Two glorious regional festivals, one on Severnside, the other yards over the border in Welsh Powys, cheered August's music-making.
It was at the Three Choirs in Worcester that Elgar cut his teeth, wielded his violin, and heard many of his first major works, beginning with Froissart. This year's programme lacked the cogency of the Three Choirs' recent French or British programmes (the latter lends the festival its true raison d'étre); but there were good times.
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Two moments for me were pure magic: the exquisite song "Midnight Lamentation", with a test by Harold Munro ("e;When you and I go down/Breathless and cold..."e;), set by the Worcester composer Ian Venables, and sung by Peter Savidge; and the Worcester Choristers' intoning of – of all things – Roger Quilter's Three Shakespeare Songs.