In 2000 The Sixteen toured the great Cathedrals of Britain performing pre-Reformation music as part of the millennium celebrations. Their ‘choral pilgrimage’ was well received and has since become an annual event. This year’s tour began on March 11 with a superb concert in Christ Church Cathedral.

The featured composer for 2011 is Tomas Luis de Victoria, one of the great masters of Renaissance polyphony. Born in Spain in 1548, Victoria was deeply influenced by the spirit of the Counter Reformation and as musician, priest and mystic he sought to introduce a renewed sense of piety to the catholic church.

Victoria gained his early musical education as a chorister and he knew what he was about when writing for the voice. The interweaving of the different parts creates an exquisite tapestry of sound.

Friday’s concert consisted of a series of settings of Marian texts for various combinations of voices. Even in the simpler pieces for four voices such as Ne Timeas, Maria and Sancta Maria, succurre miseris the writing is wonderfully inspired. In the longer pieces for eight voices like the Missa Alma Redemptoris Mater the web of harmony is truly glorious.

The Sixteen are masters of this repertoire and this performance had all of the precision and elegance we have come to expect from them. I loved the contrasts between the simple plainchant and the polyphonic sections of Ave Maris Stella. The elaborate play on the opening ‘gaude’ in Gaude Maria Virgo really did feel like an invitation to ‘rejoice’ and the antiphonal interplay in the rarely heard Litaniae Beatae Mariae was a revelation.

Listening to this music, it is easy to see why Victoria was so popular in his day.

A CD issued to accompany the tour is available on The Sixteen’s own label CORO. The choral pilgrimage takes place over the year so if you missed this concert there are opportunities still to catch them. For details see www.thesixteen.com