I had feared a battle of two festivals: Brighton Fringe versus The Great Escape, with the (in this case) unwanted noise of the latter in the square outside invading the library where something much quieter was about to start.

But Intimate Voices were fearless and, despite ten minutes of musical overlap, the gentle ululations of six amplified voices from six speakers placed around the edge of the room quickly overcame the external competition. The outside world faded away to be replaced by the strange world of Karlheinz Stockhausen, not to everyone’s taste!

Stimmung was a work of its time influenced by the peace, love and mysticism of 1968 and Stockhausen’s recent visit to Mexico. In 51 short semi-improvised sections each led by one singer, largely meaningless syllables are chanted in varying rhythms.

Based on one chord throughout, the patterns of vocal harmonics are interrupted by an odd mixture of spoken material, including “erotic” poems by Stockhausen (the rudeness of which was sadly lost on someone who doesn’t speak German).

Lasting just over an hour, the delicate singing and exaggerated declamations, and the gracefulness and concentration of the performers, kept the audience surprisingly enrapt.

Sometimes amusing, the ritualistic and hypnotic mood was nevertheless sustained. Plaudits are due to MOOT (Music Of Our Time) for their promotion of a rarely-heard piece.