In his program planning for the festival, Sumsion championed the performance of new English works. Notable premieres at Sumsion's Gloucester festivals included Gustav Holst's "Choral Fantasia" (1931), Howells's "Hymnus Paradisi" (1950), and Finzi's "Intimations of Immortality" (1950); as well as works by Vaughan Williams, Howard Ferguson, Robin Milford, Tony Hewitt-Jones, John Sanders, and Sumsion himself. Outside the realm of English music, Sumsion helped sustain a festival connection with Kodály by inviting him back to Gloucester in 1937 and programming his works at six Gloucester festivals.