Although this is the second CD issue devoted to Havergal Brian’s complete piano music, it was the first to be recorded, set down by Peter Hill in his first commercial recording in 1981. By the time Raymond Clarke’s rival version appeared, 16 years later, Hill’s had fallen out of the catalogue.

The first thing one notices is the difference in content: Hill’s runs for just short of an hour, while Clarke’s lasts 26 per cent longer. This is only partly due to Hill’s accounts being generally quicker, especially in the C minor Fugue of 1924 where Clarke is 50 per cent longer. (In the D minor/major and the Double Fugue, only a handful of seconds separates their very similar readings.) Clarke included both versions of the Three Illuminations (1916), with and without speaker (Hill only includes the narrated version), as well as three of Brian’s finest songs, two of which – bereft of their vocal parts – were recycled in the Four Miniatures (1918-20). Hill’s inclusion of the March from the 1951 opera Turandot in the late Malcolm MacDonald and Ronald Stevenson’s masterly transcription is invaluable in hinting at what late Brian piano music might have sounded like (the latest piece otherwise being the charming John Dowland’s Fancy of 1934).

How do Hill’s performances stand up 33 years on? He undeniably had a feeling for Brian’s piano-writing and as interpretations they stand up well. Cameo’s remastered sound allows all the detail to be heard but seems dull and constricted compared to the more natural recording afforded to Clarke. If forced to choose, Clarke’s is the one to have.