In the mid-1970s George Benjamin studied composition with Olivier Messiaen at the Paris Conservatoire. Tonight at the Royal Albert Hall he conducts the Ensemble Modern in a concert dedicated to his former teacher, beginning with two of his own works - Palimpsest I and Palimpsest II - and his orchestration of an organ piece by the Baroque composer Nicolas de Grigny. Messiaen's monumental Des canyons aux étoiles completes the programme. Introduced by Tommy Pearson.