The first in a series of international events during 2008 to celebrate Ronald Stevenson’s 80th birthday, tonight marks the long-awaited world premiere of his epic symphonic work Praise of Ben Dorain, inspired by the great 18th century Gaelic poem of that name by Duncan Ban MacIntyre.

As one of Scotland’s most distinguished and prolific composers, Yehudi Menuhin once said that Stevenson was “one of the most original minds in the world of the composition of music”.

Stevenson is probably best known for his massive, 80-minute Passacaglia, for solo piano, the score of which he presented to Dimitri Shostakovich (on the letters of whose name the music was based) at the Edinburgh International Festival in 1962. Present on that occasion was the revered Scottish poet Hugh MacDiarmid, who suggested to Stevenson that he compose a piece based on Ben Dorain, using MacDiarmid’s own translation.

Nearly half a century on, the completed work finally reaches the concert stage. Interweaving MacDiarmid’s text with the original Gaelic, it will be performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and a chorus assembled by Scottish Opera including the University of Glasgow’s Chapel Choir directed by James Grossmith and The Edinburgh Singers led by Dominic Peckham, both at the forefront of their respective city’s musical traditions.

Tickets:  £16