THORNBURY Choral Society performed two contrasting works - Brahms' Liebeslieder Waltzes and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana - with style and polish. Every aspect of each piece was given full expression by singers and instrumentalists under the assured guidance of their conductor, Steven Kings.

The Brahms love-song waltzes had many differing moods, and the choir and pianists (Robin Baggs and James Drinkwater, playing four hands on one piano) portrayed these sensitively, making the rapid changes between each song quite distinct. The tenors and basses set the tone for the whole evening with their confident, rhythmical opening to the first song. Their darker Brahmsian harmonies, as for example in The tender hop vines growing' were full of character. Indeed the men of the choir excelled themselves throughout. The four women and four men soloists from the choir maintained the seamless quality of the performance.

The light tenor voice of soloist, Rob Waters, was ideally suited to this work as well as to the Orff, and the interchanges between tenor and choir in 'A pretty bird so small' were most effective. Zoe Maitland, soprano, gave an attractive account of her lost love in 'Untroubled were the days gone by'.

In Carmina Burana we were into a different world, which the choir entered with vigour, ably abetted by the pianists, on two pianos this time, and by a wide range of percussionists with their exciting effects. This version without orchestra enabled Steven Kings to draw out added sharpness of attack and rhythm. The 12th and 13th century secular poems, which Orff set to music, had been preserved in a Bavarian monastery but, as the programme notes stated, 'It is somewhat surprising to learn that, apart from some poems that are of a morally uplifting nature, most are bawdy student songs celebrating such un-monklike earthly delights as drinking, gambling, dancing and lovemaking'. Again the choir achieved a wide range of expression and moods, with the women alternating between savage wildness and gentleness, and in producing their apparently effortless high runs, while the men expressed a carefree amorality through their pride in what they got up to in the tavern. The baritone soloist, Dan Robson, with his colourful vocal quality and relaxed vibrato, sang most appealingly and displayed many differing emotions. Rob Waters vividly communicated the misery of the roasting swan; and Zoe Maitland revealed a depth of passion in 'Dulcissime, totam tibi subdo me!' The OCTAVES Junior Choir, trained and rehearsed by Kate Phillipson-Masters, sang with freshness and charm, both on their own and in blending with the soprano soloist. Their delightful contribution was greatly appreciated.

The work ended with a magnificent climax, and the enthusiastic response from the audience was fully deserved.