Bax’s Seventh (and last) Symphony – completed at Morar, the composer’s Scottish retreat, in January 1939 and first performed six months later under Boult as part of British Week at the New York World’s Fair – may not leave shock-waves in its trail as do his First, Second or Sixth, but it remains a gloriously heartfelt and assured creation. In many ways the first movement is as satisfying and cogent a large-scale sonata structure as Bax ever devised, and it’s succeeded by a dreamy slow movement (with a more urgent central episode labelled ‘In Legendary Mood’) and colourful, exuberantly inventive theme and variations which culminate in a serene epilogue.

Drawing proficient and sensitive playing from the RSNO, David Lloyd-Jones conducts with characteristic thrust and understanding. His lucid performance knocks over five minutes off Bryden Thomson’s unhurried reading (available in a complete set), yet there’s no shortage of epic grandeur or perceptive observation (those eerie harmonies in the second-movement coda, for example, cast a powerful spell). Unfortunately, the recording rather lacks the mid-range warmth and natural definition of both rival versions, not only starving the music of romantic glow but also failing to do justice to Bax’s highly distinctive orchestral blend. It will be intriguing to hear what Vernon Handley and the BBC Philharmonic (not to mention the Chandos engineers!) make of this beguiling score when their complete Bax symphony cycle hits the shops soon.

Some occasional thinness of violin tone apart, I also much enjoyed Lloyd-Jones’s red-blooded Tintagel, though again the unalluring sound tends to take the shine off proceedings; tuttis acquire a steely blur that quickly tires the ear, whereas both the Boult and Thomson productions combine expert balance and truthfulness of timbre to demonstration-worthy effect. From a purely artistic viewpoint, however, no one will regret snapping up this final issue in what has been a highly commendable series.