Edward Gardner’s complete Schubert cycle reaches its conclusion with this fourth volume, marking the culmination of a project that began in 2018 – just as he was wrapping up his well-regarded five volume Mendelssohn survey with Birmingham. The Great C major is of course not only far more expansive in scale than its predecessors but fraught with risks that can result in misfires of interpretation and execution alike. Overall, Gardner’s account aligns with his approach to Schubert’s preceding symphonies, balancing a sense of drama with textural clarity and a measured architectural vision. Never extreme nor eccentric, his keen pacing and sense of proportion sustain the work’s long spans while ensuring a natural flow and an effective cumulative momentum. The issue of repeats, for example, is addressed through a pragmatic compromise: observed in the first movement but ignored in the Scherzo and finale.

It takes a few seconds for the horns’ incantatory power to take hold – the opening phrasing is off-puttingly prosaic – but Gardner stages a compelling transition to the Allegro without exaggerating the tempo shift and underscores a sense of restless exploration in the coda’s detours. His ongoing rapport with the Birmingham musicians is clear throughout, drawing unforced eloquence from the fine woodwind section and emphatically resonant timpani strokes in keeping with a middle-of-the-road attitude towards historically informed practice. The climactic triple forte in the Andante is carefully layered, even if it lacks the sheer terror and rupture of such great Greats as Leonard Slatkin’s account with the St Louis Symphony (RCA, 6/90). Gardner brings out Italianate lyricism as well, giving the Scherzo an agility and buffo fleetness, while the finale hurtles forwards with almost Rossinian verve, though Beethoven is equally present in the incessantly hammering rhythms of the ‘knocking’ ostinato.

A particularly attractive feature here is the inclusion of five Schubert songs, each orchestrated by a different composer – including Schubert’s own orchestration of the lovely Romanze from the incidental music he wrote for Rosamunde. Benjamin Britten’s recasting of ‘Die Forelle’ for a pair of clarinets and strings and a version of ‘Erlkönig’ for expanded orchestra by that master of musical nightmare, Hector Berlioz, are delightful discoveries and benefit from soprano Mary Bevan’s impeccable phrasing and expressive warmth.

Recorded in Birmingham’s Town Hall, the sound boasts fully dimensional definition and transparency, and Chandos as usual provides booklet notes with real substance, with an essay by the distinguished Schubert authority Brian Newbould.