A NEW exhibition celebrating 750 years of music at Hereford Cathedral has recently opened, and it will run until the autumn.

Sounds Divine is presented by the cathedral’s library and archives in the Mappa Mundi exhibition.

A spokesman said: “It features artefacts and documents which explore the lives and work of the people who have helped to fill the cathedral with wonderful music, including original manuscripts of works by Sir Edward Elgar, Samuel Sebastian Wesley and Dame Ethel Smyth.

“The Hereford Breviary, a unique medieval manuscript which records how the daily round of services was sung at the cathedral in the Middle Ages, will form a key part of the exhibition as it celebrates its 750th anniversary.

“Another early treasure of the collection to be included is a fifteenth-century illustrated copy of ‘Aesop’s Fables’ from the library of the College of Vicars Choral, with drawings and doodles added by choirboys over the centuries.”

The spokesman added: “Exhibit dating from the sixteenth century include records from the cathedral’s Act Books of the appointment as chorister in 1573, organist in 1582 and master of the choristers in 1583 of the composer John Bull, who went on to become a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, where he had also spent some years as a chorister, and in 1596 became the first professor of music at Gresham College, on the recommendation of Queen Elizabeth.

“Musical scores on display include the Organ Concerto in A major Op. 1 No 3 by William Felton, a vicar choral at the cathedral 1741-1769. Felton was an influential figure in the musical life of Hereford.

A better-known figure is Samuel Sebastian Wesley, organist from 1832-1835, whose most famous anthem, ‘Blessed be the God and Father’, was written for Hereford.

The autograph manuscript of the anthem can be seen in the exhibition.

The exhibition will run until September 8.