The organisers of the Lucerne Festival and the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra had the idea to mark their 2011 12 season with a Brahms symphony cycle and to ask Wolfgang Rihm to pen responses to each of them. The four resulting works, cast in the familiar mould of the 10-minute concert opener (actually a little longer), are here presented as a free-standing symphony with a short vocal intermezzo for baritone and orchestra placed between the first two. Whether four movements so similar in scale and pacing quite work as a symphony is a moot point, and Rihm’s responses are, I think, variable in their consistency. The first movement foreshadows elements of Brahms’s First Symphony in rather subtle ways, whereas the third is prone to bombastic outbursts, which, reminiscent though they may be of their model (and typical of their composer), don’t necessarily endear themselves on that account.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Rihm’s essays, in fact, is what they tell the listener about Brahms: I was often reminded of what I love about him and at other times made uncomfortably aware of what I don’t. Another possible insight is how much shared material exists between them, since reminiscences of Brahms’s other symphonies intrude in most of the movements. But however grateful one might be for those insights, I’m unsure how far this work bears repeated listening for itself: Rihm is at his best when he alludes, whereas more overt references can sound forced. The performances and recording are most creditable, however.