Gloucester Cathedral Nunc dimittis for Gloucester Cathedral An annual musical festival, the Three Choirs Festival, is hosted by turns in this cathedral and those of Worcester and Hereford in rotation. The Three Choirs is the oldest annual musical festival in the world. The Cathedral's clock, bells and the chimes are referred to in a repair agreement of 1525. The present clock, installed in 1898, is by Dent and Co, who built the clock for Big Ben. There is no external dial, but there is a fine Art Nouveau clock face in the north transept, dating from 1903, designed by Henry Wilson. The
Hugh Blair (composer) conductor of the Worcester Festival Choral Society, which gave the first performance on 18 April 1893, at a time when Elgar was little known outside Worcestershire. Blair also asked Elgar to write an organ voluntary for the visit of some American organists to Worcester, and received Elgar's first Organ Sonata as a result (with the opening theme being reminiscent of a theme from "The Black Knight"). Blair introduced the Verdi Requiem to the Three Choirs Festival in 1896. Worcester Cathedral Library contains copies of his compositions. His Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in B minor for double choir is still performed