BBC Singers at the Norwich Cathedral Summer Organ Festival

The BBC Singers, conducted by Ashley Grote and joined by renowned British cellist Guy Johnston, make a welcome return to the magnificent surroundings of Norwich Cathedral for a special concert as part of the Cathedral’s Summer Organ Festival. The programme features works themed around two women central to the history of the city – Mother Julian of Norwich and Edith Cavell. Joanna Marsh and Roxanna Panufnik were both inspired by medieval mystic Mother Julian of Norwich and the BBC Singers perform their settings of her text All Shall Be Well. In Standing As I Do before God, Cecilia McDowall sets words spoken by nurse Edith Cavell the night before her execution on 12 October 1915. Edith Cavell is buried at Norwich Cathedral. The Cathedral’s magnificent organ, played by David Dunnett, take centre stage in works by McDowall, MacMillan and Parry, and cellist Guy Johnston performs alongside the BBC Singers in Ola Gjeilo’s lush and poignant O Magnum Mysterium. The concert is brought to a close by Hubert Parry's poignant and reflective Songs of Farewell completed in 1915.

Recorded on 9 July 2026 and presented by Ian Skelly.

Joanna Marsh: All Shall Be Well
Ola Gjeilo: O Magnum Mysterium
Cecilia McDowall: Standing as I do before God
Cecilia McDowall: Church Bells beyond the stars
Roxanna Panufnik: All Shall Be Well
Sir James MacMillan: A New Song
Parry: Fantasia and Fugue in G
Parry: Songs of Farewell

Guy Johnston (cello)
David Dunnett (organ)
BBC Singers
Ashley Grote (conductor)

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