There are not many successful works for string quartet and orchestra – the concertos by Martinů and Benjamin Lees; best of all, the Concerto grosso by Julián Orbón – largely because they are so tricky to balance correctly. Eleanor Alberga’s Tower (2017) is not a concerto but a compact, impeccably balanced memorial-cum-character portrait of violinist David Angel (1954-2017), co-principal of the second violin section of the London Mozart Players, who commissioned the work to perform with the Maggini Quartet, of which he was a founder member. A tender homage, wistful, big-hearted and a touch garrulous like the man himself, the second violin fittingly has the last word.

Alberga’s First Symphony, Strata (2022) is another memorial work, for viola player David Nash of the Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra who had also died in 2017. Nash’s love of geology and sailing provided the stimuli for this imposing 35-minute, six-movement symphony, the movement titles describing a strongly focused expressive profile: ‘Firmament’, which dovetails into ‘Core’ to form a large-scale opening span; ‘Mantle’, a louring canon that never finds release; ‘Crust’, a brilliant scherzando with vocal utterances from the string players; ‘Sailing on Tethys’, a reference to the prehistoric ocean and Nash’s love of sailing; and ‘Plumes’, the volcanic finale.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra, well directed by Thomas Kemp, are on point throughout Alberga’s often whimsical yet always closely argued music. There is a sense of discovery here communicated as positively as one could hope for. The suite Mythologies (2000), also in six parts, is performed in like manner, though it is a brave British composer who tackles Mars and Venus in an orchestral suite. Mythologies is not astrological in origin, so there are no real expressive touchpoints with Holst. The key movement, I would aver, is the turbulent third, ‘Psyche’, with its prominent piano part. Mythologies is an entertaining, well-crafted suite that makes a virtuosic conclusion to a splendid album. Warmly recommended.