This lightest of "Light Programmes" benefited from comparative brevity and provided a frothy medley of sunlit wavelets playing merrily above the deeper ocean currents of Elgar, Ketelbey and W.H.Myddleton.

Monkton and Talbot's Overture to "The Arcadians" (and this concert) is reminiscent of Grieg's Holberg Suite in its note of fresh dawning optimism and patterned well with the pre-interval Ensemble Finale from Finck's "Vive la Danse". Similarly, Percy Grainger's well-known "English Country Gardens" arrangement opened a second half that closed with the audience accepting the invitation to sing Myddleton's "The Rose" selection of English Favourites.

Within this framework the emphasis was on fun: for the percussion section providing sound effects from cuckoos to clocks; for everyone in the novelty item "In a Clock Store" by Orth ; for conductor, Howard Rogerson, who produced bird whistles from those potted palms…and for the grand daughter of Frank Gomez who got to play his "Climbing The Abbey Steps at Whitby" with an orchestra that gleefully (and triumphantly) takes liberties with a humorous score.

Amidst all this playfulness we were memorably transfixed by a mesmeric performance of "Bells Across the Meadows" by Albert Ketelbey. The advantage of being four times larger than many an original Palm Court orchestra lent a symphonic depth to this hauntingly beautiful melody. This is an orchestra that must surely flourish and you can help.

The news is you can become a Friend of The Promenade Concert Orchestra, which returns to the Platform in November with a programme of ballet music. For full details and an application form to join the Friends contact Miss. Jean Ball, 22 Clougha Avenue, Halton, Lancaster, LA2 6NR.