A concert requiem of hope is how composer Paul Mealor describes his new choral work Aberfan: From Darkness to Light, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the disaster that killed 116 children and 28 adults . Heard first in the Aberfan Community Centre with the voices of children from today’s junior schools – Ynysowen Primary School and Ysgol Gymraeg Rhyd y Grug – joining the Ynysowen Male Voice Choir, the BBC National Chorus of Wales and an instrumental ensemble, this second performance, again conducted by Timothy Redmond , had the full weight of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. While the focus on hope coloured the whole, it was – not surprisingly – the bright, shining voices of the children, their every syllable crystal-clear, which made one well up.

Setting words by Grahame Davies, whose poetic sequence of narrative and verse balanced remembrance with reflection, the piece was, at its heart, a celebration of life and the culture of the valley.…