Possibly because a concert billed as Mostly Mozart' turned out to be wholly Schumann', the Sheldonian was scantily patronised for last Thursday's performance - though I found myself next to a visitor from California who'd booked his ticket three months ago. The players gave lively accounts of the work; still, two major symphonies (nos. 3 and 4) might be thought a heavy schedule for one evening especially as Schumann found symphonic composition difficult and protracted, while feeling that this greatest of musical challenges was one he could not refuse.

Strangely, it was his loved and loving wife Clara who should have best gauged his temperament who encouraged him to aim at the symphony, though today his reputation rests more on his song-cycles and chamber work. Be that as it may, there is always tuneful melody and powerful orchestration to be heard, and Symphony no. 3 dates from a relatively smooth period of his life, at Dsseldorf, where it was performed in 1851.

The Philomusica was playing under charismatic Alexander Shelley, conducting without a score but with every note and entry understood and guided. In expressiveness, identification with the music and quiet control, he reminded me strongly of the young Rattle. The brass is important in the Third Rhenish' Symphony, giving the main or second themes in all but the third movement, where the strings and woodwind carry a gentler texture, returning in impressive form in the later sections. Every movement has its character and charm, though there seems always to be some orchestral repetition or flagging of inspiration which it might be unkind to call padding'.

Symphony no. 4 is a hard-worked, hard-won victory. Begun in 1841, it was not well received, withdrawn, revised extensively and continuously, reaching its final form in 1853. Here again, there are some majestic themes, some gentle, simple tunes and a jubilant finale.