The first performance of A London Symphony in 1913 was Vaughan Williams's final premiere before the first world war. When the piece was next heard, in 1918, the world had changed utterly; the composer pronounced the score long-winded and began drastic revisions. He returned to the score twice more before a definitive version emerged in the 30s.

That was the form in which the symphony was known until a couple of years ago, when Richard Hickox gained permission to record the 1913 score with the London Symphony Orchestra. The success of the disc persuaded the composer's widow Ursula to allow performances in concert too, and so at the Barbican, in what was designated as the "royal concert", the original version was heard in public for the first time in 85 years.

The most obvious difference between the two is the sheer length of the first -there is about 20 minutes more music, which turns the work from a series of pithy portraits of London life into something more searchingly and all-embracingly symphonic. Sometimes that is too much of a good thing - the slow movement just does not hang together, for all the passing beauties of the "extra" music. As the work unfolds one realises that much of what Vaughan Williams cut out suggested the peaceful retreat from the bustle of the real world that the Great War had destroyed forever; though it may not displace the familiar version of A London Symphony, it is a wonderful complement.

The performance by Hickox and the LSO was first-rate, and they had begun with less familiar Vaughan Williams. Norfolk Rhapsody No 2, last heard in public more than 90 years ago, is a fond weaving-together of three East Anglian folk tunes, artfully shaped and lusciously scored. Between rhapsody and symphony came the G major Piano Concerto by Vaughan Williams's one-time teacher Ravel, but the heavy-handed approach of soloist Andreas Haefliger was disappointing, and seemed designed only to eliminate any trace of wit or charm.