At risk of courting cerebral stereotypes, it is a sad reality that Oxford’s choral scene is consistently characterised by elegant, accomplished, and emotionally unengaged singing. Schola Cantorum and their conductor James Burton proved once again that they are an exception to the rule, filling Exeter College chapel with the overwhelming force of their collective vocal and emotional conviction.

This opening concert of the academic year saw the official handing over from last year’s vocal forces to a new line-up, and marked the occasion in fitting symbolic fashion with a musical journey from old to new – moving from the early English choral works of Gibbons, Weelkes and Tallis, through to the works of living composers Pawel Lukaszewski, Tarik O’Regan and Andrzej Koszewski, all culminating in Schoenberg’s epic spiritual meditation Friede auf Erden performed by the 47 massed voices of the (not so-) chamber choir.

Early church music is the bread and butter of Oxford’s many choral foundations, and it was good to hear works like Weelkes’ daringly stark When David Heard and Gibbon’s joyous O Clap Your Hands taken out of a liturgical context – where they can too often sound fossilised and self-consciously historical – and re-invested with the energy and drama that makes sense of the truly dynamic part-writing.

Exeter Chapel, with its bathroom acoustic, was a difficult venue for such a large group, exacerbating a tendency towards over-singing, and highlighting a certain breathiness and lack of focus in the sound. This was particularly evident in the moments of dynamic extreme – pianissimos lacked the fizz and spin of really supported singing, and climaxes occasionally tended towards the shrill.

Yet it would be hard not be won over by Schola’s combination of informed musicianship and all-out enthusiasm. If the result is occasionally a little raw when compared to the politely polished products of the Oxford foundations, then it is because musical and dramatic risks are being taken. Together with the rest of the packed audience for the late Sunday night concert, I will vote with my feet on this one.