In vintage British films of the 1940s and ’50s one expected a major orchestral film score. William Alwyn‚ alongside Malcolm Arnold‚ supplied some of the finest examples. His orchestral flair and the ready lyrical flow of his themes brought much that was memorable‚ and Philip Lane’s reconstructions from the original soundtracks continually remind us of his melodic gifts‚ never more effectively than in the opening pot­pourri from The Crimson Pirate‚ which is teeming with lively ideas and nautical colour. In Take my Life Alwyn composed a pastiche aria for the operatic heroine‚ and wrote yet another for Svengali‚ both powerfully sung here by Susan Bullock. But my own favourite is the delectably light­hearted score for The Card‚ a quite perfect‚ whimsical portrayal of the engagingly resourceful hero (played by Alec Guinness) of one of Arnold Bennett’s most endearing lighter novels. It opens‚ appropriately‚ with a (human) whistle‚ but includes both a lively ball sequence and – in ‘Denry and Nellie’ – a nice touch of sentimental romantic nostalgia‚ exquisitely scored. The ‘Coachride to Bursley’ is a delightful moto perpetuo scherzando and the finale is equally charming and capricious. There is a fine ‘Ship’s Waltz’ and a rumbustious ‘Rumba’ for In Search of the Castaways while the wartime epic‚ Desert Victory‚ opens nobilmente‚ and closes in similarly patriotic mood with the grandiloquent ‘March’. As is shown by the main title for A Night to Remember‚ Alwyn was not a purveyor of flamboyant Hollywoodian theme tunes‚ but his music always added much to the background atmosphere‚ and for the most part stands up very well on its own‚ especially when it is as superbly played and recorded as it is here.