ASV White Line has an enviable catalogue of lighter music; but this latest offering seems to me one of the best. It begins on familiar territory with Warlock’s Capriol Suite, played in its orchestral version in a spirited interpretation, and ends on half-familiar ground with Christopher Phelps’s orchestral transcription of the second of César Franck’s organ Chorales.

In between come more transcriptions of organ pieces by a Belgian – but very different in style – in two short and contrasted impressionist pieces by Joseph Jongen, orchestrated by the CD’s producer, Philip Lane. The brief but engaging Ethel Smyth piece comes from her light opera Entente cordiale, while that by Charles Lecocq is from his 1864 operetta Liline et Valentin. Refurbished more than 100 years later by Havelock Nelson, it’s at once the earliest, briefest and jolliest piece here. Beyond that, the French tributes of Peter Hope and Paul Lewis again show what accomplished and appealing music present-day British light music composers have to offer.

Most impressive of all, perhaps, is the suite of six movements from a 1930 dramatisation of Miréio, Frédéric Mistral’s Provençal epic poem from which came Gounod’s opera Mireille. Its Marseilles-based composer, Jean Gabriel-Marie, was the son of Gabriel-Marie, whose delightful miniature La Cinquantaine is still enjoyed. Steeped in Provençal atmosphere, the Miréio music breathes the air of Bizet’s L’Arlésienne as it vividly evokes day-to-day life, customs, and celebrations.

Admirably played and recorded, the programme has a freshness and variety that makes delightful listening from beginning to end.