Malcolm Smith (1932-2011) was head of the Promotion and Hire Library at Boosey & Hawkes for many years and knew most of the leading composers of the post-war era. He was devoted to British music and left a bequest to make this recording possible. As with Smith himself – a charismatic eccentric – there is nothing quite like it.

Robin Holloway’s stately six-hand Grand Heroical March was written for Smith’s actual retirement in 1997 and is riddled with quotations from pieces he admired. Leslie Howard’s admiration for Liszt is abundantly evident in the 99 CD set of the complete piano works. This is his own paraphrase of Sullivan’s Ruddigore – whether you know the opera or not, the tunes are good.

Humphrey Searle was another devotee of Liszt, not the obvious enthusiasm for one of the first British 12-note composers. His Sonata was written for Liszt’s 140th birthday in 1951 and premiered on that day by Gordon Watson, who made the first recording. Julian Jacobson puts this taxing but impressively rhetorical piece through its paces brilliantly – just the kind of gesture Smith would have admired, bringing something unknown to a wider audience. Then there is Robert Matthew-Walker’s resourceful Fantasy-Sonata, premiered by Rhondda Gillespie in 1980 and dedicated to Hans Keller. This is closer to English traditions and Mark Bebbington’s taut performance draws attention to a neglected and prolific composer – Smith would have liked that too. Everything well recorded.