Composer: Tabakova, Dobrinka (b. 1980)

Music from Vaughan Williams is contrasted with two pieces from Dobrinka Tabakova  in The Scottish Ensemble’s candlelit concert, Ascent. Senior NYOS strings swell the ranks to produce a reflective evening of richness and warmth.

Infectious energy from musicians who breezed through a diverse and challenging programme without music stands or chairs, in which Benedict Mason displayed his originality.

An introductory reading by local writer Philip Pullman was an appropriate introduction to the “Dusk to Dawn” concert, one of the last in this year’s Oxford Chamber Music Festival (themed “Fairytales and Fantasy”).

After weeks of foul weather, this was more like it. Proper sunshine for a summer festival. Around Hereford Cathedral, watched over by a statue of Elgar draped in a fresh laurel wreath, Three Choirs Festival-goers enjoyed the warmth before venturing inside for equally sunny music. Even the yellow flowers framing the stage carried through the theme, setting off the golden centre-stage harp.

While Iain Farrington’s Animal Parade provided the fun and fireworks of this extraordinary recital at Brentwood Cathedral there is no doubt that it was the world premiere of Dobrinka Tabakova’s Diptych that stole the show.