Over two centuries after Mozart began composing his Requiem in D minor, K 626 in 1791, it remains one of the most profoundly moving and brilliant pieces in the repertoire, a testament to his creative genius and the poignancy of his all too brief life.

This is a Requiem for eternity, created as its creator breathed his last.

Under illustrious Guest Conductor Stephen Layton, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra – led by Andrew Haveron with soprano Samantha Clarke, mezzo-soprano Ashlyn Tymms, tenor Andrew Goodwin and bass Simon Meadows, and featuring the 140 voices of Sydney Philharmonia Choirs’ young adult choir Vox and its Chamber Singers – present Mozart’s Requiem paired with a trio of English classics.

The English connection to Mozart’s Requiem lies with Benjamin Britten and his additions to Mozart’s unfinished manuscript. Based on this, Layton has created his own performing edition, adding his own touches to Mozart’s score.

Though commemorating death, Layton and his team celebrate life itself, in this performance brimming with vitality and musical mastery, illustrating Mozart’s exemplary structure, dramatic power and vivid word painting.

Stephen Layton and musicians of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Photo supplied

Mozart included no major arias for soloists in his Requiem. Instead, there two solo quartets with other movements shared with the larger ensemble. When we do hear this elite foursome, it is a beauteous sound, balanced and well blended, flawless in the slowly unfolding lines of the Recordare and the Benedictus introduced by Tymms’ mellow mezzo-soprano tones.

Clarke shines luminously in the introductory bars of the Introit, reprised in the concluding Communio. Meadows’ Tuba mirum is a stentorian dialogue with the trombone, the tempo picking up as the other soloists enter the harmony, and the chance to hear Goodwin’s soaring tenor.

Layton shapes the music with care. The Introitus, often at risk of sounding ponderous, moves gently forward to the Kyrie. He slows the Dies Irae to a deliberate fury, punctuated by brassy interjections. Domine Jesu Christe has momentum and attack, the Quam olim Abrahae engages with its an infectious rhythmicity.

Ultimately, Mozart’s Requiem belongs to the choir, and they do not disappoint with a spectrum of colours, impeccable diction, vivid dynamics and a taut sense of ensemble. The motoric fugue of the Kyrie is well-defined and precise; the Rex Tremendae opens with compelling grandeur, fading to a lucent salve me set high in the female voice. The fury of the Confutatis with its flames of hell are richly shaded by the lower voices and contrast nicely with the innocent pleas of the upper voices.

We hear one verse of Thomas Tallis’ three-verse 16th century a capella psalm Why Fum’th in Sight?  built on the distinct sound of the Phrygian mode. Hymn-like, in its simplicity and hauntingly sung off-stage, it comes alive through gracefully shaped and articulated phrases.

Inspired by Tallis’ piece, Ralph Vaughan Williams linked his present with the past in his Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, a single-movement piece for string quartet and double string orchestra. Vaughan Williams’ retains the Phrygian mode as the foundation for his wondrous orchestration, evoking a quintessentially English soundscape.

The upper strings hold an introductory inverted pedal point segueing to shimmering tremolando as lower strings alternate pizzicato and arco (bowed) before the subtle introduction of the spacious, plainchant-inspired theme. Layton uses the constantly shifting time signatures and playful rhythms, conveying that time never stands still.

Stephen Layton and musicians of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Photo supplied

The string ensembles play the plangent themes in question-and-answer style. Richard Waters’ tranquil viola solo adds to the sense of freedom in time, met by Haveron picking up the theme. Layton pays homage to Vaughan Williams’ masterfully crafted composition of soft colours, dark filtering light, and further divisions of the orchestras. There is always a forward impetus with the wax and wane of tempi, expansive yet intimate, majestic yet tranquil.

John Rutter’s Gloria also draws on plainchant for its themes. Composed for SATB choir, brass, percussion and organ, tonight we hear Rutter’s orchestral transcription of these elements of the Latin mass in a three-movement cantata. There are hints of the great English Masters, yet Rutter owns his music and whilst some of his repertoire is considered saccharine, the Gloria is popular and gratifyingly stimulating to perform and hear.

Bold shafts of accented brass rise in layers as the voices join in shouts of praise. The two outer movements Allegro vivace and Vivace e ritmico are performed with crescendo upon thrilling crescendo, pulsating rhythms, hemiolas and syncopation, time and tempo changes.

The middle movement Andante is a hushed choral soliloquy built around two notes with a lacy interplay between the two flutes of Emma Sholl and Carolyn Harris. The concluding fugal Cum Sancto is the crowning glory.

The evening that began with introspection ends in jubilation. How terrific that Sydney’s young singers are adding these treasures to their repertoire early in their choral careers.