There was little doubt that, as Composer/Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, HK Gruber would tackle music by Kurt Schwertsik, his older contemporary with whom he has often been referred to as representing a ‘Third Viennese School’ embodying the ambiguity and equivocation once associated with musical postmodernism. The latest work here, Nachtmusiken (2010), is a ‘symphonic serenade’ where ghostly recollections of Janá∂ek precede a nostalgic take on Viennese waltz music, then a plangent elegy for writer and publisher David Drew is followed by a ‘Quick march’ in which brusqueness turns to brutality; a pity, however, that the dutiful fugal writing of the ‘Flight’ finale seems relatively earthbound. Herr K entdeckt Amerika (2008) is a ‘sonatina for orchestra’ inspired by the anti-hero of Kafka’s ‘comic’ novel as he crosses to the Big Country of his dreams, only to get caught up in doubtful shenanigans as a hotel lift-boy before joining the circus in Oklahoma. All quirkily depicted, yet the third movement, ‘On the road’, impresses the most in its evoking the Midwest as corollary to Kafka’s alienated vision. Emotions become more overt in Baumgesänge (1992): six ‘tree‑songs’, ominous and fraught by turns, culminating in a toccata with its aggressive spin on American minimalism. Gruber directs with conviction music he doubtless understands intuitively, while the BBC PO takes its many subtleties in its stride. Spaciously immediate sound, informative notes and a disc worth acquiring. Those who do can decide whether the music’s ‘subtexts’ are an added incentive or rather the main reason for listening.