The first piece on the programme was Holst's The Hymn of Jesus. Like last year's performance of Berlioz's Grande Messe de Morts performed in Westminster Central Hall, full use was made of the opportunities offered by the layout of St Joseph's. While the main Chorus and the excellent Hertfordshire Orchestra shared the altar and apron at the front of the church, the space behind the Lady Chapel was reserved for the ethereal sound of Plainchant. Meanwhile the gallery hosted a choir of a dozen angels.

The effect for the audience was charming - we found ourselves in the middle of music coming from all angles. After the Latin prelude, the full choir was allowed to give voice to the Hymn in a display of all their artistic and technical abilities, climaxing in the wonderful "All things join in the dance."

The main piece on the programme was Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius. Coincidentally, the piece was completed in 1900 - around the time of the building of St Joseph's and only ten years after the death of John Henry Newman (or, as us Catholics call him, Cardinal Newman).

The opening, with much use of percussion and brass, is ponderous and slow. We are then introduced to Gerontius and follow "…the story of a dying man, and his imagining of his soul's journey in the next world." His role was sung by the excellent tenor Hilton Marlton. He gave a superb performance, both technically accomplished and sensitive to the complex material.

He is at death's door and is frightened of the journey before him. We follow him every step of the way - fear, self doubt, contrition, resignation. All the way he is attended by "assistants" who pray for him through the medium of some of Elgar's most beautiful work: the "Kyrie eleison" and the "Rescue him O Lord" really showed the choir at their best. Later in the piece they are excellent as the Demons with their cynical and threatening take on mortality. But it was as the Choir of Angelicals in "Praise to the Holiest" that the Choir was given a really monumental passage to tackle. They were magnificent.

Overall this is a very morbid and, frankly, depressing piece - although relieved towards the end by songs of hope. The Prelude of Gerontius does seem to go on for too long and towards the end this reviewer wanted to shout "get on with it!". It was the nature of the piece that the Choir spent long periods of time on its collective bottom, which was sad. Hopefully, future programmes will contain pieces that allow Crouch End Festival Chorus the opportunity to do what it does best - sing.