No one could accuse the BBC of underplaying the 60th anniversary of Indian independence and partition, and Nitin Sawhney's Albert Hall performance functioned, in part at least, as the Proms' contribution.

His architectural approach to music should have suited the venue. With his own guitar or piano as foundation, he added level upon level of sound: pre-recorded samples; Indian flute, sitar and tabla; multiple vocal styles including flamenco, North African and human beat-box; and the specially formed 60-piece London Undersound Symphony Orchestra.

But the unyielding amplification worked like sonic Botox, filling out surfaces while obscuring essential features. Beatboxer Jason Singh was barely audible, the orchestral strings were too often a mere wall of sound beneath Karlos Edwards's clattery drum kit, while the disparate vocal idioms tended to blur together.

The best moments were usually the simplest. Dancers Akhram Khan and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui replayed highlights of the sit-down choreography from Zero Degrees, their dance-and-words collaboration with Sawhney.

The potential for basic musical impulses to cut through was apparent when Sawhney, flautist Ashwan Srinivasan and tabla player Aref Durvesh performed The Conference, unadorned kathak dance rhythms made explosively vocal.