Polymath composer Iannis Xenakis famously explored the relationship between music and architecture; in drawing inspiration from architectural sources, Tansy Davies is following in illustrious footsteps. Spiral House, a concerto written for BBCSSO principal trumpet Mark O'Keefe, is based on an unrealised design by Zaha Hadid in which a central concrete spiral is enveloped in a glass cube. Davies has transposed this juxtaposition of concrete and glass to soloist and orchestra; the trumpet, at times supported by woodwind, describes the spiral, the orchestra becomes the cube, the changing density of orchestral textures mirroring the varying transparency of the glass.

But the idea proved less exciting in execution when premiered by the BBCSSO conducted by Zsolt Nagy. The heavy, percussive lolloping of the orchestral material isn't substantial enough to form the backbone of a 25-minute piece. Nor does the writing for trumpet, predominantly brassy and virtuosic, leave much impression, aside from an atmospheric section towards the end in which a rhapsodic solo with a ghostly echo from the orchestral trumpets plays over hushed, suspended strings.

If Davies's concerto is largely about concept, the other work premiered tonight consciously avoids such associations. In The New Black (the title itself a comment on the ever-changing fashions in contemporary music), Gordon McPherson stated that he wanted to create a piece that was brutal and raw. The result is an orchestral tour de force, a dense, powerful hit of energised sound underpinned by insistent rhythmic propulsion, in which surface clamour belies the wealth of instrumental textures underneath. Although towards the end it could profit from being made more succinct, there is plenty to sustain interest and momentum.