I'm not surprised that Colin Matthews says that he hugely enjoyed writing Alphabicycle Order, a setting of 26 nonsense poems by Christopher Reid. The young choristers are plainly having a ball, whilst Henry Goodman's narration strikes the right note between mock-seriousness and an acknowledgment of the ridiculous. And the music is accessible in the best sense of that much over- and mis-used word: varied, concise, often intensely rhythmic, and very much in touch with the sentiments of the poems. The Horn Concerto is a much more serious affair, with the soloist's lyrical lines competing with an offstage horn quartet … Richard Watkins, who gave the first performance, makes the most of the character of the protagonist.