Twenty minutes of well-deserved break later and
 the orchestra returned, this time with ladies
 from the Joyful Company of Singers, to perform
 John Foulds' "Three Mantras". This composer has
 been neglected by the Proms for over 70 years,
 and if the rest of his output is like this then
 it's a crying shame. A precise, metronomic first
 mantra was followed by the beautiful, ethereal
 sounds of the second. I've always been partial
 to the use of the voice as an instrument, and
 the high notes of the Joyful Company fitted
 perfectly with the orchestra. The third fizzed
 in seven-beat time until the big ending. Superb.