Performer: Endymion

Steve Reich's 'opus number one', It's Gonna Rain, for magnetic tape, and The Desert Music for chamber ensemble and singers, came together for this Late Night Prom. Both pieces were almost hypnotic, and made for a very intense, but highly satisfying musical experience.

Whenever Brahms is mentioned, songs and symphonies often come straight to mind: after all, the man was the master of all things symphonic, even his piano sonatas being called “veiled symphonies” by his mentor, Schumann.

In most concert listings, premières seem to be thrown in as a one-off to offset a relatively risk-free billing. In this Cheltenham Music Festival concert, this was not the case. With no less than five premières in an evening of seven choral works, those present could be assured that they were hearing something new.