This second Marco Polo disc of Edward German’s more serious music evokes much the same warm welcome I recently gave the first (11/95). Of all German’s orchestral works, the Second Symphony is the one which shows how much more there was to his output than his reputation would suggest. It is a work of tremendous assurance, inventively scored and blessed with a wealth of fresh, bright thematic material. It has been revived periodically – by Wood, Boult and Barbirolli in the 1930s, on a 1977 LP conducted by Geoffrey Heald-Smith (Gough & Davy, 4/77 – nla), and in a 1993 centenary performance by the BBC Concert Orchestra under David Measham. If the scherzo shows German in his too-familiar ‘Olde Englishe Tea Shoppe’ mode, it should be remembered that this symphony predates most of his familiar music in that style. By contrast, the lyrical slow movement is a piece of overwhelming charm, while the two outer movements contain moments of striking Elgarian boldness.
Much the same charm, freshness and assurance also distinguishes the “Valse gracieuse” from the Symphonic Suite in D minor. As for the Welsh Rhapsody, which is the only work otherwise available in a modern recording (from Sir Alexander Gibson and the Scottish National Orchestra), it may verge on the bombastic in its concluding use of “Men of Harlech”, but elsewhere it contains just the same endearing inventive qualities. However, the principal attraction of this disc remains the symphony, which should at all events be heard. It stands firmly in the front rank of British symphonic achievements.'