R R Bennett

Symphony No. 1; A History of the Thé Dansant; Reflections on a Sixteenth Century Tune; Zodiac Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano); BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/ John Wilson Chandos CHSA 5230 (hybrid CD/SACD) 64:34 mins A symphony; a soloistic piece; other assorted fare: the album’s mix follows its two predecessors in Chandos’s survey of Richard Rodney Bennett’s orchestral works. Equally, the picture remains of a super-efficient, imaginative craftsman who began as a modernist, then softened his style, without in either phase showing much evidence of writing from any strong personal need. Symphony No. 1 of 1965 has its delicate, then conflicted, then consoling slow movement dedicated to ‘DK’ – Bennett’s new amour, Dan Klein. But the outer movements are more typical: propulsive, busy with juddering staccato chords and decorative woodwinds, bringing to mind both Walton and Henze, as the booklet suggests. John Wilson and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra dispatch it with care and virtuosity. They dazzle, too, in the later Zodiac, a brilliantly diverse kaleidoscope shaped with the directness and economy of someone well-practised in writing for films.

Two quieter, more thoughtful works come in between. Dedicated to Wilson, the Reflections on a Sixteenth Century Tune for strings is built on a Josquin des Près chanson, though a fondly recalled English mood dominates. Nostalgia, laced with family memories, also colours A History of the Thé Dansant – three songs on poems by Bennett’s sister Meg Peacocke. A more conversational attack might have been better than Sarah Connolly’s rather billowing tones, though she never stops the poised central foxtrot being the disc’s most immediately memorable track. Sometimes in life it’s the sly statements, not the pyrotechnics, that hit home the most.

Geoff Brown

PERFORMANCE ★★★

RECORDING ★★★★