THERE comes a time in every concert when the audience know what kind of a night they are in for.

The moment came 30 seconds into the magnificent orchestral prelude to Elgar's oratorio, The Kingdom, first performed in 1906. Lyrical and mystical, it introduces the main musical themes and sets the reverential mood.

Quite why this narrative of the lives of the Disciples is not better known is hard to explain – particularly after hearing the Halifax Choral Society and the four soloists in such good voice, accompanied by the North of England Concert Orchestra, under the baton of John Pryce-Jones.

Saint Peter, sung beautifully by bass-baritone Christopher Purves, dutifully watches the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, but it is Saint John, sung by powerful Welsh tenor Jeffrey Lloyd Roberts, who possesses more sense of awe, tremulously quoting the Saviour.

Soprano Linda Richardson as the Virgin Mary and mezzo, Jane Irwin, as Mary Magdalene, duet with each other memorably in the second movement, exchanging psalms rhapsodically at the Beautiful Gate.

The closing movements of the third are quite the most compellingly wonderful, an intoxicating cascade of glory shared by choir, soloists and orchestra, at the visitation of the Holy Spirit.

In the final movement the Disciples break bread and the choir in dramatic unison rise to a breathtaking climax, followed by a long and lingering coda expressing new faith and confirming ours in Elgar's power and glory.