The Burford Singers were in good voice last weekend for their traditional Palm Sunday concert at Burford Church.

As always, this was a finely-balanced programme, ensuring plenty of variety in both emotion and musical style. First up was Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music, his moving and eloquent setting of words to The Merchant of Venice.

The four soloists - Martene Grimson (who replaced soprano Lucy Crowe at short notice), Anna Stéphany, Nathan Vale and Christopher Dixon - gave appropriately stirring accounts of their short solo passages, with sensitive support from the choir and orchestra, under Brian Kay's customary authoritative command. This was a glorious opening to the evening; a truly mesmerising and enthralling experience.

The mood changed swiftly with Elgar's Sea Pictures, sung in ravishing tone and fine dramatic style by Anna Stéphany. Such was the beauty of Stéphany's voice that I found myself paying as much attention to her singing as to the music itself. She achieved some fine contrasts, from the serenity of the opening Sea Slumber Song, to the vigour of The Swimmer, in which the depiction of a swimmer struggling against mounting waves is brought sharply and powerfully into focus. Here Elgar produced some of his most thrilling and stirring music, to which Stéphany did full justice, bringing the first half to an exciting finish.

The second half was devoted to Haydn's Harmonie Mass, the last of his six great masses and possibly the most vigorous and exhilarating. At last the choir had something they could really get their teeth into, and they seized their opportunities with glee, singing with their customary precision, clarity and joie de vivre. There were some particularly lovely notes from the sopranos; strong and assured but never forced. Once again the soloists impressed, as did the orchestra - particularly the wind section, which enjoys unusual prominence in this piece.

This was a thrilling and stirring evening; a glorious prelude to Easter.