By the time his eagerly-awaited First Symphony appeared in 1950, Alan Rawsthorne had already established a singular voice with his Symphonic Studies (Naxos 8.554763), Concerto for String Orchestra (8.553567), First Piano Concerto (8.555959) and First Violin Concerto (8.554240). The First Symphony is an energetic, inventive and superbly scored work. The Second Symphony, ‘A Pastoral Symphony’, is no programme piece but rather a general expression of the pleasures of life in the country, even if, beneath the surface of the music harsher, melancholy undertones can be sensed. The Third Symphony, returns to the turbulence of the First Symphony, now tempered by the subtle colouration and gentler expression of the Second. At its heart lies the haunting Sarabande slow movement, one of Rawsthorne’s finest creations.