A tale of two Worcesters; Organist Adrian Lucas helps choir get ready for its visit to England.

Byline: Richard Duckett

Adrian Lucas is back in Worcester. While here he'll work with the All Saints Church Combined Choirs as they get ready for their visit to ... Worcester.

Lucas is organist and master of the choristers at Worcester Cathedral in Worcester, England. He's currently on a mini-sabbatical, giving organ recitals Stateside. He arrived here on Wednesday and will give a recital at All Saints Church, 11 Irving St., at 5 p.m. Sunday.

In 2003 he led the Worcester Cathedral Choir of Men & Boys on a U.S. tour that also included a stop at All Saints Church. Does he remember the visit?

"I certainly do. We had such a glorious welcome," Lucas said. "We're greatly looking forward to working with them. We're looking forward to working with them as a continuation of that."

The All Saints Church Combined Choirs will be touring England in August, and will be staying in Worcester and singing in Worcester Cathedral for part of their trip. "We certainly have wonderful musical links," Lucas said of the relationship between the two Worcesters. "I certainly think from our end of things it's more than alive. It's as strong as it has been in a long time."

Speaking of a long time, the long musical tradition that Lucas presides over at Worcester Cathedral might seem a bit daunting to American eyes and ears. He said that there has been a building on the site of Worcester Cathedral for at least 1,300 years. King's School on the grounds of the Cathedral was founded by a king - King Henry VIII. He appointed the school's first headmaster. The school trains boys and girls for the Worcester Cathedral Choir.

In his position, Lucas said he is responsible for all the music at the cathedral, including the daily liturgy (the cathedral is Church of England, or Anglican, in faith). In practical terms "that means directing the choir," he said. "I have an assistant who plays the organ most of the time, but I have to play, too, or else I'd be fired."

That seems a bit unlikely. Lucas has been at Worcester Cathedral since 1996, having previously held posts at St. John's College, Cambridge; and Salisbury, Norwich and Portsmouth cathedrals. Lucas has overseen four acclaimed choral recordings of the Worcester Cathedral Choir, and was featured on a CD playing the cathedral organ. This past Christmas, the BBC broadcast a television relay of both the Midnight Mass and the Christmas Morning Eucharist from Worcester - the first time any English cathedral had taken on that dual challenge.

In touring America Lucas said he finds that people appreciate the English choral and organ music traditions, but he finds much in the States to like and admire.

"Yes, it's different," Lucas said of the musical histories of the two countries. "But I think that every country should recognize its own heritage and be inspired by it. I've been in some beautiful historic buildings in America. I was in Williamsburg yesterday." Lucas was speaking by telephone last week as his tour had just taken him from Williamsburg to Indianapolis.

"There's some very exciting organ building going on. I've seen some really varied instruments. There's some really beautiful music to be made, so it's very exciting ...

"I'm sitting at an organ in Indianapolis that was built in 1989, and it's a very beautiful instrument. I think England is perhaps beginning to catch up a little on that. I think there's a lot of interest in new instruments."

For a while, church instruments were subject to some neglect in England, Lucas said.

"I think England went through a nadir. There were a lot of instruments but not high quality instruments. One advantage here (Stateside) is there's less history so it's easier to move on and put new instruments in."

As he said that, Worcester Cathedral is embarking on a major redevelopment of its instruments. The first, being built by Kenneth Tickell, should be ready for August - when the All Saints choirs will be in town.

"It's been a long time coming," Lucas said of the installation of a new organ. He can't directly oversee it at the moment. He came to the U.S. Feb. 6 and will be in this country until March 11. "But I'm on the end of e-mails and phones, so if there's anything desperate they can give me a ring," Lucas said, sounding quite confident.

There have been other changes at the cathedral. For one thing, Worcester is getting a new bishop.

And there's a new element to the choir set-up. For the past 18 months the cathedral has a had a girls choir for the first time in its history.

"The girls have been very successful," Lucas said.

As for attendance at the cathedral, Lucas said it can vary quite considerably and be influenced by such factors as tourism.

However, "I wouldn't say that church attendance in England is as strong as it here," he acknowledged.

While attending All Saints this weekend, Lucas will be given a gift of sorts. A musical arrangement Lucas wrote titled "Angel" will be sung by the All Saints Choirs, according to Peter Stoltzfus Berton, organist and choir director at All Saints.

The choirs also plan to sing the piece in Worcester, England, this August, Berton said.

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Lucas' 5 p.m. Sunday recital at All Saints Church is titled "They Way of the Cross: A musical journey through Passiontide and Easter." The program includes works by J.S. Bach, Olivier Messiaen and Charles Tournemire. The recital is free, with an offering.

ART: PHOTO

CUTLINE: Adrian Lucas, organist and master of the choristers at Worcester Cathedral in Worcester, England, will give a recital at All Saints Church in Worcester, Mass., on Sunday.