Last weekend found Woodstock Music Society in reverential mood, with motets by Bach (O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht) and Mozart (Ave Verum Corpus), together with Mendelssohn’s anthem for double choir, Hear My Prayer. As always with this choir, these were proficient performances, in which conductor Paul Ingram coaxed from them some expressive and fluid phrasing, tonal purity and musical precision. It would be good to see a few more tenors and basses to give the ladies a run for their money, but they held their own, giving a good, solid sound to underpin the higher voices.

The orchestra, too, gave a good account of itself in Purcell’s Pavane and Chaconne in G Minor, handling the smoothly flowing nature of the piece with masterful skill.

And so to the main piece of the evening, Haydn’s exceptionally moving setting of the Stabat Mater, which the choir tackled fearlessly, singing with passionate intensity under Paul Ingram’s energetic direction.

Sadly, tenor soloist Matthew Long was indisposed, but after frantic, last-minute phoning the society found a wonderful replacement in Alexander Sprague, a post-graduate student on the Opera Course at the Royal Academy of Music. If there was any concern that he would struggle to hold his own against his more experienced colleagues this was quickly dispelled; if anything, he stood out both for the sweet-toned purity of his voice and his exceptional dramatic eloquence. In Vidit suum dulcem natum (She saw her sweet child dying in despair), he really made us care.

Soprano Claire Seaton revealed a strong, clear voice, but I would have liked greater depth of feeling in Quis non posset contristari (Who could not be afflicted by the pious Mother seeing the pain of her son?). There were notable contributions from mezzo Susanna Spicer and bass Michael R. Bundy, and all four soloists blended well in the quartet, Virgo virginium praeclara. Overall, this was a stirring performance, well supported by the orchestra.