Page 117 - FINAL_The Sixteen Coverage Book 40th Anniversary Year

kick on the consonants to give shape to the long lines. Christophers brought in subtle shifts in dynamic and
tempo between sections, gently changing the mood without interrupting the overall flow of the music. In
this early stage of the concert some of the higher voices sounded unusually strained, but this was
understandable on a cold wet night at the end of a long tour, and they rounded out as the evening went on.

The dense texture of Wylkynson’s nine-part Salve Regina made for a rich, full-bodied sound. The
interjections within the text “O Clemens”, “O pie” stood out like gems on an embroidered cloth as the
polyphony unwinds to bring all the voices together in these reverent declamations. The Sixteen brought
grit and passion to the final stanza when the text turns to the sufferings of Mary’s son, and a shaft of light
shone through on the zingy final “O dulcis Maria, salve”.

Fayrfax’s Eternae laudis lilium is part of The Sixteen’s history, as it was on their very first recording, and
it’s one of those Tudor wordplay pieces, with the first lines of the text spelling out ‘Elisabeth Regina
Anglie’ (referring to Henry VII’s wife, Elizabeth of York). This tripped along in a light dance, the music
full of the floral fragrance of the title, and with an air of ecstatic praise.

When The Sixteen gave their first concert, none of the other works on this Choral Pilgrimage had been
composed. The influence of Orthodox music in John Tavener’s pair of songs to Mary, A Hymn to the
Mother of God and Hymn for the Dormition of the Mother of God came across strongly, particularly in the
smouldering bass lines. There was a nice nod to another great British choir with Eric Whitacre’s Sainte-
Chapelle, which was commissioned by the Tallis Scholars for their 40th anniversary in 2013. The text is in
Latin, but was written for the piece, and describes a girl being touched by angels on seeing the Sainte-
Chapelle, the music characterised by a distinctive rising motif that seems to be a gasp of astonishment.
Both this and Gabriel Jackson’s Ave Maria gave the sopranos a chance to show off their cool, bright top
notes, with a lovely duet at the end of the Jackson for Julie Cooper and Charlotte Mobbs but when set
around the rest of the programme, these two works came across as pretty, but disappointingly bland.

My disappointment in the choice of contemporary repertoire for the programme completely evaporated
when we got to James MacMillian’s O Virgo Prudentissima, commissioned last year by The Sixteen. As
well as being musically interesting and a joy to listen to, this was a piece that felt carefully tailored to its
singers and sensitive to their performing style. The starting point for MacMillan’s piece is a fragment from
the Eton Choirbook of the same text, set by Wylkynson. Daniel Collins’ opening alto solo floated
ethereally in from nothing; more voices singing and humming gradually added to the texture – a striking
feature of this piece was Julie Cooper’s lovely solo line accompanied by a stratospheric and quiet
vocalisation from Charlotte Mobbs that created a clever effect of harmonic overtones. MacMillan takes up
the rich opportunities for word-painting offered by the text: monumental walls of sound for cliffs, and
swirling, high texture emerging from these for the ‘hidden whirlpools’.

After a gloriously complex “Alleluia” to end the MacMillan, a smoothly polished Agnus Dei from
Sheppard’s Missa Cantate brought everything gently back to earth, making a satisfying close to this
celebratory Pilgrimage.

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