A RELATIVELY slimline choir, just over 200 voices, appeared under John Stringer on Wednesday, the first time for many years that its conductor had not been Peter Seymour.

Stringer took up the cudgels efficiently, opening with Sibelius’s Sixth Symphony before taking on the choir in Szymanowski and Bruckner.

The Sibelius was painted in pastel shades, mirroring its pastoral scenery. There was a touch of Mendelssohn in the airy opening Allegro and the spirit of dance was even more alive in the Allegretto. Where we might have had brighter woodwinds was in the scherzo; they were submerged in its vigorous crescendo.

Stringer’s attempts to inject some livelier accents into the finale were not taken up by enough of the players. But the gentle precision of the playing, albeit low-key, made one grateful for the chance to hear this piece.

Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater paid welcome obeisance to Ash Wednesday. Its opening reverence was neatly reflected in its finale, and the unaccompanied fourth section stayed admirably in tune. The climax, envisaging Judgement Day, was underprepared.

Benjamin Lewis’s firm bass was the most distinctive of the soloists.

Bruckner’s bombastic Te Deum engaged much new blood in the winds and brass, the horns now expanded to eight (they played splendidly).

The solo quartet – Susan Young, Cara Curran, Matthew Moss and Lewis – blended well.

The choir grew in bravado as the work progressed, with the sopranos clinging tenaciously to their extended high Cs.