David Diamond composed at least 12 symphonies, though withdrew an early single-movement essay (1933), replacing it with a different ‘No 1’ in 1940. Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra recorded Nos 1 4 and 8 for Delos, reissued by Naxos, and the Fifth remains available on New World Records, played by the Juilliard Orchestra under Christopher Keene.

The Sixth (1951 54) here receives its premiere recording from another college orchestra, that of Indiana University who, on the evidence of this 2016 account under Arthur Fagen, sound a well-drilled ensemble. They are put on their mettle in No 6, one of the most closely argued of Diamond’s symphonies, with the thematic material derived from the opening Adagio-Allegro, fortemente mosso and developed through the central Adagio, reaching fruition in the tripartite finale, an introduction, passacaglia and fugue.

The symphony was received poorly at its premiere – given by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Charles Munch, no less – a poor-quality copy of which can be heard on YouTube, complete with catcalls. It is a hard-edged score in places, without the appeal of its predecessor, No 4 (1945; the Fifth was not completed until 1964!), or Diamond’s most popular work, Rounds (1944). This string-orchestral triptych – given a marvellous performance at St John’s Smith Square, London, in May by Orchestra Nova under George Vass – was composed for Mitropoulos as an avowedly ‘happy’ and ‘uplifting’ piece, and fulfils its brief perfectly. Music for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (1947) was not composed as incidental music but directly as a concert work and catches nicely the atmosphere of key parts of the play. Both receive eloquent, well-prepared interpretations from the Indiana University Chamber Orchestra. Unspectacular but perfectly serviceable sound, too.