All the works on this recording have connections with stage or theatre. The two suites are derived from scores that Maxwell Davies wrote for films by Ken Russell and could not be more different. The Boyfriend, based on a 1954 musical by Sandy Wilson, introduces a large dance band and period motifs to great effect, while dramatic extremes depicting the film’s themes of corruption, exorcism and execution within a medieval religious setting are explored in The Devils. Seven in Nomine evokes Maxwell Davies’ interest in medieval plainsong. The composer himself plays two of his most popular piano pieces with their memorable evocations of Orkney landmarks.