Album: York Bowen, Symphonies 1 & 2 - BBC Philharmonic / Davis (Chandos)

Best known today for his piano music, York Bowen (1884-1961) was once hailed as the most talented of British composers.

Sir Andrew Davis's recording spearheads a belated revival of Bowen's orchestral work, revealing a remarkable melodic felicity in the sun-dappled First Symphony (1902) and an almost Straussian appetite for colour in the more heroic Second (1909). The playing is relaxed and refined, particularly in the extended solos for violin and clarinet.