At the concert at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Southsea, on 19 July 2014 Scottish composer James MacMillan was adroit in tailoring the trumpet part in his 2010 setting of In Splendoribus Sanctorum, allowing trumpeter Fraser Tannock to create a deliberate and potent contrast with the still reflectiveness of Peter Gambie’s select choir as the soloist moved around the church.
MacMillan’s setting of the Miserere Mei is surely a masterpiece that will live in the repertoire, even more than his In Splendoribus Sanctorum.
The Emsworth-based choir excelled in conveying the Spanish fervour of Victoria’s music in his Missa Ave Regina Caelorum, achieved remarkable subtleties in Palestrina and highlighted the fact that Englishman William Byrd was still writing passionately as a Catholic in the late 16th century.
