Like all arrangements, Matthew Forbes’s new orchestration of John Ireland’s Cello Sonata for the Orchestra of the Swan effects a transformation – just not, perhaps, the one that you might expect. With a string orchestra replacing the piano, Ireland’s clear sonic distinction between the two partners vanishes. Instead the cello finds itself matched by the strings, occasionally soaring above but elsewhere merging with Forbes’s beautifully-rendered washes of sound, or joining in expressive dialogue on equal terms.

So even with the glowing richness of Raphael Wallfisch’s tone as soloist, this felt more like a supersized chamber piece than a concerto manqué. A surprisingly angry one, too, with shades of Berg in the first movement and neo-classical Stravinsky in the finale. It was a fascinating new perspective on a neglected work, and under David Curtis’s direction orchestra and soloist made a passionate case. Earlier, Curtis had conducted Ireland’s Downland Suite in bold, sinewy strokes: Ireland’s musical landscape presented as a woodcut rather than the usual watercolour.

But Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs – sung with ecstatic fervour by the small but powerful Orchestra of the Swan Chamber Choir and baritone Edward Grint – raised the evening onto another level. The quiet inwardness with which Grint responded to the third song, Love Bade Me Welcome was something to cherish. About the UK premiere of Stacy Garrop’s Love’s Philosophy – four inventive, beautifully-crafted a capella settings of the Romantic poets – we can’t in fairness comment. We were unable to obtain copies of the texts on the night, and the perfunctory single-sided handout didn’t even list movement titles, let alone words. A rare black mark against an orchestra that’s usually better than this at communicating with its audience.