Christmas gets underway at Hereford Cathedral on Saturday when Peter Dyke performs his annual Christmas Sparkle Organ Concert.

The lunchtime concert, which starts at 1.15 pm, features a selection of Advent and Christmas favourites played on the cathedral’s world-famous 4,000-pipe organ. Peter, who, as Assistant Director of Music, can be heard playing the organ for the cathedral’s daily services throughout the year, will be visible to the audience on a large screen, and has promised that the organ console will be festively decorated for the occasion.

This year’s programme will feature excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite and Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride, but also, more poignantly, a short Christmas piece by Ernest Farrar, a composer tragically killed on the Western Front near the end of World War One.

Peter said “Christmas is a time of year when music really comes into its own. The organ at Hereford Cathedral is one of the finest instruments in the country and you’ll hear some of its full range of colours while recognising some of our best-loved carols too. I look forward to this event every year!”

The concert is free to attend but there will be a retiring collection in aid of the Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust, which helps to support the cathedral’s various projects as well as the upkeep of the cathedral’s Father Willis organ.

For more details of services and events taking place at Hereford Cathedral during Advent & Christmas please visit herefordcathedral.org.