Hye Youn Lee, Mary Plazas, Jennifer France, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Janina Baechle, Andrew Staples, Gary Griffiths, Three Choirs Festival Youth Choir, Three Choirs Festival Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra, Adrian Partington

Mahler’s great choral symphony gains its nickname of the ‘Symphony of a Thousand’ because of the vast forces required to perform this epic work on the theme of Redemption. It begins with the Latin Pentecost hymn ‘Veni creator spiritus’ and builds through a multitude of musical styles to a shattering climax, drawing on the closing scene of Goethe’s Faust. Premiered in Munich in 1910, it was both a popular and critical success. Rarely performed outside the largest concert halls, the symphony is sure to have an unforgettable impact in the dramatic setting of Gloucester Cathedral, bringing the 2016 Three Choirs Festival to a spectacular conclusion.