THE Sixteen were back at the York Early Music Festival on Wednesday night, filling York Minster with the sounds of 16th-century Spain. This was a highly honed programmed – music from Seville by Alonso Lobo and Francisco Guerrero – creating both its strengths and its weaknesses.

The exquisite craftsmanship of the music was apparent from the start, with polyphony intricate enough to create a sense of awe, but transparent enough to retain a level of clarity. Works were all short motets or extracts from masses, but fitting in 12 different pieces never quite gave enough time for an individual work to sink in.

The Sixteen produced a focused but effortless sound that filled the space while maintaining intimacy. The conducting of Harry Christophers seems as intent on leading the listener as the singers, but it nevertheless held the choir together at some particularly complex corners.

The rhythmic vivacity of moments in the Credo from Guerrero’s Missa de la batalla escoutez focused attention after the interval, while Lobo's Ave Maria sat like a pearl at the centre of the second half. Other works were undoubtedly beautiful, but they did start to blend into one another; the problem with such a narrow programme.

This was a concert of many fine moments, but with a concentration on fewer, longer pieces, the experience could have been that bit more intense. Nevertheless, this was an excellent performance from a group who will always be warmly welcomed in York.