Vaughan Williams completed three Norfolk Rhapsodies, the second of which languished unperformed for nearly nine decades until this exemplary first recording last January. Based on folksongs collected by the composer in King’s Lynn and the surrounding area during January 1905 (and skilfully reconstructed by Stephen Hogger from the incomplete original manuscript), it is a thoroughly endearing work, full of good things – there’s a magical modulation towards the end (8'32") from which VW’s friend, George Butterworth, may well have learnt a thing or two – and similar in construction to its better-known, more subtly organised predecessor (which VW extensively revised in 1914). The latter work is also sensitively surveyed, while The Running Set comes off boisterously, if without the rhythmic zest of Hickox’s own, earlier version with the Northern Sinfonia.

As for A Pastoral Symphony, Hickox masterminds a generously moulded, beautifully played interpretation which, like Haitink’s, clocks in at a leisurely 39 minutes. Unfortunately, it is neither as concentrated nor as sharply focused as the Dutchman’s dark-hued conception. Too often, the church acoustic flattens out this undemonstrative masterpiece’s meticulous dynamic shadings, and genuine hush is in short supply (compare the comparatively beefy opening paragraph of the second movement here with the implacable mystery distilled by Handley). Needless to say, the LSO’s solo work is of a high standard throughout, if without quite the eloquence and character displayed by their predecessors on Previn’s 1971 recording (9/72, nla; already available in France within RCA’s Artistes et Repertoires series – hopefully a UK reissue will not be long in coming).

Come the scherzo (bluffer and less intimidating than usual), and that unforgettably arresting fortissimo cymbal strike at the Tempo primo at two bars before fig R (4'15") is altered to a decidedly underwhelming clash. What worries me more, however, is Hickox’s unhelpfully overwrought manner in and around the finale’s astounding Molto largamente unison passage at one bar before fig L (7'08"), where mounting tragedy is undermined by a heart-on-sleeve fussiness (Boult’s canny restraint during these pages makes for an infinitely more moving experience). Soprano Rebecca Evans’s contribution may also be too unethereal for all tastes. Ultimately, Hickox’s Pastoral falls short of visionary rapture, intimacy of feeling and organic inevitability. There’s much that gives pleasure here, but I would not prefer this newcomer to the formidable quartet of front-runners mentioned above.