Ravel’s celebrity has often overshadowed that of Roussel (both died in the same year, 1937). True, there is no Boléro or Gaspard de la nuit in Roussel’s output, but Bacchus et Ariane is easily the match of Daphnis et Chloé. Roussel’s special gift was his ability to blend Gallic sensitivity with a structural cogency usually found in Germanic or Nordic symphonists. Psalm 80 (1928) is a case in point, a 20-minute single-movement symphony setting the imploring ‘Give ear, O shepherd of Israel’, catching beautifully the loss, fear and felt injustice of the Israelites.

The English version, which the composer preferred, is used here (Serge Baudo conducted the later French version for EMI in 1970 – nla), and Bramwell Tovey’s account vividly captures every detail. These same virtues enhance the smaller items that will delight Roussel lovers, the brief Fanfare for a pagan coronation (1921) acting like a prelude to the bloodthirsty 1926 Le bardit des francs (‘War-song of the Franks’), itself something of a study, in retrospect, for Psalm 80. The Europa Academy Choir relish it almost as much as the psalm.

The largest work here, but not necessarily the most important, is the ballet Aeneas (1935), the last that Roussel composed. The score effectively recapitulates his entire career, the Impressionism of the opening succeeded by episodes more redolent of the motoric rhythms his music adopted in the 1920s. This newcomer has tremendous impulse and is delightfully shaped, though only on sound quality does it displace Martinon’s fine if ageing interpretation. In the context of the disc as a whole, it caps a marvellous programme.