The Charleston Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, led by Dr. Robert Taylor, packed the business end of Citadel Square Baptist Church last Sunday evening. The occasion was a festive and thrilling concert of choral-orchestral gems by 20th-Century English master Ralph Vaughan Williams – the 50th anniversary of whose death we observe this season.

The rest of the church was pretty well-packed, too: I’m very encouraged by the impressive crowds that have turned out to support their beleaguered band in recent months.

But before the music sounded, the CSO also celebrated other choral notables and anniversaries. None other than Charleston’s musical Grande Dame , Miss Emily Remington (now 92 years young), was honored as the founder-conductor of the Charleston Symphony Singer’s Guild, as the CSO Chorus was first known. Several veteran singers who worked with her were also recognized — and Dr. Taylor (nationally recognized for his work with the College of Charleston’s crack choral program) marked his tenth season as the chorus’s director.

The evening’s four-work array began with the festive 1929 setting of Psalm 100: one of the composer’s best-known church anthems. The select CSO Chamber Singers – nicely supported by their orchestra – delivered it with precision, rich sound and jubilant spirit.

The following number – Serenade to Music – also fell to the Chamber Singers. I sang it with them ten seasons ago. Originally written for a hand-picked mini-ensemble of famous English singers, we heard it here in its choral version – with stunning solo contributions from soprano Andrea Robertson.

This piece is among Vaughan Williams’ loveliest works – in much the same serene mold as his well-known The Lark Ascending for solo violin and orchestra. Setting the words of William Shakespeare, the piece is a glowing and heartfelt tribute to everybody’s favorite art-form. The story goes that Russian pianist-composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, while on tour in England, was moved to tears when he heard the work in the composer’s presence.

The choir sounded wonderful: silky-smooth and sonorous, with sweet delicacy where called for. Several CSO players got to shine here, too: especially acting concertmaster Amos Lawrence, whose ethereal violin solos helped weave the music’s magic spell.

While that one turned out to be the evening’s highlight for me, perhaps the main reason I was there was to hear baritone David Templeton, the College of Charleston’s recently appointed director of opera. He served as the inspiring soloist in the Five Mystical Songs – a highly original and varied song cycle that sets the spiritual poetry of George Herbert.

And I certainly wasn’t disappointed: blessed with a voice of true operatic sound and dimensions, Templeton’s mellifluous and emotive singing brought these pieces to life as I’ve never heard them before. The rest of the CSO Chorus joined their chamber choir colleagues up front for these inspiring pieces (and for the concert’s remainder). They provided rich and sonorous singing, while never quite drowning out their clarion soloist.

The program ended with A Song of Thanksgiving – a sprawling, passionate choral-orchestral extravaganza written to mark the triumphant end to the Second World War: one of darkest eras of British history. Setting various scriptural and secular poetic texts, the music makes for a joyful and uplifting listening experience.

The effulgent CSO chorus was joined here by a children’s ensemble: a combined choir of sixth-graders from the Thomas Cario Middle School in Mt Pleasant and Summerville’s R. H. Rollings Middle School of the Arts. They contributed some sweet singing overall, but sounded a bit off the beat in one section.

This was only the second CSO event this season involving their excellent chorus (they suddenly got a lot better after I dropped out eight seasons ago). I’m delighted that Dr. Taylor got a chance to show them off – with orchestra – under his assured baton. Both players and singers responded beautifully to his conducting. After all, Vaughan Williams is Taylor’s favorite 20th-Century composer … and I’m sure the old master would’ve warmly applauded this evening of rich tribute.