Worcester Cathedral Choir finished a five-day tour of Ireland at Christ Church Cathedral on Tuesday night. The choral items in their concert included music by Boyle, Byrd, Britten and Durufle.

This all-male choir of 18 trebles and four each of altos, tenors and basses, is disciplined. The treble line is even-toned and equally good at high and low volumes, and each of the adult sections has an individual sound, yet they blend. There were a few fudged entries, but on the whole, ensemble was clean. Daniel Phillips provided reliable support in some difficult organ accompaniments and gave a solid account of Mendelssohn's Prelude and Fugue in C minor.

Robust was the word which most often came to mind during the concert. The master of choristers, Adrian Lucas, made the most of volume when the opportunity came, in places that felt just right, as in parts of Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb and "Sanctus" from Durufle's Requiem. In other places, notably a hard-driven rendering of Byrd's Lumen ad revelationem gentium, the effect was hectoring. However, the choir can also show good control at low volume, and the best demonstration of this by far was a beautifully measured "In paradisum" from the Durufle.

What was missing from most of the concert was control between extremities, that gradation of volume and timing which can make the most of the magical closing moments of Rejoice in the Lamb. In short, the work of a typical English cathedral choir, but definitely at the better end of that tradition's spectrum.