The impressive finale to this year’s Thaxted Festival was provided on Sunday by the combined forces of Harlow Chorus and the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra. The concert also marked the final engagement for Sarah Tenant-Flowers as Artistic Director of the chorus, a post she has held for the last ten years.

Fittingly, the evening opened with Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture. Described by Brahms as a ‘laughing’ overture it seemed more a fanfare for the evening - by turns romantic, stately and jauntily carefree it prepared the way for the triumphant mainstay of the evening, Brahms’ German Requiem.

This monumental work required and received the focussed concentration of every performer. Under the firm leadership of Tenant-Flowers as conductor, and joined by the exceptional soloists Michael George and Elizabeth Watts, the chorus and orchestra moved effortlessly through the constant and subtle changes of mood.

Referred to as a requiem the work is more concerned with consolation in the face of loss. Restrained and often reflective it is never long before the music lifts with tuneful optimism, sometimes even joyous triumph as it does in the more operatic sixth movement.  The quieter mood of the fifth, influenced by the loss of Brahms’ own mother, was as equally affecting and with the measured and eloquent final movement a reflective silence was left suspended in the air.

This considerable undertaking was delivered with clarity and sensitivity and the enthusiasm of the audience showed genuine appreciation for the interpretation and first-rate musicianship. It was also a mark of considerable respect for the achievements of the last ten years and the creative partnership between artistic director and chorus that has produced such outstanding work.

Laurence Sach