I left the Dome on Saturday evening rolling from one leg to the other like a sailor back on dry land after years at sea.

The reason? A powerful and evocative performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony by the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), which took the audience through a journey on the world's seven seas.

With glorious singing from Brighton Festival Chorus (BFC) and excellent contributions from soprano Lisa Milne and baritone Christopher Maltman, conductor Richard Hickox gave a passionate reading of what is now a core piece in the English music repertoire of the 20th Century.

Using poems by Walt Whitman, Vaughan Williams gave us the sea in all its forms and all its glory.

Earlier the concert, the opening event at this year's Brighton Festival, began with an exquisite reading of Edward Elgar's haunting and poignant Violin Concerto by the 29-year-old virtuoso James Ehnes (pictured).

He is a young man who is already a master of his art.