For 70 years Tilford Church has hosted an annual festival celebrating the music of J S Bach and his contemporaries.

This year a damaged ceiling resulted in the concerts being hosted by Grayshott Church but the Tilford Bach spirit remained undaunted.

The platinum anniversary concerts began with an evening of concertos performed by the London Handel Players, directed by violinist Adrian Butterfield.

His wife Rachel Brown charmed the audience with her performance of a Vivaldi flute concerto nicknamed The Goldfinch, while former Tilford Bach Society director and keyboard virtuoso Laurence Cummings made a welcome return to join Silas Wollston in two Bach double harpsichord concertos.

Adrian’s captivating performance of Leclair’s fifth violin concerto amply demonstrated the delights of this little-known French composer.

St Matthew Passion is surely the work that most reflects the heart and soul of J S Bach. On June 11 the augmented London Handel Players were joined by nine world-class soloists plus choristers from Edgeborough School for a powerful and deeply-moving performance of this great work.

Renowned tenor Charles Daniels was a most expressive Evangelist and the words of Jesus were sung by Benjamin Bevin in a rich, clear bass.

The main soprano solos were sung exquisitely by Joanne Lunn.

The nine soloists joined forces for the choruses and managed to sound like a 100-strong choir in the most dramatic moments.

I’m sure our late founder Denys Darlow would have appreciated the way his aims of 1952 are being maintained by the present generation of musicians: great Baroque music being performed on period instruments to the highest professional standard.

Rosemary Wisbey