I went to the Baroque Majesty event last Saturday night at the O2 Guildhall in Southampton. It was billed as a joint performance by the full Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and their community choir, BSO Voices. The programme mixed familiar baroque pieces with some less common ones. It was the best audio experience of my life.
The first thing that struck me was the choir. There were at least 120 singers on stage. BSO Voices is open to anyone—no auditions, no music-reading requirement—and the sheer number gave the choral sound a weight that smaller groups rarely achieve. It filled the hall without needing heavy amplification.
Pete Harrison conducted. He is the regular director of BSO Voices and came across as a warm, engaging character: authentic, funny, and clearly at home with the repertoire. He kept things moving without unnecessary drama.
The orchestra used roughly the numbers listed on the BSO roster, scaled back for baroque work. Strings came in at around 33 players (10 first violins, 8 second violins, 6 violas, 5 cellos, 4 basses). Woodwinds totalled about 6 (2 flutes/piccolo, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons; oboes vacant). Brass numbered around 10 (4 horns, 2 trumpets, 4 trombones/tuba). There were 2 on percussion/timpani and 1 harpist, who also had a Roland keyboard set up. The balance stayed clear throughout.
What stood out most was the interplay between the sections. The choir and orchestra locked together cleanly on several numbers. My three strongest pieces were the opening Vivaldi *Gloria in excelsis Deo*, the Handel Sarabande, and the closing Messiah excerpts. The full Messiah runs about three and a half hours; they took selected movements including “For Unto Us a Child Is Born,” “All We Like Sheep,” and the Hallelujah Chorus. Those sections delivered the cleanest, most direct impact of the evening.
Well actually Zadok the Priest was a slow burn banger. Handel's *Zadok the Priest* (Coronation Anthem No. 1, HWV 258) opens with a famously long, quiet, and stately orchestral introduction—roughly 1–1.5 minutes of soft, repeating string patterns that build tension very gradually. This section is often marked *Andante maestoso* in editions (or left unmarked by Handel himself) and sits around 80–96 BPM in typical recordings. It can feel drawn-out or processional, which is probably why it landed in the “slower baroque items” category, but it certainly gains ground.
After that, the choir and trumpets enter with a sudden forte, followed by a dance-like middle section in 3/4 time and a final “God save the King” part full of chordal declarations plus fast semiquaver runs in the Amens. The whole piece usually runs 5–6 minutes and is described as majestic and ceremonial overall, not uniformly slow.
Actually, the God save the King, and Lord of Lords religious exhortations curled my lip a bit but there is something about religious singing from the 18th century fur Ein gutes Gefühl.
The extended suspenseful opening is the part that often strikes listeners as slower or less engaging compared to the punchier Vivaldi Gloria or Messiah excerpts.
Not every piece landed for me. Some of the slower baroque items (Bach Air on a G String, Pachelbel Canon, Handel Largo from Xerxes, Purcell Chaconne) sometimes felt drawn out and less engaging. Still, the night as a whole was exceptional. The hall acoustics were fine, the playing was tight, and the combined forces produced a big, professional and unforgettably coherent sound.
I got home well after the concert absolutely buzzing on good energy for hours afterwards. Inject more of that into my veins.
