COMPOSER David Blake, a key founder of the University of York’s music department, recently turned 80. In affectionate tribute, the University Chamber Orchestra included two of his works in Wednesday's programme.

In Praise Of Krishna, a song cycle with chamber ensemble, opened atmospherically, setting the idyllic scene with long phrases and slow-moving harmonies. Seductive moments, and flashes of anger, revealed the composer’s control of mood.

Blake’s inventive word-painting was well served by Susan Young; her smooth, varied, soprano never became shrill in her tautly controlled upper register. Her command of this complex idiom drew persuasive performances from the accomplished instrumentalists.

If that was unmistakably an atonal work of the 1970s, The Song Of Spring, receiving its premiere, was unequivocally 21st-century pictorial: this pastoral D-major choral rhapsody was more immediately appealing, but less distinctive. It needs more orchestral opulence for listeners to be engaged by its harmonic sumptuousness.

Richard Strauss’s Oboe Concerto is a daunting piece for the soloist: Angelika-Rose Stangl took it in her stride. Her creamy tone was easy to listen to, from the gently sustained opening, through a supple slow movement to a genial finale.

In Haydn’s Surprise Symphony, how can you make music’s most familiar bombshell unpredictable? Conductor John Stringer devised a ruse that amused the audience and kept us guessing. As in the Strauss, string ensemble was not always pinpoint sharp. The minuet went with a swing, and the jovial finale led to a surprisingly earnest conclusion.

This varied programme, from a well-drilled orchestra, made for an entertaining concert.