The Sixteen & Harry Christophers
Angel of Peace 
(Coro)
★★★★★

SINCE forming in 1977, The Sixteen have become a leading choir and specialists in early music. Their mission to boldly focus, explore and discover the beauty of spiritual music. 

At present they are part way through their Choral Pilgrimage 2025 tour performing in 21 cathedrals, churches and concert halls across Britain Led by conductor and founder Harry Christophers, the concerts feature works included on their latest milestone album.

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First up is a piece by Abbess Hildegard von Bingen, a noted 12th century visionary, poet, philosopher, singer and composer. Her remarkable hymn work Ave, Generosa (verses 1 to 4)  opens around slowly arching soprano and alto-led melodic lines, backed by shimmering bell-like drones. The overall plainsong-layered effect achieves a deeply affecting transition into a bright-star modern triumph.

In places the choir are as tranquil as the surface of the moon, then voices oscillate into subtle pitch-shift motifs. Composed as a celebration of the bond between the human and divine, its drive sets the bar very high for the whole album. The piece is revisited halfway through the album, picking up on verses 5 to 7.

Three pieces by Estonian composer Arvo Part are included on the album, who celebrates his 90th birthday in September. Christophers has long held an admiration for his work.

The second track is Part’s Tribute to Caesar, written in 1997, to mark the 350th anniversary of the Reformation theologian Karlstadt Episcopacy in Sweden. It sets an episode from Matthew’s gospel in which the Pharisees converse with Jesus. Low bass voices take centre stage to high effect.

Also on the album is Part’s mournful Da Pacem Domine, written for four voices. The composition, originally a commission from musicologist Jordi Savall, was written in 2004, two days after the Madrid train bombings.

Will Todd’s I Shall Be An Angel Of Peace opens with yearning solo violin lines played by Sarah Sexton, which then weaves its way around the choir’s emotional delivery, a religious tour de force, full of energy, flow and infused with a classic Renaissance spirit.

The world premiere of contemporary composer Anna Clyne’s Orbits is also featured. With Sexton once again the soloist, the piece begins with a simple Irish-inspired tune, and then bursts of high-pitch choral dynamics. Inspired by elements of medieval music, the piece sets an English translation by Robert Bly of the poem I Live My Life by the Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke, who believed religion to be a direction of the heart. Clyne’s ambition for her composition matches this intent.

The album concludes with the 16th century composer John Taverner’s O Splendor Gloriae. 

Recorded at All Hallows Church, Gospel Oak, London, in 2024, the recording is detailed with power and clarity across the frequency spectrum. The choir and soloist give passionate performances, with timing and tuning always near to perfection. The extraordinary Hildegard pieces, in particular remain long in the memory.

Future live dates include York Minster, Exeter Cathedral and Chichester Cathedral.

On tour until October 4. For tickets and information see: thesixteen.com.