If ever a work was destined for the Royal Albert Hall it is surely John Foulds's World Requiem. This remarkable "Cenotaph in Sound", as the composer's subtitle has it, was premiered there at the first ever Festival of Remembrance in 1923 and repeated in three subsequent years to capacity audiences. Since then it has not been heard until yesterday's performance by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Leon Botstein.

In 20 movements, the Requiem is a setting of biblical texts and paraphrases; while pacifist in inspiration, it is grandiose in ambition. A large orchestra on stage was augmented by groupings in different parts of the house. In one section the onstage orchestra stopped completely, while the ethereal sounds of string quartet, celesta and harps wafted down from a gallery. At other times, brass instruments placed strategically around the hall added their sonorous contribution.

For all the extravagance of scale, though, the musical inspiration is spread disappointingly thin. Conservatively tonal in idiom, there is little here that would have surprised, say, Holst; one longed for something truly momentous or memorable to happen.

A fine team of soloists including Gerald Finley and Catherine Wyn-Rogers injected what passion they could and no fewer than four excellent choruses (BBC Symphony, Crouch End Festival, Philharmonia and Trinity Boys' Choir) projected the message of peace confidently into the auditorium. All credit to the BBC for putting on a work that demanded to be heard. Let's not make it an annual event, however.