Culwick Choral Society/Orchestra of St. Cecila/Colin Block - NCHMass in B Minor - Bach

Christ Church Cathederal Choir, Christ Church Baroque/Mark Duley - Christ Church Cathedral

Cantatas BWV 22,127,159 - Bach

There was a great difference in the scale of the forces that were used in Saturday's performance of the Mass in B Minor and in Sunday's performance of three Cantatas. The Culwick Choral Society, with 147 voices, would easily have drowned the Christ Church Cathedral Choir's 26 voices, had there been a competition; and the Orchestra of St. Cecilia, with 32 modern instruments, made a bigger sound than the 17 baroque instruments of Christ Church Baroque.

It seemed appropriate that the larger forces should be the ones to present that giant work, the Mass in B Minor, in the NCH and that the Cantatas should be put on in Christ Church Cathedral; but size is not everything. The smaller forces produced the most homogenous sound and filled the nave of the cathedral with a satisfyingly solid tone. Of course, the Cantatas are shorter and simpler than the Mass, and their narrative and dramatic elements suited the solo singers admirably (Gillian Keith - soprano, Colette Mc Gahon - mezzo soprano, Nicholas Hurndall - tenor, Philip O'Reilly - bass) and a church is the ideal place for music so closely connected with the liturgy; so it is not surprising that the Cantatas, eloquently conducted by Mark Duley, should seem closer to the spirit of Bach than the more famous Mass. A special word should be said in praise of the limpid readings of Organ Preludes BWV 601, 656 and 727 by Andrew Johnstone at the cathedral organ.

In the NCH, the Orchestra of St. Cecilia, though not playing baroque instruments nor in a specifically baroque style, played with welcome moderation, obviously influenced by developments in Bach scholarship and having Colin Block at the helm curbed the choir. The choir was too large to be happy in the complex part-writing which was inevitably blurred at times, making it difficult to sense all that was going on.

The keenest pleasure of the evening was supplied by the soloists - Linda Lee and Sandra Oman (sopranos), Sheila Mc Carthy (contralto), Eugene O'Hagan (tenor) and Conor Biggs (bass). The instrumental obligatos in the solo sections are also noteworthy.