LAST FRIDAY was James Wilson's day four of his works for chamber ensemble were performed by Concorde at the lunchtime recital and the NSO played his Concertino in the evening concert.

The Concertino's refinement of texture was highlighted by its position in the programme, between Walton's Prelude for Orchestra ("Granada"), a frankly populist piece written for television, and Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, a piece which on this occasion seemed to owe more to the brass band tradition than to Gallic taste. Joanna MacGregor gave a swashbuckling performance of the solo part, holding her own against the orchestra.

In a brief spoken introduction to the Concertino the composer explained that the work was an orchestral response to the colours of a Wicklow sunset and the conductor riposted that James Wilson was perhaps "Dublin's answer to Delius". Colman Pearce's bon mot was received with equanimity by the composer, who affirmed that he had a great admiration for Delius. Certainly, the Concertino and the chamber works seem more harmonic than melodic in their inspiration. The melodic lines, even when treated contrapuntally and richly decorated, are always aiming at some exotic harmonic twist, far removed from the broad melodic impulse of Borodin's Symphony No. 2, which ended the evening concert with a bang.

Three of the chamber works were being performed for the first time: Two by Four by Two for marimba doubling vibraphone and bass clarinet doubling tenor saxophone; Sonata No. 4 for violin and piano; and Nine Very Small Songs for soprano, flute, clarinet, French horn, violin and cello. These last, settings of poems by Ian Douglas, exemplified Wilson's interest in instrumental colour; the words were definitely subservient to the music, even if they inspired its expressionistic style.