The BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) and BBC National Chorus of Wales (BBC NCW) join forces with the London’s Crouch End Festival Chorus (CEFC) for a powerful performance of Adams’ Harmonium (1981), a three-movement choral work set to poetry by John Donne and Emily Dickinson.

The two choirs oppose each other, either side of the (only half-full) Royal Albert Hall, calling and responding with polyrhythms and polytonalities, creating an overwhelming wall of sound. In addition to the text of the poetry, the choirs imitate Adams’ synthesiser, vocalising on repetitive sounds and subtly changing vowel placement as if someone had just turned a dial: an electrifying effect.

However, conductor Ryan Bancroft struggles to keep everything as machine-like as the score calls for, and it feels too often that the orchestra and choirs are out of sync. It would probably work better if the choir were off-book; a doable task for this homophonic, minimalist work.

In the first half, Belgian clarinettist Annelien Van Wauwe gives a punchy and assertive playing of Copland’s Clarinet Concerto (1948). Originally written for Benny “King of Swing” Goodman, the concerto is notable for its complete lack of legato and vibrato — something Van Wauwe carries off brilliantly; each perfectly-tongued note resonating with the ones before, in the resonant acoustics of the Royal Albert Hall.

The Prom opens with a strange BBC new commission by a third American composer, Derrick Skye, called Nova Plexus (2023). Skye is known for his transcultural approach to music, and this new work explores the rhythms of the universe through everything from African drumming to Irish pipes, in a slightly fractured way. Cello principal Alice Neary navigates Persian-inspired quarter tones, in an exciting solo.

Tickets for all 71 Proms are available from just £8 on the BBC Proms 2023 website.