Missa Brevis - Palestrina

Ave Maria - Josquin

Peccavit David - Lassus

Vestiva i colli - Palestrina

Le chant des oiseaux - Jannequin

In its recital of 16th-century unaccompanied song - mass, motet, madrigal and chanson - the National Chamber Choir displayed a wonderful warmth and solidity of sound. The choral writing of Palestrina and the other masters adores the resonances of human voices and builds towering edifices of harmony with the interweaving of the melodic material: the choir obviously loved the music.

The high seriousness of the religious texts was almost operatic when placed in juxtaposition with three items of Gregorian chant: but the seed of liturgical drama could be heard in the dialogue of the chant Victimae Paschali Laudes. Palestrina's Missa Brevis, almost equally respectful of the words, developed a mood that must have been latent in the chant.

Theo Dorgan read a short selection of poems of an elegiac nature which would have been even more moving if his voice had not been amplified, thus giving rather too public a dimension to private meditations.

To end the recital, Colin Mawby led the choir through two lighter pieces, a madrigal by Palestrina and Jannequin's celebrated imitation of bird song, Le chant des oiseaux. This piquant little chanson was a bit out of place, demanding a different style of singing to emphasise its high spirits and sense of humour, but vestiva i colli, by Palestrina, was in the same style as the Mass, despite its secular text, and just as successful.