In his time Arne Nordheim (1931-2010) was the most abused and celebrated composer in Norway. The change in attitude from the one to the other came not from a change in style or approach but rather from the gradual education of his critics, musicians and audiences to a greater acceptance of modern music, a process he played a major part in fostering with his extensive critical writings and the example of his own music.

The five works collected on this orchestral retrospective, superbly played by the Oslo Philharmonic, range through his mature career from Canzona (1960) and Epitaffio (1963, rev 1978) to his final concerto, Fonos (2003, subtitled ‘three memorables for trombone and orchestra’), a reworking of the coruscating Monolith (1990, in turn based on ideas from Magma, of the preceding year). Marius Hesby, who helped with the solo part, is an exemplary executant and Saraste’s accompaniment is well judged. Closing the programme is the gentle Adieu for strings and chiming percussion (1994), itself a memorial for Lutosławski.

The performances were recorded before the composer’s death on June 5, 2010, so are not dutiful renditions but part of the evolving tradition of Nordheim interpretations. Rolf Gupta directs finely shaped accounts of Monolith, Canzona – the latter a match for Blomstedt’s earlier recording with the same orchestra – and Epitaffio, Per Dreier’s pioneering recording of which with the RPO still sounds well, although Simax’s has superior, more modern sound. Production values are good, too, although I must correct annotator Harald Herresthal on one detail on page 11: Nordheim wrote five solo concertos, not three, the missing works being Boomerang for oboe and the brilliant Spur for accordion.