/> In a Gramophone interview (‘Exploring the Frontiers’, 2/87), Bryden Thomson said of Daniel Jones: ‘He knows what he wants, he knows what he’s writing, and he knows when it isn’t right. You can’t say that about a lot of composers these days.’ In early 1990 Thomson conducted the then BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra (now the BBC National Orchestra of Wales) in a studio cycle of Jones’s 12 numbered symphonies (the unnumbered 1992 Symphony ‘in memoriam John Fussell’ having not yet been composed) and these four recordings derive from that cycle, whereas Lyrita’s earlier Jones issues – even of Symphonies Nos 8 and 9, conducted by Thomson – are reissues from 1970s LPs by Pye, HMV and the short-lived BBC Artium label.

Precisely when Jones first conceived the idea of composing a cycle of 12 symphonies each based on a different note of the chromatic scale as tonal centre is unclear, but it was probably not during the writing of the First (1944‑47), originally designated ‘in E minor’. At 50 minutes long, it is Jones’s largest symphony, in which the fledgling symphonist revealed his mastery and understanding of the medium for the first time. His view of the symphony evolved radically, with goal-driven forms and growing concision – neither Nos 10 (1981‑82) nor 11 (1983) exceed 20 minutes. There are few obvious resonances in the musical language, though I have always thought the structures of the First and 43-minute-long Second (1950, centred around A, neither major nor minor) nodded towards Russian models. With its increased use of percussion, No 2 is brighter in tone than its predecessor, with a recurring allusion to Vaughan Williams’s F minor Symphony in the finale. Both the Tenth and Eleventh Symphonies follow dramatic-tragic courses, the latter a memorial to his friend George Froom Tyler, erstwhile chairman of the Swansea Festival.

The reception of Jones’s music has usually been respectful rather than enthusiastic, even in these august pages, so let me raise the bar somewhat. These are strong and important works that repay familiarity. The performances by the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra and Thomson are finely realised, alive to their rhythmic intricacies and growing orchestrational confidence. Lyrita’s remastering provides depth and clarity to the studio-bound sound. As with the symphonies of Havergal Brian, a cycle of which is also near completion, what is needed next is for these symphonies to be taken up in both concert hall and studio. How about it, Messrs Brabbins, Walker, Woods?