Tomas Luis De Victoria’s mass O Quam Gloriosum provided the title and the leitmotiv for the Stratford Chamber Choir’s concert recital in Holy Trinity Church on Saturday 25th September.

Four excerpts from the late 16th century Spanish composer’s mass Kyrie Eleison, Sanctus, Benedictus and O Quam Gloriosum set the temper of the performance and determined the character of the programme that proved very apt for its setting in the parish church. The choir’s contribution, under the direction of Stephen Dodsworth, was complemented by organ pieces played by Paul Walton, a former KES pupil who is currently assistant organist at Bristol Cathedral, and keyboard player of great attainment and promise.

The chamber choir has thrived as an ensemble since its foundation in 1993, having been invited to perform in such notable locations as the Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York and Westminster Abbey, and on tour in Burgundy. This year’s invited visit to the Combrailles Bach Festival in France proved a particular success, and offered an occasion for performing music included in the choir’s Stratford programme.

The penitential emphasis of several of the Victoria excerpts was taken up in programme items such as Bach’s O Jesu Christ and Komm, Jesu, Komm, Casals’ O Vos Omnes and Poulenc’s Salve Regina. Yet conviction of sin was balanced in almost all instances by joyous praise and faith. Familiar and much-loved pieces such as Bruckner’s Locus iste and Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine carried this double emphasis, and as the choir moved into the second half of it’s programme trust and certainty became arguably the dominant tones rather than doubt and self-abnegation. Weelkes’ Alleluia I heard a voice and Howells’ Magnificat strengthened this tendency. Altogether, the programme as a whole represented a very moving rehearsal of key concepts of Christian faith.

The 11 men’s and 15 women’s voices of the chamber choir offered rich and well-blended tones in a confident and disciplined performance. The flexibility and range of the choir’s repertoire and the vocal accomplishments of it’s members, as well as the musical knowledge and skill of its director, must place it among the most notable chamber choirs of the region and perhaps of the country as a whole.

Paul Walton’s organ contributions, Edwards Turvey Tuba Tune, Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in B minor and Hakim’s Tantum ergo sacramentum fully complemented the choir’s performance. Walton knows how to make the excellent Holy Trinity organ give of its best, in the contrastive vitality of Edwards, the busy and full-hearted work of Bach and the virtuosic note-cluster and rhythms of Hakim.

The recital was given in aid of the Friends of Shakepeare’s Church. As the Herald has recently reported, Holy Trinity stands in great need of financial support. It is hugely welcome that an evening such as this can both support a very worthy cause and at the same time provide music of a higher order that is also worship.

Ronnie Mulryne