"There are two or three very fine choirs in Auckland and they all have their own qualities. It's a mixture of the sound of their individual voices and something indefinable to do with their conductor's style."
As a conductor, Hughes says he is a stickler for "clarity of diction combined with drive, energy and conviction in the singing. Sometimes one goes for these at the expense of blend or purity of line. Only with the finest choirs would you get it all at once, with one rehearsal a week."
Although, by its nature, Musica Sacra focuses on the music of bygone centuries, Hughes is proud of commissioning local composer David Griffiths to pen The Servant in 2003, and is thrilled with a new John Wells Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, which the choir premiered a few weeks ago.
"John has done a fantastic, large-scale setting that's like a rocket going off; one of those moments when everything clicks into place."
When it comes to contemporary music, Hughes says he prefers scores where the ink has had time to dry on the page.
Composers like Griffiths and Wells have the benefit of hands-on experience in the choral world and Hughes rails against "contemporary composers who spatter blots of inks all over the page without any idea of the practicality or beauty. The music is often either unplayable and unlistenable."
Not so with Handel, whose "very jolly and cheery music" tonight includes the anthem Let God Arise, an organ concerto and the 1739 Ode for St Cecilia's Day.
Indra Hughes may have gained a doctorate studying Bach, but Handel "has a level of greatness equal to Bach but in a different way".
"He prefers to write melody-and-bass rather than lots of intertwining counterpoint. And he is also better at letting his hair down and doing theatrical colour and drama. Handel has a greater immediate appeal and that's an important thing for audiences. It's easy for us to forget that some music is more enjoyable to perform than listen to.
"Much as I think that Bach is number 1, a lot of what he has written falls into that category."
Hughes is irrepressible when it comes to discussing tonight's Ode for St Cecilia's Day. "It is wonderfully lavish in scale, with obbligato parts for lute, organ and flute. There's a fantastic opening number which depicts a sort of primordial chaos, simmering and bubbling away like a Rotorua mud pool."
Add in a line-up of "show-stopper choruses, full scope for tenor Iain Tetley to deliver some awesome high notes in the work's trumpet aria and a soprano aria for Pepe Becker, with cello and lute accompaniment", and it sounds like a captivating concert.
Performance
What: Musica Sacra
Where and when: Holy Trinity Cathedral, tonight at 8pm
