A CHANCE to meander through the very best of Renaissance choral music arrived in Warwick in the shape of some regular visitors reprising their finest moments.
Stile Antico raided their back catalogue of performances and recordings to plunder a mouth-watering selection of their own favourites.
The choir produce their music without the use of a conductor, choosing instead to react as a group to each other. They’re not alone in doing this – although it’s rare in a group of this size – and it makes for an intense experience.
Where ensembles being conducted have a forward-facing focal point, Stile Antico seem to draw the energy inward into a circle and draw us with it.
And they don’t stay in one place. St Mary’s has a glorious variety of acoustic points and the group split into smaller sections to sing from around the building, making the most of physical distance and direction in a way which simply cannot be done in a recording.
Our best-bits-only tour took us briefly into the Christmases of centuries gone by with contributions and colours from across Europe.
It also took us to the even richer ground of holy week and the stunning, timeless harmonies and settings of a who’s who of composers.
Many will have had their favourites but nobody surely can fail to have been moved by a standout performance, albeit a slightly truncated one, of perhaps the best-known piece from this genre, Allegri’s towering, transcendental Miserere.
For this the group split around the church. The balance and expertise needed to make this not only work but work so well is immense and, from the haunting solo passages to the ethereal top Cs, this is a few minutes that nobody will forget.
Live music is as much a visual experience as it is one of sound. To watch music like this being produced and delivered directly to your eyes and ears with no agency in between is such a pure, visceral happening.
Stile Antico have been regulars here for a couple of decades so there should be a chance to hear them in the future and that cannot be recommended too strongly.
Visit leamingtonmusic.org for details of more concerts in this series and a host of Christmas happenings.
