Graham Fraser

Steve Forman's new work, The Clydean Coronaries, is, in a word, brilliant. The American, who once worked as a session musician with John Lennon, has created a quite beautiful, optimistic view of modern Glasgow. It was performed here by RSAMD brass, solo pipes and percussion, with Forman himself on bodhran, and the young musicians excelled themselves to provide an exciting, vibrant premiere of the work.

In terms of compositional techniques, there are no surprises in Clydean. The constant drive of the bodhran and the pipes is complemented with full, intricate brass to create an uplifting spirit of Scottishness. At the end of the performance, Forman strolled from the back of the stage to take his bow and removed his trademark cloth cap to thank his audience. Hats off to you, sir.

It was the culmination of an enjoyable showcase of new compositions. Academy tutor Tom Wilson offered his Serenade IV, a collection of clever fugues before a beautiful oboe solo that delivered the piece's central theme - the hymn Lord of all Hopefulness. Another fine work. Timothy Cooper's fiendishly difficult Ricercare tested the concentration of the brass but the awkward time signatures, uncomfortable rhythms and tricky intervals were (mostly) dealt with by the performers as they created Cooper's modernist vision.

Tom Butler has contributed a few pieces to this year's Plug festival and his S.W.A.R.M. was musical theatre for eight brass performers in which the players listened to a pre-recorded track, silent to the audience, and occasionally contributed with some sounds and movements of their own. Claire McKenzie's Teeth represented her recurring nightmare of losing her smilers, and was cleverly brought to life by mocking repetition in the woodwind and brass, high strings and an intense marimba.