Take Harlow Chorus, Britten Sinfonia, Southend Boys’ and Girls’ Choirs and pupils from three Harlow schools, add a generous helping of Stravinsky and top it all with two world premieres and you have the richly rewarding gourmet feast that was Sunday’s concert at Harlow Sportcentre.

The evening’s entree was Stravinsky’s unusually scored and rarely performed Symphony of Psalms - served to perfection from expansive opening, via fanfare and gently pulsing rhythms, to quiet, contemplative finale.

Syzygy, pronounced ‘sizzer-gee’, was the first of composer Cameron Sinclair’s contributions to the evening. Influenced by Sufi music and the poetry of Rumi, the 13th century mystic and founder of the Whirling Dervish cult, Sinclair’s music is brim full with energy and drama. Pulsating rhythms are his trademark and the first movement of Syzygy (it means a pair of connected or correlated things) quite literally had them dancing in the aisles. ‘Realised by Cameron Sinclair’ the piece evolved from an extensive education project involving Essex Music Services and musicians from Britten Sinfonia. 130 pupils from Harlow’s Abbotsweld, Henry Moore and Passmores schools explored exotic rhythms through movement, voice, percussion, wind instruments and the occasional electric guitar. Ethereal arcs of sound introduced the newly formed Passmores choir and the rousing finale brought together the combined forces of Chorus and orchestra to conclude a rich and memorable experience.

‘say i am you’, the finale to the evening, introduced Sinclair’s stunning and exuberant companion piece to Symphony of Psalms. Under the inspirational leadership of Sarah Tenant-Flowers the ‘connections’ of the title were explored still further, this time through the dynamic communication between instruments and voices. At one moment grandly sweeping crescendoes at another intimate conversations with pulsating rhythms building to the thrilling climax.

The evening was a triumph for Harlow Chorus and left the audience replete and well satisfied.

Laurence Sach