PART of the Harrogate International Festival, this concert was outstanding.

Stile Antico is a young British ensemble of 12 singers who perform without a conductor. Consequently, they work more like a quartet – constantly looking at each other, breathing as if one, and know their scores so well they refer to them rather than “reading” them.

Intonation, artistry, sensitive phrasing and cohesion were outstanding. The concert reconstructed features of compline, a form of night prayer, and was composed of simple plainsong, psalms, antiphons and responses.

The performance of Sheppard’s Libera nos I & II was exquisite. Their joy and involvement with the music were intense, the effect ethereal. The plainsong interludes were varied by being sung by groups of three voices – tenor, bass and soprano or alto.

Essential, calm and reflective, they provided a wonderful counterpoint to the complex, cross rhythms and occasional dissonances in Tallis’ In manum tuam.

Three sopranos sang from behind the screen in Tallis’ In pace in idipsum to wonderful atmospheric effect. Even more splendid was the sound produced after the group moved to the chancel for Byrd’s Nunc dimities, expressing such deep emotion and devotion that the capacity audience was utterly silent.

The first half ended with a sublime rendering of Sheppard’s Jesu salvator saeculi verbum introduced by basses 42 FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2014 WEEKEND dst.co.uk DARLINGTON & STOCKTON TIMES with amazing resonance, followed by beautifully blended choral sound.

The second half began with Sheppard’s Lords Prayer sung in English, wafting from the rear of the nave, followed by Tallis’ Misere Nostri. Perhaps the most serene piece was Sheppard’s In manus tuas I, a sublime moment within an outstandingly good concert which ended with Taverner’s Ave Dei partris filia, its intertwining lines on longheld melismas compelling and mesmeric.

It was one of the best concerts I have heard in years.

Sue Shaw