The Australian composer Brett Dean became artist-in-association with the BBC Symphony last September, an appointment marked by performances of a series of new works, the first of which was the UK premiere of his cantata The Annunciation, given by the orchestra and BBC Singers under Josep Pons. The cantata was written in 2012 for the choir of Bach’s church, St Thomas’s in Leipzig, who gave the first performances, in a liturgical context, at Christmas 2012.

The title is confusing, since the text, by the poet Graeme William Ellis, deals not with Gabriel’s announcement to Mary of the incarnation, but with the Adoration of the Magi as a fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy.

The arrival of spiritual light in the world is the underlying theme, and the choral writing consists of a sequence of stuttering fragments that gradually acquire words, shape and line, before aspiring to numinosity in hovering chorales or fiery assertions. The dark-hued scoring – Dean dispenses with violins – groups the instrumentalists in multiples of three, alluding to the three kings, and perhaps, also, to the Trinity.

It’s rather austere and unvarying for a work that heralds both joy and mystery. The performance was beautifully articulate and superbly sung, but I couldn’t help wondering whether the brighter sound of a church choir with trebles would have suited it better than a professional chorus with sopranos.

The rest of the concert, however, was immensely pleasurable. Pons opened with Respighi’s Trittico Botticelliano, the central section of which, ringing changes on Veni, Veni Emanuel, also deals with the Adoration of the Magi. After the interval came the suite from Strauss’s beautiful incidental music to Molière’s Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, a fraction solemn in places, but wonderfully well played, with some outstanding instrumental solos, from guest leader Natalie Chee above all.