After a decade in the business Pulp secured a first number one album while Britpop elder statesman Paul Weller also benefited from a return to popular and critical favour.
the occasion was marked by special events in Britain, Canada and the US, including the premiere of his final work, The Rose Lake, in February.
In July Thomas Adès' 1995 chamber opera Powder Her Face with a libretto by Philip Hensher won good reviews, but also notoriety for its musical depiction of fellatio.
And there was further controversy and much negative press when Harrison Birtwistle's uncompromising Panic was included in the typically populist Last Night of the Proms in September.
The same month Karl Jenkins had a huge popular hit with his album Adiemus: Songs of Sanctuary, thanks to the music's exposure in television advertisements.