What a pity Hove Town Hall will no longer be Sussex Symphony Orchestra's home.

Though a grimly purposeful looking building, the Great Hall, with its film-set lighting and optimised ceiling provided a cosy, inviting space for the SSO's moving tribute to the Christmas Truce.

Squeaky floorboards and a trio of precious angels poking around noisily on mobile phones may have compromised attention had the orchestra not played a programme including Kelly, Ravel and Beethoven to the kind of standard that not only demands full focus but affirms the triumphs of human endeavour.

Elegant, nuanced conductorship from Mark Andrew James during the military-themed compositions was beautifully counterbalanced by genial engagement with the audience.

However, attempts to rouse them into song for the interspersing carols proved largely futile (overheard: "I just don't think it’s fair to make people listen to my terrible voice"), and the bulk of the task was taken up by soprano Helen Hardwick, whose thrilling vocals were unlikely to be matched by we mortals anyway.

Thoughtful readings of poems by Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon evoked sombre reflection on the horror of violent death, necessary - real life not resembling an ad campaign - to emphasise the overarching topic: human warmth.