IT was back in December, 2001, that Geraint Bowen first began putting the programme together.

Eighteen months on, it's crunch time for the artistic director of this year's Three Choirs and the festival's here.

In keeping with tradition, the 2003 incarnation celebrates both anniversaries and premieres a newly-commissioned piece.

One seam running through the festival is pieces premiered in 1803, 1903 and 2003.

The 1803 piece is Beethoven's rarely-heard cantata Christus am lberge, performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Festival Chorus at the first Cathedral Concert on Tuesday, August 19.

This will be followed by Hubert Parry's Voces Clamantium, a piece written for the festival 100 year ago.

Finally, the 2003 piece is a newly-commissioned work by Anthony Powers.

Air and Angels sets to music the words of John Donne's piece of the same name.

"We were aware of the tradition of the Three Choirs to support new music and commission a new piece," said Mr Bowen. "I began talking to Anthony about this more than a year ago, with the outline details of a piece about 25 to 30 minutes in length. I'm very excited about this piece because I love Donne's poetry."

Celebrating his 50th birthday this year, Power's orchestral work includes Stone, Water, Stars (1987) and Terrain (1993), both BBC commissions, as well as two Symphonies.

Air and Angels premieres on Thursday, August 21. Fifty years ago also marks the death of Prokofiev and Bax, which will be commemorated in this year's festival with performances of major orchestral works by both composers.

The same year also saw the Queen's coronation which will be paid tribute to by a performance of Hubert Parry's anthem I was Glad.

The festival pays homage to the French composer Hector Berlioz whose bicentennial falls this year, with performances of his masterpieces L'enfance du Christ and Les nuits d't.

A talented writer, L'enfance du Christ was one of his pieces he wrote texts for, including his epic five-act opera Les Troyens and La Damnation du Faust.

He also wrote an important Treatise on Orchestration called Grand Trait d'Instrumentation et d'Orchestration Modernes and subsidised his income by working as a critic for worked as a critic for the Journal des dbats and other newspapers before his death in 1869.

"Berloiz was an extraordinary figure, an unconventional genius and a real romantic," said Mr Bowen.

The programme also features a performance of Handel's recently rediscovered Gloria.

This is the first time Mr Bowen has been artistic director of the festival, but the Three Choirs is more than familiar to him having worked as assistant organist at Hereford Cathedral from 1989 to 1994.