Hands up those familiar with the music of Jef Vermeiren, Lodewijk Mortelmans, Clement D’Hooghe and Karel Albert! This recital of ‘Vlaamse’ (‘Flemish’) music dating from the early-to-mid-20th century (appearing for the first time on CD) provides food for thought, particularly when played with such infectious enthusiasm by Philibert Mees who, as the booklet tells us, was a fervent champion of all things Flemish; he died some 20 years ago.

In Vermeiren’s Landelijke Suite the opening ‘Morgen’ blossoms from innocent, morning-fresh beginnings into something more declamatory before returning to its opening proposition and a hint of a chorale. ‘Middag’, too, a more urgently propelled toccata, is no less warm-hearted and accessible while the concluding ‘Wandeling’ is once more an amiable elaboration of simple, romantically-endearing ideas before a final triumphant assertion of goodwill.

Mortelmans’s Pastorale is a salon charmer erupting into pianistic glory, fully relished by Mees, and his ‘singing birds’ trill away in tireless ecstasy. If an English pastoral bias (John Ireland, for example) is detectable in Vermeiren, a touch of French insouciance appears in D’Hooghe’s Gavotte, while Albert’s Mister Jim presents a hyperactive gentleman inspired by a juggler.

The disc is very short measure and sounds quaint even for around 1958 (the piano’s mechanism is all too audible), but Mees’ conviction is never in doubt. An intriguing issue.