I'm not a fan of the word "eclectic", but it’s a struggle to find a more suitable adjective to classify this performance. While parts of tonight’s works root the listener firmly in the texture of the 20th and 21st centuries, others just go to show us that apparently, Baroque lives on.

Stravinsky’s Concerto in E flat, Dumbarton Oaks, is a case in point, introducing influences of Bach while throwing off a modern twist via disjointed and competing instrument groups. It's a big contrast to the next work, Heinz Karl Gruber's Manhattan Broadcasts: while some might find it surprising to find a classically trained chamber orchestra revelling in exciting jazz harmonies and swing solos, that's the very stuff of the movement entitled 'Tammany Hall'. Quite unexpectedly, the following movement, 'Radio City' subverts this, casting a divergent view both forward and backwards as traditional blues is married with more modern jazz. With its combination of fantastic scoring and virtuosic ability, Manhattan Broadcasts seems specifically chosen to make a point about the versatility of the SCO. It's a point well made.

The premiere of Sally Beamish’s Chamber Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Strings is equally well handled, with the string section cushioning soloists throughout complex rhythm changes. As with the opening work, Baroque influences shine through, particularly in the first movement, though it is in the second that composer and performers are to shine: the elements derived from traditional Scottish music and Gaelic psalms are alarmingly comfortable set alongside Baroque ideas. An outstanding factor throughout is the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet, whose unusual, dense sound really fleshes out this work.

Thomas Wilson’s Symphony No. 5 – a popular commission for the SCO's 25th anniversary back in 1999 – provides an appropriate ending to an evening of immense variation. Another piece which reconciles opposite ends of the scale in terms of expression, tempo and harmony, the strings latch on to the composer's objectives with rich harmonies up to the closing diminuendo. Perhaps the term "eclectic" is growing on me.