The Chester Music Society Choir performs Walton's 'Belshazzar's Feast', alongside Walton's 'Suite from Henry V' and works by Gerald Finzi.
Chester Music Society Choir are performing at Chester Cathedral on Saturday 9 January 2027, with William Walton's Belshazzar's Feast as the main event. It's a big choral work, and the evening is built around it.
Belshazzar's Feast takes its name from the biblical story of the Babylonian king, and the music follows that arc: Babylonian excess, feasting, destruction and divine judgement. It's a dramatic piece, built on thunderous choruses, blazing orchestral writing and electrifying drama. The choir is taking on the heavy lifting here, and the cathedral is a fitting place for it.
Walton doesn't stop there, though. The programme also includes his Suite from Henry V, so you'll hear two of his works in one night. To balance that out, the evening brings in the lyrical beauty of Gerald Finzi's For St Cecilia and Dies Natalis. Between the two, you've got the scale of Walton's choral writing and the more intimate, melodic side of Finzi, so the night covers a fair bit of ground.
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It's a Saturday night in January, and the choir is the one leading the way. If you're into choral music, this is one of the bigger names on the repertoire, and it's being performed right here in the city. The full programme is Belshazzar's Feast, the Suite from Henry V, For St Cecilia and Dies Natalis, all at Chester Cathedral on Saturday 9 January 2027.
