The Antioch Chamber Ensemble recorded these choral works by Robert Kyr in November 2018 but the texts – many by the composer himself – ring especially true in 2021. The three pieces celebrating music that open the album include such lines as ‘You heal the wounded with energy and new life’ and ‘Lead me always, from darkness to light’. Even so, the timeliness of these sentiments in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and protests supporting racial equality is only part of what makes Kyr’s creations so powerful and affecting.

The 10 pieces reveal a composer intimate with many styles who embraces tonal roots while applying rich harmonic and contrapuntal resources to texts he sets with natural grace and feeling. Whether moulding phrases to his own words or verses from liturgical sources, Kyr achieves varied choral textures through subtle fluctuations of thematic and rhythmic devices.

The paeans to music are luminous examples of his ability to take an ensemble from hushed utterances to rapturous heights. Kyr layers religious texts to crystalline effect in Veni Creator Spiritus and Santa Fe Vespers, and he needs no words to set low and high voices in glowing relief in the vocalise Dawnsong. Whether extolling tranquillity (Voices for Peace, Alleluia for Peace) or liberation (the rousing Freedom Song), Kyr is in complete command of his art.

He could hardly have better champions than the 13 Antioch voices. Under the direction of founding artistic director Joshua Copeland, the singers convey Kyr’s messages with remarkable balance, flexibility and freshness.