The Argus: Brighton Festival Thumb There Was A Child is a modern oratorio by Jonathan Dove, celebrating the life of a young man drowned at 19 years of age.

It closes with the eponymous poem by Walt Whitman and features a dozen other poems including The Prelude by William Wordsworth, A Song About Myself by John Keats and In Memoriam by Alfred Tennyson.

The Brighton Festival Chorus, one of Britain’s finest choirs, and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), among our best orchestras, filled the stage and gallery.

Joan Rodgers was the soprano soloist and Ben Johnson the tenor, with Simon Halsey conducting a moving and vivid performance.

Despite its tragic inspiration, this is a vibrant and sometimes joyful work which singers and musicians clearly enjoyed performing.

Ben Johnson, a Radio 3 New Generation Artist, was particularly impressive and the words of the large choir – sometimes with some of the women singing separately – were almost always clearly audible.

Edward Elgar’s cello concerto opened the concert with Guy Johnston, a former BBC Young Musician Of The Year, as soloist, with the CBSO conducted by Michael Seal.

Soloist and orchestra complemented each other perfectly, allowing the detail of Elgar’s scoring to be heard through the venue’s fine acoustics.