THE University of York Symphony Orchestra's Saturday concert opened with a fine performance of Lili Boulanger’s D’un soir triste.

This excellent tone poem was the composer’s penultimate work. What came across was a strong, very well crafted work but one which lacked distinguishing originality – hardly surprising, perhaps, as she was only 24.

For some wacky reason I was reminded of the music of Arnold Bax; it was certainly gloomy enough. OK, there was light at the end of this well performed musical journey, but the lasting impression was one of the night closing in: a dark, unsettling work.

As indeed was Bartok’s Four Pieces For Orchestra. What came across superbly was their sheer originality. The performance was excellent. The opening Preludio had assured solo contributions, not least from flautist Athene Broad.

This was followed by a pulsating, energetic Scherzo, where the playing was absolutely gripping from start to finish. The final Marcia Funebre summed up the first half of the concert: brilliant but pretty dark stuff, the ending decidedly chilling.

And then there was light! The second half belonged to Elgar’s Enigma Variations, and what a moving performance this was. What really struck me was the quality of the string playing. In this work there is no place to hide, technique is very much on the line.Every character variation was performed with a very really distinctive voice, not least the magnificent Nimrod variation.

Huge credit must go to conductor John Stringer who directed this challenging programme with clarity, purpose and authority.