Work: In Broken Images after the antiphonal music of Gabrieli, for ensemble

The London Sinfonietta and Martyn Brabbins pay tribute to Sir Harrison Birtwistle with a programme of very fine music-making at London's Southbank Centre.

The work of Sir Harrison Birtwistle isn't necessarily the sunniest music in the world, and coming into the Queen Elizabeth Hall last night for a serious-minded evening of discussion and performances of his intricate, modernist-style music by the London Sinfonietta, I confess to having felt a little reluctant to be leaving behind the sweltering heat of the South Bank.