In its program I Was Glad – Cathedral Classics, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs performs music by British composers of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Meticulously conducted by Artistic and Music Director Brett Weymark, with the expertise of David Drury at the world’s largest mechanical tracker-action pipe organ, the company’s Symphony Chorus performs a selection of mostly sacred music by writers who trained in the organ lofts and choir stalls of public schools, chapels, cathedrals and colleges and left us a rich legacy of music that remains the cornerstone of choirs performing in this style.

Eschewing the choir stalls, the choir stands on stage in horseshoe shape, under mood lighting. The double-choir configuration has tenors centre-stage with basses behind, flanked on both sides by sopranos at the rear, altos to the fore.

I Was Glad – Cathedral Classics. Photo © Keith Saunders

Although written for spaces different to a concert hall and for fewer singers than the elite 100+ auditioned symphony chorus, the mix of grand music, the acoustic and the vast 10,244 organ pipes are a winning combination in this cathedral of a different kind. There will be liturgical meaning for...