Festive Organ Meditation - La Nativité du Seigneur

Jonathan Hope is playing Olivier Messiaen's La Nativité du Seigneur in the nave of Gloucester Cathedral on Sunday 13 December. It's a single-work recital, with Hope taking the organ for the full hour.

La Nativité du Seigneur — The Birth of the Lord — is one of Messiaen's most celebrated works. It's a cycle of nine musical meditations on the Christmas story, and it's being played here on the Cathedral's new organ. The whole thing runs for about an hour, and the nave is a big space to let it ring out in.

Hope is the Cathedral's Assistant Director of Music and its principal organist for services, so this is his home turf. He studied at the Royal College of Music and has built a career as a recitalist, improviser and recording artist, performing with orchestras and at festivals across the UK and abroad. He's usually the one behind the console for the Cathedral's regular services, so this is a chance to hear him step out for a full concert of his own.

It starts at 6.30pm on Sunday 13 December, in the nave of Gloucester Cathedral, 12 College Green, GL1 2LX. Entry is free and no booking is required, so you can just turn up on the night.