After the deaths of two great interpreters of Delius – Sir Charles Mackerras and Richard Hickox – I often wondered how soon it would be before another sympathetic Delius exponent emerged. Clearly Sir Andrew Davis is just that. This is a magnificent, clear-edged recording of two challenging, problematic works, performed here with vibrancy and confidence. In the past it has always been the unconventional variation structure of Brigg Fair that has impressed me rather than the freer, more Strauss-inspired design of Appalachia. Yet here, the tempi, the lushness and balance of the orchestral timbres and the careful injection of character into the succession of 10 variations remind us of Delius’s white-hot creative fertility in 1902 and of Appalachia’s rightful place beside Delius’s two other great tone-poems, Paris and Das Lebenstanz. The role of the slave “song” is one of its most original features and it is hauntingly sung here; indeed, this and the other choral interjections make sense of that Damascene moment that the composer experienced in Florida and the desire thereupon to become a composer.

The much later, more complex Song of the High Hills (1915) is also handled with aplomb. The monumental outer sections have a purposeful sense of direction, while the spacious middle section, with wordless chorus, is not allowed to drag. Indeed, Davis’s diligent control of this extraordinary material makes for compelling listening. More please, Sir Andrew!