This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Melbourne Bach Choir. Formed principally to celebrate the work of JS Bach, its debut performance was the St Matthew Passion in 2006. It’s a milestone of which Artistic Director and conductor Rick Prakhoff should be proud, and augurs well for a long and successful future.

Surprising, then, that in this celebratory anniversary performance, he should select works by Brahms and Szymanowski that were inspired by death and reflections on the end of life. Brahms’ Nänie – roughly translated as ‘funeral ode’ – is based on a poem by Friedrich Schiller that references Greek mythology to mourn the loss of Beauty.

Written after the untimely death of Brahms’ friend, the painter Anselm Feuerbach, it opens with a wistful oboe solo leading to a full-throated choral and orchestral passage that leaves the listener with feelings of hope rather than despair.

It calls for a full choir and orchestra, and the Zelman Memorial Symphony Orchestra, a long-established non-professional group of players, partnered with the MBC for Friday night’s performance at the Melbourne Recital Centre.

Melbourne Bach Choir. Photo supplied

Conducted by Jessica Zuk and assisted by the excellent...