Baroque to Bruckner: Ceremonial Music for Choir and Brass. St Teresa’s Church, Colchester
Essex County Standard 24th June 2011
Colchester Chamber Choir showed its greatness with perfectly balanced sound, total musical commitment and faithful interpretation of a variety of styles.
Their programme cleverly compared and contrasted works from the Baroque with Bruckner’s 19th century pieces, and the added dimension of brass instrumentalists from the Royal College of Music provided a variety of textures to enhance the vocal drama.
Purcell’s fervent and well-sustained Funeral Sentences were exquisite. Bruckner’s Ecce Sacerdos was mighty in its declamation, and the strategic scattering of voices and instruments around the church provided a delightful echo effect from the small choir in Schutz’s Jauchzet. It also replicated the authentic surround-sound experience of Gabrieli’s O Magnum Mysterium.
The enthusiastic audience was rewarded with an encore, Bruckner’s Locus Iste, bringing the evening to a sublime close.
Jackie Wallace