Sarah Walker introduces highlights from the Oxford Festival of Contemporary Music and from the Birmingham Contemporary Music
Group's series, including the second performance of The Path of Devotion by Jonathan Harvey , a mystical work with words by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and the 12th-century saint Allama Prabhu. Wordless choral soundscapes reflect the transcendental states that lie beyond conceptual thought. The BBC Singers and Sinfonia 21 are conducted by Martyn Brabbins. Suarogate by Volker Staub is a group of pieces for solo instruments and small ensembles, written to be performed simultaneously or partly overlapping. This performance is of Staub's recent version, which includes parts for a vocal quartet, percussion, motor sirens and the monochord - something of a Staub speciality. Members of the New London
Chamber Choir and the Critical Band are conducted by the composer. Producer Jeremy Hayes