"Beat that!" You could almost hear Adrian Lucas's challenge to Hereford's Geraint Bowen as he brought his baton down on the last mysterious chords of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem to conclude the outstanding concert of the later part of the Three Choirs Festival at Worcester last Friday.

And if Geraint Bowen can indeed beat that when he is Festival Conductor in Hereford next year, we are in for an outstanding experience, for this was music-making of supreme quality.

The audience played a part, because Worcester Cathedral was almost full, and the echo-absorption quality of all those people meant we could hear the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Festival Chorus, the boy trebles from three cathedral choirs and three fine soloists with stunning clarity.

So the piteous words of Wilfred Owen's war poems, interwoven with the Latin text of the Requiem Mass were appreciated in all their plangent tragedy.

The final Libera Me movement, with first, soprano Elena Prokina and the chorus singing "Tremens factus sum ego" and then tenor John Mark Ainsley and baritone James Rutherford joining in the last Owen poem which ends with the words "Let us sleep now..." was particularly moving.

It all came to a spellbinding conclusion with the boy choristers, Elena Prokina and the chorus singing Requiescant in pace. Amen and Adrian Lucas holding the last dying chords and ensuing silence in a cathedral transfixed by reverent melancholy.

The Birmingham Symphony played brilliantly throughout, responding to the frequent changes of tempo and dynamics of Adrian Lucas's direction with admirable sympathy.

I was particularly struck by the mellifluous flutes representing distant bugles as James Rutherford sang "Bugles sang, saddening the evening air/And bugles answered, sorrowful to hear" - a magical moment.

On Saturday, a smaller audience came to hear the "Bring and Sing" Messiah conducted by Sir David Willcocks.

The 150-plus chorus for this performance was made up of enthusiasts who had paid £30 to enjoy a three-hour rehearsal with Sir David in the afternoon and then perform it under his baton in the evening.

Accompanied by a chamber-sized English Symphony Orchestra, this large company of singers responded eagerly to Sir David's energetic direction and rhythmically-swaying hips - remarkably energetic considering that he is in his eighties.

But inevitably there were plenty of rough edges and some tentative entries at vital moments, particularly from the tenor section.

Of the soloists, Christopher Ainslie, the counter-tenor, was particularly good in the aria O thou that tallest good tidings to Zion, while soprano Patricia Rozario made the most of her Come unto Him, all ye that labour. And Daniel Jordan, the bass-baritone, eagerly took his opportunity in The trumpet shall sound.

An enjoyable evening, especially for all those singers. But when they all let rip, they did somewhat swamp the small orchestra.

Sunday evening's concert was really a "These you have loved" occasion, with a larger English Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Adrian Partington performing popular favourites such as Handel's Queen of Sheba, Butterworth's Banks of green willow and Mendelssohn's Italian symphony.

Through the first half, Adrian Partington conducted without a baton and I felt the pieces went at a tranquil pace which marred their definition.

After the interval he picked up a baton for the Mendelssohn and suddenly everything was frantic in the first and last movements.

The musicians seemed to be struggling and the ensemble playing became rushed. But these favourites will always be popular and the audience applauded long and loud to bring the 278th Three Choirs Festival to a close.

FRANK PAGE