The Compact Collection: Carey Blyton/Bantock/Bowen

Rob Cowan on the week's best CD releases

Mention the name Blyton, and the inevitable response is Enid – and Noddy. But not everyone knows that Enid had a composer nephew – he died earlier this year – who, aside from originating some charming educational material, wrote a modest corpus of fine songs.

Carey Blyton's Lyrics From the Chinese for Voice and String Orchestra (1953-8) set English translations of various ancient texts, starting with "Aubade" and peach blossoms after rain, anticipated in musical terms by the falling cadences of a brief but lovely Prelude. Anyone with an ear for Vaughan Williams, Delius or Britten can't fail to respond, especially as the tenor Ian Partridge offers Blyton such gentle and vocally honeyed reportage. The structure allows for a Prelude, seven varied songs and two interludes, a seamless lyrical thread ably woven by the Britten Sinfonia under Nicholas Cleobury (pictured below). Other songs on this Upbeat Classics release reveal other aspects of Blyton, more spare (sample Lachrymae) or more humorous, but Lyrics From the Chinese is the unquestioned prize, a genuine find.

Sir Granville Bantock's Songs from the Chinese Poets predate Blyton's Lyrics by around 40 years and take a rather different musical stand. They're very much in line with the European Romantic tradition ("The Ghost Road" all but quotes Brahms's G minor piano Rhapsody), while incorporating the odd oriental-style pentatonic twist. Lucky for us that Dutton Laboratories has distributed the five songs between the mezzo-soprano Jean Rigby and the baritone Peter Savidge and that David Owen Norris is such a sympathetic accompanist. But while Blyton's Lyrics are a highlight, Bantock's most indelible track is the mysterious Song of the Seals, hauntingly sung by Rigby and as near to a Mahler Rückert-lied as anything in our native song repertoire.

Dutton's trailblazing British chamber music series forges ahead with a number of distinguished new releases, including a York Bowen programme thoughtfully performed by members of the Endymion Ensemble, the Suite for Violin and Piano conjuring the gentlemanly musical manners of its dedicatee, Fritz Kreisler. Bowen was an impeccable craftsman, equally adept at concocting miniatures or fashioning sonatas: witness the impassioned violin and cello sonatas on the same CD.

More violin and piano rarities feature on Avie's enterprising two-CD Trails of Creativity, including a windfall of first recordings, not least an outrageously modernistic Toccata by Walton. The violinist David Frühwirth and pianist Henri Sigfridsson seem to be having fun with Adolf Busch's Violin Sonata, a Reger sound-alike spiced with the odd jazzy syncopation, and Frederick Rosse's tuneful Merchant of Venice Suite (with its once-popular "The Doge's March"). Other works are by Hans Gál (an impressive Violin Sonata), Kurt Weill (a suite from The Threepenny Opera), Korngold (Much Ado About Nothing), Rathaus, Wellesz and Ivor Gurney, all of which add up to a colourful conspectus of European fiddle music between the wars. It's a good listen and a valuable repertory prompt for others.

Carey Blyton: Lyrics from the Chinese, Lachrymae, Lyrics from the East, etc – Ian Partridge, Jennifer Partridge, Britten Sinfonia/Nicholas Cleobury (Upbeat Classics/BMG URCD179)

Bantock: Songs from the Chinese Poets, Song of the Seals, Ghazals of Hafiz, Jester Songs, Celtic Songs, etc – Jean Rigby, Peter Savidge, David Owen Norris (Dutton CDLX 7121)

Bowen: Suite for Violin and Piano, Cello Sonata, Violin Sonata – Endymion Ensemble (Dutton CDLX 7120)

Trails of Creativity – David Frühwirth, Henri Sigfridsson (Avie AV0009, two discs)