Composers Under the Influence, the National Chamber Choir's annual series of concerts at the National Gallery, began on Thursday evening. The composer concerned was Ireland's David Fennessy, whose Aimhreidh shared the programme with three other late 20th-century works, by his compatriot Eric Sweeney (Lament of Deirdre), England's Jonathan Harvey (The Angels) and Estonia's Arvo Part (Sieben Magnificat-Antiphonen). In this world of squishy-harmony sound, the Fennessy stood up well.
The NCC's sound was more homogeneous than it often has been in the past, and the bass section in particular often had a richness, especially in low registers.art Antiphons. Yet there was a persistent impression that true experience of the music lay just round the corner. The choir's artistic director, Colin Mawby, conducted in a way which majored on such aspects of choral technique as tone, volume and colour. But it was so preoccupied with these aspects that the result often seemed lacking in drama.