There are many really fine American composers for orchestra at the moment, though few have the international presence of, say, Corigliano, Christopher Rouse, Joan Tower, Jennifer Higdon or – at least in the opera pit – Jake Heggie. Composers like Dan Welcher, Jeremy Gill and Behzad Ranjbaran (to pluck three names at random) deserve wider currency. So, too, does Douglas Knehans (b1957), a name unknown to me hitherto (although I see Presto Classical’s database now lists eight other discs featuring his music which are currently available).

There is no doubt from the two works given here that Knehans is a composer of considerable fluency and instrumental imagination. The three movements of the Flute Concerto (2014) portray three winds that blow off the Mediterranean Sea: ‘Ostra’, ‘Mistral … Funerailles’ (no specific references to Liszt that I can hear) and ‘Etesian’. The outer movements are the most vivid while the central evocation of the Mistral strikes as a little more generic. It is played with impressive control by Gareth Davies, whose attractive tone is evident throughout.

Knehans describes his orchestral triptych Unfinished Earth (2016) as ‘a symphony in all but name’ and there is a clear community of spirit and emotional progression through the work. The inspiration lies in the tectonic and geographic features of the planet, anthropomorphised to reflect human experience. Thus, the opening ‘Tempering’ reflects both the formation of Earth and ‘the interplay between individual and group’; ‘Eternal Ocean’ needs no poetic explanation; while ‘Tearing Drift’ – a terrific toccata – provides a roof-raising conclusion. The Brno Philharmonic give a storming account, relishing Knehans’s virtuoso writing, particularly the horns (the composer’s son being an apprentice horn player). However, Mikel Toms secures some sensitive accompaniment in the concerto. Good sound, too.