The works of the British composer William Alwyn include five symphonies, concertos, operas and more than two hundred film scores. Alwyn was an unashamed Romantic who preferred his music to appeal to the heart rather than to the head. His Fourth Symphony, considered by many to be his finest, is a work of great dynamism and excitement, with a number of thrilling brass-led fanfares. In contrast, the Sinfonietta is altogether more minimal and introvert, centred around a haunting phrase from the opera Lulu by Alban Berg, whom Alwyn greatly admired.