Best-known words in the Bible are foundation of moving concert by Newbury’s excellent Cecilia Consort

Cecilia Consort: The Lord’s My Shepherd, at St John’s Church, Newbury, on Saturday, March 2. Review by Nigel Winter.

The 23rd psalm, perhaps the best-known words in the Bible, became the foundation of a moving and well attended concert by the excellent Cecilia Consort.

2024 marks the centenary of Charles Stanford’s death and it was with three of his pieces that the evening began: a bright and stirring declaration of faith in the Te Deum, the joyful Coelis Ascendit Hodie and finally his dramatic setting of that famous psalm. The energetic “but thy loving kindness” section led us at last, gentle step by gentle step, to its calm and peaceful conclusion.

Ernest Moeran’s Preludefor piano and cello, a thoughtful and sensitive performance by Charlotte Oates and Steve Bowey, opened with a suggestion that we may still be in the surroundings of green pastures, but by the time this piece was written two world wars had happened and a haunting sense of loss pervades.

Hubert Parry’s Songs of Farewell were a delight, with careful attention given to dynamics and phrasing. The richness of Parry’s writing was given full expression by Janet Coxwell and the choir. Never, weather beaten sail spoke not just of farewell but also of accompanying calm, safety and, in the end, peace. It is no surprise to learn that Parry himself was an avid yachtsman.

John Rutter’s Requiem was a fitting and beautiful second half of this concert. Janet Coxwell’s soaring solo in Pie Jesu brought a moment of calm, but only after Charlotte Oates’ powerful cello accompaniment in Out of the Deep had unsettled us. The dramatic Sanctus again kept up the tension but, by the time the Agnus Dei and Lux Aeterna had passed, those disturbing seas in Out of The Deep were breaking gently and peacefully again in the wave-like Kyrie theme and we were led back to the still waters.

Uplifting and beautifully performed.

Well done Cecilia!