Dutton’s enterprising exploration of the works of Richard Arnell here moves from the symphonies and Piano Concerto (9/06, 6/07, 11/07) to the ballet scores, which through recordings were for some 50 years the most readily available representation of the composer. Beecham championed Arnell’s music and recorded a suite from Punch and the Child, while the composer himself set down excerpts from both works here during the 1950s. These are, though, the first CD recordings and the first complete recordings of both.

The two scores differ significantly in style. The Great Detective – based loosely on Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes – is what one might expect of a ballet score of the 1950s, developing the action through lively orchestral transition passages that frame more lyrical set dances. A visual record would help; but even without it one can sense something of the action. The Angels is very much different, an altogether more powerful score, essentially structured as a three-movement symphony – the first movement a Theme and Variations, the second a beautiful Roundelay, the third a Vivace and final Transformation. It’s a sumptuous, uplifting score that transcends the ballet format and more meaningfully represents part of Arnell’s symphonic output. That those present in the recording control room during the sessions dubbed it Arnell’s “Symphony No 5-and-a-half” only begins to do it justice.

Martin Yates directs full-blooded, compelling performances that follow the composer’s own timings closely without ever suggesting slavish imitation. Arnell well deserves attention, alongside Alwyn and Arnold in Britain’s composing A-team.