I remember hearing (as a callow 17-year-old) the broadcast of Polyptyque’s premiere, given by Menuhin and the Zürich CO for whom it had been written in 1973. I was taken immediately with its impassioned lyricism held, as if in liquid suspension, by the cooler instrumental textures of solo violin and double string orchestra and the inner drama of its sequence of depictions from the Passion story. The alternating fast and slow movements cover by turns Christ’s entry into Jerusalem (listen to the seething string textures representing the palm-waving crowd), the Last Supper, Judas, Gethsemane, Christ’s scourging and – rather than Calvary – his glorification. (Truscott, in his Passion-inspired Symphony, also could not bring himself to “depict” Calvary or the Crucifixion itself.)

There is a link to the Maria-Triptychon (1967-68) through the latter’s finale, a setting of the “Stabat mater dolorosa”. This triptych for soprano, violin and orchestra was written for the husband-and-wife duo of Wolfgang Schneiderhan and Irmgard Seefried, and opens with dovetailed settings of the Ave Maria and Magnificat, the latter forming an impressive, intense climax (ECM does not provide the texts in the booklet). Unlike Polyptyque, however, Maria-Triptychon is a work that needs concentrated listening to secure its full impression.

The Passacaglia Martin wrote in 1944 for organ and orchestrated richly 18 years later has become one of his better-known works. Here, his devotion to Bach’s music is made manifest in sound with organ-like sonorities surviving the transcription and a gripping Busonian power. Poppen directs hugely impressive performances from his excellent soloists and the German Radio Philharmonic (an amalgam of the old Saarbrucken and Kaiserslautern radio orchestras). ECM’s sound is, as usual, crystal clear and superb. A winner.