Lyrita’s mining of the Richard Itter archive continues with a further disc of Gordon Crosse, whose belated return to composing continues as he nears 80. Fifty years ago Crosse was at the forefront of his generation and this judicious overview of his 1960s output affirms why.

While the serial thinking behind Elegy (1960) sounds just a little inhibited, the control Crosse exerts over the emotional ebb and flow of his material is impressive. This is no less evident in the Concerto for chamber orchestra (1962), an astringent yet never arid take on the concerto grosso model that packs a great deal of incident into its tensile outer movements and has real lyrical intensity in its central Lento. Nor is there anything lightweight about the divertimento format of the Concertino (1965), its alternation of pensive ‘Chorales’ and incisive ‘Sonatinas’ incorporating a ‘Variations’ movement that makes explicit this piece’s underlying character.

Much the most substantial work here is the Second Violin Concerto (1969), where Crosse’s motivic skill combines with the dramatic sense evident in the choral and theatrical pieces that preceded it. The initial Poco lento unfolds as a thrice-repeated sequence of refrains and verses that develop the salient ideas as purposefully as they uncover their expressive potency and which the ensuing Allegro brings to a culmination over three fantasias, the granitic climax falling away into an epilogue the more conclusive for its avoiding any obvious resolution.

This impressive work benefits from the advocacy Manoug Parikian manifestly instils into it, with Colin Davis securing a dedicated response from the BBC SO. Transfers and annotations (by Paul Conway) are well up to previous standards in this series. Cordially recommended.