The Santa Barbara Master Chorale opened its 21st season over the weekend with Gabriel Fauré’s beloved Requiem and Joseph Haydn’s Mass in Time of War.

These are sacred pieces about profound matters, and the chorus and orchestra gave them their full due. Led by long-time Music Director Phillip McLendon, the singers and musicians produced a finely nuanced, polished interpretation of both works.

This community has such an abundance of musical talent, an evening like this was able to muster not only fine vocal soloists, but orchestral performers of exceptional ability.

Haydn’s Mass, composed during the Napoleonic Wars, reflects the anguish brought on by any war. In the composer’s case, it commemorated the French Army’s siege of his beloved Vienna.

The soloists were Mary Dombek, soprano (in superb voice), Victoria Hart, contralto, Grey Brothers, tenor, and local baritone Andre Shillo, replacing Nikolaus Schiffmann, who had to cancel at the last minute.

Especially noteworthy was a stunning cello solo passage played by Jennes Johnson, a master of her instrument who also plays in the Santa Barbara Symphony. Her cello’s rich voice soared with the poignancy of loss in warfare.

Haydn’s Mass dealt with war, a tragedy. The mood of his Mass was dark and martial, with resounding trumpets and timpani in the Agnus Dei, and vigilant woodwinds in the Dona Nobis Pacem.

Fauré’s Requiem was devoted to the inevitability of death. But its prevailing mood and motifs were of peace and transcendence. Here again, soloists rose to the highest level.

Mary Dombek’s crystalline soprano was most effective in the Pie Jesu, invoking the mercy of Christ. Likewise, violist Kirsten Monke formed a solid foundation for the orchestral accompaniment, demonstrating her usual emotive power.

Fauré wrote his Requiem a little more than a century after Haydn composed his Mass.