In The first of a series of Sunday midday concerts in the Hugh Lane Gallery promoted by the Association of Irish Composers, everything was surprising. King Harald's Saga by Judith Weir is a 13-minute historical grand opera in three acts with an epilogue, originally written for radio. The soprano (Kathleen Tynan) sang all nine roles, unaccompanied, and read the plot summaries. It was an experience to see her suddenly switch from the charm of a Lyric FM presenter to the maenad-like delivery of a song. The chief interest was not in the dramatic content, which was minimal, but in observing how the singer coped with the composer's demands.

Nono's Ricorda cosa ti hanno fatto in Auschwitz (Remember what was done to you in Auschwitz) was for tape, without any performers present. It consisted of electronic noises rising to an almost unbearable pitch of intensity, with quieter sections using a soprano and a children's choir. Had it not been for the title of the piece, one would have wondered why the ear was being subjected to such feats of endurance.

Bodley's Ariel Songs seemed no less wilful in their treatment of Shakespeare's words than they did 30 years ago: time has not tempered the abrasiveness. Voice and piano make giant leaps to unexpected pitches, and seemingly arbitrary pauses disrupt the line.

Patrick Zuk was the piano accompanist in his own settings of prayers and songs in Irish, Urnai na hOiche. The voice was given an enriched recitative, while the piano indulged in textures of Rachmaninovian richness. The suitability of such music for words of great simplicity could be questioned; the opulence of the sound had to be its own excuse.

Dearbhla Collins, who accompanies Ariel Songs, returned to the piano for Martin O'Leary's Three Japanese Lyrics. This work eschews Zuk's indulgence and perhaps goes too far in its search for the austere: the words, through brief, are extremely expressive in the Japanese manner. Katherine Tynan had to supply the emotion which was contradicted by the piano.