While an atmosphere of reconnection has inevitably surrounded many recent concert experiences, the sense of reunion in the sixteenth-century surroundings of St Michael le Belfrey – in the shadow of York Minster – on this early autumn evening was more tangible than usual. Friends, colleagues and followers of Vic Hoyland were that night finally able to gather, nearly a year later than originally planned, to celebrate the 75th birthday of a composer who has spent more than five decades of his life carving a distinctive path through the British music scene.