Though the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers have been getting raves during their tour of England, we couldn’t help but laugh out loud at an Oxford Times review that was quite glowing until the last two paragraphs.

In discussing the group’s performance of spirituals and folksongs — traditional American fare — the reviewer wrote:

"... they lacked the sense of spontaneous outpouring and emotional generosity demanded by songs such as Ching-A-Ring-Chaw or Witness or Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, if they are to be truly effective.

"Somewhere among their technical virtuosity and tasteful interpretation VocalEssence lost that crucial chink of humanity with its raw and rudely cut edges; the perfectly formed yet slightly over-polished result, despite its undeniable elegance, proved ultimately a little too — dare I say it? — English."

Read the review. England is clearly choral country — especially Oxford. As the writer notes in her intro:

"Bringing choral music to Oxford is rather like crashing a convention of diabetics with a box of doughnuts — superfluous at best, outright dangerous at worst. Our city boasts more choirs per square metre than almost any other, and with choral alumni including the Tallis Scholar and The Sixteen, the bar is set high indeed."

VocalEssence’s blog about the tour is here.