Work: Versa est in luctum

British choir Tenebrae performs Masterworks of the Renaissance in Sydney's City Recital Hall. 

Premièring a new touring programme at their home church of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate, early music vocal ensemble Stile Antico treated us to a concert centred around the music of the Hapsburg courts of the late 15th and 16th centuries.

In my notes for this evening’s concert by Renaissance, a chamber choir founded by the young singer, conductor and composer Ben Rowarth, one word kept recurring – “thoughtful”. This was a programme that had been carefully put together, and which was performed without any unnecessary flashiness or attempts to impress.