With about 200 musicians on stage and in the choir stalls, the size of the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) and the Brighton Festival Chorus (BFC) combined was an impressive sight as you entered the venue.

The repertoire was a double bill of Brahms, opening with Schicksalslied (Song of Destiny) before the star attraction, Ein Deutsches Requiem after the interval.

The Requiem was last performed by the BPO and the BFC in 1972, which is unsurprising as this mammoth work can last up to 80 minutes and requires quite a sizeable force to perform it.

In a novel approach to leading the concert, conductor James Morgan gave an engaging insight into the pieces before they were performed, including using musical extracts to demonstrate some of his favourite sections from the Requiem before the interval.

These markers were very useful and I certainly hope this approach will be considered for future concerts as I believe it would really help to engage with both younger and more experienced audiences.

The ensemble gave a tremendous performance, filling the auditorium right to the back with Brahms' stunning music, showing an impressively tenacious control over two of the composer's finest and most daunting works.

Tom Sayer