Dutton has taken up with alacrity continuation of the British light music recordings previously on the White Line label. The Dutton “Premieres” series, of which this is the fourth instalment, generally offers music by modern composers that is sometimes written especially for the recordings. The CDs are generously sponsored and obviously attract purchases from family and friends of the composers represented. I do sometimes wonder, though, from how many others. Too often the music seems to lack the distinction required for repeated listening. The thought is further encouraged by the inclusion on this CD of Richard Valéry’s The Magic Carpet. It’s a highly attractive piece but it’s in a swing-band style that seems curiously incongruous amid the more classically based items.

Still, the music is always expertly turned out, as well as beautifully played and recorded. This particular collection has a pronounced Mancunian content, with five of the composers represented having strong Lancashire connections. Pieces that especially stand out for this listener include the “Young Man in Love” movement from Ernest Tomlinson’s ballet Aladdin and Jim Cooke’s Concert Jig, colourfully decked out with hammer dulcimer. Well worth an airing, too, is Carey Blyton’s orchestral suite The Golden Road to Samarkand, which mines some of the same seams as Ippolitov-Ivanov’s Caucasian Sketches. Perhaps most immediately attractive of all is Lionel Sainsbury’s Cuban Dance No 2. Its very real appeal has already been demonstrated by being taken up as an encore piece by Tasmin Little.