I wrote about the composer's own fine Lyrita recordings of the Second Symphony as recently as last October. That disc offers a very generous coupling indeed, namely the Third and the Fifth Symphonies, and since Alwyn is an excellent exponent of his own music it remains highly recommendable. However, if you are thinking of collecting all Alwyn's orchestral music, then this new Chandos CD is in every way competitive. Hickox's performance of the symphony is very close to that of the composer. His timings for each of the two movements are less than a minute longer, and his reading has every bit as much power and grip. The molto calmato close of the first movement has even greater concentration and a rapt, magical atmosphere, while the closing pages of the work with the climax on brass and timpani (quite riveting) followed by the Sibelian melody on the lower strings, is even more powerful in its sense of final apotheosis.
Hickox is also helped by Chandos's richer more modern recording with its greater amplitude in both strings and brass. However, his couplings are altogether more lightweight, particularly the Overture to a Masque, written in 1940 for a Sir Henry Wood Prom but not performed because of the Blitz. It has an Elizabethan pipe and tabor atmosphere and is charming in its slightness, if perhaps a little over-long. The Magic Island (inspired by The Tempest) is a gentle evocation, beautifully scored (by a master of film music) with an ethereal violin solo at its climax. It is rather beautiful in its eclectic way. Derby Day, as sprightly a piece as the title suggests, is picaresque like a Malcolm Arnold overture, although without quite the same degree of pithy memorability in its invention. The closing Fanfare (dedicated to the timpanist James Blades) adds plenty of percussion to the brass and, again, would make good film music. The LSO play everything here with evident enjoyment. With such excellent recording these pieces make pleasing listening, if not as demanding as the symphony which is so cogently argued.'