Following the somewhat whimsical juxtaposition of Saariaho and Beethoven a fortnight ago, the BBC Symphony Orchestra on Saturday nailed its modernist colours to the mast.

The programme of works by Oliver Knussen, George Benjamin, Berg and Britten certainly cohered better. Nor was Romanticism far away in any case. Knussen’s The Way to Castle Yonder, a potpourri from his opera Higglety Pigglety Pop!, revels in a world of enchantment and childlike wonder.

Establishing a spellbound fairytale quality with the very first chord, Knussen brought his and his collaborator Maurice Sendak’s fantasy world to vibrant life from the rostrum. Romanticism is also a feature of Berg’s Violin Concerto, a work steeped in nostalgia, tragedy and heartache. Unfortunately, this was a less than exemplary performance. It was not a matter of technical shortcomings — the BBCSO can surely play it in its sleep. Rather there was no sense of the work’s emotional vicissitudes being lifted onto a transcendental plane.

Leila Josefowicz, from a seat on the left side of the stalls, was constantly engulfed by the orchestra. A little more tone emerged on the rare occasions she turned in our direction. Benjamin’s Dance Figures, a sequence of nine strongly rhythmic movements designed to be danced to, fared much better.

But best of all was Britten’s powerful Sinfonia da Requiem, which with the blistering orchestral battery unleashed by Knussen sounded more than ever like a soundtrack to a lacerating anti-war film.

This was a performance that both affirmed the work’s centrality in Britten’s output and offered an experience of pole-axeing anguish.

BBC Radio 3, Tuesday 8 April.