The Sixteen are one of the most celebrated choral ensembles in the world.

In the 35 years since they were first created by conductor and musical maestro extraordinary Harry Christophers, they have achieved a unique reputation for the pure quality of their voices and for the distinction they endow upon baroque repertoire.

Under Christophers’s baton dusty medieval masterpieces spring to new life: with the precision and harmony of operatic singers, the a capella Sixteen blend into a chorale whole unlike any other.

It is not surprising that they have become The Voice Of Classic FM or that their interpretations of familiar carols and English ballads have become the new benchmark for choirs worldwide, winning countless awards as well as selling over 120 titles under their own record label CORO.

Kathy Gore, chairman of the Friends Of Sussex Hospices, together with High Sheriff Of East Sussex Chris Gebbie somehow persuaded both The Sixteen and Glyndebourne that joint action would pack the opera house and raise a serious amount of money for their hospice movement.

A capacity audience in the opera house thrilled to The Sixteen singing their hearts out.

Four basses, four tenors, six altos and six sopranos sang a mixed recital programme from Reformation plainsong to modern settings of Christmas music.

Pitch perfect harmony, ensemble singing and breathtaking dynamic control made The Sixteen recital truly memorable.

There have been many baroque – specialist choirs in recent years as the movement for authentic period performance gains support, but Christophers achieved a unique combination of pellucid sound, crystal clarity and purity of diction.

Somehow, his energy brought a lightness of being to an antique world.

All amateur singers will know how difficult it is to sing the sense and not the words: to link sentences over the barlines and to stop and start as one.

Moreover, Christophers’ eclectic and individual programme kept any audience on its toes. Who knew that Tomas Luis de Victoria was a pupil of Palestrina?

Or that Warlock wrote his sensitively beautiful On Bethlehem Down to pay the drinks bill?

Still less could any of us appreciate that Morten Lauridsens airy motet O Magnum Mysterium with its extreme contrasts and shimmering dissonance was inspired by a medieval Spanish still life.

A nice touch was the appearance on stage of the Glyndebourne Youth Chorus who had a great deal of fun with the rhythmic minstrelsy of Gaudate as an encore.

After which, the audience were supposed to sing carols with The Sixteen. We felt unimaginably inadequate but very full of Christmas spirit. Gaudate!