Born almost 10 years before Brahms‚ Carl Reinecke survived that friend and colleague by 13 years‚ continuing to compose into his eighties‚ dying in 1910. It is sad that his music has been almost totally forgotten‚ but fortunately an outstanding disc like this clearly demonstrates what riches he can offer. Reinecke in his writing is conservative but never bland or boring. Though he is never merely derivative‚ his style is best described as a cross between Mendelssohn and Brahms. Like Brahms he writes with particular warmth for the horn as well as the oboe‚ and the Interlude third movement of the Second Symphony acts as substitute for the usual Scherzo in a very Brahmsian way‚ though the style is quite different. Consistently Reinecke comes up with memorable themes strongly developed and skilfully orchestrated. In a preface to the score of the Second Symphony‚ Reinecke explained that the work‚ dating from 1875‚ was inspired by a Norwegian subject‚ the myth of Hakon Jarl‚ as dramatised by the Danish playwright‚ Oehlenschlager. The first two movements are conceived as portraits of the hero and heroine‚ with the third and fourth set scenes rather than incidents. With structure far more important than story­telling‚ this in no way feels like a programme symphony‚ satisfyingly rounded off by an exhilarating‚ heroic Allegro‚ echoing Schumann as well as Mendelssohn. The Third Symphony‚ dating from the 1890s‚ is even tauter in its arguments as the telling opening motif makes immediately clear‚ with a touch of Liszt added to the mixture. The slow movement opens strikingly with the clarinet unaccompanied‚ and horn and clarinet intertwine in lusciously Romantic writing. The jaunty Scherzo‚ crisply structured with two Trio sections‚ leads to a powerful finale‚ rounded off by an exciting Presto coda‚ with horns braying prominently. Howard Shelley as conductor proves the most compelling advocate‚ drawing warm‚ committed performances from his players. I cannot remember ever hearing the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra before‚ but on this showing I can endorse the remark in the liner note that it is ‘one of the world’s great small orchestras’. Not that there is anything small­scale about the performances‚ which‚ with fine full sound recorded by Australian engineers‚ has plenty of body.