THIS concert of later 17^th century Christmas music was a very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon.

Adhoc Baroque is a local ensemble with a core of soprano Greta Claringbould, alto Maartje Sevenster and musical director Peter Young. For this concert the three were augmented by bass singer Andrew Fysh, violinists Bianca Porcheddu and Dan Russell, cellists Clara Teniswood and Rachel Walker playing viola da gamba. The strings were all in baroque configuration with gut strings and period bows and tuned down a semitone.

Peter Young has long impressed with his scholarly musicianship and this concert featured four premieres of French and Italian works from the late 17^th century. Young has resurrected these from manuscripts in European libraries with three by the French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier and the fourth by Alessandro Stradella who would seem to have led a short, but remarkably dissolute, life in 17^th century Italy.

The Stradella cantata was the longest work of the concert at 26 minutes, but constantly entertaining with the three voices in various combinations supported by the two violins with cello and organ continuo. Slightly distracting was the movement of the singers around the stage, a soloist coming to the front with the others sitting down off the side for a couple of minutes and having to clamber around music stands to get back into position.

The three Charpentier works were equally enjoyable, with three voices working well together supported by the violins and continuo in these wonderfully crafted four to five-minute works. They are continuously varying in the combination of vocal and instrumental parts.

The three singers all had an opportunity for solo performances. Clarinbould sang a motet by a female Italian composer, Maria Xaveria Peruchona, a nun who wrote music for her nunnery in northern Italy. Fysh sang two short works by the German composer Heinrich Schütz and Sevenster a work by another German, Diderik Buxtehude. This was the only blemish of the afternoon, with the viola da gamba having a much more complex part requiring notes on the top strings past the fretted section of the neck. This proved a challenge for the player and seemed to throw the singer off her part as well at times.

This one small difficulty aside, the instrumental playing and singing were of the highest standard. The violins were a delight and there was a confidence in the singing which was a joy. Peter Young provided an understated but supportive continuo on his small organ, the cello and viola adding a solid bass line throughout.