Emily Dickinson, the American poet, mused: “I measure every grief I meet with narrow probing eyes I wonder if it weighs like mine or has an easier size.”

She might well have appreciated this Anzac Day concert, one on which grief was explored in detail through the heartfelt works of six composers, four living and two deceased.

It was a worthy listening experience because the musical selections – which examined loss through the rituals surrounding death, a father’s murder of his daughter, the suffering of Anne Frank – were touching and yet unfamiliar.

The finale was Stephen Leek’s significant and evocative There Is Music a setting of seven poems by Jane Greenwood prompted by the five stages of grief.

Brisbane Chamber Choir. Photo © Morgan Roberts

Artistic director and conductor Graeme Morton chose compositions which featured the sound sources of cello, string quartet and choir and this appealing, time-honoured combination was another plus point. Umberto Clerici, Chief Conductor of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and consummate cellist, was another. His gorgeous instrumental voice proved a great asset.

The Svyati is chanted at Russian Orthodox funeral services when the coffin is carried into the church and...