Herman David Koppel (1908-98) wrote seven symphonies in all, but only the Fifth (1955) achieved even a toehold in the Danish repertory. The first two were withdrawn after unsatisfactory premières (respectively by Emil Telmányi and Thomas Jensen, no less) but reveal a composer with an intuitive grasp of symphonic form. Koppel himself recognised that No 1 (1929-30) was ‘an apprentice work’, but that did not save it from being damned critically as recycled Nielsen. The latter’s melodic shadow does lie heavily across all three movements; 70 years on, however, the opening sounds more like Vaughan Williams, the often hard-edged orchestration is reminiscent of Hilding Rosenberg and a few passages seem to pre-echo Hovhaness. Suffice to say that this vibrantly unconventional work does not show much stylistic originality.

The Second is a very different proposition and its suppression seems unfathomable. Cast again in three movements, it is on a bigger, moreserious scale, written in just three months during 1943 and pre-dating the composer’s enforced exile in Sweden. Nielsen’s influence has been purged and Koppel’s own voice asserts itself. Clearly influenced by wartime events, which may also explain some Shostakovich-like touches, the sombre colourings and – especially in the finale – expressive use of marching rhythms suggest an undeclared programme. These Aalborg performances are beautifully played and Moshe Atzmon directs with a sure hand.

Dacapo’s other new release couples Koppel’s Sextet for piano and winds (1942) with the Quintet No 5 (1958) and Sextet (1971) of another great Danish composer-pianist, Niels Viggo Bentzon. Koppel’s Sextet is a breezy affair, music to divert and entertain but far from trivial, and expertly put together. The balance between keyboard and winds is nicely calculated, the three movements progressing from the lively to the pastoral to the capricious.

Bentzon’s finest music dates from the late 1940s and ’50s, after which he cultivated a more modernist, abstract idiom, not always to his music’s benefit. The sheer volume of his output also dissipated his best work somewhat. His Sextet is more advanced harmonically than Koppel’s, its moods more opaque expressively. Nonetheless, it is well-constructed and bustles along to good effect. The Fifth Quintet is designed as a sonata da chiesa, in a slow-fast-slow-fast pattern. The slower movements are again elusive at times, but the faster ones, particularly the finale, are genuinely appealing. The performances by the DNRSO players and Bentzon’s pianist son Nikolaj are excellent. Both discs are recommended.