More than 1,000 people flocked to Salisbury Cathedral to hear Johann Sebastian Bach’s Mass in B Minor.

The concert was given by the Salisbury Musical Society (SMS) together with the Cathedral Choir, professional Baroque ensemble Florilegium and five top-ranking solo singers on Saturday, November 25.

SMS was founded in 1923, making the November 25 performance the last of the society’s centennial year.

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Roy Bexon, president of the SMS, said: “The concert cost us over £20,000 to put on and, like all of our concerts, it received no public money – we rely on ticket sales, our members and patrons’ subscriptions,  and occasional sponsors to put these works on. Our audience last Saturday was over 1000 – an amazing audience nowadays for any event anywhere in Salisbury.”

Reviewer Richard Godfrey labelled the performance a resounding success, with choir members “coping wonderfully” with the technical challenges of the work.

He said: “This concert was a major triumph for the SMS, and huge credit goes to their principal conductor, David Halls. There must have been countless hours of preparation before the event. The result was an occasion of great magnificence, which will last long in the memories of all those lucky enough to have been present.  This fine concert was a fitting conclusion to a very successful Centenary year.”