1978 the music festival was
again revived. By the early 1980s it had become a major
annual event, lasting c. 10 days and involving soloists,
ensembles, and orchestras of international distinction.
By then it was held in several locations, of which the
cathedral remained the principal. (fn. 13)