Music / Prayers and Lamentations, The Oriana Chorale. At All Saints, Ainslie, April 13. Reviewed by GRAHAM McDONALD.

It has been a year or two since I last heard The Oriana Chorale and it was interesting to see a generational shift in the choir’s membership. It is now at least half singers in their 20s and 30s (rather than 50s and 60s) with a real sense of enjoyment in the music they are creating.

This was a concert of essentially religious music over a span of 400 years, with the first half of the concert covering both ends of that time range and the second half focusing on the first half of last century.

The first section of the concert was Thomas Tallis’ settings of The Lamentations of Jeremiah, written in the mid 16^th century, separated by a motet by English composer Roxanna Panufik written in 1997. The two Tallis settings were sung beautifully, with a fine balance to the choir. The Panufik motet was sung at the same pace, but full of unexpected harmonies, rather as if the composer had added another five parts of utterly different music to a more standard choral work. Notable was a strong and confidant solo from soprano Jade McFaul.

Tallis’ sacred music is always uplifting and rejuvenating and the clever addition of the modern work was clever and inspired programming by musical director Dan Walker.

The second half of the concert shifted to the early 20^th century with the music of Igor Stravinsky and Lili Boulanger. Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms is a setting of three psalms for orchestra and choir from 1930, using a condensed instrumental backing of piano, violin and clarinet done by Melbourne musician Stefan Cassomenos. This was interesting and unusual in the scoring with the three sections all building in interest throughout.

The final work was the setting of a Buddhist prayer written in 1917 by French composer Lili Boulanger with a curious and, for the time, unusual “oriental” flavour using non-Western scales and harmonies. This featured a solo from tenor Cody Christopher and an orchestral score condensed by Walker to the three instruments. A very effective and intriguing work to finish a fine concert.